Detroit Tigers and Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch has had the fortune of witnessing some great moments in sports. His Red Wings won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1997 and 1998, and they added two more titles in 2002 and 2008. In 2006, his Tigers went to the World Series after Magglio Ordonez hit a walk-off home run in Game 4 of the ALCS.
This year, the Tigers are hoping to return to the World Series, and the first step was beating the New York Yankees in the ALDS. They accomplished step one on Thursday night with a 3-2 victory in Game 5, and after the game Ilitch described the moment not just as one of the greatest sports days of his life, but rather one of the greatest days in general of his life. From Danny Knobler:
Tiger owner Mike Ilitch told GM Dombrowski: "This is one of the greatest days of my life." Beating NYY in the Bronx still means something.
Considering how poorly the Tigers played in Game 4 and how everybody seemed to be favoring the Yankees to win at home, it was very satisfying for the Tigers and their fans to go into Yankee Stadium and win in a sudden death game. For Ilitch, it was extremely satisfying, as evidenced by his above comment.