Miguel Cabrera trades baseball for fan’s ‘Fire Ausmus’ sign
Brad Ausmus is not a popular man in Detroit at the moment. The Tigers are below .500 and all but sure to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
The discontent with Ausmus’ managing this season led a Tigers fan named Justin Spiro to bring a “Fire Ausmus” sign to Wrigley Field on Tuesday night with Detroit taking on the Cubs.
Enter Miguel Cabrera.
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On his way back to the dugout late in the game, Cabrera saw Spiro holding his sign in the first row. Not wanting that negativity near his team, he jumped into action and offered a ball in exchange for the sign.
It worked. Spiro handed Cabrera the sign and Cabrera tossed a ball back to Spiro, who then handed it to the kid sitting next to him. All’s well that ends well, as they say.
“Cabrera is a great guy who had his manager’s back in the most fan-friendly way possible,” said Spiro, who just finished law school. “I was trying to get a ball for the kid next to me for two hours, so it all worked out.”
It turns out it wasn’t the first interaction between Spiro and Cabrera either. Back in 2012, Spiro brought a “Fire Leyland” sign to a game when then-manager Jim Leyland’s job was in jeopardy. Cabrera spotted the sign on that day too and had a little fun with Spiro, grabbing it and walking away before returning it a few moments later.
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A baseball was enough to quiet one fretful fan’s cries for Ausmus’ dismissal this time. Will it be enough to quiet the calls for change for good? No, probably not, and the conversation about Ausmus’ future in Detroit will continue as the Tigers play out the season.
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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr
