Detroit, MI

How Ford, GM auto dealers are thinking about Detroit’s EV transition and their future

Published

1 year ago

June 3, 2023

Press Room

How Ford, GM auto dealers are thinking about Detroit’s EV transition and their future

Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles at a Ford dealership in Colma, California, on July 22, 2022.

Bloomberg | Getty Images

After a home, buying a car is the most expensive purchase most consumers will ever make during their lifetime. The transition to electric vehicles by major auto makers is likely to make the process a little more stressful, at least in the early days of the EV era when many consumers are still under-informed on EV basics. If consumers are to be sold on the mass adoption of battery-powered electric vehicles, car dealers are going to be essential to the pitch. It’s the network of franchise auto dealers who provide education, service, and face-to-face sales, so companies like GM and Ford are working closely with them. But it’s a daunting moment for both sides of the car business.

“We haven’t had a shift of this magnitude in the auto industry ever,” said Robb Hernandez, president of Monterey Park, Calif.-based Camino Real Chevrolet. “The ground is still moving beneath dealers making decisions. The automakers are doing their best making this shift, but the regulation is more of the driving force of how we will all have to pivot.”

That includes his home state of California, where 100% of new car sales are mandated to be EVs by 2035.

“I can only speak for GM,” Hernandez said. “They are listening as we make these changes but the landscape is ever-changing at this point,” he said. But he added, “Most auto dealers are optimistic and excited for the changing landscape.”

As of late last year, 65% of Ford’s dealers had opted into the EV certification program (a little under 2,000, according to data shared by Ford), as it has started to make the role of car dealers central to the EV transition process.

Many consumers want a streamlined process and virtually every transaction today has some online component, according to Brian Maas, president of the California New Car Dealers Association. But with the complicated nature of a vehicle purchase transaction (trade-ins, financing, purchase of extended warranties and other products), a fully online experience will only work for a percentage of car buyers. “The rest will still want to ‘kick the tires’ and take a test drive before investing $50,000+ in the average new car,” he said.

This preference is expected to hold true for EVs. A recent report from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) cites “customer choice,” “vehicle availability,” and “affordability” as keys to mass adoption, all of which require a critical role to be played by dealers.

“I think CARB understands that dealers are essential to the adoption of EVs,” Maas said.

He pointed to several factors. First, and most obvious, outside of Tesla it is franchised dealers who have to explain and sell this new technology to the mass market. Second, all the incentives adopted federally and in states such as California are administered by or through dealers. And finally, EVs won’t approach affordability in the short term without dealers making these funds available to consumers and explaining how these programs work at the point of purchase.

Kerrigan Advisors, which works with dealership groups on sales and acquisitions, noted that Ford, relative to some top global competitors, has a relatively large dealership network to manage through the EV transition. “To some, Ford’s approach is a way to weed out the smaller dealers who are unwilling to make the EV investment,” said Erin Kerrigan, founder and managing director. “Keep in mind Ford has over 3,000 franchises in the U.S.,” Kerrigan said. “By contrast, Toyota has only 1,482 and sells more vehicles than Ford.”

But she expects more Ford dealers will opt in at a future date, once they observe a meaningful consumer shift to EVs.

Timing of the EV transition is a concern

While EV sales are increasing rapidly — as recently as 2021, total battery-powered electric vehicle sales in the U.S. were under 450,000, but Kelley Blue Book says sales surpassed 800,000 in 2022 and are expected to top one million this year — dealers remain cautious about the timelines outlined by the auto companies.

“Despite significant increases in EV sales in 2023, dealers are largely skeptical about the OEM’s timeframes on the EV rollout,” Kerrigan said. “Many say they expect the rollout to take twice as long as expected and EV market share to be half as much as projected by the OEMs.”

Ford’s opt-in window will open again in 2027 for dealers that did not initially join.

Using California as a model — with its timeline being the most aggressive – the process can begin to feel pretty squeezed, Maas said.

