Perspective

The question is would you rather the Tigers were no good and you have "total access" or that the Tigers are GREAT and you have limited access? 

In 2004, the Tigers were coming off of a season in which they lost 119 games. That doesn't sound possible, but the Tigers team from 10 years ago was not very good. Okay, they were bad. Terrible. But, you could walk up to Carlos Guillen (with a Cubs fan, at that) on his way to the practice field and he would talk to you, sign anything, and appreciate that you were there.

You could even talk to Brandon Inge who had just been displaced by Ivan Rodriguez as catcher (remember those days!) and be the only person at the park — the only person in Lakeland who cared about the Tigers! Inge actually looks like a kid in the above picture, with Lori.

Now, except when the players walk right by you at the fences, this is as close as you can get!

In July of 2004, the Tigers still had bullpens in the right field corner. They must have decided they were going to need more seats eventually and moved the bullpen to left field and the fences in 25 feet our yonder.