T i g e r s 5 CONTENTS CHAPTERS Clawing into Existence 6 Two Tigers Titles 15 Young Cats 22 1984 and More 33 Detroit Roars Again 39 AROUND THE HORN Tigers at The Corner 12 Breaking the Century Mark 20 Denny’s Downfall 24 The Summer of 68 31 Playing with a Spark 36 The Forgettable Season 43 ALL-TIME TIGERS P Jack Morris 8 C Bill Freehan 13 1B Hank Greenberg 14 2B Charlie Gehringer 18 3B George Kell 23 SS Alan Trammell 28 LF Sam Crawford 30 CF Ty Cobb 35 RF Kirk Gibson 37 M Sparky Anderson 40 Index 48
6 T i g e r s CLAWING INTO EXISTENCE amed after the French word for strait Detroit Michigan is just that a city on a river connecting two larger bodies of water Settled in 1701 on the Detroit River between Lake Huron and Lake Erie by French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac Detroit grew to a population of 1,000 by the late 1700s During pre-Civil War times Detroit was an important hub in the underground railroad network that transported southern slaves to freedom in the North From the late 1800s onward Detroit rose in population due to its location as a gateway to the expanding West and to the automobile boom of the 20th century Detroit jumped into major league baseball in 1881 with a National League NL team called the Wolverines That club lasted only eight seasons as the city then still relatively small struggled to draw and retain talented players But in 1901 three years before the new Ford Motor Company would really put Detroit on the map a new club from N
Detroit has earned several nicknames including The Motor City for its automobile manufacturing and Motown for its rhythm and blues music
