The Detroit Tigers is a professional American baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan. Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as members of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the eight AL charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in 1901. They are the oldest continuous one-city franchise in the AL. The Tigers have won four World Series championships (1935, 1945, 1968, and 1984), 11 AL banners (1907, 1908, 1909, 1934, 1935, 1940, 1945, 1968, 1984, 2006, 2012), and four AL Central championship division (2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014). The Tigers also won division titles in 1972, 1984 and 1987 while members of the AL East. The team is currently playing its home game at Comerica Park in Downtown Detroit.
The Tigers built Bennett Park on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Trumbull Avenue in Corktown (west of Downtown Detroit City) and started playing there in 1901. In 1912, the team moved to Navin Field, which was built in the same location. It was expanded in 1938 and renamed Briggs Stadium. It was renamed the Tiger Stadium in 1961 and the Tigers played there until moving to Comerica Park in 2000.
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Musim pertama (1901)
The Tigers was founded as a member of the American League charter in 1901. They played their first game as the premier league team at home against Milwaukee Brewers on 25 April 1901, with some 10,000 fans at Bennett Park. After entering the ninth inning behind 13-4, the team made a dramatic comeback to win 14-13. The team finished third in an eight-team league.
The Cobb Era (1905-26)
1905
In 1905, the team acquired the 18-year-old Ty Cobb, a fearless player with a nasty streak, who was later regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. The addition of Cobb to an already talented team that included Sam Crawford, Hughie Jennings, Bill Donovan and George Mullin quickly produced results.
1907 American League Champions
Behind the beating of outside players Ty Cobb (.350) and Sam Crawford (0.323), and pitching Bill Donovan and Ed Killian (25 wins each), the Tigers went 92-58 to win the AL banner in 1907 by the top 1.5 game Philadelphia Athletics. They moved to their first World Series appearance against the Chicago Cubs.
Game 1 ends with a rare 3-3 tie, called because of the darkness after 12 innings. The Tigers scored only three points in the last four games, never scored more than one game, and lost the Series 4-0.
1908 American League Champions
The Tigers won the Navy with just half a game above 90-64 Cleveland Naps with a 90-63 record. Cobb hit 0.324, while Sam Crawford hit 0.311 with 7 home runs, which was enough to lead the league in the "dead ball" era.
The Cubs, however, will beat Tiger again in the 1908 World Series, this time in five games. This will be the last Cubs World Championship until 2016.
1909 American League Champions
In 1909, Detroit booked the 98-54 season, winning the AL banner by 3.5 games over Athletics. Ty Cobb won a three-stroke crown in 1909, hitting 0.377 with 9 home runs (all inside the park) and 107 RBI. He also leads the league with 76 stolen bases. George Mullin is a throwing hero, going 29-8 with a 2.22 ERA, while fellow pitcher Ed Willett goes 21-10. Mullin 11-0 started in 1909 is a Tiger record for 104 years, finally broken by the early 13s of Max Scherzer in 2013.
It is hoped that a new opponent in the 1909 Series, the Pittsburgh Pirates, will produce different results. The Tigers performed better in the Fall Classic, bringing Pittsburgh to seven games, but they blew 8-0 in a decisive match at Bennett Park.
1910-14
The Tigers dropped to third place in the American League in 1910 with a record of 86-68. They recorded 89 wins in 1911 for the second finish, but are still behind the great Philadelphia Athletics center team that won 101 matches. The team sank into sixth gloomy spot in the 1912 and 1913 seasons. A bright spot in 1912 was George Mullin pitching the first no-hitters franchise in a 7-0 win over St. Louis Browns on 4 July, his 32nd birthday.
Cobb went to the stands on May 15, 1912, a game to attack the fans who tortured him, and was suspended. The Tigers protested the suspension by lowering replacement teams and several coaches, and lost 24-2, to Philadelphia Athletics. During this five-season stretch, Cobb posted a batting average of.383,.420,.409,.390 and.368, winning the AL batting title every year.
1915
In 1915, the Tigers won the 100-game record at that time, but narrowly lost the banner of the American League to the Boston Red Sox who won 101 matches. The 1915 Tiger was led by an outfield consisting of Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford, and Bobby Veach who completed # 1, # 2, and # 3 in RBIs and total bases. Cobb also set a stolen basic record with 96 steals in 1915 which stood until 1962, when broken by Maury Wills. Baseball historian Bill James has ranked 1915 Tigers outfield as the largest in the history of major league baseball. The only team in Tiger's history with a better percentage of wins than the 1915 squad is the 1934 team that lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals.
1916-20
The Tigers dropped to third place in 1916 with a record of 87-67, and will remain mired in the middle of the rest of the standings this decade, never winning more than 80 matches. By the late teens and entering the 1920s, Cobb continued to be a tent player, though he was encouraged by starter starter Harry Heilmann, who then hit.342 for his career.
