Ferndale

Tigers come to Ferndale, enjoy chips and salsa

By Jeremy Selweski
C & G Staff Writer

» Click on image to view full size « Photo by Deb Jacques Evan Flaherty, 9, pictured, and his mom, Kellie, won two tickets to a game and two passes to the Tigers Champions Club during the Jan. 20 event at Garden Fresh Gourmet in Ferndale. Photo by Deb Jacques Evan Flaherty, 9, pictured, and his mom, Kellie, won two tickets to a game and two passes to the Tigers Champions Club during the Jan. 20 event at Garden Fresh Gourmet in Ferndale. Photo by Deb Jacques Tigers ace Justin Verlander tries some of Garden Fresh's signature chips and salsa. Photo by Deb Jacques Garden Fresh employee Michelle Perry cheers for the Tigers.

It’s not every day that you see a group of tigers gathered around a table eating chips and salsa.

In this case, the mammals in question were actually members of the Detroit Tigers, and they had come to Garden Fresh Gourmet in Ferndale as part of their 2012 Winter Caravan tour. At a special event held on Jan. 20 for Garden Fresh employees and their families, a platoon of Tigers players, coaches, executives and broadcasters — including Justin Verlander, Ramon Santiago, Al Avila and John Keating — were in the house for a question-and-answer session and prize giveaway in front of about 150 energetic fans.

First up, though, was the private chips and salsa tasting session. Members of the 2012 squad were each given a bowl of chips and three different types of salsa to determine the Tigers’ favorite team flavor. After much deliberation, the hungry players anointed Jack’s Special Medium Salsa as their consensus choice.

As eager fans awaited a glimpse of the guests of honor, they were treated to a video montage of highlights from the Tigers’ successful 2011 season. The mood was set, and the crowd was ready to go.

Then it was showtime.

Tigers fans of all ages screamed and cheered and waved white flags above their heads as their heroes emerged from behind the curtain and took the stage. The biggest ovation was reserved for Verlander, the team’s star pitcher and the recent winner of the 2011 American League Most Valuable Player and Cy Young awards.

Keating, a broadcaster for Fox Sports Detroit, led the group through a series of questions about their accomplishments last year and their goals for the season ahead. Verlander told the crowd that he was “somewhat surprised” when he learned that he had won the MVP award, a rarity for starting pitchers, but that he was also “pretty confident” going into it.

“It was just a great feeling,” he said. “But it was definitely a rollercoaster ride of emotions leading up to it. I don’t think it will ever really set in (that I won) until my career is over.”

Santiago, a utility infielder who mostly plays second base and shortstop, said that part of the key to the Tigers’ success last year was the relaxed environment in the clubhouse, where he and teammate Victor Martinez are known for choosing the music selection before and after games.

“I think we had a good chemistry and got along pretty good,” he said. “It was a loose clubhouse.”

Verlander got a big laugh from the crowd when he told a story about a prank that he played on teammate Don Kelly during a game in Minnesota last season. With the TV cameras pointed toward the Tigers’ dugout, Verlander pulled the old “hot foot” prank on an unsuspecting Kelly by setting one of his shoes on fire, and Kelly walked around the dugout for a little while before noticing the blaze and putting it out.

Silliness aside, the Tigers recently suffered a blow when they learned that an injury to Martinez, their reliable designated hitter, could keep him out for the entire 2012 season. Avila — the team’s vice president, assistant general manager and father of catcher Alex Avila — said that team leaders were “obviously very concerned when we learned about Victor.” Still, he was focusing on more positive things going into this year, such as having talented young players like Doug Fister, Delmon Young and Brennan Boesch for an entire season.
“We’re trying to put together a team that can not only make it back to the playoffs, but win in the playoffs, as well,” Avila said.

Keating, Verlander and Garden Fresh owner and founder Jack Aronson finished off the event by handing out prizes to a number of raffle winners in the crowd. The giveaways included tickets to upcoming Tigers games, autographed baseballs and other team memorabilia.

When fan Kellie Flaherty of Chesterfield Township learned that she and her 9-year-old son, Evan, had won two tickets to a game and two passes to the Tigers Champions Club, she excitedly leapt up off her seat and grabbed the raffle ticket from her son’s hand.

“I had the ticket, but she stole it from me!” Evan later said, jokingly.

Flaherty, a Garden Fresh employee, was just happy for the chance to be part of the event. “I thought it was very well put together, and it’s a really great thing for the company,” she said.

The Tigers ended up giving away one more prize than they had originally planned, however. When no one in the crowd claimed the winning number for four free tickets, 10-year-old David Elliott of Clarkston stood up and declared, “I want it!” Verlander then offered to give the young fan four free tickets of his own, before drawing another number for the prize.

Afterwards, Elliott and his mother, Sherree, expressed their gratitude for Verlander’s kind gesture. David, an aspiring pitcher who idolizes the Tigers ace, was still on cloud nine about the whole event, and Sherree was equally thrilled.

“I thought it was really informative and a lot of fun,” she said. “It was really cool to be able to catch a glimpse of (the players’) natural personalities and see them joke around with each other.”

Aronson pointed out that the partnership between the Tigers and Garden Fresh, Ferndale’s largest employer and the No. 1 fresh salsa maker in the U.S. and Canada, is nothing new. The 2012 season, he said, will mark the fourth straight year that the company’s products have been sold during Tigers home games at Comerica Park.

Aronson pronounced the day’s event an unqualified success and noted that he was especially excited to welcome Verlander inside the Garden Fresh headquarters.

“We had the best pitcher in the world sitting on our stage today,” he said, smiling from ear to ear. “I thought the turnout was really impressive. It was great to see the Tigers and have a chance to honor them for such a great season.”

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Jeremy Selweski at jSelweski@candgnews.com or at (586)218-5004.