Mitch Lutzke, Author at The Tigers History Project

How Old Is The Tiger Stadium Flagpole? Tracing the Ground Roots of a Ballpark Icon

November 5, 2020 Mitch Lutzke Features, Homepage Feature, Homepage Slider, What's New

One of the most iconic features of iconic Tiger Stadium was the center field flagpole. We went in search of the roots of one of the most recognizable stadium features in baseball history.

Carl Zamloch Wowed Fans With Magic Act After Tigers Career

June 15, 2020 Mitch Lutzke Features, Homepage Feature, Homepage Slider, Recent, What's New

Shop Our Store Order this custom Carl “The Great Zam” Zamloch postcard from our online store Order Now Most baseball[…]

Tigers Finished Their 1918 Season in the Shadow of a Pandemic and War

May 22, 2020 Mitch Lutzke Features, Homepage Feature, Homepage Slider

In 1918, the Spanish flu was ravaging the world. The Center for Disease Control estimated the flu killed 50 million[…]

Understated Fetzer Played Outsized Role in Baseball and Broadcasting

March 25, 2020 Mitch Lutzke Features, Homepage Feature, Homepage Slider, Recent

However you look at it, John Fetzer had a tremendous impact on the Detroit Tigers and Major League Baseball. What you might not know was that Fetzer first came up with the idea for televised Monday night baseball (and was ignored), made the owners a ton of money through television contracts, kept Charlie Finley in baseball, and was seen as the de facto president of the American League.

Rube Waddell Showed Signs of Success, And Eccentricity, As A Minor Leaguer in Michigan

February 12, 2020 Mitch Lutzke Features, Homepage Feature, Homepage Slider, Recent

This Hall of Famer played with Detroit and Grand Rapids as a minor leaguer before making his name in the majors as a young phenom. Known for his childish antics and mercurial moods, he graced two Michigan ball diamonds over a century ago.

Wild Bill Donovan And His Windsor Bride Were The Tigers’ First Celebrity Couple

January 13, 2020 Mitch Lutzke Features, Homepage Feature, Homepage Slider, Recent

They were a striking pair around traveling around Detroit: he the famous feisty pitcher and she his younger, beautiful wife. Over a century ago, Detroit’s glamour couple was William and Nellie Donovan.

BBWAA Was Born in Detroit To Protect Reporters’ Press Box Seats

December 18, 2019 Mitch Lutzke Features

This month left Tigers fans feeling bitter all over again about the Hall of Fame selection process and the continued[…]

The Michigan Native Who Umpired the Tigers’ Record-Setting Major League Debut in 1901

November 22, 2019 Mitch Lutzke Features, Homepage Feature, Homepage Slider

When the Detroit Tigers of the newly christened American League debuted in 1901, only one Michigan native took the field.[…]

Inside Frank Scheibeck’s Showdown With The Owner Who Built Bennett Park

October 30, 2019 Mitch Lutzke Features, What's New

An infielder, an owner, a contract, a lawsuit, a Michigan Supreme Court case—they all play into the history of Detroit baseball.

"The American National Game of Baseball, Grand Match at Elysian Fields," by Currier and Ives, 1866. From the Library of Congress.

For One Week in 1867, Detroit Was the Center of the Baseball World

September 4, 2019 Mitch Lutzke Features, Homepage Feature, Homepage Slider, ICYMI, What's New

Long before it was known as the Paris of the Midwest, and more than a decade before it claimed its first major league team, Detroit set its sights on becoming the center of baseball—at least for a week. Just two years after the end of the Civil War, the city made its mark on the new sport by hosting the “World Base Ball Tournament.”