Hughie Jennings left the Tigers after the 1920 season, having collected 1,131 victories as manager. It stood as Tiger's record until 1992, when it was broken by Sparky Anderson. Cobb himself took over managerial duties in 1921, but for six years at the helm, the Tigers beat 86 wins and never won the banner.
1921
In 1921, Tiger collected 1,724 hits and an average team blow of.316 - the highest team total and average batting in the history of the American League. The year, outsiders Harry Whitmann and Ty Cobb completed # 1 and # 2 in American League batting races with an average batting of.394 and.389. As early evidence of a baseball saying that a good throw beat a good shot, the fall of the Tiger in 1921 was the absence of good pitching. The team ERA is 4.40, and they allow nine or more runs 28 times. Without throwing to support the offense, 1921 the Tigers finished in sixth place in the American League at 71-82, 27 games behind the Yankees.
On August 19, 1921, Cobb garnered his 3,000th career, defeating Elmer Myers of the Boston Red Sox. Aged 34 at the time, he was still the youngest player to reach that milestone, also grabbed him in the fewest bats (8,093).
1922-26
The Tigers continued to bring down good teams during Ty Cobb's leadership as player-manager, finishing second in 1923, but the lack of pitching qualities made them unable to win the banner. Harry Heilmann hit 0.403 in 1923, becoming the last Navy player over 0.400 until Ted Williams reached 0.406 in 1941. In the 1925 season, the 38-year-old Cobb almost won the 12th batting title (or the 13th depending on the source). But he was again toppled by team-mate Heilmann, who collected six hits in the final doubleheader of the season to finish at 0.393 to Cobb 0.389.
Cobb announced his resignation in November 1926 after 22 seasons and 3,900 hits as Tiger, although he will return to play two more seasons with Philadelphia Athletics.
The Tigers break through (1927-40)
1927-33
Although the Tigers struggled with mediocre notes within seven years after Cobb's departure, they built a strong foundation, adding first-tier slugging Hank Greenberg and pitchers Tommy Bridges and Schoolboy Rowe to the consistent lineup of Charlie Gehringer, "The Mechanical Man" on the second base.
In 1927, Harry Heilmann flirted with an average of.400 batting throughout the year, eventually ending at.398 and winning his fourth AL batting title.
After the 1933 season, the Tigers added perhaps the last piece of the puzzle, earning Mickey Cochrane's "Black Mike" catcher from Philadelphia Athletics to serve as a player-manager.
1934 American Champions League
The Tigers won AL Pennant 1934 with a 101-53 record, at the time of the team's record to win, and still the best percentage of victory (0.656) in team history. The Tigers infield (Hank Greenberg and Charlie Gehringer, along with shortstop Billy Rogell and third baseman Marv Owen) accumulated 769 hits during the season, with Gehringer (214 hits, a.356 average) leading. Schoolboy Rowe leads a strong pitching staff, winning 16 straight decisions at one point of the season and ending with a 24-8 record.
The Tigers will fall in the 1934 World Series in seven games to "Gashouse Gang" Louis Cardinals. After winning a tough battle in Game 5 with a 3-1 decision over Dizzy Dean, Detroit took a 3-2 series advantage but will lose in the next two games at Navin Field (Tiger Stadium). For the second time in World Series Game 7, Detroit folded. St Louis scored seven times in the innings off a third Elden Auker starter and a pair of busters, while Dizzy Dean bewildered Tiger hitters on the way to a 11-0 victory. The last match was undermined by a bad incident. After beating Tiger's third baseman Marv Owen in the sixth inning, Cardinals' Joe "Ducky" Medwick had to be kicked out of the game for his own safety by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis after being pelted with fruit and scum from angry fans in the wholesale bleach section in the left field.
1935 World Series Champions
The 1935 Tigers lineup features four future Hall of Famers (Hank Greenberg, Mickey Cochrane, Goose Goslin and Charlie Gehringer). Although they did not challenge 101 team wins in 1934, their 93-58 record was good enough to give them a banner of AL by three games over the New York Yankees. Hank Greenberg was named AL MVP after reaching 0.328 and leading the league at home run (36), extra-basic hit (98) and RBI (170). Incredibly, the total RBI Greenberg is 51 higher than the next closest player (Lou Gehrig, with 119). The Tigers also received strong contributions from Charlie Gehringer (0.330), Mickey Cochrane (0.319) and pitchers from Tommy Bridges (21-10) and Elden Auker (18-7).
The Tigers eventually won their first World Series, beating the Chicago Cubs, 4 games into 2. Game 6 concluded with a dramatic RB-walkoff from Goslin, scoring Cochrane for a 4-3 victory.
After the owner of the Frank Navin team died during the 1935 season, the company manufacturing car body and plumbing equipment manufacturer, Walter Briggs, Sr. take control of the team.