“I like to point out that this is the most significant change in personal transportation since we went from horses to automobiles early in the 20th century. In addition to changing how vehicles are powered (from ICE to BEV), we have to provide the infrastructure for charging these vehicles and the electrical grid to support such charging, and we have to convey to consumers that their driving behavior will have to change,” he said. The CARB 2035 goal is ambitious, and California is much further along than any other state with a similar goal or considering adopting one, but “it’s still a significant leap,” Maas said.

Dealers also read the headlines and have concerns about OEMs being able to produce EVs at the pace required by mandates, with raw materials like lithium and cobalt in high demand and uncertain supply. As big a supply-demand issue is whether consumer interest will be sufficient to meet the mandate set by the state government in California for a full transition in 12 years. It is a national and state transition that ultimately becomes a local decision.

Even within California, a dealer in a rural area of the state where EV charging infrastructure is a challenge and where public investment in charging will be less likely is going to be more wary than a dealer in a major metro area in the state. A dealer in Santa Monica may decide more quickly, “I need to be all-in on EVs,” Maas said. “Where you stand depends on where your business sits,” he said. “Significant EV adoption in large cities in California seems pretty clear now, but the question is will we have significant EV adoption throughout the entire state, will Eureka have it at the same pace as LA? Maybe, maybe not?” Maas added.

Who pays for EV charging

The charging element of EVs, more than any other factor, influences how an individual’s day unfolds in a state like California where two million new cars are sold annually. Factors include car owners who live in multi-family housing; and the time it can take to charge — as much as 30 minutes to several hours vs. less than five minutes today to fill a gas tank at the many fueling stations with prices prominently posted and adjusted frequently.

“These challenges aren’t insurmountable, but we do have to explain them to consumers, honestly, so that future car buyers are prepared for what lies ahead,” Maas said.

To become “EV certified,” Ford dealerships can buy into a $500,000 tier or a $1.2 million tier, with the vast majority of that investment tied to the expense of installing EV charging infrastructure. At the lower end, this certification provides dealers with repair and maintenance capabilities and a public DC fast charger, but no EVs to show in the showroom, and no access to a Ford.com presence. It also caps their total EV sales at 25% of inventory. The “elite” tier provides two public DC fast chargers, demo units, rapid replenishment, and a presence on Ford.com.

Ford CEO Jim Farley told Automotive News last December when it announced that two-thirds of dealers had signed on for the EV program (most for the higher-priced tier), “The future of the franchise system hangs in the balance here,” Farley said. “The No. 1 EV player in the U.S. bet against the dealers. We wanted to make the opposite choice.”

But specific concerns from dealers, expressed to Ford, offer a window into the desire on the part of the dealers to also ask for deepening commitment from Ford as part of their own commitment to the e-certification program. One issue has been dealer reluctance to offer public charging at their locations and asking Ford to up its own investment in public charging, even though dealers are aware the OEMs are spending billions on factories for new EVs and batteries.

Dealers are prepared to offer charging for new vehicles to be sold on their lot and vehicles being serviced. But OEMs asking dealerships to serve as public charging stations has led to pushback. “Tesla pays for its supercharging network, yes with lots of taxpayer subsidies, but they pay,” Maas said. “Dealers are in the business of selling and servicing cars, not selling electrons,” he said. While future business cases may prove that dealers can make money from charging, Maas noted that the selling of electrons is heavily regulated by public utility commissions across the country. “Maybe dealers just want to sell and service cars,” he said. “I haven’t been to a dealership that sells gasoline.”

Notably, Ford announced a deal with Tesla last week to use its charging network, which surprised some EV experts given the competitive nature of the market, but also placed more pressure on GM to increase charging options.

Ford CEO Jim Farley on new Ford-Tesla EV partnership: It's a bet for our customers

Charging is a big issue, but not the only issue for dealers.

“While 24/7 public charging has perhaps garnered the most attention, there are numerous program features that we have asked Ford to modify or eliminate,” Maas said.

Dozens of state dealer trade associations have challenged Ford on multiple aspects of its EV certification program, including its basic legality relative to state law about franchise models.

Auto makers reliant on the franchise model have a financial incentive to control more of the margin that will be available in the EV market, and have learned from watching the margin profile and quality control enjoyed by Tesla’s direct-to-consumer model.

