Detroit, MI
Meet the local company making Spirit of Detroit jerseys for over 25 years
DETROIT (WXYZ) — The Spirit of Detroit statue is ready to go for the Lions playoff run.
Monday morning, the statue was dressed in a Honolulu Blue Detroit Lions jersey to commemorate the team’s success. Once word got out, excited fans came by Monday to snap photos.
“We watched the game every weekend. We’re so excited,” Lions fan Macarena Diaz said. “Everyone’s excited. Wherever you go, they know you’re from Detroit.”
“Used to love it when we put it on when the Red Wings would win,” Lions fan Katie Mcnulty said. “Seeing the Lions on there is just really, really cool.”
Before sunrise, crews were hard at work installing the jersey. But even before that, Nicholas Piach and his team at Banner Sign Co. were hard at work designing it.
“Oh, it’s handsewn,” Piach said. “The major changes in the jersey this year is the dots in the numbers.”
The business has been in Piach’s family for 60 years, but it’s called metro Detroit home for 100 years. In that time frame, they’ve been apart of many sports moments.
“I think my first Spirit of Detroit was for the ’97 Red Wings Stanley Cup championship,” Piach said. “We put a jersey on when we beat the ‘Legion of Doom,’ I believe was Philadelphia. We swept them.”
From there, the jersey’s kept coming. They now even make jerseys for the Detroit Tiger outside Comerica Park.
“I have to tell you, not all of them worked out as good as they do now,” Piach said. “Now, it’s kind of routine for us.”
For this Lions jersey, Banner Sign Co. began work in October. It’s installed with help from another local company, Prop Art Studio.
Related video: Detroit Lions ‘We Want More’ bus tour for fans across Michigan
Detroit Lions kickoff ‘We Want More’ bus tour for fans across Michigan
“There’s a million pins in it,” Piach said. “You don’t see it, but there’s Velcro, there’s pins, the sleeves need to lay just right.”
It takes lots of work to only be on display for a few weeks, but the pictures and joy it brings to Detroiters will last a lifetime.
“I wanted to get a picture for my dad because he’s disabled,” said Mcnulty, who was snapping a photo. “I wanted to get it and bring it to him.”
“Anytime someone is looking at my work taking a picture of it, that is the ultimate satisfaction,” Piach said.
Javier Báez hits home run in 2026 spring training with Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Báez talks to reporters during spring training February 27, 2026, at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – The Detroit Tigers shut down two of their shortstops on the injured list.
The biggest name?
Javier Báez.
The 33-year-old has been shut down from baseball activities after meeting with a specialist Monday, June 1, about the lack of progress in recovery from a right high ankle sprain, which he suffered April 28. (The Tigers also shut down Trey Sweeney, who has been sidelined with a right shoulder strain since spring training and needs further medical evaluation.)
“We’re still dissecting all the diagnoses and what’s going on with him,” manager A.J. Hinch said of Báez before Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. “He’s just not progressing very quickly, and right now, rest is still part of the equation.”
The Tigers tried to start Báez’s return-to-play progression with running, hitting and fielding drills.
He still felt symptoms of the high ankle sprain.
“I’m not a doctor,” Hinch said, “but I understand it watching Javy go through a very slow process of the swelling and the bleeding and all the things that go on inside that type of sprain.”
How long until Báez returns to baseball activities?
The timeline is unknown.
He isn’t expected to need surgery, which means he should return at some point after the All-Star break in 2026.
“From what I was told, we’re on the right path and everything is going well,” Hinch said. “These are just really tricky. The path that we’re on, we’re just going to go slow. Baseball activity is going to slow down because we’ve got to make sure we’re taking care of the symptoms.”
Before the injury, Báez played in 24 games for the Tigers, hitting .256 with two home runs, two walks and 16 strikeouts. The injury occurred while running to first base against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park, as he tried to avoid a tag with an awkward slide.
The 13-year MLB veteran’s contract with the Tigers runs until November 2027. He is in the penultimate season of a six-year, $140 million contract from December 2021.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
DETROIT (WXYZ) — A teenager was shot in Detroit on Monday evening, police said.
The shooting happened around 5:30 p.m. near Fenkell Avenue and Strathmoor Street.
It’s unclear at this time what led up to the shooting. Police say the 16-year-old is in stable condition.
Police are looking for a suspect but did not have additional information to provide.
Anyone with information can call the Detroit Police Department.
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