Just outside the visiting clubhouse at Comerica Park, Jake Cronenworth dispensed a few final hugs before departing.
This wasn’t a sad goodbye but rather the bittersweet end to another homecoming. Cronenworth, a San Diego Padres infielder, and his father Charlie embraced before going their separate ways. In total, they spent about an hour over the past three days catching up — a dad and his 29-year-old ballplaying son maximizing their short time together.
“This weekend,” Charlie observed, “he looked like his old self.”
During the three-game series vs. the Detroit Tigers, the former St.