“We have to change our cost profile,” Ford CEO Jim Farley told CNBC in February.

Ford’s approach to selling EVs in some ways is trying to mimic Tesla’s which gives the company more control over standards from store to store than can be achieved through Ford’s traditional franchise model.

There is always tension between franchisors and franchisees, and all states have franchise laws to try and balance the relationship, and where individual dealers and dealer associations are pushing back is where they feel OEMs are using the EV transition as a way to make asks they never would have made previously. That is not limited to charging, but OEM programs dictating how consumers can reserve EVs, and prescribing how EVs have to be sold, dealer trade-in programs, and service contracts.

“Dealers generally chafe at manufacturer requirements that intrude on their ability to sell to their customers,” Maas said. “OEMs make cars and the dealer buys them at wholesale and the dealer sells. Why should that change because it’s powered by electricity? There’s nothing magic about the fact that it is powered by electricity,” he said.

Auto dealership sales market remains hot

Kerrigan said most of the dealers with whom she speaks do expect GM to eventually have a similar program to Ford’s. Meanwhile, GM is reducing its dealer headcount by buying out existing dealers. In the case of Buick, GM is offering a franchise buyback for those dealers who do not want to make the EV investment. Cadillac has also “quietly reduced” its dealer count through buyouts, Kerrigan said. As opposed to Ford’s “pay-to-play” strategy, she described GM’s current approach as more carrot than stick and, in reducing franchise count, ensuring the GM network is well-positioned to sell and service EVs.

Dealers, though, may see two sides to the ways both big OEMs are playing the EV transition. Ford, by giving dealers the option to opt in later, will be seen by some dealers who are more reluctant today as being more flexible, if requiring more of an upfront investment today. Some dealers may see the GM approach as the more rigid one, based on their situation. “If you sold your store, there is no changing your mind,” Maas said. The OEMs are in a difficult position attempting to meet all dealer needs and concerns about EVs. “It’s hard to have a national program that is one size fits all for the new vehicle market,” he said.

In the short-term, the EV concerns are not proving to be a big factor in overall willingness among entrepreneurs to invest in car dealerships. Amid a big jump in new and used car prices — the average new car retail price increased from $33,000 to over $46,000 between 2015 and 2023 — transactions in the auto dealer market were the second-highest ever in 2022, according to Kerrigan, with a record 845 franchises sold during the first three quarters of the year. While publicly traded auto retailers retreated from the market as their stock market valuations were cut, private buyers increased their presence as earnings soared for the third-consecutive year. Average dealership earnings rose 9% in 2022, which was 210% above the pre-pandemic five-year average.

“Even in a rising interest rate environment, dealers voted with their pocketbooks and grew their businesses through acquisition in 2022 and continue to do so in 2023,” Kerrigan noted in its April report on sales activity.

Car dealership owners have proven to be an adaptive group of small business owners throughout history.

“Dealers are very resilient business people,” Kerrigan said. “The demise of the auto retail business model has been erroneously predicted countless times.”

She said most are not overly concerned about the shift to EVs. While some worry about a decline in fixed operations revenue from sales and service as ICE cars disappear, others see the potential for higher revenue in the service and parts department as dealers retain a higher percentage of the customer service spend with EVs. Maas said while there has been a lot of talk about a service business cliff related to EVs, it’s just talk. “Service is not going away,” he said. In 2022, service contributed 12% of dealership revenue, according to the National Auto Dealers Association, versus nearly 50% for new car sales and 38% for used vehicles.

Dealers are gaining a larger share of EV sales, totaling almost 260,000 units in 2022, according to NADA, and dealers capturing 35% of the new EV market by the end of the year. “We expect this to continue as more BEV models are released by the legacy OEMs in the coming years,” NADA said in its annual report.

“The smartest dealers are trying to figure out where this is going and make decisions both for their family and investment in the business,” Maas said. “Ultimately, it will be up to consumers to tell the dealers and OEMs and the larger market what’s going to happen, because if consumers buy these vehicles in huge numbers it’s a signal to the market we need to respond. But if they don’t buy at the pace CARB has set, then some adjustments have to be made.”

