The extraordinary mystery of the Tigers' Tarik Skubal - ESPN

THE IDEA HERE is to profile the Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal, the most dynamic and charismatic pitcher in baseball, a young man whose run of dominance over the past three seasons is approaching historic levels. This gig is pretty straightforward: We seek answers from the past to the questions raised by the present. How did this mountain of aggression, a man who occupies the pitcher's mound like an invading force, develop this all-consuming drive? What motivations and grudges and insecurities boil inside him, and what dots on his personal timeline tell the story best?

Where did he come from, and how did he get here?

The key is to ask the right questions of the right people, trigger the best memories, elicit the most profound stories.

Or just have someone read the location on a caller ID.

Russ Skubal, Tarik's dad, says he noticed the Northern California area code and city of my phone number. I tell him I live nearby, in a little spot called Suisun Valley, a formerly quiet and undiscovered slice of vineyards and hellish wind that has become less quiet and more discovered as it gains prominence as a wine region. «I know it well,» he says. «I used to coach high school basketball right by you.» He lets out a mirthless laugh. «The principal didn't like me much, so I only lasted two years.»

He coached former NFL wide receiver Stevie Johnson and former NFL linebacker James-Michael Johnson at Rodriguez High and was convinced he would have won a state title if he had been given two more seasons.

«You know, Tarik played two years in the Tri-Valley Little League,» he says. «We lived right around the corner from the fields.»

My response is somewhere between a stammer and a grunt. My wife and I had four sons play in that league. I