1936-39
Though expected to win the American League title again in 1936, the Tigers fell into second place well behind the New York Yankees both that season and in 1937. In 1938 and 1939, the team fell to fourth place with 84-70 equal records every year. Hank Greenberg continued to give some excitement to Tiger fans in 1938 by challenging a one-season home run record held by Babe Ruth (60). Hank got into the final weekend of the season against the Cleveland Indians with 58 home runs, tied with Jimmie Foxx for the most with a left-handed dough, but he failed home on Saturday or Sunday.
At the close of the 1938 season, the Tamil Tigers constantly raised doubts about the banners in 1939, but imagined that 1940 was their year.
1940 American Champions League
In a tight three-team race, the 90-64 Tigers won the 1940 AL banner with one game over Indian Cleveland and two matches over the New York Yankees. Prior to this season, Hank Greenberg's first baseman was persuaded to move to the left field to make room for Rudy York's first slugging baseman. The move proved successful. York hit 0.316 with 33 home runs and 134 RBI. Greenberg battled.340 and slammed 41 home runs while driving in the 150th. Hank won the second AL MVP award, becoming the first major league to win the award in two different fielding positions. Charlie Gehringer, now 37, fought.313 while collecting 101 runs and scoring 108 runs.
Bobo Newsom is the ace of the Tiger throwing staff on 1940, going 21-5 with 2.83 ERA. An unlikely hero in this season's mound is a 30-year-old rookie, Floyd Giebell. Making only his third major league starts on September 27, Giebell is called to stage a game against legendary player against the legendary Bob Feller of the Indians. Feller gave up just three hits, one being a 2-run homer by Rudy York, while Giebell blanked the Tribe for a 2-0 win.
The Tigers lost the 1940 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds in seven games. Despite heroic efforts by Bobo Newsom, the Tigers came short in the deciding game, losing 2-1. Newsom's dad had died in a Cincinnati hotel room after watching his son win Game 1. An inspired Newsom won Game 5 and installed Game 7 on just one rest day. This is the third time the Tigers have lost the World Series in a decisive seventh game.
The war years (1941-45)
With Hank Greenberg serving in World War II for all or part of the 1941-44 season, the Tigers fought to recapture the glory of 1940. They completed no higher than fifth place in 1941-43, but managed to finish second place in 1944, mostly on power pitchers Hal Newhouser and Dizzy Trout, who won 29 and 27 matches apiece. Newhouser, who is 29-9 years old with 2.22 ERA, won his first award from two AL MVP awards this season. The Tigers are in first place at the end of September 18, but will finish a game behind St. Louis Browns for AL Pennant.
1945 World Series Champion
With the end of World War II and the return of Hank Greenberg and others of the military, the Tigers 88-65 grabbed the American League's 1945 banner with just 1.5 games ahead of Senator Washington. Hal Newhouser became the first pitcher in the history of the American League to win the MVP Award in two consecutive seasons. "Prince Hal" won the triple crown pitching, leading the AL in victory (25, against nine losses), ERA (1.81) and strikeout (212).
With Newhouser, Virgil Trucks and Dizzy Trout on the mound and Greenberg leading the Tiger bats, Detroit responded in the World Series Game 7 for the first time, staking Newhouser 5-0 ahead before he threw a pitch on the way to a 9-3 victory over the Cubs. Since many baseball stars have not returned from the military, some baseball scholars have considered the '45 Series to be one of the worst contests ever played in Series history. For example, before the Series, the Chicago Warren Brown writer was asked who he liked, and he replied, "I do not think any of them can win it!" But the Cubs had no answer for Greenberg, who hit just two Tiger homes from the Series and drove in seven, and the Series went to Detroit.
Long drought (1946-67)
1946-50
After they won the 1945 Series, the Tigers continued to have a winning record for the rest of the decade, finishing second in the AL three times but never winning the banner. The 1950 season was really frustrating, as the Tigers scored a 95-59 record for a 0.617 winning percentage, which is the fourth best record in the history of the team at the time. But they finished a three-game season behind a powerful New York Yankees team that then swept the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series.
During the 1946 season, the Tigers acquired George Kell, the third baseman who was a 10-time star and the future of the Hall of Famer. He fought more than 300 in eight straight seasons (1946-53), and finished with a career mark.306. Kell won the batting title in a race very close to Ted Williams in 1949, being 2-for-3 on the final day of the season to defeat the Red Sox slugger,.3429 to.3427.
1951-60
Over the next 10 years, the Tigers sank to the middle and lower ranks of the American League. The team has only three winning records over this range and never finishes higher than fourth place. The last team of 1952 went 50-104 (0.325), which was the worst season in Macanese history until the 2003 team lost 119 matches. Despite the gloomy season, Virgil Trucks starter threw two no-hitters in 1952, only the third time in major league history that pitchers have achieved that feat. Also, the owner of Walter Briggs team, Sr. died in 1952. His son Walter Briggs, Jr inherited the team, but he was forced to sell it in 1956 to broadcast media owners John Fetzer and Fred Knorr.
