[2] The play of veterans like Kenny Rogers and Todd Jones, the emergence of previously unestablished players Curtis Granderson, Brandon Inge, Craig Monroe and Marcus Thames, and significant production from erstwhile All-Stars Iván Rodríguez, Magglio Ordóñez and Carlos Guillén all contributed to the team's success.
[3] Leyland consistently emphasized the importance of playing with intensity throughout all nine innings, a philosophy embraced not only in the players' words but also demonstrated by the team's knack for late-inning clutch hits, rallies, and comebacks.
There was concern when starter Mike Maroth—who had lost 20 games in 2003, but had since rebounded—had to undergo surgery early in the season, but his replacement Zach Miner proved to be adequate.
Tigers fans traveled to road games in large numbers, most notably at the interleague series with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field from June 16–18.
[8] However, on July 20, at a game which featured a particularly stirring rendition of the national anthem by local opera singer Eugene Zweig,[9] and a standing-room-only crowd that included actor Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard,[10] the Tigers beat White Sox pitching ace José Contreras to take the series two games to one from the White Sox, the team's first series victory against an upper-echelon AL team in 2006.
In their next two series, against the AL West division-leading Oakland Athletics, and the red-hot Minnesota Twins, who were 34–8 over their previous 42 games, the Tigers also won two out of three.
On July 31, Tigers management traded minor-league pitcher Brian Rogers to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for left-handed hitting and three-time All Star first baseman Sean Casey.
Perhaps the biggest loss the team suffered was not a singular game, but one of their best all-around players, Plácido Polanco, who separated his shoulder making a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch in Fenway Park against the Red Sox on August 15.
[12] Only the big cushion built in the summer saved the Tigers from what would have been baseball's most statistically infamous collapse, as they clinched a playoff berth on September 24 with an 11–4 win over the Kansas City Royals.
On October 1, despite a rare relief appearance from Kenny Rogers, the Tigers fell out of the top spot in the American League Central with a 10–8 extra-inning loss to the 100-loss Royals in their last regular season game.
The final loss gave the Twins the AL Central title, and made the Tigers the American League wild card entrant in the postseason.
It gave the Tigers their first Postseason series victory since 1984 The final out kicked off a joyous celebration of players and fans throughout Comerica Park and Downtown Detroit.
[35] Returning to Comerica Park for Game 3, the Tigers shut out the A's, 3–0 behind Rogers who allowed only two singles and ran his scoreless streak to 15 innings.
[37] Both prior instances were by the Yankees: in 1976 when Chris Chambliss homered to defeat Kansas City and in 2003 when Aaron Boone hit a 10th inning home run to beat the Boston Red Sox.
In the first inning rookie pitcher Justin Verlander threw two wild pitches, tying the Series record (AP); this was in sharp contrast to the five total that he had thrown in all of his previous games.
The Tigers would not return to the postseason until 2011 and they would not appear in the Fall Classic again until 2012 Note: G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, Avg.