Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Baseball In The D

                                Part 1: The Beginning Of The Detroit Tigers

                   This magnificent ball club has a large, rich history, and it all started in the 1900s.




Being a native suburban Detroiter, I grew up around many Detroit Tigers fans. Especially my dad, who got me interested in baseball in the first place. After seeing probably hundreds and hundreds of tigers games with him on TV, it made me wonder about how this ball club got started. 

The Detroit Tigers first became a team in 1901. Their first game ever was on April 25, 1901, against the Milwaukee Brewers. At first it seemed like a blowout, but then they showed some life in the bottom of the ninth. Down 13-4, a series of hits helped them bring the score to 13-12, then a two-run double from Frank “Pop” Dillon sealed the deal of the comeback, and sent 10,000 tigers fans home happy with the 14-13 win. Their first season as a ball club was surprisingly decent, as they finished in third place with a 74-62 record. Unfortunately, the next three seasons were not as good, as they finished with records under .500. Although when one of the greatest tigers of all time debuted in 1905, they suddenly became a much better team.

Tyrus Raymond Cobb, or better known as Ty Cobb, made his Tigers debut on August 30, 1905. He would be one of the best hitters from 1907 until the end of his career in 1928. Not only was he known for his superb hitting skills, but he was also known as a troublemaker as well. He was constantly getting in fights with teammates and opponents, and he was narcissistic as well, calling himself “the greatest baseball player of all time.” While watching the motion picture Cobb, it helped me understand more of how he was really like on and off the baseball diamond. Tommy Lee Jones was the role of Ty Cobb, and he portrayed him as a fantastic athlete, yet a ruthless man. And the real Ty Cobb definitely showed why, as he ended up winning 9 straight batting titles. His superb play on the field helped the Tigers reach their first pennant in 1907.

After finishing at 92-58, and winning the pennant, the Tigers were going up against the Chicago Cubs in their first world series. It was expected to be a close series, but was ultimately not even close. The Cubs ended up sweeping the Tigers 4-0, with a disappointing performance by Ty Cobb, hitting only .200. The next two years they won the pennant, facing the Cubs once again, then the Pittsburgh Pirates, though they did not win the world series either of those years. It wasn’t until 1935 when they finally won a world series. This was after Ty Cobb had retired, though they had the 1935 MVP Hank Greenberg, who was just as good, if not better. Their first world champion came, ironically, against the Chicago Cubs. 


The Tigers would go on to win three more world series after that, in 1945, 1968, and 1984. After their last world series win, they just couldn’t seem to get back to the world series, despite having great players such as Jack Morris, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Kirk Gibson, and so on. Time went on, and through most of the 90’s they became a mediocre ball club. Through the early 2000’s, still, they didn’t seem to be contenders ever. Even moving into Comerica Park in 2000 didn’t help. I wasn’t even interested in baseball yet. And it wouldn’t help in 2003 when they ended up with a 43-119 record, the worst year for a team ever. Though after a few years of rebuilding, acquiring high draft picks, signing free agents, they gradually got better. In 2006, my interest in baseball skyrocketed after watching maybe one of the most memorable Tigers games ever. 





Works Cited

Creamer, Chris. “Historical Moments.” 12 Oct. 2013. http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/al/detroit/tigers.html


Ebert, Roger. “Cobb.” 2 Dec. 1994. http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cobb-1994



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