The Detroit Tigers Opening Day is Friday April 4, but the team has been getting ready at their spring training home in Lakeland, Florida. 

The Tigers have an 89-year history with the Florida city, the longest of any team in Major League Baseball. 

To find out more about this long standing connection, Metro Producer Jack Filbrandt talked to James Michael Denham, history professor at Florida Southern College and Director of the Lawton M. Chiles Jr. Center for Florida History. Denham is also a Tigers Spring Training Season Ticket Holder. 

Before it was Joker Marchant Stadium, it was the location of the Lodwick School of Aeronautics. The flight school opened in 1940 and trained 8,000 American and 1,200 British pilots for World War II. Joker Marchant Stadium opened in 1966, and you can still see barracks and other remnants of the school. 

The Lakeland Flying Tigers, Detroit’s Single A team, plays at Joker Marchant Stadium and carries on the site's flight history. 

MLB Spring Training ends on Saturday. The Tigers start the season March 27 on the West Coast. They’ll be back in Detroit for Opening Day, facing off against the Chicago White Sox. 

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