All-Time Detroit Tiger Pitching Rotation and Batting Order

In a world of computers and video games, what I am about to present is not so impossible.  I would love to see how this team stacks up against other all-time major league teams, like the A’s, Red Sox, Orioles, Yankees, White Sox, Cubs, Cardinals, and Dodgers.  Alas, I am not smart enough, nor do I have the time to program such a competition.

I will start with the pitching rotation, since that will be the shortest of the lists.  My first two starters were easy to select, and combined they offer a nasty 1-2, lefty-righty combo.  The first starter would be Hal Newhouser.  The ace of the staff in the 1940s, his numbers are easily the best on this team.  He can pitch long innings, strike out batters when he needs, and keep the score close.  Simply put, he is the best pitcher on this team.

The second pitcher would be Justin Verlander.  His 100 mph fastball, combined with his nasty curveball, make him the best of his generation.  He still has years to go to see if he can overtake Newhouser, but for now, he will do just fine as the number 2.

The third starter would be Tommy Bridges.  I love his consistency and grit.  He was a big game pitcher, and could also take games into late innings, without losing the ability to dominate.

The fourth starter would be Jack Morris.  His ability to rise to the occasion is well documented.  He was another durable, hard thrower who could carry a team on his back.

The fifth starter would be Denny McLain.  He was inconsistent, which is why he drops to the number five spot, but there is no doubt he was exceedingly talented.  When he was on, he could dominate.

That leaves Trout and Lary as long relievers, with Hiller and Hernandez closing games out.

Batting Order vs. Right-handed pitching

For the batting order, selecting the lead-off spot would be easy.  That would be Ty Cobb.  With his high average, and ability to get on base, combined with the base running skills he possessed, I can’t think of a more disruptive person to put in the one spot of any batting order.  He would cover center field.

For the second spot, I would want another left-handed hitter, who is patient at the plate, has decent speed on the bases, and can hit behind Cobb while setting up the big hitters.  Here is where I would place second baseman, Charlie Gehringer.  With his .355 average, penchant for hitting doubles, and ability to see a lot of pitches without striking out, he is a perfect number two hitter against right-handed pitching.  Plus, he would be a threat to score from first on a double from one of the following hitters.

Batting third would be the biggest power hitter of the order, playing first base – Hank Greenberg.  I would place him here, because of his ability to drive in runners.  Plus, I would want to give my most feared home run hitter the best protection available in the order.

Batting clean-up, and playing third base would be Miguel Cabrera.  He would force pitchers to throw to Greenberg, while also being in a position to drive in runs himself.  A clean-up hitter who can consistently bat .330, while hitting over 30 home runs is a rare luxury.

The five hitter might look a little unconventional, because he is not a twenty home run per year guy.  Still, with the ability to hit .400, and drive in over 100 runs, I have a hard time seeing anybody pitching around Cabrera to face Harry Heilmann.  I almost placed Slug in the number two spot in the order, because of his high average, but for this section I wanted Gehringer in the two spot because he is left-handed, quicker on the bases, and just as difficult to strike out as Heilmann.  Heilmann becomes an assassin in the fifth place of the order, though.

Batting sixth, in right field, would be Al Kaline.  Kaline also was a difficult strikeout, so even though he didn’t have the huge home run numbers of the others, with his ability to put the ball in play, hit for high average, and still knock his share out of the park, he is positioned well to continue to drive in runs, and protect Heilmann in the order.

Batting seventh, and playing shortstop, would be Alan Trammell.  He would provide protection for Kaline in the order with his ability to spray the ball to all fields, as well as his power potential.  With his speed on the base paths, he would also be disruptive at the bottom of the order, giving opportunities to the last two batters to drive him in.

Batting eight, in the second clean-up position, and playing catcher, is Lance Parrish.  With his power and ability to drive in runs, Parrish is a scary hitter to face in this position, especially with Kaline and Trammell, both possessing above average speed, ahead of him in the order.

Batting ninth, and setting the table to for top of the lineup, the DH, Sam Crawford.  Another line drive hitter, with great speed on the base paths, Crawford would be a dangerous hitter and runner ahead of Cobb.  He is also a very capable RBI hitter.

I feel this lineup provides an excellent combination of speed and power, with excellent contact hitters throughout.  The defense is solid as well, anchored by Parrish, Gehringer, Trammell, and Cobb up the middle.  The weakest defensive positions currently are left field and third base.  George Kell would make an adequate replacement at third, allowing Cabrera to move to first base in later innings, and Greenberg to switch to left field, if necessary.  Kirk Gibson provides great speed coming off the bench, as does Lou Whitaker.  Let me also say I would have no problem platooning Bill Freehan in at catcher; Parrish just has better home run potential which is why he was chosen.

Ty Cobb (L), CF
Charlie Gehringer (L), 2B
Hank Greenberg (R), 1B
Miguel Cabrera (R), 3B
Harry Heilmann (R), LF
Al Kaline (R), RF
Alan Trammell (R), SS
Lance Parrish (R), C
Sam Crawford (L), DH

Batting lineup vs. Left-handed pitching

There is only one player substitution change I would make to the lineup with a lefty on the mound, and that is in the DH position.  I would remove Sam Crawford, and place Rudy York in the lineup (I would consider Magglio Ordonez there, too, given his solid home run hitting ability and high average).  Here is how it would look:

Ty Cobb (L), CF
Harry Heilmann (R), LF
Hank Greenberg (R), 1B
Miguel Cabrera (R), 3B
Rudy York (R), DH
Al Kaline (R), RF
Charlie Gehringer (L), 2B
Lance Parrish (R), C
Alan Trammell (R), SS

I switched the number two hitter to Heilmann to give the advantage of having a right-handed hitter face a left-handed pitcher early in the line-up.  This would drop Gehringer down to the seven spot (after five righties in a row), allowing me to move the speedy Trammell to the ninth position.  Harvey Kuenn would be effective here too, but I keep Trammell in the lineup because he is faster, and a better defensive player.

I would move York to the five spot, because of his ability to hit for power.  His average is not as good as Kaline’s, but with Kaline following, York would still see good pitches, allowing me to take full advantage of his home run potential.  If I were to bat Ordonez in the DH spot, I would probably bat Kaline fifth, and Ordonez sixth, since Kaline has a little more power potential.   There really is no way to go wrong with a lineup like this, which is what makes it so fun to compile.

The last decision I would have to make is who would manage this team.  Based on history (3 pennants, and 1 World Series title), I would have to go with Mickey Cochrane.  His top two bench coaches would be Sparky Anderson and Jim Leyland.  Hughie Jennings, with his three pennants, would also be on this coaching staff, and he would cover as third-base coach while the Tigers were batting, because of his unique style with the offense..

All-Time Detroit Tiger Pitchers

Assessing who the greatest Tiger pitchers are seems like it would be a simple job.  You take the best 3 seasons of the pitchers, average them together, and whoever has the most wins, lowest ERA, highest strikeout totals and innings pitched gets picked.  The only problem is that differences in era (not earned run average in this case) are more glaring for the pitching position than they are for hitters.  For example, we all understand the dead-ball era existed before 1920.  This allowed hitters to have magnificent batting averages, but home run production was almost non-existent.  From 1920 to 1930 we see the “live-ball” era begin, when home run production increased dramatically.  1930 to 1940 was considered the “rabbit-ball” era, when batting averages and home run production spiked even above the 1920s (not so much on an individual basis, but rather as a whole).  These eras reflect on pitching, as a typical decent pitcher in 1910 could have an ERA of 2.50 (No ERA champion before 1920 posted an ERA above 2.00).  This same pitcher in 1935 would have an ERA of about 4.00 (in 1938, Lefty Grove had the lowest ERA in the American League at 3.08).

Innings pitched and complete games are similarly affected by time period.  Pitchers were expected to finish what they started until even the 1970s.  Also, pitchers were known to pitch both ends of a double header during the first half of the 20th century, or pitch on 1 or 2 days of rest.  Today’s pitchers are subject to strict pitch counts, and are given 5 days of rest whether they want it or not.  In addition, relief pitchers are now considered specialists who get teams out of a specific jam at a certain point in the game.  Before the 1970s, relief pitchers were mainly failed starters, or starters in waiting.  Mariano Rivera would not have been a closer before 1970.

What all of this amounts to is that pure statistics are very deceiving when it comes to pitchers.  Because of Sabermetrics, and other statistical measurements of productivity, the “win” has lost influence as a measuring stick for good pitching (this is why Felix Hernandez won the Cy Young award in 2010 with a 13-12 record).  We know a bad pitcher can win a lot of games on a good team, but wins are difficult to use as a measuring stick when a good pitcher is on a bad team.  There have been many good pitchers in history who lose a lot of ball games, but pitch well enough to give their team a chance to win.  In the years when pitchers have lost 20 games in a season, fans and writers will often say that pitcher was “good enough to lose,” because even with the high number of losses, that pitcher gave the team the best chance to win at that given time.

With all of that being said, how can one possibly choose an All-Time Detroit Tiger pitching staff?  I have 9 positions to fill, since I used 16 positions for batters.  For the 9 pitchers I decided I would choose the 7 best starters, and 2 best relievers in team history.  My criteria again requires at least 3 “productive” seasons, meaning that there must be 3 seasons with some measure of dominance for that time period.  The pure numbers are not going to appear fair, because starting pitchers from 1980 on simply do not get the opportunities to win games as pitchers from previous years (in games started or innings pitched).  Also, to restate what I said above, dominating the 1930s as a pitcher did not look the same as dominating the 1920s, or for that matter, the 1950s and 1960s.  I will be using the “classic” statistics to measure greatness – Wins (Saves for Closers), Losses, ERA, Complete Games, Shutouts, Innings Pitched, and Strikeouts, but I will also be reflecting the pitchers by how dominant they were for their particular time period.  For this I will us a modern stat – ERA+ (also known as Adjusted ERA).  This stat measures the particular pitcher’s ERA against the league average with an adjustment made for how “hitter friendly” their own ballpark is, thus giving a fair comparison to the pitcher’s peers, and allowing for a comparable measurement across different eras of baseball history.  An ERA+ of 100 means the pitcher exactly hit the average league ERA.  The higher the ERA+ is the better the pitcher’s ERA compared to the league.  An ERA+ of 200 is very difficult to achieve, but has been done about 20 times by starting pitchers throughout baseball history.  I do want to note that I feel wins and innings pitched are very important, as it is the job of the pitcher to find a way to win regardless of the conditions they are in for the game or season.  Beating another team’s best pitcher, or a team full of great hitters counts when it comes to making this list.

I will begin my starting pitchers with what many historians would consider an unfair selection, Hal Newhouser (L).  I say it is unfair because Prince Hal had two amazing seasons when the best baseball players were overseas fighting WWII.  This would appear to give him an unfair advantage, and maybe it did.  

