Tigers fans packed Comerica Park again Thursday with hopes of a berth in the American League Division Series and a chance to win the American League pennant.

Standing in their way was Game 4 in their series against the Cleveland Guardians. The game ran late into the brisk October evening. If the Tigers had won, they would have been in. But after a nail-biting 5-4 loss, the series now goes to a do-or-die Game 5 in Cleveland on Saturday.

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Yet Tigers fans were out in force, setting another Comerica Park record for postseason attendance (44,923).

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8:55 p.m.: Warm memories of '68

Lance Aker, 63, of Warren was just a kid in 1968 when his dad dressed him in a Tigers uniform and drove him downtown to revel in the World Series win.

“I just remember bits and pieces of it but after that, I was hooked,” he said.

He and his wife Debbie remain big fans. They attended the final game at the old Tiger Stadium in September 1999, and they still make several games each year.

He predicts the Tigers will win this series, but he’s worried about facing the Yankees in the next round.

He paid $300 for two seats in the seventh row along the third base side.

“But I bought them after they lost game one,” he said. “The guy I deal with called me up today and offered me $400 apiece, but I said no. At that point, you don’t care what they cost. We’ve had a fortunate life.”

-- John Wisely

8:20 p.m.: A longtime fan enjoys the close game

George Byrd, 93, of Lansing, has been watching the Tigers since the 1950s.

"Back in the days of Jim Bunning, Paul Foytack, Willie Horton," he said, bundled warmly in his seat.

"I was in Tiger Stadium when Harmon Killebrew became the first player to hit a home run over the left-field roof" in 1962, he said.

Byrd said he doesn't get out much at night these days, but his son-in-law took him to this -- his first-ever postseason game.

The nail-biting closeness of the game into the 7th inning wasn't stressing a veteran fan like Byrd.

"I like a good ballgame," he said.

-- Keith Matheny

7:45 p.m.: 'This is part of who we are'

Some fans didn't make it inside Comerica. But that didn't stop them from taking in the game and the ecstatic atmosphere.

Patrice Davison, 35 of Roseville, and Ann Gunnery, 57 of Clinton Township, lacked tickets, so they watched from outside the stadium with Davison's two daughters.

"It's been 40 years since the World Series win, and we know it's going to happen this year," she said.

Though they were outside the gates, they could definitely hear and feel the vibrant energy inside.

"I'm shocked to see every single seat all the way up to the very last row is taken," Davison said. "That's amazing, and I love that everybody's come down to the city."

Gunnery was impressed by the strong support for the team.

"It's exhilarating and satisfying, gratifying and exciting that we're all here together celebrating this," Gunnery said, adding, "This is part of who we are as a state, as a city, as a people"

-- Jenna Prestininzi

7:00 p.m.: 'I'm representing my city'

Mianna Loude, 16, of Detroit, is a member of the Detroit Youth Choir. She and her choir mates were on the field before the game to sing the national anthem. And many of them, including Mianne, stayed to watch the game.

“I'm pretty sure that we're gonna win,” she said.

She acknowledged she is not a diehard fan, but said she’s enjoyed the thrills of the playoff run.

“I’m representing my city. I'm here to support good,” she said.

-- John Wisely

6:50 p.m.: Cheering on from afar

Shawn Hillard, 48, of Livonia, wanted tickets to Game 3. But he waited too long. Then, by the time he searched for best available seats for Game 4 for three people, they were in Section 345, Row 20 -- Upper Level, last row, far corner; as far up and far over in Comerica Park you can go down the third-base line.

Hillard's wife made other plans with friends, so accompanying him and his 13-year-old son, Brennan, was Hillard's college buddy, Neil Cassabon, 47, of Utica.

The on-field action was quite a ways below them, but the quality of the view from up there might surprise fans.

"It's all about the experience, not necessarily how close you are," Shawn Hillard said.

"The only thing is, you can't see the giant scoreboard from here."

-- Keith Matheny

6:15 p.m.: Cleveland fan pays scalper $150

Mark Wise, 61, of Westlake, Ohio, is a Guardians season ticket holder who was in Toledo for work Thursday, and decided on a lark to drive up to Detroit for the game.

“When I got to gate I pulled up the MLB app and I found a standing room ticket," he said. “I got all the way through it, but it wouldn’t take my credit card because I’m not from Michigan.”

He asked a supervisor for help.

“He goes, ‘come with me’ and he took me to a scalper,” he recalled. “I gave the guy 150 bucks and he walked me right to the gate, scanned the thing and I walked right in. It was cheaper than the app.”

He said Detroit fans have been friendly despite his allegiance, and he’d definitely return.

He expects a Game 5 in Cleveland.

-- John Wisely

6:12 p.m.: Two sports, two games, one night

Kyle and Erin Flood, both 39, of Mason, are Red Wings season ticket holders.

With the Red Wings season opener tonight at Little Caesars Arena, they were planning on pucks.

"But then my co-worker had tickets for tonight's Tigers playoff game and couldn't go," she said.

"We couldn't turn that down," Kyle said.

With the Wings moving their start time to 8 p.m., the couple are hoping to do a Tigers-Red Wings double-dip.

But if they have to choose?

"I'm a Red Wings diehard, but it's gotta be this," Kyle said, motioning toward the Comerica Park field.

"We're not leaving until this is done."

-- Keith Matheny

5:50 p.m.: The 'Orange Flair' emerges

Scott Brozowski, 53, who lives in Warren and is originally from Imlay City, began going to Tigers games as a 7-year-old in 1978.

"My first game, Ron LeFlore hit a walk-off, bases-loaded single in the 10th inning to beat the White Sox," he said. "I was hooked for life."

Somewhere along the way, Brozowski combined his love for the Tigers and love for the color orange.

"The time came where I said, 'I'm going all-orange to the ballpark, baby. I don't even care what people think,'" he said. "But people loved it."

Thus was born Tigers superfan Orange Flair.

Decked out in an orange suit with orange brimmed hat, orange tinted glasses, an orange bow-tie and, well, orange everything, Brozowski gets a lot of love from fellow fans.

"I'm an introverted guy in real life," he said. "But this becomes like my alter-ego."

During the Sept. 27 game when the Tigers clinched a playoff birth by beating the Chicago White Sox, Brozowski estimates at least 40 fans at Comerica took photos with him.

"It's memories I would have otherwise never had," he said.

-- Keith Matheny

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 'This is part of who we are': Fans packed Comerica for agonizingly close game