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Attention, lonely hearts starved for love and pennants.
Still striking out? Here's the newest way to get to first base:
Tigers tickets.
With the team's winning ways this year, the ballpark has become a popular place to find or bring a date, according to singles groups.
From the Kiss Cam to amorous purring on the scoreboard to the occasional wedding, the oval-shaped Comerica Park has become a 41,000-seat love nest.
"This is kinda our thing," Erik Everhart, 36, of Roseville said about ballpark outings with girlfriend Kim Monnette.
Their first date was at Comerica a year ago and they've returned eight times.
Instead of the swing and miss of Tigers seasons past, the baseball team now is about wins and a miss.
Talk about scoring.
Here's a scouting report on baseball and love, Comerica style.
On Craigslist, an Internet site with classified ads, a half-dozen Romeos recently flaunted Tigers tickets to entice women on dates.
A national survey last year found that three-fourths of single women said baseball games are a good place to meet men.
And Comerica Park is one of the most popular destinations for social trips arranged by dating services in the Detroit area, they said.
"I don't think sports are just for the guys anymore," said Regina Stocco, owner of The Social Connection.
This all could suggest a new marketing slogan for the baseball team: The Tigers, Bringing the City Together.
Finding Mr., Miss Right
Before the blooming of these stadium courtships, hard-boiled Joes had to disabuse themselves of several notions.
Fallacy Number One: Women weren't interested in baseball.
Fallacy Number Two: A ballgame was a lousy place to bring said women.
These Joes, whose heads had been buried in the sports section since Mickey Cochrane was behind the plate, didn't realize the ballpark was no longer a male sanctuary, if it ever had been.
A study by Major League Baseball in 2000 found 46 percent of the people who attend games are women.
"I'm a bigger fan than he is," Amy Kubar, 32, said about her boyfriend of a year as they sat in the bleachers during a recent Tigers game.
The Detroit native has rooted for the team during its many lean years and remembers lineups from a decade ago.
The other divine secret of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is that it shows up prepared.
They scan the sports page, learn the names of players and pick up a few of the rules, according to a national poll by a San Diego dating service, It's Just Lunch.
Women said they like going to games because, even if their date turns out to be a loser, the Tigers usually aren't.
For others, the ballpark is their best chance to spend time with their sports-crazed beaus.
"I'm going with or without her," Mike Allen said during a recent game where he and Jamie Miller sat next to the right field foul pole.
Allen, 18, of Waterford can usually be found at either Tigers games or his job as a clerk at a sporting goods store. It doesn't leave a lot of time for other types of dates.
He has a nickname for his baseball-loving girlfriend of four months -- Miss Right.
If men's brains consist of two hemispheres, one for sports and one for women, they're made whole by women who like sports.
Craigslist aflutter with fans
None of this should suggest that the women-baseball divide has been totally crossed.
It's not yet the perfect marriage, like Tigers manager Jim Leyland and General Manager Dave Dombrowski.
A woman's favorite diamond is a precious stone while a man's is the field the game is played on.
To guys, players are the ones wearing baseball uniforms. To gals, "players" come in various guises and are more interested in pleasure than relationships.
So, while the Mars-Venus differences remain, Comerica Park is big enough to hold both planets.
Erik Kegelmann, 31, of Livonia recently went to a game with a woman from the Philippines who knew nothing about baseball.
"It gives me a chance to teach her some things," he said.
She must have liked what she saw because the couple will be going on a second date -- to another Tigers game.
The team's resurgence this year has reawakened the hearts of fans in more ways than one.
The personals section of Craigslist has been aflutter with baseball-scented missives.
"Who wants to go to a Tigers game?" read the title of one recent post. "Hi. Let's go to a Tigers game," said another. "Tigers game Sunday night?? Any takers?" asked a third.
Any Takers wants a woman who is genuine -- in her support of the Tigers.
"I would love to take a girl who was a Tigers fan before it was cool," he wrote.
Team is ticket to dates
When one of the cyberspace Casanovas tried to use a Tigers ticket to get a date on Craigslist, he accidentally posted his request in the Women Seeking Men section.
Despite the mistake, and the fact that he included his bearded mug, six men responded to the message.
So it's now official: Men are so passionate about attending Tigers games that they're willing to date bearded women.
"Buy some Tiger tickets," advised the poster, Ronald Diebel. "You'll get a date."
Besides the men, he also received responses from two women, which seems to be the average number drawn by the Craigslist come-ons.
Alas, one was too young, while the other didn't leave a phone number.
Diebel, 45, an attorney from Detroit, said he preferred watching baseball at Tiger Stadium but, when it comes to watching women, there's no comparison between the team's old stadium and the new one.
Comerica Park allows plenty of socializing opportunities in bars, restaurants and a wide-open promenade, he said.
He estimates that 10 times more women attend games at Comerica than Tiger Stadium. While he suspects many are Janey-Come-Latelies to the cause, he doesn't mind.
"A gaggle of foxes and a winning team," he said. "It's not all bad."
He just hopes the Tigers keep winning, so they can win a pennant and he can get a date.
Francis X. Donnelly / The Detroit News
You can reach Francis X. Donnelly at (313) 223-4186 or fdonnelly@detnews.com.
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