I Need–NEED–Someone to Finally Hit a Home Run Into Detroit’s “Free Pizza for All” Hole

What’s the best fast food cross-promotion in all of sports? The Los Angeles Dodgers in particular have a plethora of these tie-ins: Merely striking out 7 opposing hitters in any game can get you a free burger at Jack in the Box, while stolen bases net you free convenience store hot dogs, and home wins apparently trigger Panda Express discounts, because okay, sure, why not. L.A. area fans get to reap these particular benefits on a regular basis. But what’s the best cross-promotion for the brand involved? That would probably be “a promotion where you never actually have to give away any free stuff.”

And folks, Little Caesars and Detroit’s billionaire Ilitch family has absolutely mastered this art in their long-running promotion in left field at the Detroit Tiger’s home stadium Comerica Park–which the Ilitchs also naturally own. There is a gimmick out there that can, in theory, trigger free pizza for the entire Detroit metro area. But I’m forced to say “in theory,” because despite the fact that it has existed since 2021, the brand and its billionaire owners have gotten away with never giving away a single free pie! They’ve calculated this thing like Krusty the Clown attempting to get away without giving away any free burgers during the 1984 Olympics. At least they apparently paid Rosa Parks’ rent? But for my own sanity, I need this to finally come to an end: A Tiger needs to hit a home run into the goddamn Free Pizza Hole. I’m begging you. I need to see how many Hot ‘n Readys the Motor City can crush.

As you can see in the image above, what we’re talking about here is a Little Caesars advertisement and facade that is found just beyond the outfield wall in left-center field of Comerica Park. It was installed there at some point in 2021, with a great gimmick of a promotion: If a Tigers player hits a home run into the hole in the Little Caesars glove, then everybody wins pizza, “everybody” apparently being everyone in the entire city and not just the Tigers fans in attendance.

It’s not like it’s some impossible place to reach. The target is an estimated 385 or so feet away from home plate, well in reach for the average right-handed pull hitter. And it’s not as if there haven’t been close calls in the past. There have even been a few home runs that technically speaking, ended up in the hole–Orioles first baseman Trey Mancini, for instance, hit one in 2022 that landed in front of the hole, bounced over, and was then touched by a fan who knocked it down and it rolled back into the hole. Even if Mancini had been a member of the Tigers, however, this wouldn’t have counted for the promotion, as the rules clearly state that once a fan touches or interferes with the play, it cannot trigger Pizzageddon. In fact, this exact scenario would play out in the beginning of the ongoing 2026 season, as Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson hit a slightly deeper drive that bounced off the hands of fans in the first row of seats and dropped back through the ravenously waiting Pizza Hole. Hungry fans did their best to appeal the validity of this home run, but were rebuffed by cheapskate management who pointed out that it was clearly against the rules. To count, it needs to be a home run that ends up in the hole with no assistance from anyone but the hitter. No ground rule doubles, no hijinks. Just the payoff to an infuriating baseball permutation of launch angle and exit velocity.

If you look at the videos of both the Mancini and Torkelson home runs, one thing will obviously stand out: The hole itself is a whole hell of a lot bigger than it used to be. Perhaps sensing the building malcontent of fans who have watched the better part of six seasons now sail by with no free pizza, the Tigers and Ilitch family had the hole altered beginning at the start of this year, making it much larger than it was before: It has now gone from 33 inches across, to 72, nearly tripling the total area. No doubt they figured that with more than 400 home runs hit by Tigers players since the promotion started in 2021 and none going into the hole, they can afford to live a bit more dangerously here. Now I dream of it happening on back-to-back days, no doubt resulting in its immediate removal from left field.

After watching my first place, history seeking Chicago White Sox storm into Detroit this weekend to thoroughly shellac the Tigers, I find myself once again obsessing over this fast food aperture of destiny–particularly after fascinating Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami parked another home run ball just beyond the Little Caesars glove on an opposite field home run, into the first row of seats.

As the White Sox were kind enough to illustrate: The Pizza Hole is absolutely an achievable goal. Even a left-handed power hitter, in the right scenario, could flick a home run in there if the stars align. Surely, some Tigers player will eventually come along who is anointed by the Almighty, and end the long drought of the Ilitch family getting to pretend to give away free pizza to the entire city of Detroit. Some day, they’ll have to actually put up or shut up. Kevin McGonigle, could you be the chosen one? When it finally goes down, will there be enough pizzas hot and/or ready to fulfill a promise six years in the making?

Murakami almost hit a home run into that fucking glove and now I’m seeing it wouldnt have even counted.

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— Gavadon (@gavadon.bsky.social) 4:00 PM · Aug 17, 2026