Despite Detroit's downfall in the standings, this decade saw the debut of Al Kaline's outsider in 1953. One of the few Premier League players who have never played a day in the minor leagues, he will hit more than 300 times in his career. He also made 15 All-Star teams, won 10 Gold Gloves, and featured one of the best league weapons in the right field. In 1955, the 20-year-old Kaline reached 0.340 to become the youngest batting champion in major league history.
1958 saw the Tigers become 15 teams 16 MLB at the time to lower the African-American players. In the case of the Tiger, it is an Afro-Caribbean player, Ozzie Virgil, Sr. which ultimately broke the team's color barrier. Only the Boston Red Sox stalks the Tigers in integrating their lists.
1961
As the American League progressed from 8 to 10 teams, Detroit started a slow climb back to success with a remarkable 1961 campaign. The Tigers won 101 games, an increase of 30 games with scores over 71-83 1960, but still finished eight games behind the Yankees. It marked one of the few times in the history of the major leagues that a team failed to reach the postseason despite winning 100 matches or more, though it never happened before on the Tiger (1915). The first baseman of Norm Cash had the best averages in the American league, very high, 361, while team mate Al Kaline finished second. Cash never reached more than 0.286 before or after the 1961 season, and then would say about the achievement: "It was strange, even then I realized that." The cash hero, who also included 41 home runs and 132 RBI, may have awarded the MVP award that season if it was not for Roger Maris in New York bashing a record 61 homers in the same year. Cash also drew 124 minutes for the season for an on-base-based percentage in the.487 league.
The 1961 club featured two white starters, Jake Wood and Bill Bruton, and then in 1960, black players like Willie Horton, Earl Wilson and Gates Brown will contribute to Detroit's rise in the standings.
1962-66
As a strong core developed, Detroit repeatedly posted victory records throughout the 1960s. Pitchers Mickey Lolich and Denny McLain entered the rotation during the mid-decade, with outfielders Willie Horton (1963), Mickey Stanley (1964) and Jim Northrup (1964) also coming at this time.
The team managed to finish third place during an odd 1966 season, in which manager Chuck Dressen and acting manager Bob Swift were forced to resign because of health problems. After that, Frank Skaff took over managerial control until the end of the season. Both Dressen and Swift died for a year - Dressen in August due to kidney infection, Swift in October due to cancer. Skaff was replaced by Mayo Smith in 1967, perhaps the last step before the World Series.
1967
Indeed, in 1967, the Tigers were involved in one of the closest pennant races in history. Due to rain, the Tamil Tigers were forced to play back-to-back doubleheaders against the California Angels over the last two days of the season. They need to sweep the doubleheader on the last day of the season to force a playoff game with the Boston Red Sox. The Tigers won the first game but lost second, giving the Red Sox a flag without a playoff. Detroit finished the season at 91-71, one game behind Boston. Starter Earl Wilson, earning the previous season from the Red Sox, leads the Tigers with 22 wins and will form a powerful 1-2-3 combination with Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich over the next few years.
1968-72
Glory in '68: 1968 World Series Champions
The Tigers finally returned to the World Series in 1968. The team earned first place from the Baltimore Orioles on May 10 and will not relinquish the position, seize the pennant on September 17 and end with a 103-59 record. Within a year marked by dominant pitching, the Denny McLain starter went 31-6 (with 1.96 ERA), the first time a pitcher has won 30 or more games in a single season since Dizzy Dean St. Louis Cardinals succeeded in 1934; no pitcher has done it yet. McLain unanimously voted Best American League Player and Cy Young Award winner for his efforts.
1968 World Series
In the 1968 World Series, the Tigers met the reigning World Series champion St Louis Cardinals, led by starter Bob Gibson (who has recorded a modern era record of 1.12 ERA during the regular season) and fast-paced player Lou Brock. This is the first time the Tigers and Cardinals have met in the World Series since 1934, when, as they say, they are choked by the Gashouse Gang. The series is predicted by a bold decision by manager Mayo Smith to play center fielder Mickey Stanley on shortstop, replacing a slick but weak field hitting Ray Oyler. Stanley has never played shortstop before, but is a glover of gold on the outside and a remarkable athlete. Smith started his career briefly for the last nine games of the regular season and all seven World Series games, with Oyler only appearing as a substitute for end-innings survival. This allows Smith to play outfield from Willie Horton, Jim Northrup and Al Kaline in every Series game.
In Game 1, Gibson completely shut down Detroit's ranks, beating 17 batters, still a World Series record, on the way to a 4-0 easy win. However, as there was no Mickey Lolich pitcher victory in Game 2 and 5, Tiger climbed back into the Series. Many fans believe the turning point in the Series came in the fifth inning of Game 5, with the Tigers down three games to one, and trailing in the game, 3-2. The left fielder Willie Horton made a perfect throw to the home plate to nail Lou Brock (who tried to score from second base), when Bill Freehan's blocker blocked the slab with his foot. The Tigers came back with three times in seventh to win the game, 5-3, and stay alive in the Series. The Cardinals will not threaten to score the rest of this game, and only score two more rounds without meaning during the rest of the series. In Game 6, McLain secured Game 7 by scoring his only win in the Series, with a score of 13-1, despite only a two-day break.
