Tigers Celebrate Earth Day with Triples for Trees Event at Detroit’s Perrien Park

For the last two seasons, the Detroit Tigers have teamed up with The Davey Tree Expert Company for the Triples for Trees program, in which for every triple hit by a Tigers player during the regular season, three trees will be planted in the greater Detroit region, expanding the city's urban canopy and increasing air quality for metro Detroiters.

On April 13 in celebration of Earth Day, Tigers infielder Zach McKinstry and his wife Karra joined more than 40 volunteers from Ilitch Sports + Entertainment, the Detroit Tigers Foundation, Davey Tree, The Greening of Detroit and other local organizations to help plant 32 trees at Detroit’s Perrien Park to celebrate the triples hit by the Tigers last season. Because the Tigers earned 36 triples last season, the organization will plant more than 70 additional trees at select parks throughout the city later this season.

McKinstry led the Tigers with 11 triples last season, so the Tigers Foundation was happy to have the infielder join the first tree-planting event of the season to see the fruit of his labor.

“We have Zach and his wife Karra here today since he was the one who had the most triples on the team, so we’re just thrilled to see this come to life and continue the partnership as we continue this season,” said Detroit Tigers Foundation Director Shannon Lapsley. “We’re so honored to partner with organizations like Davey and Greening of Detroit. It means a lot for us to show the community that not only do we make an impact on the field, we make a significant impact off the field as well.”

Monica Tabares, Vice President of The Greening of Detroit, said tree-planting events like the one on April 13 are crucial to sustain quality air for people throughout the community.

“A city like Detroit, 40 percent canopy is what’s needed to be a sustainable urban city,” Tabares said. “Right now, we’re roughly at 23 percent, so every tree we put into the ground is essential for the air quality for Detroiters. As we develop more green spaces around Detroit, what better place than Perrien Park to get started.”

The Davey Tree Expert Company has donated thousands of trees through seven sports partnerships since 2014, and the organization said the April 13 event was the perfect way to kickstart the year as Davey Tree works toward its goal of planting 75,000 trees by 2027.

“We’re really excited to partner with the Tigers and the Tigers Foundation and also bringing in Greening Detroit to help celebrate the triples that were achieved by the Tigers last season,” said Davey Trees Executive Vice President of Corporate Communications and Strategic Planning Sandra Reid. “So we’re planting three trees for every triple that was achieved. We wanted to help provide extra greening in the greater Detroit area. The Davey company has operated in Michigan since 1880. We like to do a lot of community giveback, and this gave us the opportunity to partner with the Tigers to achieve that.”

Additional tree-planting dates and locations will be announced later this season, so stay tuned to Tigers.com/Community for more information.