None the less, Newhouser earned MVP honors in 1944 and 1945 (this was before Cy Young awards were given), won the pitching Triple Crown (Wins, ERA, and Strikeouts), and was the ace of the 1945 World Series winning team.  He finished his career with 207 wins (200 with Detroit) and a 3.06 lifetime ERA, and earned his way into the Hall of Fame.  I place him on this team, however, because 1944 and 1945 were not the only productive years he had (plus, being successful against lesser opponents does not make one a bad pitcher.  He had to win those games with a lesser defense behind him, and weaker hitters on his own team too).  When all the great hitters came back home, he had a stellar 1946 (with a sub-2.00 ERA), followed by excellent years in 1947, 1948 (leading the league with 21 wins), and 1949.  His success was no fluke.  His career is closer to the great Sandy Koufax than any other pitcher in Tigers history, since Newhouser, like Koufax, was a late blooming lefty who went from mediocrity to dominance seemingly overnight.

Year	Wins	Losses	ERA	ERA+	Innings	K	GS	CG	ShO	Notes
1945	25	9	1.81	195	313.1	212	36	29	8	MVP, Triple Crown, AS
1946	26	9	1.94	190	292.2	275	34	29	6	MVP Runner-up, AS
1944	29	9	2.22	159	312.1	187	34	25	6	MVP, AS
1948	21	12	3.01	145	272.1	143	35	19	2
Prime	25	10	2.22	172	297.2	205	35	26	6

I want to point out that the year Newhouser’s ERA increased to 2.22, he finished second in the league.  Also, in 1948, Prince Hal’s ERA was fourth in the league, and the average ERA for the league that year was 4.28 (while the other three years on this list had a league ERA between 3.36 to 3.50).

The second pitcher chosen has already reached legendary proportions, even though he still has a long way to go in his career.  Justin Verlander (R) is possibly the hardest thrower of his era, consistently reaching 100 mph on the radar gun even into the 8th and 9th inning of games.  Verlander is so effective not just because he throws hard, but he also features one of the best curve balls in baseball.

 

Year	Wins	Losses	ERA	ERA+	Innings	K	GS	CG	ShO	Notes
2011	24	5	2.40	172	251	250	34	4	2	Cy Young, MVP, Triple Crown, AS
2012	17	8	2.64	160	238.1	239	33	6	1	Cy Young Runner-up, AS
2009	19	9	3.45	131	240	269	35	3	1	Cy Young #3, AS
Prime	20	7	2.83	154	243	253	34	4	1

Although Verlander’s 2009 season appears a bit out of place with the higher ERA, I feel it needs to be pointed out that his was the sixth best for a starting pitcher in the American League that year.  His 2012 total was second in the American League to Cy Young award winner David Price.

The next pitcher chosen is the only Tiger to win two Cy Young awards to date (although Newhouser would have undoubtedly won three had the award been given in his day, and seriously challenged for a fourth.  Plus, Verlander is not done yet), but had injuries shorten his career.  His numbers year in and year out could be confounding, because he showed inconsistency in his performance.  Some of that could be blamed on mediocre teams, some of it maturity, some of it injuries.  Any way you cut it, Denny McLain (R) deserves to be on this team based on his performance as a pitcher in the mid to late 60s, and his role in helping Detroit win their third World Series title in 1968.  That year he won an astounding 31 games, pitching 336 innings, compiling an ERA of 1.96, and along with the Cy Young award, he also took home the American League MVP.  Many people will call me to task for placing McLain on the team, and leaving off Norm Cash earlier.  This would be a fair argument, except McLain led the league with 24 wins in 1969, and notched his second Cy Young award.  In 1970, after facing numerous suspensions for gambling and other unbecoming behavior, McLain only went 3-5.  In 1971, he had arm trouble, and his record dropped to 10-22.  By 1973, at the age of 29, he was out of baseball.

Before 1968, Denny had another 20 win season, when his record was 20-14 in 1966.  During his time with Detroit, he compiled 117 wins against 62 losses, for a winning percentage of .654.  That’s pretty impressive, especially when you consider that this includes his 10-22 campaign in 1971.  He was not quite the work horse in 1965 or 1966 he became in 1968 and 1969 (although by today’s standards, he threw a lot of innings), but if he had stayed at this level, his arm might have lasted longer.  Still, McLain played a key role for the 1968 World Series team.  Although he went 1-2 and in the 1968 World Series itself, he won a crucial game 6 on two days rest to force a game 7.

Year	Wins	Losses	ERA	ERA+	Innings	K	GS	CG	ShO	Notes
1968	31	6	1.96	154	336	280	41	28	6	Cy Young, MVP, AS
1969	24	9	2.80	134	325	181	41	23	9	Cy Young, AS
1966	20	14	3.92	89	264.1	192	38	14	4	AS
1965	16	6	2.61	134	220.1	192	29	13	4
Prime	23	9	2.77	128	286.1	211	37	20	6

McLain benefitted from good hitting in 1966, when his ERA was twenty-seventh among starting pitchers in the American League (and higher than the league average of 3.44).  Still, he showed durability by throwing 264 innings, and gutting out 20 wins.  In the three other seasons his ERA was well below the league average, as he finished 1968 fourth in the ERA race (the league average that year was 2.98), and seventh each in 1969 and 1965.

The fourth pitcher spent his entire career in Detroit from 1930 to 1946, being on the roster for four pennants and two World Series championships.  He was the ace of the staff in 1934 and 1935, and the number two starter in 1940.  He only saw action in 4 games in 1945 (coming back late in the season after his service in WWII), so his role was not crucial to that team’s success.  He did pitch in game 6 of the World Series, however.

Tommy Bridges (R) numbers might appear deceiving.  He won 194 games in his career against 138 losses (.584 winning percentage), and had an ERA of 3.57 for his career.  His career spanned a time when hitters seemed to have the advantage, resulting in league ERAs frequently topping 4.50 (with the 1936 American League ERA at 5.04).  In fact, in each season listed he was in the top 10 of the league in ERA.  In 1936, his ERA was fourth best in the league; 1935 was sixth best; 1934 was ninth best, and 1939 was eighth best.  He made six All-Star teams in his career.

Bridges went 1-1 in the 1934 World Series, losing game three to Paul Dean, but beating Dizzy Dean and the Cardinals in game five 3-1.  In the 1935 World Series against the Cubs he went 2-0, completing both of his starts, and clinching the series in game six, after retiring the side in the 9th inning of a 3-3 game with a runner on third, and nobody out.  The Tigers scored in the bottom of the 9th to win their first title in franchise history.

Bridges won 20 games in a season three times in his career, and was among the league leaders in strikeouts on a frequent basis.  He held the team record for career strikeouts until Hal Newhouser broke it in 1951.  Jack Morris would later break Newhouser’s record in 1988.  Bridges also missed three seasons due to military service.  If not for this, he would have certainly won over 200 games, and possibly seen election into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Year	Wins	Losses	ERA	ERA+	Innings	K	GS	CG	ShO	Notes
1936	23	11	3.60	137	294.2	175	38	26	5	AS
1935	21	10	3.51	118	274.1	163	34	23	4	AS
1934	22	11	3.67	119	275	151	35	23	3	AS
1939	17	7	3.50	139	198	129	26	16	2	AS
Prime	21	10	3.58	128	260.2	155	33	22	4

The next pitcher was the ace of the Tigers’ pitching staff from 1979 to 1990.  Jack Morris (R) won more games and pitched more innings than any pitcher in the 1980s.  He was the anchor on the pitching staff that won the 1984 World Series and 1987 Eastern Division title.  His pitching repertoire featured a mid-90s fastball, hard slider, and the best forkball in the league.  He had two seasons of twenty wins with Detroit, a nineteen win season, an eighteen win season, and two seventeen win seasons.  He was on pace to win 20 games in 1981, but the strike shortened the season to 109 games, and Morris ended the year with 14, which led the league (I would use that season for his prime season calculation, but could not come up with a fair way to calculate this with the others, so it was omitted).  He finished his tenure with Detroit two wins shy of 200, and for his career he ended up with 254 wins (42nd all-time).

Jack often gets criticized from a historic standpoint, because his ERA appears higher than dominant pitchers who came before him.  The criticism is that Morris won because he happened to be a good pitcher on teams with a great offense.  This isn’t quite fair, because 1) offenses changed in the 1980s and 1990s, which resulted in higher league ERAs than the 1960s and 1970s, and 2) Morris consistently finished in the top 5 in innings pitched, and the top 10 in ERA each year.  He also struck out over 200 batters per year, leading the league in this category in 1983, and finishing his career thirty-second on the all-time strikeout list, just shy of 2,500.  He earned every win he had as a Tiger.

Tiger fans will remember and appreciate the role Morris played on the 1984 club.  He won 19 games to lead the team (including throwing a no-hitter) for the season.  In the playoffs he won his only start in the ALCS as the Tigers swept the Royals, then went on to go 2-0 in the World Series, pitching complete games in both of his starts, and giving up 4 runs in his 18 innings of work.

Year	Wins	Losses	ERA	ERA+	Innings	K	GS	CG	ShO	Notes
1986	21	8	3.27	127	267	223	35	15	6
1983	20	13	3.34	117	293.2	232	37	20	1
1987	18	11	3.38	126	266	208	34	13	1	AS
Prime	20	11	3.33	123	275.2	221	35	16	3

I kept trying to exclude this next pitcher from this team.  He was not the ace of the staff when he played, and his win-loss record always seemed to hover just above .500.  His 14 year record with Detroit was 161-153, and his career record was 170-161.  Given all that, he was too good to leave off this team.  He helped Detroit win the 1945 World Series, going 1-1 in the series itself, but posting an ERA of 0.66.  This was the reason he earned a place on this team – every year Dizzy Trout (R) logged a lot of innings, finished near the top of the league in ERA, and did everything he could to help Detroit win games, including pitching in relief between starts and hit (he’s 11th all-time in home runs by a pitcher with 20).  This is the kind of player anybody wants on their team.

Trout is the rare exception whose record does not necessarily reflect the talent.  He won 20 games twice in a season (leading the league in 1943 while pitching on a .500 team), made two All-Star teams, and finished second in the MVP vote to teammate Hal Newhouser in 1944.  Notice when you see his prime numbers that only Verlander and Newhouser have a higher ERA+ than Trout on this team.  That’s what turned out to be the deciding factor when creating this roster.  You simply couldn’t ask more out of a pitcher than Trout gave.