In Game 7 at the Busch Memorial Stadium, Lolich, who also plays on a two-day break, faces Gibson. Both players are brilliantly tone, placing zero on the scoreboard for most of the match. At the bottom of the sixth inning, the Cardinals seemed primed to take the lead when Lou Brock was selected to lead the innings, only to be taken from first base by Lolich. One later, Curt Flood was followed by another single, and also taken first by Lolich. At the height of the seventh, exhausted Gibson finally cracked, handing two singles to Norm Cash and Willie Horton. Jim Northrup then struck a decisive blow, hitting the triple to center field over Flood head, who seemed to misjudge how hard the ball was about. It prints out cash and Horton; Northrup himself was then taken home by a double Bill of Freehan. Detroit added insurance in the ninth. A solo home run by Mike Shannon is all Cardinals can muster against Lolich as the Tigers take the game, 4-1, and Series, 4-3. For his three wins that took Tiger to the World Championship, Lolich was named the Most Valuable Player of the World Series. Through 2015, Lolich is the last pitcher to have three wins in a World Series. Also, at the time, Detroit was only the third team to return from 3 games to 1 and win the World Series title. The others were the Pittsburgh Pirates of 1925 (defeated Senator Washington) and 1958 New York Yankees (defeated the Milwaukee Braves). Since the advent of baseball division in 1969 there have been some 3-1 post-season comebacks.
1969-71
1969 sees further expansion as both leagues are aligned into two divisions of six teams, and the Tigers are placed in the Eastern American League. That year, Detroit failed to retain the title '68, although Denny McLain had a remarkable season with a 24-9 campaign, earning him a second straight award from Cy Young (co-winner with Mike Cuellar from Baltimore). The Tigers' 90 victories put them away second in the division into a very strong Baltimore Orioles team, which has won 109 matches.
McLain, who was suspended three times in 1970, only 3-5 that season and traded after the season finished. Mayo Smith was also released after completing a disappointing fourth place in 1970, to be replaced by Billy Martin. In a playing career that was primarily spent with the New York Yankees, Martin played his final game with the Minnesota Twins and stayed in the organization after retirement. He succeeded The Twins to the title of AL West Division in 1969, but was fired after the season due to a rocky relationship with his players who included a legendary bout with pitcher Dave Boswell in an alley behind the Detroit Detroit Lindell sports bar. He will spend the 1970 season from baseball.
After the regular 1970 season, Denny McLain was part of a seven-player deal with Senator Washington in what would turn out to be a burglary for Detroit. The Tigers acquired pitcher Joe Coleman, shortstop Eddie Brinkman and third baseman Aurelio RodrÃÆ'guez. Coleman paid direct dividends for Detroit, winning 20 games in 1971, while McLain went 10-22 for the Senator and out of baseball at the age of 29.
Martin Tigers had 91 wins in 1971 but again had to settle for second place behind Orioles, who won 101 matches to claim their third division Navy Division crown. This season is highlighted by 308 strikeout Mickey Lolich, who leads the AL and remains the Detroit Tigers single-season record in 2015. Lolich also won 25 games and booked 2.92 ERA while throwing an incredible 376 innings and completing 29 of his 45. started.
1972 AL East Champions
The Tigers post-1970 acquisition (Joe Coleman, Eddie Brinkman and Aurelio RodrÃÆ'guez) all played an important role in 1972, when the Tamil Tigers grabbed their first Eastern AL division title. The rarity of the schedule due to an early season strike allowed 86-70 Tigers to win the division with just ½ match, just as they had won the banner in 1908. Brinkman was named Tiger of the Year by Detroit Baseball Writers, despite the average 0.203 batting, as he only doing 7 errors in 728 odds (percentage 0.990 agile) and has 72-game error-free shocks during the season. Mickey Lolich is himself steady for the Tigers, winning 22 games with a glowing ERA of 2.50, while Coleman won 19 and has a 2.80 ERA. Starter Woodie Fryman, acquired on August 2, was the last piece of the puzzle as he went 10-3 for the last two months of the regular season and posted a very small ERA 2.06. Fryman also pitches the winner in a division-clinching match against the Boston Red Sox, a 3-1 victory on October 3.
