WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Double-A Erie after a 25-game stint
in which he hit .239. He played in 25
games with Toledo in 2011, but at 28
years old, with a scoped knee ending
his year prematurely, Kunkel began
looking toward the future. When the
Tigers offered him the bullpen gig, the
timing felt right.
"I was in spring training, trying
to make a team and it looked like I
was probably going to get sent back
to Erie, which would have been my
fifth time in Double-A," he said. "I
wasn't ready to be done with baseball,
but this opportunity allowed me
to keep going to the ballpark every
day. To keep putting on a uniform,
to keep catching, and the bonus of
transitioning from a player into a
coaching career."
Some days, when he ascends the
dugout steps onto the field at Fenway
in Boston or Wrigley in Chicago,
Kunkel stands in awe for a split-
second, but then he hears his name
called and goes to work.
"When I'm catching Verlander or
Scherzer, I'm working," he said. "I'm
paying attention to their pitches, and
giving them advice on pitch selection,
their location, how I thought a ball
broke if they're playing with their
mechanics or grip, what hitters might
be thinking.
"Before the game, that's when I take
a step back and take it all in. I was in
spring training with Verlander and
Cabrera so I don't see them like a fan
would, but as a teammate, and now
in the coach-player relationship. But
when I look out at the stadium and
soak up the tradition and realize my
surroundings, that's what is so cool
for me." ❏
1-800-421-7751 • www.thewolverineondemand.com
Michigan StadiuM
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