resulted in a salary cap. That payroll limitation saw the Wings player spending drop by $38.3 million. Ilitch had a $77.8 million Wings payroll in 2003, and a $39.5 million roster in 2005.

The difference in Ilitch's reduced spending didn't go into savings. It was shifted to the Tigers.

In 2003, the Tigers had baseball's 24th-highest payroll, at $49.1 million - which bought Ilitch an American League record for awfulness thanks to a 43-119 season. In 2004, it was 23rd-best at $46.2 million. That team improved to 72-90.

Executive personnel moves accompanied the cash outlays: In addition to hiring team president and dealmaker Dave Dombrowski in 2002, he hired manager Jim Leyland in 2006, and the team appeared in the World Series for the first time since 1984 - the firstyear of Monaghan's ownership after he had bought the team from broadcast executive John Fetzer for $53 million.

That surprise 2006 World Series squad began the year with an $82.6 million payroll. The subsequent addition of elite players and elite salary requirements has driven Ilitch into $100 million-plus annual player spending every year since 2008.

Since 2006, Ilitch has spent $775 million on salaries, or 55 percent of his total player spending over 20 seasons of ownership. That's reflective of the financial willingness to pay for a championship roster and the inflation of baseball salaries that began in earnest in the late 1990s.

The desire for a return on his investment isn't 84-year-old Mike Ilitch's only reason for seeking a championship. He was a professional baseball player from Detroit - and