1972 ALCS
In the 1972 United States Championship Series, Detroit faces the American West Division champion Oakland Athletics, which has become competitive since the reorganization of 1969. In Game 1 of ALCS in Oakland, Mickey Lolich, the hero of '68, took over the hill and left only one run over nine innings. The Athletics' ace, Catfish Hunter, fits with Lolich, gives up just a solo home run to Norm Cash, and the game goes into additional rounds. Al Kaline hit a solo homer to break a 1-1 tie over the 11th innings, only to be filled with a throwing error in the game of Gonzalo Marquez game at the bottom of the frame that allowed Gene Tenace to score a winning run. Blue Moon Odom closed Detroit 5-0 in Game 2. End of Game 2 was marred by a bad incident in which Tiger pirate Lerrin Lagrow struck a strike and struck the lead from A Bert Campaneris in the ankle with a pitch. The angry Campaner throws a bat at Lagrow, and Lagrow ducked just in time for the bat to sail over his head. Both benches are cleaned, and although no punches are thrown, Lagrow and Campaneris are suspended for the rest of the series. Widely believed (and years later confirmed by Lagrow) that Martin had booked a pitch that hit Campaneris, which had three hits, two stolen bases and two tracks scored in the game.
As the series shifted to Detroit, the Tamil Tigers caught their pace. Joe Coleman holds an A score on seven hits in Game 3, beating 14 batters in a 3-0 Tiger win. Game 4 is another duel pitcher between Hunter and Lolich, producing another 1-1 tie at the end of nine innings. Oakland scored two points in the top 10 and put the Tigers down to their last three games. Detroit pushed two throws across the slab to tie up the match before Jim Northrup came back inside the grip. His single off Dave Hamilton scored Gates Brown to give the Tigers a 4-3 win and even draw in two games each.
The first take on RBI came out of Bill Freehan, founded by Gene Tenace passing a ball that allowed Dick McAuliffe to reach third, giving Detroit an early advantage in the fifth and final decisive game in Detroit. Reggie Jackson stole the house in the second inning tied him, though Jackson was injured in a collision with Freehan and had to leave the game. Two-out Tenace to left the paved field George Hendrick to give Oakland a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning. The run was controversial for many Tiger fans, as Hendrick was ruled safely in the first two-batter base before Tenace's attack. Hendrick appeared to be out with two steps on the grounder to the short, but referee John Rice decided that Norm Cash pulled his leg from first base. Reruns and photos, however, show that Cash is not pulling his legs. Thanks to the game and four goalless turn of Vida Blue, A took the American flag and place in the World Series.
Slow decline (1973-78)
The 1973 season saw the Tigers drop to third place in the division, with a record of 85-77. Joe Coleman posted 23 other wins, but the other Tiger beginners have a season under him. Willie Horton hit 0.316, but limited injury to him was just 111 games. Jim Northrup posted the best average batting of his career (0.307) but was mysteriously limited to part-time duties (119 games played), which Northrup was associated with a continuing dispute with Billy Martin that actually started in 1972 ALCS. Northrup even declared to the press that Martin "took the fun out of the game." Martin did not survive the 1973 season as manager. He was dismissed in September after ordering his pitcher to throw spitballs (and told the press that he did so) in protest against Cleveland Indians Gaylord Perry pitcher, which Martin is sure to do the same. Coach base Joe Schultz served as the interim manager for the last 28 games of the season.
A bright spot for the Tiger in 1973 was the pitcher of aid John Hiller, who marked his first full season since suffering a heart attack in 1971 by collecting 38 league leading victories and posting a brilliant 1.44 ERA. Hiller's total save will stand as a Tiger record until 2000, when it was broken by 42 Todd Jones's savings. (Jones' record will then be broken by 49 rescue JosÃÆ'Â © Valverde in 2011.)
The tiger spends the rest of the 1970s in the middle or lower rank of the Eastern AL. In 1974, Ralph Houk, who manages the dominant Yankee team in the early 1960s, was named the Tamil Tiger manager. "The Major" served in that capacity for five full seasons, until the end of the 1978 season. The list of players playing under Houk is mostly aging veterans from the 1960s, whose appearances have declined from his peak years. The Tigers did not have a winning season from 1974 to 1977, and their 57th victory in the 1975 season was the lowest since 1952. Perhaps the biggest drop signal for the Tigers was Kaline's retirement after the 1974 season, after he docked his 3,000 career hit. Kaline finished with 3,007 hits and was selected at the Baseball Hall of Fame in its first year of feasibility in 1980.
1976: Bird Year
Tiger fans were given a ray of hope when the 21-year-old rookie Mark Fidrych made his debut in 1976. Fidrych, known as "The Bird", is a colorful character known for talking to baseball and other eccentricities. During the game against the Yankees, Graig Nettles responded to Fidrych's antics by talking with his cane. After making out, he later regrets that his Japanese-made bat does not understand it. Fidrych entered the All-Star break in 9-2 with 1.78 ERA, and was an early pitcher for the American League at All Star Game played that year in Philadelphia to celebrate the American Bicentennial. He finished the season with a 19-9 record and the American League's 2.34 leading ERA. Fidrych, AL Rookie of the Year, was one of the few bright spots that year with the Tiger finishing at the last end in AL East in 1976.
Aurelio RodrÃÆ'guez won the Gold Glove Award for 1976 in third base, breaking a 16-season streak in which Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson has won every award in that position.
