Great flavor comes from deep roots.
Tigers mascot “Paws” clowns with two young fans in front of the dugout prior to a spring training game.
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30 | Encore FEBRUARY 2015
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Lindsay Dood, of Grand Rapids, says she and her huisband, Ken, like the fact that “at spring training you get to see the players closer up than at Comerica Park. It’s a lot more relaxed, so the players are more willing to talk to you and give autographs. This is our first time, and we’re having a blast!” But perhaps the best comments on baseball’s enduring appeal come from the perspectives of age and youth. Boomer Mentzer, of Kalamazoo, who is in his 60s, has been coming to spring training since he was a teenager. He’s been here to see the Tigers and to Arizona to watch the Chicago Cubs. “Baseball is baseball, and I love it,” he says. “It’s in my blood. Once, a lady I was with got a kiss from Lance Parrish,” he recalls. Parrish was the Tigers’ catcher from 1977-86 and is now manager of the Seawolves, a Tigers’ farm club in Erie, Pa. Brennan Ansell, 12, of Battle Creek, is at the game with his father and grandparents, Spencer, Judy and Bill Ansell. “I grew up watching Tiger baseball,” he says. “I would like to meet Justin Verlander and ask him how he stays accurate with his pitching.” Whether young or old, whether a longtime fan who claims Kaline as a boyhood hero or today’s tween who reveres Verlander, all wait for spring to arrive and for the welcome cry of “Play ball!”