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Detroit, MI

Black tie or a Lions jersey, new Midtown Detroit cocktail bar caters to all

Published

2 hours ago

September 28, 2024

Press Room

Black tie or a Lions jersey, new Midtown Detroit cocktail bar caters to all

With social, political and financial tensions at a boiling point, two Detroit restaurant owners are carving a space in the heart of Midtown for guests to unwind and commune over affordable drinks and simple eats in a relaxed setting.

Dirty Shake, a new cocktail bar concept by Doug Hewitt and Sandy Levine, comes as the duo’s fourth establishment behind award-winning Detroit restaurants Chartreuse and Freya and cocktail bar Dragonfly. It’s the fifth entity for Levine, who owns The Oakland, a craft cocktail bar in Ferndale.

The partners, who were nominated for a James Beard Award in the category for Outstanding Restaurateur in 2023, are known for their higher-end concepts. Freya, a tasting menu restaurant in the Milwaukee Junction neighborhood, landed on both the Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Best New Restaurants list in 2022 and the New York Times list of 50 Favorite Restaurants of 2022.

In 2023, Dragonfly was named Best Cocktail Bar by the Free Press for its exceptional bar program with a specialty in innovative nonalcoholic beverages. And back in 2016, Chartreuse took the top spot as the Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Restaurant of the Year.

Dirty Shake, however, will be a fun departure.

More: Many Michigan chefs, restaurants named semifinalists for James Beard awards

More: Detroit Lions will win the Super Bowl in dramatic fashion, ESPN simulation predicts

“This is definitely going to be very different from our current places,” Levine said of the latest project. Though currently under construction, there’s an industrial simplicity to the space. The bar, which sits at 4642 Second Ave., is lined with brick walls and features hardwood flooring and steel details. “No frills, just a fun place to be that has affordable drinks and food.”

The goal at Dirty Shake is to recreate the look and feel of classic old Detroit bars. The “Cheers” bar, where everybody knows your name. Where there are regulars of all demographics.

Positioned near Detroit’s Wayne State University campus, Hewitt and Levine envision a place where young college students can stop in to watch the Lions play a milestone game — say, the Super Bowl, perhaps.

They see it as a place where those who work in Detroit but live elsewhere might visit for a bite and a drink after their shift ends to kill time during rush hour.

“It’s that place you can go to between work and home three to four times a week,” he said.

Here, you might even find Detroiters dressed to the nines after taking in a performance at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra or a musical at the Fox Theatre.

“We wanted to have a place that’s for everyone,” Levine said.

When it opens, Hewitt and Levine said Dirty Shake will offer service seven days a week with a drink menu of affordable and approachable slushies, a variation on a hummer cocktail, creative non-alcoholic options and other drinks that pay homage to offerings at classic, old-time Detroit bars.

There will also be a small food menu curated by Hewitt, the chef behind Chartreuse, Freya and Dragonfly. To start, Hewitt said the bar will offer just six to eight items — not much more beyond wings, a vegetable and a burger — with an open mind for expanding to specials and features down the line.

“We have the ability and ambition to amp it up … but we want just a base menu that we know is sturdy, that’s DoorDash-able, that’s affordable, delicious and can be put in a box,” Hewitt said.

At Dirty Shake, there will be an option to order food to-go, a patio to enjoy a cocktail and a bite when the weather permits and a few televisions throughout to watch Detroit’s biggest games.

“Detroit is on the cusp of having four solid sports teams, so this will be a great place to congregate in the living area and watch a game,” Hewitt said. “Detroit loves sports and they’re fun to watch right now.”

The name Dirty Shake references the quick-and-dirty method of shaking the ingredients for a cocktail in a shaker tin, and dumping all of the contents into a standard glass rather than neatly straining the beverage into its respective vessel.

“At the end of our marathon shifts at The Oakland, after making intricate, fancy cocktail after cocktail, we would make ourselves these super simple drinks that we would just dump into the glass and just crush,” Levine said.

The technique, he said, embodies the new spot — “again, no frills, just drinks that taste really, really good.”