Year	Wins	Losses	ERA	ERA+	Innings	K	GS	CG	ShO	Notes
1944	27	14	2.12	167	352.1	144	40	33	7	MVP Runner-up, AS (9 relief G)
1943	20	12	2.48	141	246.2	111	30	18	5	14 relief appearances, 6 saves
1946	17	13	2.34	157	276.1	151	32	23	5	6 relief appearances, 3 saves
1945	18	15	3.14	113	246.1	97	31	18	4	10 relief appearances, 2 saves
Prime	21	14	2.48	145	280.1	126	33	23	5	10 relief appearances, 3 saves

Initially when I came up with the list of pitchers I only wanted to list six players who were predominantly starters in their careers, while giving the other three places to relief pitchers. After debating with myself on it, I felt I needed a seventh, against only two relievers.  To top it off, I chose for my seventh starter a player who never led the Tigers to the playoffs, and only had 123 wins for Detroit (128 for his career).  Frank Lary (R, R) makes this team for posting great seasons on some very mediocre teams.  “Mule” pitched for Detroit from 1954 to 1964, when the New York Mets purchased his rights.  He was the ace of the 1961 team, which won 101 games, but lost the pennant to the Yankees.  In that season he won 23 games and finished third in the Cy Young vote, behind Whitey Ford and Warren Spahn (before 1966 only one Cy Young award was given per year).

Most impressive about the Frank Lary resume is that from 1955-1961, when the Yankees won six AL pennants, Lary posted a 27-10 record against the Bronx Bombers.  This earned him the nickname “Yankee Killer.”  He won twenty games twice – the first season was in 1956 when Detroit finished fifth (out of 8 teams) in the AL.  He led the league with 21 wins and 294 innings pitched, and finished sixth in the league with a 3.15 ERA.  He also led the league in innings pitched in 1958, and finished fourth in ERA, despite only having a 16-15 record on a .500 team.

Year	Wins	Losses	ERA	ERA+	Innings	K	GS	CG	ShO	Notes
1961	23	9	3.24	127	275.1	146	36	22	4	#3 Cy Young, GG, AS
1956	21	13	3.15	132	294	165	38	20	3
1959	17	10	3.55	114	223	137	32	11	3
1958	16	15	2.90	139	260.1	131	34	19	3
Prime	19	12	3.20	128	263.1	145	35	18	3

Before I defend those picks, I want to give the two relief pitchers I chose for this team.   The first is, in my estimation, the greatest relief pitcher in Detroit history.  John Hiller (L) played for the Tigers from 1965 to 1980, and at the time of his retirement pitched in more games (545) than any other Tiger pitcher.  He also had 125 career saves, which was later surpassed by Mike Henneman and Todd Jones.  The difficulty of measuring Hiller’s performance over his career is that the 1970s was a transitional time for relief pitchers.  It is not unusual to see a closer save 30 or 40 games in a season now, but when Hiller saved 38 games in 1973, this was a Major League record.  Dan Quisenberry broke the record ten years later.  In 1974 Hiller set the American League record for wins by a relief pitcher with 17.  His role was not to come in for one inning and close out a game, but rather to come in whenever he was needed, which could be any inning of a game, and keep the team close, or stop the opposition from scoring any more runs.  John Hiller was a master in these situations, retiring with an ERA of 2.83, while typically logging 120+ innings per year.  Most impressive is that Hiller’s best seasons came after he had a heart attack in 1971.

In addition, Hiller appeared in thirty-nine games throughout the 1968 season, posting a 2.39 ERA, and pitched in two games in the World Series.  He also played a key role down the stretch in 1972, helping the Tigers win the Eastern Division.

Year	Wins	Losses	Saves	ERA	ERA+	Innings	K	Games	Notes
1973	10	5	38	1.44	283	125.1	124	65	Comeback POY
1976	12	8	13	2.38	156	121	117	56
1974	17	14	13	2.64	143	150	134	59	AS
Prime	13	9	21	2.18	194	132	125	60

With only one position left on this team, and four deserving players, I was again left with a difficult choice.  In 2012, Jose Valverde (R) completed his three year stint with the Tigers.  He helped Detroit make the playoffs twice, and in 2011 he led the league with 49 saves, on 49 chances.  Unfortunately, his inability to pitch effectively in the 2012 playoffs left a stain on his record, and is the ultimate reason why I could not choose him for this spot.

Before Valverde, the most prominent closer was Todd Jones (R), who had two stints as a Tiger closer, from 1997-2001, and 2006-2008.  He finished his stint in Detroit with 206 saves, the current team record.  He also helped the Tigers make the 2006 World Series, saving 37 games.  I wanted to make a place for him on this team, but even though he produced big save numbers, his ERA always hovered in the high threes, which you can’t have from a closer position.  Jones seemed to lack the dominance you expect out of a one-inning, shutdown closer.

Before Jones broke the team record for saves, the record was held by Mike Henneman (R).  Henneman pitched for Detroit from 1987 to 1995, when he was traded to Houston.  He racked up 154 saves, relying on his forkball.  He took over the closer position in late 1987, saving seven games and helping the Tigers surge late in the season to win the Eastern Division.  I would have placed Henneman on this team, but the fact that his Tiger teams never made the playoffs other than 1987 meant I could not justify putting him on the team ahead of the other closers in team history.

With that, the closer I selected for the All-Time Tiger team is Willie Hernandez (L).  With the screwball as his out-pitch, Hernandez posted exactly three productive years with the Tigers before losing his effectiveness in 1987, having modest success in 1988, and being released in 1989.  Still, Hernandez was the final piece needed to help Detroit win the World Series in 1984.  He was traded to the Tigers from the Phillies before the 1984 season, and immediately took the closer role.  That year he pitched in an incredible 140 innings in 80 games, winning 9, saving 32 (in 33 chances), and posting an ERA of 1.92.  He won the Cy Young award and the American League MVP.  He also pitched five innings in the World Series, saved two games, and yielded one run.  He was on the mound when the Padres recorded their last out for the series.

Hernandez followed in 1985 with 31 saves and a second All-Star appearance.  In 1986 he posted 24 saves, and notched his third All-Star appearance.  The mid-1980s was just before teams figured out how to properly utilize closers, because in today’s game, no closer would log even 100 innings, yet Hernandez did that twice for Detroit.  This over-use is probably the reason he lost effectiveness so quickly in 1987.  Still, his later years with Detroit do not diminish his dominance as a closer for three incredible years.

Year	Wins	Losses	Saves	ERA	ERA+	Innings	K	Games	Notes
1984	9	3	32	1.92	204	140.1	112	80	MVP, Cy Young, AS
1985	8	10	31	2.70	151	106.2	76	74	AS
1986	8	7	24	3.55	117	88.2	77	64	AS
Prime	8	7	29	2.60	157	112	88	73

That concludes the roster of the All-Time Detroit Tiger team.  I did want to take the time to mention the starting pitchers who missed the cut of this team, however.  The criticism I will probably get is that I left off the three pitchers who posted the most wins in team history, and I did.  I could also get the criticism that I didn’t place a pitcher before the 1930s on this team, not to mention a pitcher from the 1907 through 1909 seasons, when the Tigers won three American League pennants.  I feel justified in my choices, but will take the time to explain.

The first pitcher I snubbed is Hooks Dauss (R), the pitcher who has the most wins in team history with 222.  He pitched his entire career in Detroit from 1912 to 1926.  His nickname comes from his use of an excellent curveball.  Dauss pitched for no pennant winners during his tenure, although the 1915 team won 100 games, finishing one game behind Boston for the year.  That year Dauss had his best season, winning 24 games, posting a 2.50 ERA, and even finding time to make eleven relief appearances.  Those numbers today would win a Cy Young award, but in 1915 a 2.50 ERA was just a little below the league average, which was 2.93.  Dauss finished fifteenth among starting pitchers for ERA that year (the middle of the pack in an eight team league), which makes his numbers look less impressive.  This would also be the highest position he would finish in terms of league ERA for his career.  In the end, Dauss had a rubber arm, and won a lot of games on the back of the best hitters in the league, Ty Cobb and Harry Heilmann, but he was not very dominant.

The second pitcher I left off was the ace of the early pennant winning teams, and is second in team history in career wins, with 209.  George Mullin (R) was another pitcher who could throw 300 innings per year, and still come back for more.  His best season was 1909, when he led the league with 29 wins for the pennant winning Tigers, and had an ERA of 2.22.  Again, by today’s standards these numbers look amazing.  Mullin’s ERA was 17th in the league that year, out of 34 starting pitchers who qualified based on innings pitched.  Mullin finished in the top ten in ERA one time, in 1903.  Beyond that, he hovered around the league average in ERA for his career, posting a career ERA+ of 101 (remember 100 is exactly the league average).  Like Dauss, I feel he doesn’t deserve a place on this team because I cannot see any dominant seasons he had as a pitcher.

The pitcher with the third most wins in team history (207) is the one most people will feel deserves a place on this team.  His 1968 World Series performance alone makes him a Detroit legend, going 3-0 with three complete games, and a 1.67 ERA, including his classic performance in game seven, when he outpitched Bob Gibson on two day’s rest.  Mickey Lolich (L) was the number two starter behind Denny McLain in 1968, winning seventeen games.  In 1970 he became the ace of the Tiger staff, and had career years in 1971 and 1972, while anchoring the team on to the 1972 Eastern Division title.  Here is what his prime season would look like (using his top four seasons):

Wins	Losses	ERA	ERA+	Innings	K	GS	CG	ShO
21	12	2.92	121	304	255	39	20	1

The pure numbers suggest that Lolich is clearly a better pitcher than Frank Lary.  His prime season consists of more wins, a lower ERA, more innings and more strikeouts.  However, Lary twice led the league in innings pitched, while Lolich only accomplished this once.  The ERA+ is in Lary’s favor as well (128 to 121).  Again, we have to look at time period to determine who was more dominant, not just the pure statistics.  Even though their careers overlapped (in 1963 and 1964), hitters dominated in the late 1950s and early 1960s (especially the expansion year 1961).  1968 was considered “the year of the pitcher” because of the pitching records which fell in that season (Denny McLain’s 31 wins, and Bob Gibson’s 1.12 ERA both occurred that season).  In 1958 Frank Lary was fourth in the AL in ERA with a 2.90 (with an ERA+ of 139).  In 1971, when Lolich posted an ERA of 2.92 (with an ERA+ of 124), he finished tenth in the league.  Similarly, in 1972 Lolich had an ERA of 2.50 (with an ERA+ of 127), and this again was tenth.  In 1956, Lary had an ERA of 3.15, which appears high, but was sixth in the league (and yielded an ERA+ of 132).

Where I might get called out on this one is that Lary never played for a pennant winner, and that is fair.  Frank Lary was the ace of a team which won 101 games, however.  Plus, his success against the great Yankees teams of the late 1950s and early 1960s shows me that Frank Lary was a clutch performer.  Lolich did manage to help the Tigers make two post season appearances.  In 1968 Lolich was clearly not the ace of the pitching staff, Denny McLain was.  Is this a knock against Lolich?  No, and yes.  The Tigers don’t win the World Series without Lolich, but they don’t make the World Series without McLain.

In 1972 Lolich was the best pitcher on a playoff team.  That Detroit Tiger team finished with the third best record in the AL (86-70), behind both Oakland and Chicago (and both in the Western Division).  Frank Lary’s 1961 Tiger team had the second best record in the AL, and they won 101 games, but because of the rules of the day, they could not make the playoffs (and still would not have under the 1972 rules, because they were in the same division as the Yankees, who won the 1961 pennant).  I challenge anyone to show me how the 1972 Tigers were better than the 1961 Tigers.  This was a close decision, one which I have gone back and forth on, but I do feel that Frank Lary was the better pitcher than Lolich.

