This story was excerpted from Jason Beck’s Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Tarik Skubal dressed sharp for his big night at the Baseball Writers' Association of America awards dinner in New York on Saturday. With a tuxedo that shined under the spotlights of the Hilton Midtown’s star-studded ballroom, the Tigers' left-hander took the podium and thanked many for his Cy Young Award. But the clothing item that really told the story of Skubal’s incredible year, he explained, was the T-shirt he wore during the postseason.

It was the T-shirt showing the Tigers’ odds of making the postseason, from 0.2 percent in early August up to 100 percent when they pulled off their 31-11 tear and eliminated the Twins from the AL Wild Card race.

“We went from an 0.2 percent of making it to [playing in] Game 5 of the ALDS,” Skubal said. “When I look back on my own career, I see similar odds that I had to overcome, which makes being up here all the more sweet. ...

“I had one Division I offer to play college baseball [at Seattle University], Tommy John surgery as a sophomore, and I didn’t think professional baseball was going to be in my cards. I’ve had a lot of people in my life support me and push me to be the best version of myself.”

For someone who would rather be working on pitches than speeches -- and whose most famous words might not be printable from what he yelled at Cleveland fans on his way off the mound in Game 2 of the Division Series -- Skubal made an eloquent, poignant and emotional speech, one well worth the 2 1/2 minutes to check out. Usually the emotions Skubal wears on his sleeve are fiery and competitive, but as he recalled his road to get to this point, he was holding off tears.

“I didn’t want to get emotional,” Skubal said as he thanked his wife Jessica, “but here I go.”

Skubal thanked the Tigers' organization for “taking a chance on me in the ninth round” of the 2018 Draft and for working with him behind the scenes, from manager A.J. Hinch -- who introduced Skubal at the podium -- and pitching coaches Chris Fetter, Robin Lund and Juan Nieves all the way to the training room staff, strength coaches and analytics room.

“This club has given me every opportunity to have success, even in 2021 when I gave up 35 homers,” Skubal said with a wry smile. “I wish Aaron Judge was up here, because he hit a couple of those.”

Judge was not in attendance for his AL MVP Award, but he made a video presentation for his speech.

Skubal thanked agent Scott Boras for resources and motivation. He thanked his offseason training staff for getting his body in shape for his incredible season. Last but not least, he thanked his Tigers teammates, specifically catcher Jake Rogers, who was behind the plate for every pitch.

“He put up with me for all 34 starts,” Skubal said. “He demanded the best out of me every time I took the ball. Thank you.”

It was a touching moment in a speech that showed a much different side of Skubal than what many know him for. This was gratitude more than grit, and for a pitcher who insisted all season he would take time for appreciation when it was all over, it was worth the wait.