Visual storytelling in baseball doesn’t get much more striking and far-reaching than the ending of the Detroit Tigers sweep of the Houston Astros on Wednesday.
As the camera shots moved from manager A.J. Hinch, triumphant with his young and finally rebuilt team in Minute Maid Park, site of his greatest moments as a manager, on to future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander, whose trade to Houston ended the last era of good Tigers baseball and keyed the Astros run to dominance, sitting despondently in the Astros dugout, possibly contemplating a very uncertain future, an entire seven-year arc for both franchises came full circle in two images and one moment.