The next pitcher who was left off was a key component of the 1934 and 1935 teams, along with making a large contribution to the 1940 pennant winning team.  Schoolboy Rowe (R) was a very popular player in his day, and a helped give a formidable 1-2 punch along with Tommy Bridges.  His best season was in 1934, when he posted a 24-8 record, with a 3.45 ERA (good for sixth in the league).  He won 19 games in 1935, and another 19 in in 36.  Here is what his prime season would look like (using his top four seasons):

Wins	Losses	ERA	ERA+	Innings	K	GS	CG	ShO
20	9	3.79	122	239	116	31	18	4

Each of Rowe’s numbers are just slightly behind Tommy Bridges.  Rowe’s ERA appears high, but his ERA+ is just below that of Jack Morris, and just above Mickey Lolich.  Rowe gave a lot of innings, pitched in relief when needed, and became a fan favorite with his easy going, friendly manner.  He just misses making this team, however, because Bridges edges him out in each category.

The last pitcher I left off this team is actually a Hall of Fame pitcher.  He started with the Tigers, before coming into his own with the Phillies in the National League.  Over his career he pitched two no-hitters (one being a perfect game), and at his retirement he had the second most strikeouts in Major League history with 2,855 (it now stands as 17th).  He won 224 games, 118 with Detroit.  Jim Bunning did not make this team, because I felt his accomplishments were overshadowed by Frank Lary, who was hit teammate from 1955 to 1963.

Wins	Losses	ERA	ERA+	Innings	K	GS	CG	ShO
19	10	3.16	127	264.3	187	34	13	3

He and Frank Lary provided a potent 1-2 punch, and their numbers are very similar over this span.  Bunning had one monster year in 1957, where he led the league with 20 wins, and had the third best ERA in the league at 2.69.  Beyond that season, Frank Lary was the dominant pitcher on the team.  In the 1961 season, when Detroit won 101 games, Bunning managed a 17-11 record, with a 3.19 ERA.  If Bunning had his best years in baseball as a Tiger, he would get stronger consideration, but as it stands, he is known more for his years with Philadelphia, and rightfully so.

I am sure many people would disagree with my choices.  I challenge anyone to come up with their own criteria for selecting a team, and then go through the process of actually picking their All-Time Detroit Tiger team.  Or, better yet, pick a different team to do this with.  I would love to compare this team to other teams in Major League baseball.

Starting Pitchers:

Hal Newhouser (L)

Justin Verlander (R)

Denny McLain (R)

Tommy Bridges (R)

Jack Morris (R)

Dizzy Trout (R)

Frank Lary (R)

Relievers:

John Hiller (L)

Willie Hernandez (L)

Up Next: Batting Order and Pitching Rotation

All-Time Detroit Tiger Catchers

Throughout the history of the Tiger organization, catchers have played a very prominent role in leading the team to the World Series.  Because of that, the challenge I had with the All-Tiger team was narrowing down the position to two players.  In reality I could easily place 4 players on this squad, and I would have no issue with any of these 4 players being placed on this team.

The Detroit Tigers played 35 seasons before winning their first World Series.  They won 4 American League pennants without being able to overcome the National League in the Fall Classic.  Their fifth pennant was the charm, as they defeated the Chicago Cubs in 1935 to become World Series Champions.

Throughout the 1920s and early 1930s the two dominant teams in the American League were the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Athletics.  Upon falling on financial difficulty in 1933, Connie Mack began to sell off his cache of talent to other big league teams.  It was at this time the Tigers obtained Mickey Cochrane.  Cochrane immediately improved the team from an offensive standpoint, handling the pitchers, and managing the Tigers.  Cochrane’s addition was the key that pushed Detroit over the top, allowing the Tigers to win the pennant in 1934 (losing a thrilling series in 7 games to the Cardinals) and winning the World Series in 1935.  Unfortunately for Cochrane, he only played two full seasons for Detroit, as injuries limited his play in 1936 to 44 games, and 27 games in 1937, when his playing days ended.

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	BB	K	Notes
1934	.320	2	76	140	74	32	78	26	MVP, AS
1935	.319	5	47	131	93	33	96	15	AS
Prime	.319	4	62	136	84	33	87	21

The 1960s saw the rest of the American League chasing down the Yankees.  New York won each pennant from 1960 to 1964, followed by Minnesota, Baltimore, Boston, and Detroit in 1968.  The mainstay behind the plate for the Tigers during this decade was Bill Freehan (R, R).  Freehan made 11 All-Star teams (the most ever by a player not in the Hall of Fame), won 5 Gold Glove awards, and retired with the highest fielding percentage of any catcher in history (it was later broken in 2002 by Dan Wilson), most putouts (later broken by Gary Carter), and most total chances by a catcher (later broken by Bob Boone).  He had a .262 career batting average, and hit 200 home runs in his 15 years.  He was runner-up for the American League MVP award in 1968 (behind teammate Denny McLain), and was key in helping the Tigers win the World Series that year, as well as the Eastern Division title in 1972.  After he retired in 1975, he helped an up and coming catcher named Lance Parrish with his technique behind the plate.

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Triples	BB	Notes
1964	.300	18	80	156	69	14	8	36	AS
1967	.282	20	74	146	66	23	1	73	GG,AS
1974	.297	18	60	132	58	17	5	42
1968	.263	25	84	142	73	25	2	65	MVP Runner-up, GG, AS
Prime	.285	20	75	144	67	20	4	54

In the late 1970s the Detroit franchise saw a youth movement, as several players who would later become the core of the 1984 team began to cut their teeth in the majors.  Among those who started their career in Detroit in the late 70s were Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Jack Morris, Dan Petry, Aurelio Lopez, Kirk Gibson, and Lance Parrish (R, R).  When Sparky Anderson arrived to manage the team in 1979, he claimed he could win a World Series in 5 seasons.  These guys made that prediction come true.

Lance Parrish’s influence on the team was vital, because he was not only the best defensive catcher in the league during the early to mid-80s (3 Gold Glove awards), but he was also the clean-up hitter on the 1984 team, hitting 33 home runs (an American League record for catchers)and driving in 98 runs.
He had a great arm behind the plate, often leading the league in one category or other for assists, throwing runners out stealing, and percentage of runners caught stealing.  He ended his career with 324 home runs, 299 of which were hit in the American League (6th all-time for AL catchers).  He was an 8-time All-Star for his career, and 6 times while with Detroit.

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Triples	SB	Notes
1980	.286	24	82	158	79	34	6	6	AS
1982	.284	32	87	138	75	19	2	3	AS
1983	.269	27	114	163	80	42	3	1	GG, AS
1985	.273	28	98	150	64	27	1	2	GG, AS
Prime	.278	28	95	152	75	31	3	3

The fourth major impact catcher in Tiger history was Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez (R, R).  The Tigers signed Pudge in 2004 to a 4-year contract.  At the time he was a 32 year old catcher, with a recent history of injury issues with his knees and back.  No other team in the league was willing to offer him a 4-year contract, and the Tigers were at the time the laughing stock of baseball.

Going into 2004, Detroit had last seen a winning season in 1991, when they won 84 games, and they had not made the playoffs since 1987.  Worse, in 2003 they lost 119 games, earning consideration as one of the worst teams in baseball history.  Pudge Rodriguez was just coming off a World Series win with the Marlins, but in typical Florida Marlin’s fashion, his contract was not picked up at the end to the year.  The Tigers needed a marquee ballplayer who could lead their team back to respectability.  They rolled the dice on Pudge, and did the same with Magglio Ordonez in 2005.

Instantly the message was out that Detroit was an OK place to play ball again.  Other players were willing to consider coming to Detroit, because Detroit was now willing to pay for good players.  The gamble paid off.  By 2006, the Tigers were back in the World Series, and Pudge was a key component in the team’s newfound success.

Rodriguez is considered by many estimates to be the best defensive catcher who ever played (fans of Johnny Bench will no doubt disagree).  For his career he threw out over 45% of the runners trying to steal off of him.  The league average is about 20 points below that.  He had a career batting average of .296, 2,844 hits, and 311 home runs; amazing statistics when you consider the wear and tear a catcher endures over the course of any year, not to mention a career.  He was a 14-time All-Star (earning 4 selections with the Tigers), and 13-time Gold Glove winner (earning 3 in Detroit), and he won the American League MVP in 1999 while playing for the Texas Rangers.  More importantly to Tiger fans, he brought respectability back to Motown.  Without Pudge, I don’t see a way the Tigers win the American League Championship in 2006.  Not only was his presence on the field important, but because of the respect he had with players around the league, when he came to Detroit, others were more willing to give the Tigers a chance as well.  I view his addition to the team as being as important as the addition of Mickey Cochrane in 1934.

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Triples	SB	Notes
2004	.334	19	86	176	72	32	2	7	GG, AS
2006	.300	13	69	164	74	28	4	8	GG, AS
2007	.281	11	63	141	50	31	3	2	GG, AS
Prime	.305	14	73	160	65	30	3	6

 Who would you choose?  If Cochrane had a third productive year, he would be on this team.  His leadership was second to none, and he helped the Tigers win their first World Series.  Since he is not eligible based on my criteria, I am left with choosing two players from the other three.

Defensively, all three were at the top of the league when they played in Detroit.  Pudge may be the best of the bunch, but he was in the twilight of his career in Detroit.  His best defensive years were a little behind him, although he was still the best in the league at his position while with the Tigers.

Freehan and Parrish both played on World Series winners, and both were key in the offensive production of the teams when they won the World Series.  Both also produced better power numbers than Pudge, and this with the consideration that Freehan had to play in one of the most difficult hitting eras in baseball history.  Pudge, however, did hit for high average, and had some pop in his bat as well.

On this one, I wish I could take all three catchers, but when I look at the overall body of work, and what each player did for Detroit, I have to give an edge to Bill Freehan and Lance Parrish.  They played the best of their careers with Detroit (and Freehan did not play anywhere else).  Their impact on the Tigers is greater as a whole, and if for no other reason, they both were catchers on World Series Championship teams.  I love Pudge Rodriguez, and enjoyed watching him play as much as I ever enjoyed any player, but when I have to choose an All-Time Detroit Tiger team, I cannot leave off Bill Freehan or Lance Parrish.

All-Tiger Catchers:

Bill Freehan

Lance Parrish

Up next: Pitchers

All-Time Detroit Tiger Shortstop and Second Base

Up to this point in selecting the best Detroit Tiger players of all time, I have made some difficult, and no doubt unpopular choices on the group of players I would select to this elite team.  The arguments get to take a rest when it comes to discussing the middle infield of the team.  There are 4 players who stand head and shoulders above all other players at the shortstop and second base positions.  This was the easiest part of my selection process after choosing Ty Cobb and Al Kaline for the All-Tiger outfield.

