Game 121: Tigers @ Twins

Time: 7:10 Central. Vegas Line: -175 MIN / DET +155

Weather: Start Temp 84° and it’s gonna be Hazy As Hell

Opponent’s Nice SB Site: Bless You Boys

TV: FSN. Radio: Sturgis is over, Provus cries silently

Today’s Tigers starter, Matt Boyd, supports the troops.

Which, these days, is like saying “I support puppies and not eating children.” Everyone does.

Boyd has a bit more going on than that. His parents were vets (mine, too). His grandfather was a vet. His grandfather’s dad was a vet. That’s some family history you don’t ignore.

And, this last Memorial Day, Matt Boyd supported the troops in a way most people wouldn’t even care to think about.

Boyd wrote the names of dead soldiers on his shoes. Including two who committed suicide after coming back.

They were twin brothers. Who both died. And Boyd made sure their dad was given free tickets to a baseball game. “He’s out there promoting things that a lot of people don’t realize,” the dad said.

When I was a kid, playing backyard baseball, there was this weird old man in the apartment behind home plate. Nobody ever saw him. We all knew his wife, who was kind and funny. She brought us snacks during our games.

At one point, and I wasn’t supposed to hear this, she explained to my mom why her husband never left the apartment. He’d been in the Battle of the Bulge, and it fucked him up. Being forced to kill people and having others try to kill you can fuck you up.

But my understanding was that he liked watching us kids play baseball from out of his window, remembering a time when he was happy, too.

Anyhoo, Lineups!

@Tigers

@Twins