You’ll see the empty seats and hear the piped-in noise and read the daily routine of testing and distancing, and you’ll realize just how weird and arduous this will be. And maybe you’ll wonder, as some have, what’s the point?
Just don’t ask the players that. Don’t ask the Tigers, beaten down for three years and trying to scramble to their feet. Many thought baseball wouldn’t get here, as the virus raged and negotiations sputtered, but nobody goes through this if it doesn’t mean something. Yes, something even more than money.
The Tigers have an imperfect roster, obviously, but in an unprecedented 60-game schedule, they have a practical roster for uncertain times.