The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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60 THE WOLVERINE ❱ NOVEMBER 2024 BY ANTHONY BROOME F ormer Michigan baseball star Bobby Scales has had a front-row seat for the Detroit Tigers' magical run to, and now through, the Major League Baseball postseason, serving as a color analyst on the radio broadcast team. The organization took the baseball world by storm after its 31-13 run to end the regular season culminated in the franchise's first playoff appearance since 2014 and a trip to the American League Divisional Series after a two-game sweep of the Houston Astros in the wild-card round. Detroit then took the Cleveland Guardians to the limit before losing the series in five games on Oct. 12. Scales, who was a three-year starter for Michigan baseball, a 1999 co-captain and All-American, and a two-time All- Big Ten performer, has been part of the Detroit broadcast team as a part-time analyst since 2023. The Wolverine caught up with the U-M alum to speak on the experience and what has been the most remarkable part of covering a team that was 10 games out of a playoff spot in Au- gust. "It's been unbelievable just seeing how these young guys have responded," Scales said. "And sure, it's been house money to a certain extent, but I think this generation of kid is different. This generation of young person is different in that they have a lot less fear of the un- known and they have a lot less regard for what they're not supposed to be able to do than past generations as a whole. "It doesn't surprise me that this team is not at all intimidated by the moment, partly because I think that's what this kind of generation is a little bit more. They're just a little bit bolder. I think also, it's because they've been playing under this duress, knowing that they got hot and then wait a minute, all of a sud- den, this thing's a reality. They've been doing this for the last two months. "So, if you combine those two factors, I'm not altogether surprised. Now the run that they went on to get in … you just don't do that in sports. I think it's great. It's great for the city, especially piggy- backing off the Detroit Lions' successes and for those of us who bleed maize and blue, obviously from the successes we had with Team 144 last year. I think it's great. I think it's great for the city of Detroit. I think it's great for Southeast Michigan. I think it's great for all of those people who love the Detroit Tigers." There has been a bit of a Michigan fla- vor to the Tigers, with pitching coach Chris Fetter and hitting coach Michael Brdar, both U-M baseball alums, holding prominent roles within the organization. Scales discussed the maize-and-blue connections within the operation and the job each of them have done this year. "I think [the Michigan connection] is more coincidence than anything else," he said. "For me, I just get up there and talk. I talk about the games. I talk about what I see. I talk about some of the insights that are happening in games. But guys like Scales was a three-year starter for Michigan baseball, a 1999 co-captain and All-American, and a 14th-round selection in the Major League Baseball draft. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS ❱ WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Baseball Alum Bobby Scales Is Along For Tigers' Postseason Ride ❱ Scales "The thing that I try to perpetuate every single day, that I'm so appreciative of, is just how welcoming and open the Michigan alumni network is."