DETROIT TIGERS

The Tigers truly reflect the city they represent.

In the first half of the 20th Century, the Tigers flourished like the automobile industry and the city they represented. They were a vital and thriving baseball enterprise, winning seven pennants and more games than any team except the Yankees. They never finished last, and boasted some of the greatest hitters and personalities the game has ever seen.

As the second half of the century progressed, the auto industry, Detroit and the Tigers declined together. They managed only two championship seasons, Their stadium, once considered stately and quaint, seemed tired and charm-less. The team endured long stretches of mediocrity and, like Detroit itself, spent much time searching for the formula that would recapture past glories.

Detroit played in the National League during the 19th Century but the lack of fan support doomed the franchise. Detroit joined the American League as a charter member in 1901. They were known as the Tigers from Day One; old timers said it was due to the orange stripe on their uniform socks. They had an auspicious debut, winning their first-ever game against Milwaukee 14-13 after trailing 13-4.

The Tiger franchise was electrified in 1905 with the arrival of Tyrus Raymond Cobb, a once-in-a-generation ballplayer, who over the next twenty-four seasons (the last two with Philadelphia) would win twelve batting titles, nine of them consecutively. He retired with a slew of records including the highest lifetime average (.367) and most hits ever by a player. Cobb created an enduring legacy as a player and personality, and an unmatched record as a hitter. This was acknowledged when he won the most votes among the five players selected as the initial inductees into the Hall of Fame. Cobb earned more votes than Babe Ruth, Christy Matheson, Walter Johnson or Honus Wagner.

In his earliest seasons, Cobb patrolled center field for an aggressive freewheeling team managed by the colorful and dynamic Hughie Jennings. With Cobb and "Wahoo" Sam Crawford (two-thousand nine-hundred sixty-four career hits and three-hundred twelve lifetime triples — still the all-time record), the Tigers won three straight pennants in 1907-08-09 but lost all three series, the first pair to the Cubs and the third one to the Pirates.

The Tigers came up short during the next decade, despite the slugging of Cobb, and Harry Heilmann, one of the greatest right hand hitters of all time. He owns a lifetime average of .342 (one of the top ten marks of all time) and won four batting titles with averages of .394, .403, .393 and .398.

In 1912, the Tigers moved their baseball activities to a new ballpark on the corner of Michigan and Trumbull Avenues called Navin Field, then Briggs Stadium and eventually Tiger Stadium. They would play over six-thousand eight-hundred games there over eighty-eight years before moving to Comerica Park in 2000.

Jennings resigned the team and Cobb became manager in 1920. His record as a manager was spotty, and finished his career in Philadelphia. The next significant personnel move for the Tigers was the acquisition of Mickey Cochrane from the Philadelphia A's in 1933. Cochrane, considered one of the best catchers in history, combined on field talent with an ability to lead and rally teammates.

He was soon joined by the "G-Men" - Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenberg and Leon "Goose" Goslin - Hall of Famers all. Gehringer was the best second baseman of the 1930s - a lifetime .320 hitter; thirteen times he batted better than .300 and four times he drove in over one-hundred runs. Greenberg, a lifetime .313 hitter, led the American League in home runs four times drove in over one-hundred runs seven times and in 1938 made a serious run at Babe Ruth's sixty home run record, finishing with fifty-eight. Goslin, a lifetime .316 hitter acquired in a trade with the Senators, would knock in more than one-hundred runs for Detroit three years in a row.

Along with pitching ace Tommy Bridges, the Tigers won consecutive pennants in 1934-35 and finally won their first World Championship with a six game decision over the Cubs in 1935. Cochrane ended his career after being beaned in 1937, but the team added slugger Rudy York and buttressed the pitching staff with Bobo Newsom and Schoolboy Rowe, allowing the Tigers to claw to the top again in 1940 and 1945, winning the latter World Series over the Cubs again.

Ten years later, a new anchor appeared in the person of Al Kaline, who became the youngest-ever batting champion (.340 in 1955). Kaline's tenure featured veterans such as Norm Cash and fan favorite Willie Horton. They contended frequently, but reached the Promised Land only once - 1968 when Denny McLain became baseball's last thirty game winner and the Tigers knocked off the Cardinals in seven games.

Sparky Anderson was the next anchor, beginning his managerial reign in 1979. By far his best year came five seasons later, when his 1984 team won ten of its first eleven games and thirty-five of forty, leading the American League East wire to wire. They had punch in the lineup with Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammel, Kirk Gibson and Howard Johnson, and a knockout pitching staff - Jack Morris (19-11) led the starters and Willie Hernandez closed to the tune of thirty-two saves. They easily dispatched the Padres in a five-game World Series.

Times have been tough since then, excepting a 1987 Eastern Title. The nadir was 2003 when they challenged the Mets modern record of one-hundred twenty losses and came up one short (43-119).

Like the Motor City, the Tigers have found the formula for regaining success elusive. When they find it - watch out because it has worked well in the past, producing Cobb, Greenberg, Gehringer, Kaline, nine pennants, four World Championships, eight batting champions and six home run champions.