Dirty Shake, anticipated opening November 2024, 4642 Second Ave., Detroit.

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Detroit Tigers reach 17th postseason in franchise history: Here’s their playoff history

Published

11 hours ago

September 27, 2024

Press Room

Detroit Tigers reach 17th postseason in franchise history: Here’s their playoff history

The Detroit Tigers are back in the hunt for the World Series trophy for the first time in a decade.

The Tigers clinched a berth in the MLB postseason by locking up an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win Friday over the Chicago White Sox). The improbable run will continue into October as the Tigers look to carry over their red-hot play from the last two months into the postseason.

The Tigers will finish as the fifth or sixth seed in the AL, meaning they will be on the road for a best-of-three wild-card series against the Houston Astros or Baltimore Orioles in the franchise’s 17th postseason appearance.

THE CLINCHER: Detroit Tigers clinch AL playoff berth in 4-1 W; White Sox set MLB record with 121st L

Here is a look back at all 16 of the Tigers’ previous MLB playoff appearances to see what could be in store for the rest of this run.

2014

THE EPIC RUN: Tigers clinch first postseason appearance since 2014

The most recent playoff run was the end of the Tigers’ peak at the beginning of the 2010s. The 90-72 team won the AL Central for a fourth straight year but was bounced, 3-0, in the ALDS by the Orioles. The Tigers’ star-studded roster fell as the No. 3 seed. A 3-2 deficit in the seventh inning of Game 1 turned into a 12-3 loss, a 6-3 lead in the eighth inning of Game 2 turned into a 7-6 loss and the bats stayed quiet all together in a 2-1 loss in Game 3. It was the last hurrah for a team with a rotation including four past or future Cy Young winners — Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, David Price and Rick Porcello — and a lineup led by players such as Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and Ian Kinsler.

2013

The 2013 Tigers won the AL Central at 93-69 and faced the Oakland Athletics, the No. 2 seed, in the ALDS for the second straight year. The series went five games and Verlander delivered one of his iconic performances: eight shutout innings with 10 strikeouts. Cabrera, meanwhile, hit the go-ahead home run in a 3-0 Game 5 clincher. But the Tigers ran into heartbreak in the ALCS, losing to the eventual World Series champion Boston Red Sox in six games despite throwing a combined one-hitter in Game 1 and taking a 5-1 lead into the eighth inning of Game 2. The Tigers, in Hall of Fame manager Jim Leyland’s final season, nabbed two prominent awards in 2013. Cabrera won a second straight AL MVP after hitting .348 with 44 home runs and 137 RBIs while Scherzer won the AL Cy Young with a 21-3 record, 2.90 ERA and 240 strikeouts. Other key players included Verlander, Prince Fielder, Doug Fister, Jose Iglesias, Austin Jackson and Aníbal Sánchez.

2012

JEFF SEIDEL: Magic for Detroit Tigers? Sure, but manager A.J. Hinch is the magician casting a spell

The franchise’s most recent World Series appearance came 12 years ago after the Tigers won the AL Central at 88-74 and put together a run through the AL bracket. They faced the Athletics first and jumped ahead 2-0 on a Don Kelly walk-off in Game 2, but lost Games 3 and 4 to set up a Game 5 rubber match, which Detroit won 6-0 on a Verlander gem. The momentum carried over to the ALCS, as the Tigers, led by ALCS MVP Delmon Young, swept a Yankees team featuring Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and old friend Curtis Granderson. But the Fall Classic was a chilly one as the bats fell quiet in a 4-0 sweep by the San Francisco Giants that featured two shutouts. The 2012 team featured a lot of the same core as the next two seasons led by Verlander, Scherzer and Cabrera. Cabrera won his first MVP and the AL Triple Crown with a league-leading .330 average, 44 home runs and 139 RBIs. Other notable names on that team included Fielder, Jackson and Alex Avila.