1977-78
The injury to his knee, and then his arm, drastically limited Fidrych's appearance in 1977-78. Perhaps more importantly, however, was the talent that emerged through the Tiger farm system at the time. Jack Morris, Lance Parrish, Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker all made their Tiger debut in 1977, and will help the team win 88 victories in 1978, the only winning season under Houk.
The "Bless You Boys" era (1979-87)
Houk's direct successor to Tiger's manager in 1979 was Les Moss, but Moss only survived until June of that year. From June 14, 1979 until the end of the 1995 season, the team was run by George "Sparky" Anderson, one of the most baseball managers and owner of two World Series rings as Reds Cincinnati manager during his peak as The Big Red Machine.. When Anderson joined the Tiger in 1979 and assessed the team's young talent, he boldly predicted that it would be a winner in 5 years.
Acerbic Al Ackerman's sporting anchor from Detroit's WXYZ-TV (and later WDIV-TV) started the phrase "Bless You Boys" whenever the Tigers would win the game - sarcastic at first, because the team still had not won enough to be honorable. But the Tigers became increasingly competitive, winning records in each of Anderson's first four full seasons (1980-83), and the Ackerman phrase would take on a new meaning in 1984.
The roar of '84: 1984 World Series Champions
As in 1968, the next World Series Tigers season will be preceded by a disappointing second run, when the 1983 Tigers won 92 games to finish six games behind the Baltimore Orioles in AL East.
The first headlines of the 1984 season actually came in late 1983, when the great broadcaster John Fetzer, who has owned the club since 1957, sold the team to founder and CEO of Domino Pizza Tom Monaghan for $ 53 million. Franchise sales make everyone surprised, because negotiations that peak in franchise sales are done in total secrecy. There was no rumor or even speculation that Fetzer had put the franchise for sale.
The 1984 team descended to a 9-0 start highlighted by Jack Morris throwing no nationally televised hitters against Chicago in the fourth game of the season. They remained hot for most of the year, posting a 35-5 record for their first forty games and cruising to a record 104 franchise victories. The Tigers lead the division from the opening day to the end of the regular season and complete a staggering 15 games ahead of second place Toronto Blue Jays. Closer Willie HernÃÆ'¡ndez, obtained from the 1983 NL champion Phillies Phillies in the offseason, won the AL Cy Young and AL Most Valuable Player awards, a rare thing for a help pitcher.
1984 ALCS
The Tigers face the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series, which will prove no contest, not surprisingly given the fact that the Royals won 20 fewer games during the season. In Game 1, Alan Trammell, Lance Parrish and Larry Herndon go a long way to destroying the Royals 8-1 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium). In Game 2, Tigers scored two goals in the 11th inning when Johnny Grubb doubled the Royals approaching Dan Quisenberry on the way to a 5-3 win. The Tigers finish the sweep at Tiger Stadium in Game 3. Marty Castillo's third roulette choice will greatly help Detroit. Milt Wilcox beat Charlie Leibrandt, and after Hernandez put Darryl Motley out to maintain a 1-0 victory, the Tigers returned to the World Series.
1984 World Series
In the NLCS, the San Diego rally from 2-0 down prevents the fifth Cubs-Tigers series and means the Tigers will open the 1984 World Series against San Diego Padres in Trammell's hometown.
In Game 1, Larry Herndon hit a two-run home run that gave the Tigers a 3-2 advantage. Morris launched the game complete with 2 throws on 8 hits, and Detroit drew the first blood. Padres equalized the following night although pitcher Ed Whitson was chased after throwing 2/3 innings and giving up three tosses on five Tiger attacks. Tiger And Petry's starter came out of the game after the three-run homer Kurt Bevacqua gave San Diego lead 5-3 that they will hold.
When the series shifts to Motor City, the Tigers take over command. In Game 3, a two-second rally on the second inning, highlighted by 2 homers belonging to Marty Castillo, causes four runs and a pile of Padre Tim Lollar starters after 1 2 / 3 round. The Padres, plagued by poor initial pitching throughout the series, never recovered and lost 5-2. Eric Show went on a bad show parade in Game 4, bounced after 2 / 3 on delivering a home run to the Series MVP Trammell in his first two at-bats. Homers Trammell survived with the help of Morris's other complete game, and a 4-2 Tigers win gave them a lead advantage in the series.
In Game 5, two Gibson shots in the first inning will be the start of a better start for Mark's starter, Mark Thurmond. Although Padres will retreat even at 3-3, chasing Dan Petry in the fourth inning in the process, the Tamil Tigers recapture the lead at the sacrifice of Rusty Kuntz (actually a pop-out to recall second baseman Alan Wiggins who quickly scored Gibson), and doubled it in a solo homer by Parrish.
