Detroit Tigers analyst, Michigan alum Bobby Scales speaks on postseason run, Maize and Blue influence in organization: 'It's been unbelievable'

Former Michigan Wolverine baseball star Bobby Scales has had a front seat for the magical Detroit Tigers run to, and now through, the MLB Postseason as part of the radio broadcast as a color analyst.

The organization is taking the baseball world by storm after a 31-13 run to end the regular season culminated in the franchise’s first MLB playoff appearance since 2014 and a trip to the ALDS after a two-game sweep of the Houston Astros in the wild-card round.

Scales, who was a three-year starter for Michigan baseball, a 1999 co-captain and All-American and a two-time All-Big Ten performer, has been part of the Detroit broadcast since 2023 as a part-time analyst. TheWolverine.com caught up with the Wolverine alum ahead of Saturday’s Game 1 between the Tigers and Cleveland Guardians to speak on the experience and what has been the most remarkable part of covering a team that was left for dead and 10 games out of a playoff spot in August.

“It’s been unbelievable just seeing how these young guys have responded,” Scales said. “And sure, it’s been house money to a certain extent, but I think this generation of kid is different. This generation of young person is different in that they have a lot less fear of the unknown and they have a lot less regard for what they’re not supposed to be able to do than past generations as a whole.

“It doesn’t surprise me that this team is not at all intimidated by the moment, partly because I think that’s what this kind of generation is a little bit more. They’re just a little bit bolder. I think also too, it’s because they’ve been playing under this duress knowing that they got hot and then wait a minute, all of a sudden, this thing’s a reality. They’ve been doing this for the last two months.

“So if you combine those two factors, I’m not altogether surprised. Now the run that they went on to get in…you just don’t do that in sports. I think it’s great. It’s great for the city, especially piggybacking off the Detroit Lions’ successes and for those of us who bleed Maize and Blue, obviously from the successes we had with Team 144 last year. I think it’s great. I think it’s great for the city of Detroit. I think it’s great for southeast Michigan. I think it’s great for all of those people who love the Detroit Tigers.”

There has been a bit of a Michigan flavor to the Tigers with pitching coach Chris Fetter and hitting coach Michael Brdar, both U-M baseball alums, holding prominent roles within the organization. Scales discussed the Maize and Blue connections within the operation and the job each of them have done this year.

“I think [the Michigan connection] is more coincidence than anything else,” he said. “For me, I just get up there and talk. I talk about the games. I talk about what I see. I talk about some of the insights that are happening in games. But guys like Chris Fetter and Michael Brdar… the impact that those guys have had, it’s been awesome.

“Throughout the front office, there are different people that went to Michigan or what have you. I think it’s a happy coincidence, but with Fetter and Brdar, those guys have been unbelievable, what they’ve gotten these guys and what they’ve gotten out of these guys, being able to keep these guys calm and being able to execute in those moments.”

So how far can the Tigers take their run into the postseason? At this point, Scales does not see a reason to put a limit on them or pick against them.

“Who’s to say they can’t [win it all]? I mean, why not us?” Scales asked. “That’s what people keep saying. Why not? Why not this Tiger team? The things that they do very well are things that winning baseball teams do very well. This team pitches, and they have good stuff. They don’t have as much swing-and-miss stuff as other staffs, but they can execute pitches in the moment. They catch the baseball. Good teams to win it this time of year play defense. and they have competitive at-bats.

“They don’t have as much power as a lot of teams that reach this stage of the playoffs. They don’t have a lot of flashy names, but what you do is you look up and these guys absolutely grind at-bats into a pulp, and they make you work. Even if you get ’em out, even if you strike ’em out, they make you work every at bat. They don’t give a single pitch away ever.

And then on the bases, I call base running the special teams of baseball, you will not find a good football team that does not have a good special teams including a solid punter, a solid kicker. Good teams that win this time of year run the bases and they run them effectively, and they’re bold. This Tiger team does all that. So when you look at it in the aggregate and you ask that question, They continue to do that. They can go as far as they possibly go.”

The Tigers-Guardians best-of-five series gets underway on Saturday at 1:08 p.m. ET in Cleveland. Game 2 will take place on Monday at 4:08 p.m. before the series returns to the state of Michigan on Wednesday for Game 3, set for either 3:08 or 4:08 p.m. Game 4, if necessary, would be at 6:08 p.m. in Detroit. Should a deciding Game 5 take place, it would be at either 4:38 p.m. or 8:08 p.m. on Oct. 12 in Cleveland.

A full conversation with Scales about his broadcasting background and time at Michigan will appear in next month’s issue of The Wolverine Magazine. Head to TheWolverineOnDemand.com to subscribe for your copy today!