Tigers History

The Tigers moved into their new stadium, the Comerica Park. The home opening game in the new ballpark was a complete sold out. The fans braved 34-degree temperatures to se the home opening game in which the Tigers hosted the Seattle Mariners. The Tigers would go on to win that game 5-2. However, the Tiger’s situation was immediately backfired with the acquisition of Gonzales who was not comfortable playing in the pitcher friendly stadium and walked away at the end of the season. To acquire Gonzales the Tigers traded 3 of their top players. The highlight of the season was right-hander Todd Jones, who put the Tigers into the race for the Wild Card. However, the Tigers finished the season with a disappointing 79-83 record. In 2001, the Tigers recorded their 8 losing season in a row with a miserable 66-96 record. The 2002 season was also miserable for the Tigers as Manager Phil Garner was fired in the middle of an unpleasant 0-11 start. His replacement Luis Puljos also failed to bring improvement in their records. The Tigers finished the season in last place with a shocking 55-106 record. In 203, the Tigers hired Alan Trammel as their new manager. But the Tigers were as usual terrible.

They continued their streak of losing seasons and entered the all-star break with an embarrassing 24-67 record. Moreover, they narrowly escaped to break the record set by Mets for losses in one season by winning five out of the last six games of the season. The Tigers finished the season with hideous 43-119 record. In 2004, the Tigers in the Free Agency market signed Iván Rodríguez, Ugueth Urbina, Rondell White, Omar Infante and Carlos Guillén. With the new additions, the Tigers started the season with 4 consecutive wins and by the end of the season had a 29-game improvement as compared to the previous season. The Tigers finished the season in 4th place with a record of 72-90. The Detroit Tigers started playing professional baseball in 1893 as the charter member of the minor Western League. In 1900, when the Western League became the American League, the Detroit Tigers became the certified member of the newly established league. On April 25, 1901, the Tigers played their first game as an AL franchise at Bennett Park. The Tigers very impressively won the game by 14-13 after registering a record of 13-4 until the ninth inning. In 1905, the team signed Ty Cobb who went on to become one of the greatest players of all-time. Led by the legendary Ty Cobb, Detroit won three consecutive AL pennants from 1907-09 under manager Hugh Jennings.

Cobb accumulated a .367 career batting average to set an all-time major league record, won a record 12 batting titles, and hit over .300 every year except in his rookie season. The Tigers repeated as AL Champions again in 1908 and 1909. Cobbs in 1909 won the Triple Crown for his outstanding scores in batting, runs batted in (RBIs), and home runs. Cobb along with Sam Crawford, Harry Heilmann, and Bobby Veach kept the team in contention for the AL title more than the next two decades. However, ever time the team narrowly missed the World Series, and would not win its first World Series until 1935. Under catcher-manager Mickey Cochrane, the Tigers won two straight pennants in 1934 and 1935. Mickey Cochrane, Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenberg, and Hal Newhouser had an outstanding season with some individual achievements also. The Tigers won their first World Series title in 1935, sweeping the highly favored Chicago Cubs, 4 games to 2. The Tigers won additional Al pennants in 1940, 1945, 1968 and 1984 clinching World Series victory in 1945, 1968 and 1984. Hal Newhouser led the league in nearly every pitching category and won his second consecutive MVP award in 1945. The same season the Tigers were claimed their 7th AL Pennant with an 88-65 record. In the World Series the Tigers bested the Chicago Cubs (9-3). After a pennant drought of 23-years, the Tigers came back to win the American League Pennant by 12 games over the Baltimore Orioles on the Last Day of the season in 1968. In the World Series the Tigers faced the St. Louis Cardinals. A squad featuring Al Kaline and Mickey Lolich, the Tigers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series 4 Games to 3. Denny McLain claimed both the AL Cy Young, and MVP award. Detroit’s shining star during the drought was Al Kaline.

In 1954 at the age of 20, he became the youngest major leaguer to win a batting title. From 1979 to 1995, the team was managed by George "Sparky" Anderson. Anderson’s sixth sense was son strong that he could predict a pennant winner within 5 years. In 1984, the Tigers were productive right from the start of the season and set a franchise record of 104 victories. The Tigers Swept the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series and defeated the San Diego Padres in the World Series in 5 Games Outfielders Kirk Gibson and Chet Lemon, catcher Lance Parrish, shortstop Alan Trammell, and second baseman Lou Whitaker powered the team. Relief pitcher Willie Hernandez won both the Cy Young Award and the MVP award. In 1987, The Tigers bested the Toronto Blue Jays to win their last American League Eastern Division Championship. In 1992 first baseman Cecil Fielder became the first AL player to lead the league in RBIs for three straight seasons. In the subsequent years the team’s performance slumped with. In 1996, the team tied the record for most games lost in a single season. Prior to the 198 season, the Tigers were repositioned to the AL Central Division from the AL East Division. The logo of the team has a prowling tiger walking through old English font "D." The mascot of the team is Paws. The team’s nickname has been derived from the black & orange striped socks they wore in their early years. The Tigers play their home games in Comerica Park