Pure Michigan Spoof Takes Aim At Detroit Tigers And It’s Hilarious
It's been a rough first third of the 2022 Major League Baseball season for the Detroit Tigers. After a pleasantly surprising 2021 campaign — which included an above .500 run from early May through the end of the season — fans thought the team's brutal five-plus-year rebuild was finally over.
But the Tigers have failed to pick up where they left off last year.
As of the official one-third mark of the season on June 5, the Tigers' record stood at 21-33. That's the third-worst mark in the American League and fifth-worst in all of MLB. Detroit is 10 games back of the Central-leading Minnesota Twins as of the one-third mark, and 6.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot.
Worse yet is the Tigers' offense. They average 2.81 runs per game, which makes them the most anemic run-scoring team in all of the major leagues by far. Their lowly .220 team batting average is third-worst in the majors, with only Arizona and Oakland faring worse at the plate.
The sluggish start for these Tigers is in stark contrast to the exciting, fun, and competitive brand of ball last year's group played. Making matters even worse is the team's offseason moves: Detroit made a six-year, $140 million investment in shortstop Javy Baez, and, so far, it looks like a bad one. Baez is hitting .205 with 3 home runs and 15 RBI.
And you know things are bad when the folks who make parodies of the Pure Michigan advertisements line you up in their sights. Their spoofs of the state of Michigan's tourism ad campaigns are popular and often take a funny, critical slant on things. This time, it's the Tigers' turn. See for yourself.