Series 'regenerates pride in Detroit'

DETROIT (WOOD) - Winning the pennant brought a $26 million infusion into the local Detroit economy. But the World Series brings more than bragging rights and a short term economic boost.

It has the chance to raise the city's collective spirit.

"Everybody's pulling together. Nobody's black, nobody's white, nobody's Arab," said a man named Marcus Preston II as he stood outside Comerica Park Saturday afternoon. "We're all Detroit fans."

The players -- both current and former Tigers -- play a big role.

"I think it regenerates the excitement and the pride of living in Detroit, being a part of Detroit," said Jack Morris,  the five-time All-Star who helped pitch the 1984 Tigers to a World Series victory.

No one is naive enough to say baseball, or any sport, can heal all the world's ills. But any sense of hope, especially in a town like Detroit, is a step in the right direction.

"None of us want to talk about the situation and, you know, the unemployment and the crime and stuff," said Morris. "But, I think the sports teams that win can really help bring them through those tough times."

It's happened before in Detroit.

In 1967, the city erupted into a riot that lasted five days. When it was over, 45 people were dead, businesses were looted and neighborhoods were burned.

When they won the World Series a year after the riots in 1968, the Tigers gave Detroit a well deserved break from the bad news.

Just a few blocks from Comerica Park, you can still see the city's decline. Weed-choked vacant lots are fenced off. A graffiti-covered building that appears to have been a school at one time is falling apart.

The same could be said for 2012.

There haven't been riots, but the city is broke. Leaders barely avoided a state takeover last spring. There's even talk of shrinking this once great city into smaller, more manageable parcels.

But this weekend, there's championship baseball. And even though the Tigers are two games down, a ray of hope comes from Comerica Park.

Much like the ray that came from the old ball park at Michigan and Trumbull in 1968 and 1984.

"I would love to bottle that for the whole year," said Marcus Preston. "But that's why we got the Detroit Lions."