As the Tigers prepare to celebrate that historic 1968 team it’s safe to say Denny McLain’s legacy remains complicated.
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Mitch Lutzke, Author Of ‘The Page Fence Giants’
The story of the Detroit Tigers and of Major League Baseball is incomplete without celebrating deserving big leaguers who were denied their chance. In the late 19th century, Adrian, Michigan, was home to a nationally-known team of African American All-Stars.
Read moreBill Freehan Should Be in the Hall of Fame – Motor City Bengals
From Motor City Bengals: Detroit Tigers’ fans will watch as two of the team’s icons, Jack Morris and Alan Trammell, finally get inducted[…]
Read moreThrowback Tigers: The Quiet Career of Dick McAuliffe
Richard John “Dick” McAuliffe was never the kind of player destined to make it into Cooperstown, and yet he was precisely the kind of hard-nosed, rough and tumble baseball player who helped turn the 1968 Tigers team into world champions. The spirited infielder was known as “Mad Dog” to his teammates.
Read moreFive from the Archives: 30th ’84 Reunion, Newhouser’s Greatness, Galarraga’s ‘Strange’ Season, Bridges’ Near Perfecto, McAuliffe’s Quiet Standout Career
Three decades later, Detroit Tigers’ 1984 World Series champs – some of them, anyway – set to reunite – by[…]
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Where’s Whitaker? Eight Theories on a Hall of Fame Snub
If Alan Trammell gets a Hall of Fame plaque, why is his double play partner Lou Whitaker—who had an essentially identical career—shut out not only from induction but from voting consideration altogether? There is no rational reason to induct Ryne Sandberg in 2005, Roberto Alomar in 2011, and Craig Biggio in 2015, while keeping Whitaker—whose numbers keep pace or surpass them—not only out of the Hall but off the ballot. So what’s going on? I’ve seen at least eight different explanations.
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Bill Freehan: The Tiger Who Was a Horse
Bill Freehan was considered the premier catcher in baseball until Johnny Bench came along and claimed that title. He began a run of 10 consecutive All-Star Game selections in 1964 — just three years removed from his time as a University of Michigan two-sport standout — and finished third in American League MVP voting in 1967 and second in 1968, when his Detroit Tigers won the World Series.
Read moreDan Dillman, Tigers’ Batboy In The 1940s
Dan Dillman worked as a batboy at Briggs (Tiger) Stadium from 1948-1950, rubbing shoulders with baseball legends in the visitors’ clubhouse and dugout.
Read moreRon Kaplan, Author Of ‘Hank Greenberg In 1938’
Download Audio Ron Kaplan, author of Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War, talks[…]
Read moreBenton Harbor’s Bearded Cultists Were Old Baseball’s Answer to the Harlem Globetrotters
The House of David had many of the characteristics of a typical cult: a charismatic leader, apocalyptic beliefs, communal living, and strict prohibitions on sex, alcohol, and cutting one’s hair.
But they also allowed women members to vote and hold office, ran an amusement park, sent traveling bands on the vaudeville circuit — and formed a sensational baseball team.
With their long hair and beards, the House of David players drew massive crowds as they barnstormed around the country.
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