2011

The great run a decade ago started in 2011, powered by a historic Verlander season in which he became the 10th player in baseball history to win MVP and CY Young in the same season. The Tigers finished 95-67, powered by a 44-21 finish, to win the Central and make it to the ALCS. The Tigers beat the Yankees in five games in the ALDS with a 3-2 win in Game 5, holding onto a one-run lead the final four innings. Detroit lost in six games to the Texas Rangers in the ALCS after Nelson Cruz drove in 13 runs in the series, including a walk-off grand slam in Game 2. In addition to the younger core, the 2011 team also featured stars such as Magglio Ordóñez, José Valverde, Brandon Inge and Joaquín Benoit.

2006

Does it feel like ’06 again? The Tigers snapped a 19-year playoff drought with a run still revered nearly two decades later. Three years after setting the AL record for most losses in a season (119), the Tigers went 95-67 but lost the AL Central crown by one game, done in by a five-game losing streak to close the season. They made the postseason as the wild card — back when only one joined division winners in the postseason — beat the Yankees 3-1 in the ALDS and swept the Athletics in the ALCS, capped by Ordóñez’s iconic three-run walk-off home run in Game 4 to reach the Fall Classic. There, the Tigers lost in five games to a team who snuck in late as a wild card and also got hot, the St. Louis Cardinals. Along with Granderson, Inge, Ordóñez and Verlander (the 2006 AL Rookie of the Year), Carlos Guillén, ALCS MVP Placido Polanco, future Hall of Famer Iván “Pudge” Rodríguez and crafty lefty Kenny Rogers were some of the contributors that sparked the run.

1987

The last time the Tigers hunted down a playoff spot like this season came 37 years ago when Detroit closed the regular season with four straight wins, including a sweep of the AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays, who lost seven straight games to close the year. The Tigers won the East by a two-game margin but fell 4-1 to the AL West-winning Minnesota Twins 4-1 in the ALCS. Pat Sheridan’s two-run home run in Game 3 powered the lone win, but the Twins took Games 1, 2, 4 and 5. The ’87 team was powered by many of the same legends present for the 1984 World Series win, such as manager Sparky Anderson, Kirk Gibson, Lou Whitaker, Willie Hernandez, Chet Lemon, Dan Petry, Larry Herndon, Darrell Evans and future Hall of Famers Alan Trammell and Jack Morris.

1984

This is the team the ’24 Tigers are chasing. The Tigers were the class of baseball 40 years ago with an MLB-best 104-58 record (sparked by a 35-5 start to the year and a no-hitter by Morris), a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS and a five-game triumph over the San Diego Padres to secure the franchise’s fourth and most recent World Series. In the ALCS sweep, Gibson earned MVP for hitting .417 with two RBIs. In the World Series, the Tigers took Game 1, 3-2, thanks to a two-RBI double from Herndon, dropped Game 2, then won three straight at Tiger Stadium. Gibson finished off the World Series with a two-homer performance in Game 5, including the iconic three-run shot off Goose Gossage in the eighth to clinch it. Trammell won World Series MVP for hitting .450 with two home runs and six RBIs. Trammell, Whitaker, Petry, Hernandez, Lemon, Gibson, Morris, Lance Parrish, Dave Bergman and Ruppert Jones were the main pillars.

1984 Detroit Tigers come to life

We unearthed thousands of Free Press photo negatives and one sports writer’s score book to tell the tale of baseball’s greats. “Bless you, boys.”

Brian Kaufman, Detroit Free Press

1972

The 1972 Tigers won the AL East at 86-70 but were bounced 3-2 by the Oakland A’s in the ALCS. The Tigers fell into a 2-0 hole and won two straight at Tiger Stadium, including an extra-inning walk-off by Jim Northrup in Game 4, but Blue Moon Odom and Vida Blue held Detroit to just one run in Game 5 to win 2-1 and advance to a World Series they eventually won. The 1972 team featured Tigers legends such as Northrup, Al Kaline, Norm Cash and Dick McAuliffe and a pitching staff with Mickey Lolich, Tom Timmermann, Woodie Fryman and Joe Coleman.