Charlie Gehringer (L, R), known as the “Mechanical Man” for his durability and consistency, goes down in history as one of the greatest second basemen to ever play the game.  He retired with a .320 lifetime average, 2,839 career hits, and 574 doubles (20th all-time).  He twice had consecutive games played streaks over 500.
  He was the dominant defensive second baseman of his day, and was a member of 3 pennant winning teams (1934, 1935, and 1940).  In post season play, he also compiled a .321 batting average.  His best year is considered to be 1937, when he won the MVP and batting title (hitting .371).  In 1934 he was runner-up to teammate Mickey Cochrane for the MVP award as well.  A very quiet man, Charlie Gehringer went about his business and played amazing baseball.  He played every inning in each of the first 6 All-Star games conducted by Major League baseball.

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Triples	BB	Notes
1937	.371	14	96	209	133	40	1	90	MVP, AS
1936	.354	15	116	227	144	60	12	83	AS
1934	.356	11	127	214	134	50	7	99	MVP Runner-up, AS
1929	.339	13	106	215	131	45	19	64
Prime	.355	13	111	216	136	49	10	84

The other second baseman was also easy to choose.  Lou Whitaker (L, R) began his career with Detroit in 1977, and won the Rookie of the Year award in 1978 when he hit .285 and scored 71 runs.  He was the lead-off hitter on the 1984 World Series Champion team due to the difficulty to strike him out, his patience at the plate, and his base running ability.  Later in his career he batted clean-up because of his ability to drive the ball (he hit 28 home runs in 1989, his highest for a single season).  He won 3 Gold Gloves and was a 5-time All-Star.  He and Alan Trammell hold the record for most games played by a double-play combination (over 1,900 games).  That record was once held by former Tigers Charlie Gehringer and Billy Rogell.

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	SB	BB	Notes
1983	.320	12	72	206	94	40	17	67	GG, AS
1991	.279	23	78	131	94	26	4	90
1984	.289	13	56	161	90	25	6	62	GG, AS
1985	.279	21	83	170	102	29	6	80	GG, AS
Prime	.293	17	72	167	95	30	8	75	1978 ROY

The shortstop position was another easy spot to fill on the field, because there are two players who stand above the rest in Tiger history here.  The first was a 6-time All-Star, who won 4 Gold Gloves, and in his only World Series appearance hit .450 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI garnering the MVP.  Alan Trammell (R, R) was the best player on the Tiger teams of the 1980s.  He had his best seasons in 1987 (when he was runner-up to George Bell for MVP) and 1984, both years in which the Tigers made the post season.  In all, Tram had seven seasons of batting .300 or better, and compiled 2,365 hits in his career.  He also had excellent speed on the base paths, stealing 20 or more bases in multiple seasons, including 1987, when he stole 21 bases on 23 attempts.

He could hit for power, having two 20 home-run seasons, with his best in 1987, when he was asked to bat clean-up, and followed with 28 knocks.  Up until then, Trammell was typically the number 2 hitter in the order, following Whitaker.  I think it gets overlooked how much these two set up the rest of the batting order by getting on base, being disruptive to pitchers and defenses, and scoring runs.  They both had the ability to hit for power, and did when called upon to do so, but before anything, they did everything to help the team win games.

After Cobb and Kaline, I consider Alan Trammell the most important Detroit Tiger to ever wear the uniform (and that is not to disrespect Greenberg or Gehringer, who are among the elites in the history of the game.  Both were so great, and given the benefit of playing at the same time, it is too difficult to choose one as more important than the other between 1934 and 1940, when the team had so much success).  He didn’t have the gaudy numbers of the other players, but when you consider that the shortstop position has historically been a defensive position, and Trammell not only excelled defensively, but also offensively for many years, his importance to the organization cannot be overstated.

Trammell and Whitaker also hold the distinction of turning more double-plays than any combination in the history of the game.  They were as much fun to watch defensively as at the plate or on the bases.  Having a shortstop with the abilities of Alan Trammell for twenty seasons was a delight to all Tiger fans.

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Triples	SB	Notes
1987	.343	28	105	205	109	34	3	21	MVP Runner-up, AS
1983	.319	14	66	161	83	31	2	30	Comeback POY, GG
1984	.314	14	69	174	85	34	5	19	GG, AS
1990	.304	14	89	170	71	37	1	12	AS
Prime	.320	18	82	178	87	34	3	21

The next player to be on the All-Tiger team played shortstop for 6 years before switching to the outfield.  Harvey Kuenn (R, R) started his career in Detroit in 1952.  His first full season, 1953, resulted in him batting .308, and leading the league with 209 hits.  He earned the American League Rookie of the Year award, along with his first All-Star appearance.  He would make 6 more All-Star teams for Detroit, and total 10 for his career.  A line-drive, spray hitter, Kuenn’s best season came in 1959 when he won the batting title with a .353 average.  That year was the first season he played as a regular outfielder; he would not play shortstop again.

Perhaps the thing Harvey Kuenn is best known for is that after winning the batting title in 1959, he was traded to Cleveland for Rocky Colavito, the 1959 American League home run leader.  Colavito lasted four seasons with Detroit (and gave the Tigers good production), while Kuenn lasted one season in Cleveland before getting traded to San Francisco.  “Colavito’s Curse” lives on in Cleveland to this day, as the Indians have not won a World Series since his departure (but they came close in 1997).

Harvey Kuenn retired with 2,092 career hits, and a .303 career batting average, but had a .314 average in his 7 years as a Tiger.  It is unfortunate that he (along with George Kell) did not participate in the post season with Detroit, as the Tigers (and everyone else in the American League) were looking up to the Yankees from 1949 through 1964.  Still, his 7 seasons in Detroit were outstanding, earning him a place as one of the best Tigers to ever play.

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Triples	SB	Notes
1959	.353	9	71	198	99	42	7	7	AS
1956	.332	12	88	196	96	32	7	9	AS
1958	.319	8	54	179	75	39	8	5	AS
1953	.308	2	48	209	94	33	7	6	ROY, AS
Prime	.327	8	65	196	91	37	7	7

Again, I feel an honorable mention needs to be given to Travis Fryman, who is probably the third best shortstop in Tiger history.  His power numbers, combined with his great arm and solid fielding make him a tough choice to leave off the team both at third base and shortstop.  Still, there is little doubt who the two best shortstops the Tiger organization has produced in its 112 year history.  Trammell and Kuenn are far ahead of the rest of the field on this one.

All-Tiger Second Base:

Charlie Gehringer

Lou Whitaker

All-Tiger Shortstop:

Alan Trammell

Harvey Kuenn

Up Next: Catchers

All-Time Detroit Tiger First Base and Third Base

When I started the process of creating an All-Time, All-Tiger Team I initially considered printing only one position at a time.  I ran into two issues with this: 1) Besides pitchers and outfielders, each position would only have 2 players listed, which I felt was too short.  2) When I listed the players I would place at first base, people would disagree with me for obvious reasons.  I decided that in order to explain myself, I would put first base and third base together.  Keep reading.

Stats are scrutinized, measured, and loved in baseball more than any other sport.  The greatness of a player in this sport not only gets measured by single season accomplishments, but also career accomplishments.  3,000 hits, 500 home runs, 300 wins – these all represent milestones which place a player in an elite grouping.  The 1940s challenge this notion, because many players lost 4 years (or more) of their careers to WWII.  Our imaginations stretch at the numbers great players like Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams would have hit had they not gone to war.  Likewise, Bob Feller had a great career with 266 wins, but with 4 extra seasons, what would that number have been?

The same question gets asked of the greatest first baseman the Tigers have ever had – Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg (R, R). The original “Hammerin’ Hank” amassed 58 home runs in 1938 (a record for right handed hitters until 1998), and he was the first Tiger to win multiple MVP awards, leading Detroit to the pennant in both years he won the award.  He was the first American League player drafted into the army in 1940 (after his staggering season at the plate), and he served from 1941 through 1945.  In 1946, he had 44 home runs and 127 RBI in his first full season back (he was able to play a limited role on the 1945 World Series Champion).  He finished his career with a .313 batting average, and 331 home runs.  Even if he only averaged 35 home runs per season for the 5 seasons he was in the service, he would have finished his career with 506 home runs.  At 40 home runs per season, he would have reached 531 career home runs.  He deserves to be named in the same breath as Jimmie Foxx and Lou Gehrig when the discussion of greatest first baseman comes up.

Greenberg began his career with Detroit in 1930, but broke into the lineup in 1933.  He was instrumental in helping the Tigers with the 1934 and 1935 pennants.  He earned MVP honors in 1935 when he batted .328 (7th), hit 36 home runs (1st), and amassed 170 RBI (1st), which was 51 RBI higher than second place Lou Gehrig.  He had record 103 RBI at the All-Star break, but did not make the All-Star team that year.  In 1937, he had the second highest RBI total in American League history with 183 (one behind Lou Gehrig’s AL record of 184, and 7 behind Hack Wilson’s Major League record of 190).  He got his second MVP award in 1940, hitting .340, with 41 home runs and 150 RBI.  Interestingly, Greenberg played the 1940 season in left field, to make room for another heavy hitter, Rudy York, who was more of a liability in the field than Hank.  The move did not hurt Greenberg’s numbers.  Here is what could be expected of this slugger in his prime:

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Triples	BB	Notes
1938	.315	58	146	175	144	23	4	119	AS
1940	.340	41	150	195	129	50	8	93	MVP, AS
1937	.337	40	183	200	137	49	14	102	AS
1935	.328	36	170	203	121	46	16	87	MVP
Prime	.330	44	162	193	133	42	11	100

The second player I would put at first base is the man who Hank Greenberg moved to left field to make room for in the line-up, Rudy York (R, R).  This is probably a surprise to many, but it really shouldn’t be.  York was a powerful hitter, but he had trouble finding a place which suited him in the field.  Manager Mickey Cochrane had to find a place for him somewhere (in the pre-DH days of the AL), and eventually he settled on first base.

In 1937, Mickey Cochrane’s career ended as a catcher when he was hit in the head by a pitch.  The Tigers were floundering as a team, and he wanted to find a way to kick start the team.  Cochrane inserted Rudy York in the line-up as a catcher (even though he was a defensive liability), and in 104 games played (and 375 at bats), York hit .307 with 35 home runs, and 103 RBI.  Imagine what he could have done with another 50 games and 200 at bats.  He hit 18 home runs in September alone, breaking Babe Ruth’s record of 17, and he also had 49 RBI that month, breaking the record of 48 set by Lou Gehrig.  After this, it was determined that a position in the field would be found for him, because York’s bat would offset any liability he presented in the field.

In 1940, York settled in at first base, and hit .316, with 33 home runs and 134 RBI.  He and Hank Greenberg established the best 1-2 punch in the league, and this led the Tigers to the American League pennant. In all, he made the All-Star team 6 times while with Detroit, and slugged 239 home runs before being traded to Boston after the 1945 season.  Just like the Tigers of that era, York is simply too good not to place somewhere on this team.

