The future Hall of Famer drew the loudest cheers during pregame introductions Friday afternoon at Comerica Park. The manager, the free agent shortstop and the two No. 1 picks were next. And after the faces of the franchise, the fans most eagerly greeted a face who fits the franchise, a face who grew up rooting for the future Hall of Famer, a face who once was just another in the crowd. They would roar for Eric Haase later.
“It feels a lot like Tiger baseball when I was growing up, those teams in the late 2000’s, ‘12, ’14,” Haase would say. “The place was rocking tonight.”
They weren’t just cheering for his background when Haase charged up the dugout steps. The Dearborn native has done much more than show up. They were cheering for his homers, 22 of them last year. They were cheering for the way he made them count. They were cheering for his story because it’s everyone’s dream, because with enough sweat and eye black maybe all of us can make it to The Show. They were cheering for one of their own when they cheered for Eric Haase, and they were the first fans ever to cheer for him on Opening Day.
Opening Day has never been on Haase’s calendar. He didn't go as a kid because he couldn’t skip school, and he hadn’t gone in four years as a big-leaguer because he couldn’t crack a roster – first with the Indians, then with the Tigers. Not until Friday, in the ballpark where he came to countless games growing up and where his mom dropped him off last spring before his season debut. Haase would go 2-4 in a win for the home team.
Haase didn't just bring a club to Detroit last season. He brought it in the clutch. He delivered big hits in big spots, the biggest a ninth-inning, game-tying grand slam against the Twins that only would have been better had it come at home. He made multi-homer games look routine and he made big-league pitchers look amateur for giving up so many bombs to a 28-year-old rookie, to a hitter so often for hire. He made the Indians look foolish and the Tigers look smart. He made Comerica Park come to its feet.
“Haase is Haase, man,” said Akil Baddoo. “When he comes up there, you always expect big things.”
His heroics earned him a spot on this year’s team, as a weapon off the bench. It’s a role Haase has embraced. With the Tigers trailing the White Sox 3-1 in the eighth on Friday and lefty Aaron Bummer entering the game for Chicago, Haase was ready. This was his spot. He got the call from A.J. Hinch and came off the bench on a cold, wet Michigan afternoon, with nothing but a thick beard and few swings in the cage to get warm. Wouldn’t that be tough?
“Maybe for some of the Latin guys that come from the islands,” Haase said with a laugh. “But fortunately for me, I’ve grown up in this my whole life. High school baseball (at Divine Child) is always this kind of weather. Once you get used to the fact that it’s just cold, it’s just baseball.”
Haase grinded the at-bat, as he tends to do. He forced his way to the big leagues after 11 seasons in the minors. He doesn't go down easy. He battled back from an 0-2 hole and worked the count full, before Bummer got him looking. And now Haase was looking ahead; if he was lucky, he’d get another chance in the ninth.
“The clutch gene,” said Hinch, “is really about the opportunity to be up there, and then staying in the moment.”
So here was the moment: Tigers trailing by a run with two outs to go, All-Star closer Liam Hendricks throwing bullets for the White Sox: 97 here, 98 there. He had just waved aside Spencer Torkelson like a gnat. But Haase has made it this far by coming back for more. That's why he's here, “to just give my team a chance, to keep us in the fight,” he said.
“Just to be in that situation,” said Haase, “couldn’t have drawn it up any better.”
98 for a ball, 97 for another. Couldn’t have drawn it up any better. 98 for a strike, 97 for another. Keep us in the fight. He laid off 97 to run the count full, then fouled off 97 and 98 to stay alive. And now here came 97, and there it went, high and deep to left and gone as soon as it left the bat. A sold-out crowd lost its mind and Haase nearly lost his helmet as he sprinted around the bases, feet barely touching the ground. Comerica Park shook. It shuddered. It roared like it hasn’t roared since J.D. Martinez took Chris Sale out to center on a summer night in 2016.
“I think the damn place was about to fall down,” said Baddoo. “When he hit the ball, I was screaming for joy. That’s just Haase being Haase. He got us all fired up, and that’s what got the whole rally going.”
“We always expect him to hit something hard somewhere,” said Jeimer Candelario “Just like he did today: he just touches the ball and goes deep.”
The Tigers weren’t losing now. Austin Meadows tripled and Javier Baez drove a ball off the wall, and the building erupted again like a long-dormant volcano. Somewhere in the mayhem in the crowd, where beer was being hurled into the air like lava, were 15 of Haase’s family members and, by his estimation, some 50 or 100 more relatives and friends. Once upon a time, he was right there with them.
“That’s why you play the game as a kid, to be up in those situations,” said Haase. “And if you want to be a big-time player, you have to make big-time plays.”
Does the clutch gene exist? The pragmatist Hinch would say no; it’s when opportunity meets preparation. Haase, the man living his own dream, would have to disagree: “I definitely believe in it,” he said. And can you blame him? Eight of his homers last season came in high-leverage situations, where he posted a .918 OPS. So did his first one this season.
Detroit believes in Eric Haase, who’s believing more and more in himself. He was here on Opening Day, right where he belonged, in a stadium reborn thanks to a kid born in Detroit. Asked if he had a favorite Opening Day memory as a kid, a game or a moment he might have caught on TV after rushing home from school, Haase smiled and said, “Honestly, I grew up watching so much Tigers baseball it all blends together.”
Now he has one that stands out.