1968

In the final year before divisional play, the Tigers went an MLB-best 103-59 to win the pennant and reach the World Series. They met the Cardinals, and after falling into a 3-1 hole in the series, won three straight, finished off with a 4-1 win over Bob Gibson in Game 7. In Game 5, the Tigers faced elimination, trailing 3-2 before Willie Horton gunned Lou Brock out at home in the fifth inning and Kaline put them ahead with a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh. Lolich shook off three early runs to complete his second of three complete games in the series. He also pitched a complete game in Game 7 to best Gibson and finish the series. Denny McClain was the AL MVP and Cy Young with a 31-6 record, 28 complete games and 1.96 ERA. Catcher Bill Freehan finished second in MVP voting while Kaline, Horton, Cash, Northrup, McAuliffe, Mickey Stanley and Earl Wilson were key members of the run.

1945

The ’45 Tigers narrowly won the AL with an 88-65-2 record, buoyed by the return of slugger Hank Greenberg from the military, and faced the Chicago Cubs in the World Series. AL MVP Hal Newhouser picked up wins in the Tigers’ final two victories, Games 5 and 7. In Game 7, the Tigers jumped ahead 5-0 in the top of the first inning on the back of a three-RBI double from Paul Richards, while Newhouser scattered 10 hits for three runs in the complete-game win. Newhouser won MVP over teammate Eddie Mayo after going 25-9 with a 1.81 ERA and 212 strikeouts. Greenberg, Roy Cullenbine, Dizzy Trout and Al Benton were other key pieces for the team.

1940

The ’40 Tigers went 90-64 and lost the World Series in seven games to the Reds. The Tigers led the series 3-2, but were held to just one run in the last two games. Greenberg, the AL MVP, led the team with 41 home runs and 150 RBIs during the season and put up six more RBIs in the World Series while hitting .357, along with six from Pinky Higgins. Bobo Newsom, Schoolboy Rowe and future Hall of Famer Charlie Gehringer were some of the main names on the ’40 Tigers.

1935

The very first World Series title in franchise history came 89 years ago when the Tigers took down the Cubs in six games. The Tigers won Games 2 through 4 and then took Game 6, 4-3, on a walk-off from Goose Goslin in the bottom of the ninth. They won the pennant at 93-58 led by an MVP campaign from Greenberg with 36 home runs and 168 RBIs, along with Gehringer, Row, manager Mickey Cochrane, Tommy Bridges and Billy Rogell.

1934

The Tigers came up just short a year prior, falling to the Cardinals in seven games after going 101-53. The teams traded wins in the first four games before Detroit jumped ahead 3-2 and the Cardinals won Game 6, 4-3, and Game 7, 11-0. On one day of rest, Cardinals pitcher Dizzy Dean held the Tigers scoreless on six hits while Detroit’s pitchers were blitzed for seven runs in the seventh inning. The ’34 team was virtually identical to the ’35 team that finally got over the hump. Cochrane, also the manager, took home MVP over a second-place Gehringer, who led baseball in hits and runs. Greenberg finished sixth with 26 home runs and 139 RBIs.

1909

The final World Series of the early Tigers’ run ended with an 8-0 loss in Game 7 to the Pittsburgh Pirates, shutout by Babe Adams. Before that, though, the Tigers took the AL pennant with a 98-54 record that featured a 38-20 record in August, September and October. Future Hall of Famer Ty Cobb, still just 22 years old, led the franchise with a .377 average and nine homers, while chipping in 10 triples, 10 homers and 107 RBIs to win the AL Triple Crown. George Mullin, who would throw the franchise’s first no-hitter in 1912, was the staff ace, going 29-8 with a 2.22 ERA in 303⅔ innings.

1908

A World Series rematch with the Cubs, after going 90-63 to take the AL pennant, went poorly, as the Tigers fell, 4-1, in what ended up being Chicago’s last title until 2016. Cobb had an off year, by his standards, though he did lead the AL in batting average (.324), doubles (36), triples (20) and RBIs (108). He fell three homers short of the Triple Crown, though, with four homers to teammate Sam Crawford’s seven.