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Triples	BB	Notes
1940	.316	33	134	186	105	46	6	89
1937	.307	35	103	115	72	18	3	41	104 games
1938	.298	33	127	138	85	27	1	92	AS
1943	.271	34	118	155	90	22	11	84	AS
Prime	.297	34	121	149	88	28	5	77

The question of who may have deserved to be here should naturally arise.  There are several players who could easily fill the role of first base, not least of which is Miguel Cabrera.  I will wait until I complete the other first base omissions before I address Miguel Cabrera.

Those who grew up watching the Tigers in the 1960s will wonder why I left Norm Cash (L, L) off this team.  Cash was a long-time Tiger (1960 to 1974), who finished his career second in club history with 373 home runs, and helped Detroit win the World Series in 1968.  On top of that, he had one of the great seasons in baseball history in 1961.  Let’s look at Cash’s top four seasons, and the resulting prime season:

Year	Average	Home Runs	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles
1961	.361	41	132	193	119	22
1966	.279	32	93	168	98	18
1971	.283	32	91	128	72	10
1962	.243	39	89	123	94	16
Prime	.292	36	101	153	96	17

Cash’s power numbers are good.  His home runs are a little higher than York, but his average and RBI are a lot lower.  He gets a nudge because he was on the 1968 and 1972 teams, but York gets the same consideration, being a member of 2 pennant winners (1940 and 1945).  The real issue I have with Cash is that his best year was far superior to any other year he had, which means he lacked overall consistency.  Cash hit .361 in 1961, and never batted above .283 again in his career.  He hit 41 home runs in 1961, but never hit 40 in any other year (although he hit 39 in 1962, but only managed a .243 average).  He had 132 RBI in 1961, but never drove in 100 again.  Although it is unfair to discount a player’s best season, if I were to take away both Cash’s and York’s best single season, and count only their next three best years, this is how they would stack up:

	Average	Home Runs	RBI
Cash	.269	34	91
York	.289	34	116

Cash’s average drops severely once 1961 is taken away (a 23-point decline), while York’s average goes down 8 points.  Cash loses 2 home runs, while York maintains his 34 (which is now equal to Cash).  Cash also loses 10 RBI, while York’s goes down 5, but still remains high at 116 (and 25 RBI higher than Cash’s 91).

The bottom line for me with “Stormin’ Norman” is that I feel he lacked the consistency of other players, and that I would be placing him on this team on account of one great season.  He had other decent seasons, but nothing approaching 1961.  It was a tough cut, but one I feel justified in making.

The other first baseman who many will think earned a spot on this team would be Cecil Fielder (R, R), the only Tiger (after Greenberg) to hit 50 home runs in a season.

Big Daddy finished second in the American League MVP voting two years in a row in 1990 and 1991.  He played for Detroit from 1990 to 1996, when he was traded to the Yankees.  Few hitters were as exciting to watch at the plate than Fielder.  I attended several Tiger games in the 1990s simply to watch him play.  Even when he struck out, it was amazing to behold.  Still, even with his two great seasons, his numbers fall just short, mainly because he did not hit for high average.  Below is his prime season compiled from his three best seasons in Detroit.

3 Year Prime	Average	Home Runs	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles
	.260	43	130	156	95	24

Fielder had great power numbers.  An argument could be made to add him to this team, and many others would make the case for him, because he was a superior home run hitter.  For me York has 2 advantages: 1) He was on the pennant winning 1940 team, and happened to have his best year that year.  He was also on the World Series winning 1945 team, although his skills were in decline.  The Tigers competed for a division title in 1991, but never made the playoffs with Cecil Fielder on the team.  2) York was a .300 hitter.  This debate could go on for years, but in my estimation, when runners are on base the home run is a beautiful thing, but I will take a single or a double just as well.  York had a greater likelihood to get a hit, any hit, with runners on than Fielder.  With that, let’s not discount the fact that York’s prime included 34 home runs as well.  I’ll take York, again by just the slightest of margins.

That leads me to Miguel Cabrera (R, R).  Many people would say that surely his numbers are better than York’s, and you would be correct.  Cabrera deserves to be on this team, but I didn’t add him as a first baseman so I could put him at third base.  I did this little switch because I was having such a difficult time narrowing down the first basemen for this team as it was, and since Cabrera also plays third base, as he did when we won the Triple Crown in 2012, while leading Detroit to the World Series.

Cabrera helped the Florida Marlins win the World Series over the New York Yankees in his rookie year of 2003.  From 2004 through 2007, he torched National League pitching.  After the 2007 season, the Tigers traded for Miggy, and gave him an 8 year extension to his contract.  Since 2008, he has been arguably the best hitter in baseball.

In 2008, Cabrera led the American League with 37 home runs.  In 2010, he finished second in MVP voting when he hit .328, with 38 home runs, and led the league with 126 RBI.  He followed that in 2011 with a .344 average, 30 home runs, and 105 RBI, while leading the Tigers to the ALCS.  In 2012, all the stars aligned as Cabrera hit .330 with 44 home runs, and 139 RBI to become the first Triple Crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967, and second Triple Crown winner for Detroit.  He won the league MVP, and led the Tigers to the World Series.

Although he is currently not threatening to win a Gold Glove at third base, Cabrera took to the position better than many people expected in 2012.  With Prince Fielder playing first base for the foreseeable future, Cabrera will have time to grow into this position.  Here is how he looks in his prime, which is not over by any stretch:

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	SB	BB	Notes
2012	.330	44	139	205	109	40	4	66	MVP, Triple Crown, AS
2010	.328	38	126	188	111	45	1	89	MVP Runner-up, AS
2011	.344	30	105	197	111	48	0	108	AS
2009	.324	34	103	198	96	34	6	68
Prime	.331	37	118	197	107	42	3	83

These numbers compare very well with Greenberg’s, which is one reason why I wanted to make room for both on this team.  I could have placed Greenberg in the outfield, but with 4 Hall of Fame players there already, that didn’t seem appropriate.  Instead, I would rather place Cabrera at third, where there is less historical talent, and therefore a need for a slugger.

With that being said, there is still a Tiger player who represented himself very well at third.  In fact, this player is in the Hall of Fame, and in his day, was considered the best defensive third baseman in the league.  Another gentleman of the game, and long-time play-by-play announcer for the Tigers, the other choice for All-Tiger third baseman is George Kell (R, R).

Kell played for five teams in his 15 year career, and managed a .306 career batting average (.325 for Detroit).  He hit .300 or better in 9 of his 15 seasons, made 10 All-Star teams (6 as a Tiger), and led all third basemen in fielding percentage 7 times (This was the era just prior to Gold Glove awards being given).  His best years were with Detroit, where he played from 1946 to 1952.  In 1949, he batted .343, winning the batting title, and edging out Ted Williams, who was .0002 from winning his third Triple Crown.  Kell was also a very difficult strikeout, typically striking out only 15 to 20 times per season.  He is an obvious choice to be added to this team.

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Triples	K	Notes
1950	.340	8	101	218	114	56	6	18	AS
1949	.343	3	59	179	97	38	9	13	AS
1947	.320	5	93	188	75	29	5	16	AS
1951	.319	2	59	191	92	36	3	18	AS
Prime	.330	5	78	194	95	40	6	16

There really is no other discussion as far as third basemen go.  After George Kell, the talent falls off dramatically.  The next best third baseman would be Marv Owen, who was on both the 1934 and 1935 teams.  He was an excellent fielder, and in 1934 he hit .317 with 8 home runs and 96 RBI.  He never had another year that approached this one.  His career batting average was a solid, but not spectacular .275.

Some fans would want Brandon Inge to be in the discussion here, but a career .234 hitter simply does not deserve consideration on any All-Time Team.  The one person who deserves an honorable mention here would be Travis Fryman (R, R).  He was a solid third baseman before taking over the shortstop role in Detroit.  He also had decent power.  His prime numbers look like this:

3 year prime	Average	Home Runs	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles
	.281	22	100	170	93	32

He wouldn’t be a bad selection, but in the end Kell is a better defensive choice, while also hitting for much better average (and having a Hall of Fame resume to boot).

The last third baseman I want to mention is Ray Boone (father of Bob Boone, and grandfather of Bret & Aaron Boone).  He played for Detroit from 1953 to 1958 (replacing Kell after he was traded), made two All-Star teams, and had three strong seasons.  His prime season would consist of a .295 average, with 22 home runs, and 94 RBI (very comparable to Fryman).  He would average 150 hits, with 7 triples, 71 runs, and only 49 strikeouts.  He doesn’t get more serious consideration, though, because his production fell as quickly as it rose, and Detroit was not very relevant in these years.

In the end, I felt third base was the weakest position on this team, but I felt I made it a strength by placing Miguel Cabrera in the hot corner, with George Kell as a defensive (and contact) option.  Plus, I wanted a way to get Rudy York on this team; a superior option to Travis Fryman  and Ray Boone at the plate.  Juggling around the positions slightly allowed me to do just that.

All-Tiger First Base:

Hank Greenberg

Rudy York

All-Tiger Third Base:

Miguel Cabrera

George Kell

 Next up: Middle Infielders

All-Time Detroit Tiger Outfield

I will begin my All-Tiger Team with what seems to be the easiest area to fill – the outfield.  Detroit has had some legendary players in its outfield throughout their history.  This includes several Hall of Fame players.  That being said, it is more difficult than it would seem to fill an outfield with the “best” Detroit Tiger players.  There is actually a glut of great players for this position, making it a challenge to narrow it down to just 6.  None the less I feel I was able to do it with minimal controversy based on the criteria I gave in the preface, although I am sure people will disagree with at least one of my picks.

The first player I placed on the All-Tiger team is Ty Cobb (L, R).  Cobb may not only be the most gifted, skilled, and accomplished Tiger to ever play; he may also be the most gifted, skilled, and accomplished baseball player to ever play.  All conversations about the greatest hitters who ever swung a bat begin with Ty Cobb, thanks to his .367 career batting average (highest career average in baseball history) and 4,191 hits (only surpassed by Pete Rose in 1985).  He also retired with 724 doubles (4th all-time) and 297 triples (2nd all-time).  His 892 career stolen bases were a record for 50 years, when this was broken by Lou Brock, and later Rickey Henderson.  It now stands as the 3rd highest total in baseball history.  More impressive are the 11 batting titles Cobb won (some historians still argue he had 12), and the 23 consecutive years in which he batted .300 or better.  In three separate seasons he batted .400, with his highest average in 1911 – .420.  He was also the first Tiger to win a Triple Crown in 1909, when he batted .377 with 9 home runs (all of which were in the park, which is very impressive), and 107 RBI.  He also led the league that year with 76 stolen bases (the only Triple Crown winner to accomplish this additional feat of productivity).  Cobb’s heroics helped get Detroit in the World Series each year from 1907 to 1909, but they could not overcome the National League champion in any of those years.   Here is how Cobb’s best seasons look (and note that I left off a season in which he batted .400):

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Triples	SBs	Notes
1911	.420	8	127	248	147	47	24	83	MVP
1912	.409	7	83	226	120	30	23	61
1921	.389	12	101	197	124	37	16	22
1909	.377	9	107	216	116	33	10	76	Triple Crown
Prime	.399	9	105	222	127	37	18	61

Second on the list is another legendary outfielder, who always gets brought into the conversation of greatest all-around players the game has known.  That player is Mr. Tiger, Al Kaline (R, R).  Kaline has been a mainstay in the Tiger organization since he began playing at the age of 18, in 1953, when he was one of the great “bonus babies” of the era.  Since retiring from play, he has done advising in the organization, coaching in spring training, and color commentary for TV broadcasts of Tiger games from 1975 to 2002.  It is said that no other person has done more for the Detroit Tigers than Al Kaline.  His gentlemanly personality sits in direct contrast Ty Cobb, who developed rivalries with his own teammates, not to speak of the bitterness he had toward the opposition.  These two are like yin and yang.  No other Detroit Tiger player is as beloved as Al Kaline, though.

