The Detroit Tigers could have issued a suspension to Tyler Collins after the outfielder made the unwise decision to flip off the home fans in Comerica Park Monday night. Instead, they sent him to the minor leagues, which may actually be worse.
Tyler Collins flipping the bird to the fans booing him. pic.twitter.com/kB2kjTn4gp
— Curtis (@Curtos07) April 26, 2016
Collins was frustrated when he lost a pop fly in the lights during a game Monday night. After losing sight of the baseball, in came Justin Upton to try and bail him out. The ball dropped to the grass, and as he made his way back to his position in center field Collins reacted to the chorus of boos for the play by flipping the bird at the fans, waving his middle finger from the third base side quickly to the first-base side of the stadium. It was quick, but it was caught on camera, which always makes things worse than they could have been in the first place. On Tuesday, the Tigers sent Collins to the Triple-A affiliate. Collins did apologize for the incident after the game, but the damage was done.
The timing of the drop to the minors may be much more of a coincidence than anything else. The Tigers activated reliever Francisco Rodriguez from the team’s family emergency list, and a roster spot needed to be cleared. For the Tigers, they remove Collins from the picture without having to issue a suspension. And now Collins will be traveling in Triple-A style, which is a far cry from the way the Tigers make their road trips. From Detroit’s perspective, everything works out just fine. For Collins, hopefully a lesson has been learned; never flip off the fans.
Collins may have been going back to the minors anyway, but this brief episode did him no favors in earning brownie points from the Tigers. If he was not going to be sent to Triple-A, perhaps a one-game suspension would have been served, if not just a fine. In any event, Collins may make his way back to the big stage again this season, and when he does, he will likely try to keep a calmer demeanor in the heat of the moment. If not, maybe he will be dropped to Double-A.
