Web Diary: Stoney At Tigerfest With Cabrera, Avila, Hunter, Leyland

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) It's that magical time of year when families shake off the bitter cold, snow and slush of the outside world in metro Detroit and walk into Tigerfest at Comerica, where the boys of summer are around every corner.

"It's probably the most personal thing we get to do with the fans," Alex Avila said.

Mike Stone of the Stoney, Bill and Sara show stopped by Tigerfest, where Stoney chatted up fans, including Kristen Zoeller, who came all the way from balmy Nashville to check out the event.

"It's fantastic," said General Manager Dave Dombrowski, "You see the lines outside here, people waiting to get into the ballpark ... Their support is tremendous ... We have as good of fans as there are in baseball."

Torii Hunter took some time to chat with Stoney, with the gregarious new Tigers player saying he can't wait to meet his new fans in Detroit.

"I've always played the game the right way, I play hard, but I have fun," Hunter said.

Miguel Cabrera weighed in on Hunter, saying, "I'm really excited because we know we're going to have a lot of defense in the outfield ... We look forward to it."

For his part, Coach Jim Leyland weighed in on the closer situation, saying, "We really don't have an answer right now, we really won't have a feel for that until spring training."

And then things got personal, with Stoney's daughter quizzing Leyland about his interaction with her dad.

"He's a good guy," Leyland said. "I know his heart's in the right place, he just gets on my nerves once in a while, but I don't pay any attention to it, he's all right."