“Six,” as he was called because of the number he wore, retired in 1974 with 3,007 hits, a .297 career average, and 399 home runs (most in team history).  He became the youngest player to win a batting title when he hit .340 in 1955, at the age of 20.  He made 18 All Star Teams, and won 10 Gold Glove awards.  He hit 25 or more home runs in seven different seasons, although he never hit 30 in any season.  He also batted .300 nine times during his career.  He had good speed to chase down fly balls in right field, and possessed a cannon for an arm, twice leading the American League in outfield assists (until runners caught on and quit trying for extra bases).  In his only World Series appearance, in 1968, Kaline hit .379 with 2 home runs and 8 RBI, including a very clutch hit with the bases loaded in the 7th inning of game 5.  The hit gave Detroit a 4-3 lead (they would win the game 5-3), which forced a game 6.  Eventually the Tigers won both game 6 and 7, claiming their first World Series title since 1945.

As for his four best seasons, these were both easy and hard to choose, because Kaline was so consistent many of his best seasons are hard to differentiate from his other seasons.  Either way, here are his prime numbers:

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Triples	BB	Notes
1955	.340	27	102	200	121	24	8	82	MVP Runner-up, AS
1956	.314	27	128	194	96	32	10	70	AS
1959	.327	27	94	167	86	19	2	72	GG,AS
1963	.312	27	101	172	89	24	3	54	MVP Runner-up, GG, AS
Prime	.323	27	106	183	98	25	6	70

Next on the list is a player who gets obscured by the likes of Ty Cobb.  In fact, this player was a protégé of Cobb, but also flies under the radar a bit because he never played on a pennant winner (his rise was at the same time as the Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig led New York Yankees of the 1920s).  Still, Harry Heilmann (R, R) is a Baseball Hall of Famer, and possesses the 12th highest career batting average in big league history at .342.  This average is also the second highest career batting average for a right handed hitter, with Rogers Hornsby’s .358 being first.  Ted Williams ranked Heilmann in his top 5 right handed hitters of all time in 1994, and named him the 17th best hitter, period.  The third outfielder on this team had the appropriate nickname of “Slug,” due to his slowness around the base paths, as well as his incredible hitting ability.

Heilmann won batting titles in 1921, 1923, 1925, and 1927.  Before Ted Williams’ 1941 season, Heilmann was the last American League hitter to bat .400 in a season, when his average was .403 in 1923.  He managed 2,660 hits in his career, and several times finished in the top 5 in home runs (despite what now appears to be modest power numbers) and RBIs.  His 542 career doubles are currently 28th in Major League history, and his 151 triples are 49th all-time.  There may be no better line drive hitters in the history of the game.  Following are his 4 best seasons, along with his Prime average.

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Triples	SB	Notes
1923	.403	18	115	211	121	44	11	9	#3 in MVP vote
1921	.394	19	139	237	114	43	14	2
1927	.398	14	120	201	106	50	9	11	MVP Runner-up
1925	.393	13	134	225	97	40	11	5
Prime	.397	16	127	219	110	44	11	7

You know a team is good when one of your reserve outfielders is also in the Hall of Fame.  One of the fiercest power hitters of the dead ball era, Sam Crawford (L, L) retired with a .309 career batting average, and amassed 2,961 career hits.  More impressive than that were the number of triples he hit in his career – 309, a record which still stands, even though Crawford retired in 1917.  In 1903 he set the American League record for triples in a season with 25, but topped that in 1914 when he hit 26.  The record still stands (Shoeless Joe Jackson also hit 26 triples in 1912).

Crawford helped the Tigers win the American League pennant in 1907, 1908, and 1909, but he and Cobb could not provide enough punch to win the World Series in any of those years.  He was considered an above average fielder in his day, and also stole 366 bases in his career.  I used four seasons to come up with his prime season as well:

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Triples	SB	Notes
1911	.378	7	115	217	109	36	14	37
1903	.335	4	89	184	88	23	25	18
1912	.325	4	109	189	81	30	21	42
1914	.314	8	104	183	74	22	26	25	MVP Runner-up
Prime	.338	6	104	193	88	28	22	31

Bringing the conversation closer to today, the next outfielder I would place on the All-time Tiger team is Magglio Ordonez (R, R).  Magglio was a huge fan favorite when he came to Detroit in 2005, and he was a prolific hitter.  His arrival in Detroit came at a time when the Tigers had experienced over a decade of futility, and players did not want to play in Detroit.  He helped lead a resurgence of the Detroit franchise which culminated in the 2006 American League Championship.  Ordonez ended the ALCS that year with a walk-off home run off Huston Street of the Oakland A’s in the bottom of the 9th of game 4, sending Detroit to their first World Series in 22 years.

Detroit was also taking a risk in signing Maggs, because his 2004 season in Chicago was limited with a knee injury.  The White Sox felt his productivity would decline from there, so Detroit picked him up at a time when they needed an extra bat in the line-up.

Ordonez finished his career after the 2011 season with a .309 career batting average, with 2,156 hits, and 294 home runs.  In 2007, he gave Detroit one of the best batting seasons in the last several decades, hitting for the highest average (.363) a Tigers hitter has had since 1937.  He also added 28 home runs and 139 RBI.  He had a couple of other .300 seasons with Detroit, as well as a .298 average in 2006.  Although he only played 7 seasons with Detroit, and had some shortened by injuries, his importance in the revival of the franchise after the low point of 2003 cannot be measured.

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	BB	K	Notes
2007	.363	28	139	216	117	54	76	79	MVP Runner-up, AS
2008	.317	21	103	178	72	32	53	76
2006	.298	24	104	177	82	32	45	87	AS
Prime	.326	24	115	190	90	39	58	81

The final person I would add to the outfield would be one who was instrumental in the winning of the 1984 World Series.  He is also considered one of the great competitors the game has ever seen – Kirk Gibson (L, L).  He never hit .300 (unless you count the strike-shortened 1981 season when he batted .328 in about 300 at bats), never had 30 home runs, never drove in 100 RBI, and never made an All-Star team for Detroit, but he was effective in every part of the game, offensively and defensively.  The two things he is most known for both occurred in 1988, and both for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  The first is the home run he hit off Dennis Eckersley in game 1 of the World Series.  The second is that he won the National League MVP that year as well, although his offensive numbers were very similar to those he had in Detroit nearly every season he played for the Tigers.

Gibby came to the Tigers in 1979 after earning All-American honors as a wide receiver for the Michigan State Spartans.  He was also drafted into the NFL, but chose the Tigers despite only playing one year of baseball in college.  He was an excellent combination of speed and power during the 1980s.  Each year, Gibson was a threat to steal 30 bases, and hit 25 home runs.  In addition, he batted third in the order behind Whitaker and Trammell, with Lance Parrish hitting clean-up after him.   Tiger fans will remember his first iconic World Series home run, which came in game 5 of the 1984 World Series in the 8th inning off Goose Gossage.  Gossage, like Eckersley in 1988, was the best closer in the game at the time.  Gibson was a career 1-10 off Goose up to that point (the only hit coming on a bunt).  With runners on 2nd and 3rd (and an intentional walk appearing to be the best option), Kirk hit a 1-0 fastball in the upper deck of right field, essentially icing the game, and the series.

Bottom Line: Gibson is on this team because the Tigers do not win the 1984 World Series or the 1987 Eastern Division Title without him.

Year	Average	HR	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Triples	SB	Notes
1985	.287	29	97	167	96	37	5	30
1984	.282	27	91	150	92	23	10	29	ALCS MVP
1987	.277	24	79	135	95	25	3	26
Prime	.282	27	89	151	94	28	6	28

The difficulty in making any All-Time Team is who you leave off of it.  There are other players who certainly played well enough to make this team, or at least earned a place in the conversation.  You can see from the players I chose above, none of them had a 30 home run season (although 4 hit .360 or better at some point, with two cracking the .400 mark).  I could have changed that by adding Willie Horton (R, R) or Rocky Colavito (R, R) to this team.  In fact, many will argue that Horton deserves to be here more than Magglio Ordonez or Kirk Gibson, because he was so instrumental to the 1968 World Series team, when he batted .285 (good enough for 4th in the AL that year) and had 36 home runs.  His prime year would look like this:

Average	Home Runs	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles
.277	30	94	152	66	18

From looking at this, Horton’s numbers are comparable to Gibson’s, and Horton had the disadvantage of hitting in a pitcher’s era.  For me, it came down to total effect on the team.  Gibson had great speed, which was more productive on offense (see the difference in Runs scored), and gave him better range on defense.  Horton was a liability in both running the bases and playing defense.  Horton had higher power numbers (home runs and RBI) than Gibson, but only slightly, and not enough to offset the speed issue.  Perhaps if I watched Horton play in the 1960s, I might change my mind, but as it stands, I prefer Gibson for his speed and intensity, as well as the role he played for the Tigers in both 1984 and 1987.

Rocky Colavito (R, R) may actually appear to be a harsher slight.  He was with Detroit from 1960 to 1963, and averaged 35 home runs per year, with 108 RBI.  His Prime year (averaging his three best seasons, instead of all four) looks like this:

Average	Home Runs	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Walks
.278	35	114	165	103	30	98

Colavito’s power numbers are amazing, and would easily lead this outfield.  His average is on par with Horton’s and Gibson’s, so why was he not selected?  There are three reasons for that: 1) from the day Rocky Colavito arrived in Detroit, the fans hated him.  He never endeared himself to Detroit like he did Cleveland, and fans saw him as an aloof star who only wanted the spotlight for himself instead of sharing it with Al Kaline.  This clearly is not fair to Colavito, who gave Detroit 4 excellent seasons.  Still, the fact that fans could not stand him is a factor.  2) Colavito did not help Detroit make the post season.  He was on the club in 1961 when the Tigers won over 100 games, and lost the pennant to the Yankees.  3) With only 4 years in a Tigers uniform, it’s hard to imagine Colavito as a Tiger.  History lists him as a Cleveland Indian first and foremost.  Both Gibson and Horton played more years in Detroit, and both were very instrumental in getting Detroit a championship, and that, in the end, gives these two the edge in my mind when comparing them to Colavito (I said I would do it).

