Detroit Tigers
From BR Bullpen
This is for the American League Detroit Tigers. For the Detroit Tigers that played in the Western League and minor league American League, please click here.
The Detroit Tigers were founded in 1901 with the formation of the American League. Led by energetic manager Hughie Jennings and legendary outfielder Ty Cobb, the Tigers won the AL pennant three years in a row (1907-1909) but lost the World Series each season. Cobb played 22 seasons with the Tigers until 1927 when he signed with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics.
In 1934 the Tigers acquired catcher Mickey Cochrane from the Philadelphia Athletics. Led by Cochrane, second baseman Charlie Gehringer, and first baseman Hank Greenberg, the Tigers reached the Series that season and won it in 1935. The club again won the World Series in 1945 and 1968.
In 1983, the Tigers were bought by Domino's Pizza mogul Tom Monaghan. The following year, 1984 the team, managed by Sparky Anderson, won the World Series. Monaghan sold the club to business rival Mike Ilitch, owner of the Little Caesar's pizza chain in 1992. He oversaw the move of the club to new Comerica Park from Tiger Stadium, but the team has finished below .500 for more than a decade. In 2003, Alan Trammell, who was a shortstop for the Tigers in the 1980s, took over as manager of the club. In his first season, the team lost 119 games, one shy of the modern single season record. He was fired after the 2005 season.
After over a decade of teams with losing records, Detroit finally rewarded long suffering fans with an unforgettable season in 2006. The club surprised many people by winning the 2006 AL pennant and making it to the World Series, where they came up short against the St. Louis Cardinals. They almost returned to the postseason in 2009, losing an epic one-game playoff to the Minnesota Twins.
[edit] Retired Numbers
- 2 Charlie Gehringer (1983)
- 5 Hank Greenberg (1983)
- 6 Al Kaline (1980)
- 11 Sparky Anderson (2011)
- 16 Hal Newhouser (1997)
- 23 Willie Horton (2001)
- 42 Jackie Robinson (retired by MLB in 1997; worn by Jose Lima until 2002)
- In addition, Ty Cobb's name is included in the list of players whose numbers have been retired on Comerica Park's left-field wall; Cobb played before the introduction of uniform numbers in 1931.
[edit] Further Reading
- William M. Anderson: The Detroit Tigers: A Pictorial Celebration of the Greatest Players and Moments in Tigers History, Great Lake Books, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, MI, 2008.
- Gary Gillette and Pete Palmer: The Ultimate Tigers Companion: A Complete Statistical and Reference Guide, Maple Street Press, Hingham, MA, 2008.
- Herm Krabbenhoft: "Fascinating Aspects About the Retired Uniform Numbers of the Detroit Tigers", in The National Pastime - A Review of Baseball History, Society for American Baseball Research, Cleveland, OH, number 26 (May, 2006), pp. 77-84.
- Frederick G. Lieb: The Detroit Tigers, Kent State University Press, Kent, OH, 2008 (originally published in 1946).
Sources:
- http://www.detroit1701.org/Tiger%20Stadium.html
- Peter Filichia: Green Cathedrals: The Ultimate Celebrations of All 273 Major League and Negro League Ballparks Past and Present, Addison Wesley Publishing Company (March 1993)
- John Thorn: Total Baseball, Total Sports Publishing, 1989, 1995
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