Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch held a bottle of champagne in his left hand, getting ready to celebrate. But first, he wanted to send one last message.

“It’s kind of a crazy ride but it’s well worth it,” he told his team in a speech captured by FanDuel Sports Network Detroit after the Tigers clinched a berth in the playoffs on Saturday, Sept. 27, at Fenway Park . “We started the spring. We went up. We went down. We went up again.”

Yes, it has been a crazy ride.

The Tigers got off to a sizzling start and held first place in the American League Central for 187 days – including building a 14-game lead on July 8. But it was followed by a concerning collapse, as the Tigers went 7-17 in September to fall out of first place in one of the biggest collapses in MLB history . WHO'S SUITING

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