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Tigers Hope for UPMC Park Upgrades

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The Detroit Tigers are hoping to see upgrades at UPMC Park, the home of the Erie SeaWolves (Class AA; Eastern League), with a particular focus on player facilities. 

The Tigers are the long-time parent club of the SeaWolves. The player development contract (PDC) between the two sides is set to expire after the 2018 season, and the Tigers are hoping that there will be some changes to the SeaWolves’ UPMC Park in the future.

During a recent visit to Erie, Tigers executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager Al Avila addressed some of the areas that the parent club would like to see improved. Among those were the playing surface, as well as the batting cages. More from GoErie.com:

“Improving the facilities would help the development of the players,” Avila said. “It’s very important for continuing to develop players here and for our relationship in the future. We’ve had a lot of good players come through here and want to do that in the future, but we’ll see.”…

Some of the main things Avila focused on during his news conference is getting heat for the batting cages and fixing the playing surface of the field, which is maintained by Erie Events.

“The playing surface is a very important thing for the safety of our players,” Avila said. “You want it to be of good quality. It’s important to us and the players. The players will tell you it’s a rough go. To their credit, they’ve been resilient and work their tails off and go to the next level. The coaching staff is to be commended for their efforts and work.”

The SeaWolves have been members of the Eastern League since 1999, and played their first two seasons in the league as an Angels affiliate before shifting to the Tigers prior to the 2001 campaign. The SeaWolves and Tigers have been affiliated ever since.

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