1907

117 years ago, the Tigers reached the first World Series in franchise history, albeit in just the seventh year of the franchise, and just the fourth World Series ever between the AL and NL. Cobb, MLB’s all-time leader in batting average, was the main catalyst of those teams Crawford, Ed Killian, Bill Donovan and Donie Bush were some of the other big names from this run. Game 1 of the Series in Chicago went 13 innings before being declared a 3-3 tie, a first in World Series play. The Tigers then lost the next two games in Chicago and the final two of the Series in Detroit, with Cobb going jsut 4-for-20 with one extra-base hit.

Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press covering the city’s professional teams, the state’s two flagship universities and more. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22, and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.

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Lions QB Jared Goff having sneaky rushing success: ‘It was just absolutely amazing’

Published

20 hours ago

September 27, 2024

Press Room

Lions QB Jared Goff having sneaky rushing success: ‘It was just absolutely amazing’

One a game.

That’s how many first downs Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff aims to steal with his legs, and so far that’s what he’s delivered.

Goff scrambled for 7 yards on a third-and-6 in the fourth quarter of the Lions’ Week 1 win over the Los Angeles Rams, had a 3-yard run on a third-and-2 late in the first half of their Week 2 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and closed out last week’s win over the Arizona Cardinals with an 8-yard keeper on second-and-7 that allowed the Lions to take two kneeldowns snaps to end the game.

“The one run, it was just absolutely amazing,” Lions running backs coach Scottie Montgomery joked Thursday at the team’s practice facility in Allen Park. “You don’t get a chance to see many runs like that. I know the run you guys think I’m talking about, I’m talking about Jared Goff’s run at the end of the game. Closing the game with a big-time throw and a big-time run like that, I gave the backs hell like, ‘How can you be outdone in that section right there by J.G.?’ And he did, he did a hell of a job right there and he got down. Probably the only thing that was more impressive was that first down signal that he threw up right there. I’ve never seen him show that type of emotion in that setting.”

Goff doesn’t offer much in the way of mobility as a quarterback.

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He has topped 100 yards rushing in a season once in his career, in 2018 when he finished with 108 yards, and last year had 21 yards rushing and two touchdowns in 17 games.

While some top quarterbacks (Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts) have built-in rushing packages in their offense and others (Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert) use their legs mostly to create plays in the pocket, Goff said he spends time working on his running by, well, running.

“If you don’t run, you’ll lose it,” Goff said Thursday. “And I’m not getting any younger and as time goes on, you’re fighting that battle of making sure you’re still running — especially as a quarterback. Running and actively running and doing it in the offseason, doing it in-season because at practice I really don’t, so I have to actively put myself into some drills that make me run and get those fibers and those fast-twitch muscles going — as many as I have.”

The Lions rank fourth in the NFL in rushing (163 yards per game) through three games, and have one of the league’s best backfield tandems in Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.

They don’t have many designed quarterback runs for Goff in their offense, and the ones they do are either sneaks or caught-you-sleeping type plays. But Goff has improvised his way to all three of his first downs this year.

Against the Rams, Goff dropped back to pass out of shotgun and had a five-man route concept downfield. With no one open and protection starting to breakdown, he scrambled up the middle and veered to his right, where he picked up a block from Sam LaPorta and had just enough speed to outrun safety Quentin Lake for a first down.

Against the Bucs, Goff carried twice on back-to-back plays during a two-minute drill late in the first half. On his second carry, Goff faked a handoff to Gibbs in the backfield, rolled right, got another good block from LaPorta and tucked the ball with no receivers open on that side of the field.

Last week against the Cardinals, Goff bootlegged to his right and took off for the sticks after defensive end Dennis Gardeck crashed hard after the run. Most of the Arizona secondary had their backs turned in man coverage.

Goff said he was at “peak speed” when he ran a 4.82-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine in 2016, and while he admittedly probably couldn’t top that time now, he’s enjoying the small gains as a rusher that are big wins for the Lions.

“I’ve been hiding (my speed) for eight years and now in my ninth I’ve decided to pull it out,” he said. “No, we do joke about it, but I do think if I can get one a game, one first down with my legs a game, maybe it’s two, that’s kind of a big thing for us. One third down, if I can scramble and pick one up. I’ve gotten one in the first three games, so I try to that every game, find a way to get one and it certainly helps us.”

Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline.” Preorder it now from Reedy Press.

Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

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