There are still more outfielders who have an argument for earning a spot on this team.  Current fans will remember Bobby Higginson (L, R), who played with Detroit from 1995 to 2005.  Here is how his prime season would look (using his four best seasons):

Average	Home Runs	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	SB
.299	27	92	164	91	37	9

His average is 17 points higher than Gibson, and he had 3 more RBIs, with the same number of home runs.  Higginson was also known for his great arm in the outfield, twice leading the league in outfield assists.  Alas, he gets an honorable mention here only because none of the teams he played on had a winning season, he never won a Gold Glove, and he never made an All-Star team.  In other words, nobody doubts that Bobby Higginson was a good player, but he never took the step to elite player, clutch player, and ultimately he fell victim to being a good player on a series of bad teams.

Another difficult cut was Hoot Evers (R, R), who started his career in Detroit in 1941, served his country, and resumed again in 1946.  He was a great hitter, and a popular player among Detroit fans until he was traded in 1952.  He made 2 All-Star teams, and ended up with a .290 average for his tenure in Detroit.  See his prime season, which is compiled with his 3 best seasons as a Tiger:

Average	Home Runs	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Triples
.314	13	93	157	83	30	8

These are great numbers, and on top of that Evers was a great defensive player.  Why the snub?  First, he came along when the Yankees began to dominate the American League.  He was basically a bright spot on an otherwise mediocre team.  Second, he just did not hold up physically.  It’s not very fair to use this on Evers in particular when he meets the criteria established previously, but Hoot never approached these numbers again in his career.  In this case, I am using the fact the others more longevity for their careers.  This was a tough cut, but there are only 6 outfield positions on this team.

One of the old Tiger greats who gets obscured because of the huge shadow cast by Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford, and Harry Heilmann is Bobby Veach (L,R).  He played left-field for Detroit from 1912 to 1923 (he retired after the 1925 season from the Washington Senators), and maintained a .311 average, and compiled over 2,000 hits for his career.  He also hit 147 triples in his career (56th all-time).  He was considered a power hitter for the dead-ball era, typically among the league leaders in doubles and triples, as well as RBI.  Coincidentally, he is the first ever Tiger to hit for the cycle (if you ever need a trivia question).  Here is how his prime season looks:

Average	Home Runs	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Triples	SB
.330	8	114	192	91	39	13	16

Why does Veach not make this team?  Mainly, he played on no pennant winners, and in his day with the Tigers he was always the third best outfielder, even though the other outfielders were Hall of Famers (and he is not).  Also, I feel this team is already deep in dead-ball era hitters.  I think Veach and Sam Crawford give essentially the same stats, but Crawford was on three pennant winners (and was the clean-up hitter on those teams).  Veach put up great numbers, but because each era is a little different, I feel I need to honor the players who came later and helped Detroit win pennants, and not just stack a team with high average players because their era allowed them to hit for high average.  With only 6 positions to fill, I said I would need to make cuts, and this is one of those.

The last person I left off truly is a snub, and I have no other reason for doing it than the fact that I like Gibson’s combination of speed and power more than I like what this player brings to the table.  Pete Fox (R, R) played for the Tigers from 1933 to 1940, placing him on 3 pennant winners.  He set the table for Gehringer and Greenberg to drive him in later in the order for those eight seasons.  He batted .300 twice for the Tigers, but always hovered around .290 when he didn’t hit .300 (he had a .302 career average when he left Detroit).  He was an excellent fielder, good base runner, and hit .327 (in 55 at bats) in the 3 World Series in which he participated.  Here is what his prime season looks like, compiled of his 4 best seasons:

Average	Home Runs	RBI	Hits	Runs	Doubles	Triples	SB
.310	10	79	178	98	34	8	16

These numbers look a lot like Hoot Evers’.  The difference here is Fox was a key component of 3 pennant winners, and he played consistently during his 8 seasons with the Tigers.  There is no reason to leave him off this team other than I prefer the 27 home runs and 28 stolen bases of Gibson.  If I had a 7th place to give, I would have to reward it to Pete Fox.  Let the debates begin.

All-Tiger Outfield:

Ty Cobb

Al Kaline

Henry Heilmann

Sam Crawford

Magglio Ordonez

Kirk Gibson

If I could make an All-Tiger second team outfield, it would look like this:

Pete Fox

Bobby Veach

Willie Horton

Bobby Higginson

Hoot Evers

Rocky Colavito

Up next: The corner positions of the infield – First Base and Third Base.

All-Detroit Tiger All-Time Team

Introduction

I have grown up my whole life a Tiger fan. Through thick and thin, I have always pulled for them. I love reading the stories of the old teams, like the 1934 and 1935 teams led by Mickey Cochrane, Schoolboy Rowe, Charlie Gehringer, and Hank Greenberg. The 1984 team was one of the most dominant teams in big league history, winning 35 of the first 40 games, and 104 by season’s end. Everybody remembers Kirk Gibson’s dramatic home run off Goose Gossage in game 5 to put the game, and the series, away. Then there was the 1968 team which came back from a 3 games to 1 deficit and beat Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals in 7 games. Mickey Lolich won 3 games in that series, including the epic game 7, on two day’s rest. I remember watching the final game of the 1987 regular season, when Detroit needed to sweep the first place Blue Jays in order to win the division. They did just that, winning the last game 1-0, behind Frank Tanana’s complete game, and a Larry Herndon home run. That is still the greatest single ballgame I have ever seen, in my own biased opinion (I know fans of the 1975 Red Sox will disagree, and fans of the 1991 Twins will disagree, but that is their opinion; this is mine).

After the 2012 season, where the Tigers made the World Series, and Miguel Cabrera won the Triple Crown, I started asking who I would place on my All-Time, All-Tiger Team. I began pouring through the stats of past and present Tiger teams, reading old stories of various players, and coming up with a criteria to determine who I would place, or not place, on a team which represents over 110 seasons of baseball. The first choice I had to make was how to split up the 25 positions available on a normal Major League roster. I decided to go with 2 players per position, with 9 pitchers. This will equal 6 outfielders, 2 catchers, first basemen, second basemen, third basemen, and shortstops. I then elected to go with 7 starting pitchers and 2 relief pitchers.

I will try to keep my criteria for selecting a player simple, but that comes with the understanding that no matter what criteria I use, good players (and some will think more deserving players) are going to be left off this team. I have looked at every season in Tigers history more than once, and will admit I have had to give second and third looks to many players. In some cases I have even gone back and changed my mind on who I would place on this team. Being forced to narrow down the selection to 25 players is much more difficult than I anticipated.

My first criteria (and it seems like an obvious one, but it is more complex than it looks) is I am only counting seasons the person played in Detroit. Hall of Fame outfielder Goose Goslin gets left off the team for this reason. He was an amazing ballplayer, but he had too few years in Detroit to be considered for this team; along with the fact that when you see the outfielders, you will see his 4 seasons, though solid, don’t measure up. Likewise, although it was a difficult choice, Mickey Cochrane gets left off the team. He was sold to Detroit in 1934 when Connie Mack was gutting his Philadelphia Athletics team for financial reasons. For Detroit, Cochrane was the missing piece needed to get to both the 1934 and
1935 World Series. He brought leadership along with Hall of Fame credentials (and he won an MVP), but alas, he only had 2 productive years with Detroit (and several more previously in Philadelphia). His Philadelphia years combined with his Detroit years place him in the conversation of greatest catchers of all-time, but I will not be using his Philadelphia stats to squeeze him onto this team, especially when I felt other catchers made just as important contributions to the Detroit organization, with their best years also as a Tiger.

Although I might mention career stats when talking about certain players, for the purposes of making this list, only Detroit stats count. You will not see me make mention of Waite Hoyt, Al Simmons, or Eddie Mathews. All of these players had brilliant careers, but not with Detroit, even though each spent time in Motown. This is also the case with Bill Madlock and Fred Lynn, both of whom spent time in Detroit just before their careers ended.

My second criteria is this: I feel the player needed to have at least 3 “productive” seasons with the Tigers, and frequently I use more than 3 to provide more balance. The term “productive” is pretty subjective, as it is really based on my own opinion, but I felt that considering an organization that has been around as long as the Tigers, I wanted to reward longevity with the team. Longevity alone would not cut it, however, because to make this team the player had to stand out above their peers, and with some level of consistency. To that end, it was not enough to have one monster season, or two great seasons. The best of the best should have at least 3 good to great years to make this team. Creating an All-Tiger team with only one or two great seasons would include Mark Fidrych (a very popular player, but one who only had 1 uninjured year), Bill Gullickson (a 20 game winner in 1991), Bobo Newsom, Virgil Trucks (as much as I would love to include the uncle of Butch Trucks, and great uncle of Derek Trucks on this team) and the previously mentioned Mickey Cochrane. Another “one hit wonder” was Heinie Manush. He is a Hall of Fame outfielder and has his name honored at Comerica Park (his number is not retired because he didn’t wear one). In 1926 he led the league with a .378 batting average, but in all of the other seasons he played in Detroit he did not manage to get 500 at bats. Last, Prince Fielder does not make this team either, simply because he has only played one season with Detroit. He hit .313 with 30 home runs, and helped the Tigers get to the World Series, which is very impressive, but not enough. If he has two more seasons like this, he will get strong consideration to be added to this team, but for now I cannot justify it in comparison to other players, and I will not allow myself to use the outstanding years he played in Milwaukee.

The third criteria I use regards the inevitable situation where two or more players are deserving of a spot on the team, but only one position is available. In these situations I give a nudge to a player who helped the Tigers make the post season. Often times players had their best or one of their best years in a season where the team made the playoffs. Since these seasons “count” more, meaning the player had the pressure of something to play for throughout the season (as opposed to just playing for stats when you are 20 games out with 10 games left), players who were on playoff teams get a boost in their consideration. It should not surprise you to see that almost every position is filled with a player who helped the Tigers get into the playoffs. There are exceptions to this, however, but the best teams often have the best players, so there should be few surprises here.

To that end, I would like to go position by position with the selection process. I will start with the Outfield, since it makes the most sense to me to begin there, considering the legendary players who filled these positions for the Tigers over the years. I will follow that up with First Base and Third Base, Second Base and Shortstop, Catcher and then Pitchers. For each player listed, I will also show at least 3 of their best years as a Tigers player, and average these out to show the season you could expect from each player in their prime. I will also explain my methodology for not including certain other players, for anyone who would like to extend the discussion, or make their own team and compare.

After that, I will present what I think the All-Tiger batting order should be, then the starting rotation. There could be no end to the debate about who should bat in which spot, or who the number 1 starter should be, but I will lay out my best ideas anyway.

Coming next: The All-Time Tigers Outfield.