Call to the pen
Fansided

Another disappointing Detroit Tigers start under the Ilitch Family

By David Hill

Chris Ilitch and his mother Marian Ilitch make an emotional exit after a ceremony in remembrance of Mike Ilitch before the Detroit Tigers face the Boston Red Sox on Opening Day Friday April 7, 2017 at Comerica Park in Detroit.Marianilitch 018
Chris Ilitch and his mother Marian Ilitch make an emotional exit after a ceremony in remembrance of Mike Ilitch before the Detroit Tigers face the Boston Red Sox on Opening Day Friday April 7, 2017 at Comerica Park in Detroit.Marianilitch 018 /
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The Ilitch Family is known for two things – providing mediocre pizza at a cheap price and owning a pair of professional sports teams in the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings. While they have other financial and business interests, those are the ones that the family is best known for.

At this point, the Ilitch family can also be known for mediocrity when it comes to the Tigers as well. They had a 326-409 record in Mike Ilitch’s first 735 games as the owner, a record that seems akin to the Bronx Bombers of the 1920s when compared to his son. Under Chris Ilitch, the Tigers are 284-451 in that same time frame.

The Ilitch Family knows mediocrity with the Detroit Tigers

It is almost impossible to underscore how bad that record is. Since the younger Ilitch took over, only the Orioles have had a worse record. The Royals, who have not been a paragon of baseball skill at all since 2017, are 22 games better. Even laughingstocks such as the Pirates and Rangers have left the Tigers far behind.

Part of this is by design. The Tigers had gone into a rebuilding mode and embraced tanking with fervor. It has worked with the amount of talent that they were able to put into their farm system, with the Tigers having one of the better crop of prospects in the game.

But this was supposed to be the year it all started to come together. The Tigers splurged to add Javier Baez and Eduardo Rodriguez in free agency. Those top prospects have started to come to the majors. Instead, the Tigers are in danger of falling behind the Reds for the MLB basement, an impressive accomplishment considering that Cincinnati was being compared to the worst teams in MLB history just a week ago.

Times will get better. The Tigers should improve as their younger players get more time in the majors and get comfortable. Maybe it will not be this year, but those days should come soon. Until then, it is easy to notice how mediocrity seems to follow the Ilitch family, at least as it comes to pizza and baseball.

Next. Four teams that should be hitting the panic button. dark

The Detroit Tigers have not started well under either member of the Ilitch family. Their fans certainly hope that changes soon.

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