DETROIT -- Alex Wilson saw the plethora of young relievers in the Tigers' bullpen down the stretch and thought of Miguel Cabrera's young son, Christopher, wearing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle backpack earlier in the year.
Instead of trying to figure out which of the Tigers' rookie relievers had to wear the bullpen backpack on which night, he bought them all the same backpacks to wear. So each game, before the first pitch, a parade of a half-dozen turtle shells march out to left field.
It was a fun bonding activity, and a way for Wilson to fill the leadership role of a veteran reliever in a young bullpen.