The video "Sounds of the Game" was made during the Series by MLB Productions and played on TV several times since then. Kirk Gibson came on to hit on the eighth inning with runners on second and third and the Tigers clung to a 5-4 lead. Padres Dick Williams's manager is shown in a four-finger break room (order a deliberate route), before San Diego frees Goose Gossage to call him to the mound. Anderson looks and hears screams at Gibson, "He does not want to hug you!", And makes a bat-swing motion. As Anderson guessed, Gossage threw a 1-0 fastball on the inside corner, and Gibson was ready. He launched a loud smash to the right deck of the Tiger Stadium field, effectively seizing games and series.
Aurelio LÃÆ'³pez puts 2 1 / 3 without help by placing a runner on the base to win. Despite allowing a rare run over the innings of 8, Willie HernÃÆ'¡ndez gets a save as Tony Gwynn flies to Larry Herndon to end the game, sending Detroit to a wild victory celebration.
Tigers lead their wire-to-wire division, from the opening day and every day thereafter, culminating in the World Series championship. This has not been done in the premier league since 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers. With that win, Sparky Anderson became the first manager to win the World Series in both leagues.
1987 AL East Champions
After a pair of third places finished in 1985 and 1986, the Tiger 1987 faced a lower expectation - which seems confirmed by 11-19 early season. However, the team reached its pace afterwards and gradually got a place in the AL East rival, eventually ending up with the best record in Major (98-64). The charge was driven in part by the acquisition of Doyle Alexander's pitcher from Atlanta Braves in exchange for a minor league pitcher John Smoltz. Alexander started 11 matches for the Tigers, setting a 9-0 and 1.53 ERA record. Smoltz, a native of Lansing, Michigan, went on to have a long and productive career, mostly with Braves, winning the Cy Young Award in 1996, and eventually being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. The Tigers won this division years but may hand over part of their future. Despite Tiger's big season, they enter the neck-and-neck of September with Toronto Blue Jays. Both teams will take their stand in seven hard games over the last two weeks of the season. All seven games were decided by one run, and in the first six of seven matches, the winning run was scored in the final round of the game. At the Exhibition Stadium, Tigers dropped three times in a row to the Blue Jays before winning a dramatic extra-inning fight.
The Tigers entered the final week of the 1987 season behind the 1987 game. After the series against the Baltimore Orioles, the Tigers returned home by following the game and sweeping the Blue Jays. Detroit won the division in a 1-0 win over Toronto in front of 51,005 fans at Tiger Stadium on Sunday afternoon, October 4. Frank Tanana went into nine innings for a complete closing game, and outfielder Larry Herndon gave their only Tigers a run in a second-inning home run. Detroit completed a two-match season ahead of Toronto.
In what would prove to be their last postseason appearance until 2006, the Tamil Tigers got mad at the 1987 United States Championship Series by 85-77 Minnesota Twins (who in turn won the World Series that year) four games into one. The Twins grabbed the Series in Game 5 at Tiger Stadium, 9-5.
New approach (1988-95)
Despite the victory of their 1987 division title, the Tigers proved unable to build on their success. The team lost Kirk Gibson to become a free agent in the offseason, but still spent much of 1988 in first place at AL East. The slump at the end of the season left the team in second place with 88-74, one game behind Boston's winning division.
In 1989, the team collapsed to a 59-103 record, worst in the majors. The franchise then attempted to rebuild using the power-hitting approach, with Cecil Fielder, Rob Deer and Mickey Tettleton joining Trammell and Whitaker in the lineup (suitable for teams with 200 home run seasons in baseball history). In 1990, Fielder led the American League with 51 home runs (becoming the first player to reach 50 since George Foster in 1977, and the first Navy player since Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle in 1961), and ranked second in the vote for AL Most Valuable Player. He hit 44 home runs and collected 132 RBIs in 1991, again finishing second in AL MVP voting, and will hit at least 28 HR in each of the next four seasons. Behind Fielder and other crashes, the Tigers increased 20 wins in 1990 (79-83), and set a 1991 (84-78) winning record. However, the team did not have pitching qualities, although there were 20 Bill Gullickson wins in 1991, and the core of key players ranging in age, setting the franchise to decline. Their little league system is also very barren, producing only a few players everyday (Travis Fryman, Bobby Higginson) during the 1990s. Adding insult to injury, the Tigers and WJR radio stations announced in December 1990, that they did not renew the long-by-play Ernie Harwell Hall of Fame contract, and that the 1991 season would be Harwell's last with the team. The announcement was greeted with protests from fans, both in Michigan and in the baseball world.
1992 saw the Tigers win just 75 games, with Fielder being one of the few bright spots as he won the AL RBI title for his third consecutive season (124). But at the end of the season, Sparky Anderson won the match to 1,132 as a Tiger manager, passing Hughie Jennings to an all-time win in franchise history. After the 1992 season, the franchise was sold to Mike Ilitch, President and CEO of Little Caesars Pizza who also owns Detroit Red Wings. Ilitch made it one of his first priorities to reinstate Ernie Harwell. The team also responded with the 85-77 season in 1993, but this will be their last winning season for several years.
On October 2, 1995, manager Sparky Anderson chose not only to end his career with the Tigers, but also retired from baseball.
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