TigerFest 2011 is happening right now in downtown Detroit and Dave Dombrowski kicked things off by ending his Q&A session with a breaking news announcement that the Tigers will host a series of events this season to honor the late Tigers skipper Sparky Anderson.
The Tigers will start by wearing this No. 11 patch and flying a flag with the No. 11 on it at Comerica Park throughout the season. The flag will be raised during a pre-game ceremony on Opening Day in Detroit. In addition to those nice tributes, the Tigers will retire the No. 11. The date for that will be determined later. The Tigers wouldn't say if a statue was also in the works, although every other Tiger whose number is retired has a statue in their honor.
When Dombrowski announced the news the crowd gathered at TigerFest applauded, but I sensed it was laced with some sarcasm -- like, it's about damn time. Dombrowski said, "shame on me," for not getting his number retired while Sparky was still alive, but we all know it's not really on Dombrowksi.
Sparky will always be with Tiger fans and it's never too late to honor and celebrate what he did for the Detroit Tigers organization and the game of baseball in general.
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