Skubal has 'really special' Coliseum memories

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OAKLAND -- Tarik Skubal still remembers being at the Oakland Coliseum for what he calls the coolest memory as a baseball fan growing up -- getting a foul ball from his favorite player, A’s third baseman Eric Chavez.

“I was [sitting in the] second deck, kind of where these railings are, down the right-field line,” the Tigers left-hander recalled to MLB.com colleague Shaun O’Neill. “The ball kind of shot in front of me and I just remember having it. I don't remember if I'm the one who got it, but I remember having it.”

Does Skubal remember what he did with it?

“No, [I] probably lost it two days later, just being a kid,” Skubal said. “But I had this really cool light, puffy jacket with the Oakland A's [logo]. It was my uncle Dan's, like the ones you'd see the pitchers wear on second base. I had the white one. That was sweet.”

Before Skubal became the pride of Kingman, Ariz., and Detroit's next great ace, he was born in Hayward, Calif., about 10 miles southeast from the Coliseum. Before Skubal could dream of being a pitcher, he grew up idolizing Chavez. And he was mesmerized watching Barry Zito flipping curveballs on television, long before imagining himself flummoxing Major League hitters with an overpowering fastball and a buckling changeup.

“His [Zito] curveball was so big that it went out of the frame and back into the frame when he was throwing,” Skubal said.

So, as maligned as the Coliseum can be for some, Skubal has a very understandable soft spot for it.

“Yeah, that place is really special to me,” Skubal said. “Some people think it's a bad venue or it's a dump or whatever, but I actually look forward to going there every year.”

With the A’s poised to move to Sacramento next season -- then eventually to Las Vegas -- this weekend’s visit by the Tigers appears to be Skubal’s last chance. It’ll begin with him on the mound for the series opener with a golden opportunity to create memories for a lot of people in what has been a special season for him while punctuating his case for the American League Cy Young Award.

Including Friday, Skubal has four or five starts left this season, depending on how the Tigers map out their rotation over the final few weeks. He leads AL pitchers in the Triple Crown categories -- 16 wins, a 2.51 ERA and 201 strikeouts -- and is a strong finish away from joining Hall of Famer Hal Newhouser and likely future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander as Detroit hurlers to win the pitching Triple Crown.

Verlander became a hated nemesis in Oakland for his magic at the Coliseum, knocking the A’s out of the AL Division Series with masterful performances in winner-take-all games in 2012 and '13. Skubal has dominated the A’s at the Coliseum in back-to-back seasons, but with a loud, large rooting section that will always make it feel like home.

“There'll be a lot of family there for me,” Skubal said. “I think it's always special to throw in front of my grandparents and aunts and uncles, so they can kinda see. They don't see all the behind-the-scenes stuff, but they get to see me play and enjoy it. I think that's pretty special.”

Skubal delivered at the Coliseum last season, tossing seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball with a walk and 10 strikeouts in a 7-3 win on Sept. 21. It was Skubal's best outing at the time since his return from left flexor tendon surgery at midseason. Yet it was just slightly better than his visit to Oakland on July 21, 2022, when he allowed one unearned run on two hits over six innings, with two walks and nine strikeouts in a 7-2 win.

Skubal will face an A’s offense that’s tied with the Braves for fourth in the Majors with 181 home runs, trailing just the Yankees (213), Orioles (209) and Dodgers (190), but with a .234 average that ranks just ahead of the Tigers (.233) in 25th place. Oakland has been slightly more effective against lefties than righties, including two homers and four runs in 6 1/3 innings against Skubal on April 5 to ruin the Tigers’ home opener at Comerica Park.

Skubal will be the second visiting starter in as many days with one last homecoming at the Coliseum. Mariners right-hander and Oakland native Bryan Woo struck out six A’s over five innings of two-run ball in a 6-4 win by Seattle on Thursday afternoon.

Now it’s Skubal’s turn to say farewell to the ballpark. And while he lost track of his Chavez foul ball long ago, he has plans to get some keepsakes from his final visit.

“I’m going to try to get some dirt from the mound,” Skubal said. “I think that’ll be pretty special, pretty cool.”