Tarik Skubal, the Detroit Tigers Cy Young winner, was filthy (in a good way) during his most recent spring training start, prompting Tigers beat writer Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press to write an article about it. In the report, Petzold described Skubal’s curveball as so brilliant on Monday that it “broke the ankles” of Blue Jays hitter Bo Bichette.
“Skubal — the reigning American League Cy Young winner who was a standout basketball player in high school — broke the ankles of Bo Bichette with a curveball in the third inning,” Petzold wrote. “On the pitch, Bichette swung and missed and fell on top of home plate.”
Misleading Headline Draws Wrath of Detroit Tigers PR Team
The wording in Petzold’s article was fine, but the headline was “misleading” according to the Tigers’ public relations department.
The original title (which we don’t know if Petzold came up with or if it was an editor for the article) read as follows:
“Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal breaks ankles in 13-3 loss to Blue Jays in spring training”
Here is how the Tigers PR department responded when they saw the title. “Tarik Skubal’s ankles are fine,” @DetroitTigersPR posted. “Misleading headlines are not.”
Title Changed
After the Tigers called them out, the Detroit Free Press modified the title of the Tarik Skubal article to the following:
“Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal breaks opponent’s ankles with curveball in spring training loss”
Yes, that sounds much more accurate.
Mistakes Happen
Did the Detroit Free Press, and perhaps Evan Petzold himself, make a mistake in choosing their original title? Of course they did. But did they intend to deceive their readers? I seriously doubt that.
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When I originally read the original news, I didn’t believe Tarik Skubal had broken both of his ankles while throwing. In fact, I understood precisely what the title meant, and I was eager to watch which Blue Jays hitter(s) succumbed to Skubal’s nasty repertoire. My bet is that 95% of those who saw the original headline understood exactly what it meant. I guess whoever runs the Tigers PR X account is among the 5% who were duped.
