"On the plane ride home from their playoff elimination in Texas, several Tigers players chatted with one another.

"We were standing around talking -- we were relishing what had happened, and obviously understanding it was disappointing (at the end)," Justin Verlander said Thursday. "We were kind of rallying around each other and saying, 'We had a hell of a year. Most of us are going to be back. Let's give this thing another run.'

"That was the basis of all the talks. We were saying our good-byes, but there was a lot of baseball talk.""