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Top 50 Detroit Tigers

Founded in 1901, the Detroit Tigers have been staples in the American League since its inception.

The Tigers have had their ups and downs for sure, but the team has been in the World Series eleven times and won the Fall Classic four times in 1935, 1945, 1968, and 1984.  

With over a century of players to choose from, the Top 50 Detroit Tigers is loaded with Hall of Famers, should have beens and future Cooperstown performers.

Note: Baseball lists are based on:

  1. Sabremetric tallies while with that team, mostly WAR.
  1. Traditional metrics and how they finished in their respective league overall.
  1. Playoff accomplishment.
  1. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.
This list is updated to the end of the 2023 season
A four-time All-Star during his stint with the Detroit Tigers (1990-97), Travis Fryman was a former Silver Slugger winner who smacked 149 Home Runs and had a .300 Batting Average Season in 1993.  Fryman had 1,176 Hits in Detroit.
Twice going over the 20 Win mark as a Detroit Tiger, Ed Killian was one of the stars of his team in the 1900’s.  Killian retired with an incredible Earned Run Average of 2.38 and a Win/Loss record of 100 and 74 and while it should be mentioned that he pitched in the dead ball era, he is sixth all time in allowing the least amount of Home Runs per Inning.
The primary Shortstop for the Detroit Tigers in the 1930’s, Billy Rogell would offensively have six straight seasons with 150 Hits and three straight seasons defensively with a Defensive bWAR over 2.  Rogell would in fact lead the American League in that category three times and finish second twice.  The accomplished Infielder would also be an important part of the 1935 World Series Championship Team.
It is certainly accurate that Kirk Gibson is best remembered for his dramatic World Series walk-off Home Run for the Los Angeles Dodgers (a year he was named MVP) but the real meat of his career was in Motown playing for the Tigers.  Gibson was already a World Series Champion in Detroit (1984) and won the MVP of the ALCS that year.  As a Tiger, Gibson would hit 195 Home Runs, steal 194 bases with a .480 Slugging Percentage.
With the bulk of his career spent in Detroit, Earl Whitehill was known as equal for his skill as he was nasty disposition.  Whitehill would have five campaigns in Motown with over 16 Wins and is one of the more underrated hurlers of the first half of the 20th Century.
Al Benton struggled with the Philadelphia Athletics in the two seasons he was there (1934 & 1935), and he would be back in the minors until the Tigers bought his contract. 
Tony Phillips had a long career spanning eighteen seasons but his five in Detroit clearly reflected the best offensive numbers of his career.  Phillips would lead the American League in Runs Scored in 1992 and in Walks in 1993, a season he also batted .313 and finished 16th in MVP voting.  The versatile player also put up his best defensive output as a Detroit Tiger.
Jim Northrup signed with the Detroit Tigers as an Amateur Free Agent and would debut for Detroit in 1964.  Two years later, he won the starting Rightfield job for the team and held that until he was traded to the Montreal Expos during the 1964 season.
In his eleven seasons in the Majors (all with Detroit) Bobby Higginson never went to an All-Star Game, nor did he win a Gold Glove or Silver Slugger, but the Outfielder was thought of very highly for his overall skills throughout the league and was named the organization’s “Mr. Tiger” twice.
Is this not one of the most awesome names in Baseball history?It is also the named owned by a pretty decent Pitcher.
A two-time leader in the American League in Triples with the Tigers, Curtis Granderson would become a bigger star in baseball when he was traded to the New York Yankees.  Still, Granderson has a list of solid accomplishments in Motown where he had 102 Home Runs, a .300 season, and a tenth place finish in MVP voting.

CLASSIC TOUR AT YANKEE STADIUM

Jan 01, 1970

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TOURS: TRUIST PARK

Jan 01, 1970

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Mar 28, 2024

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I wonder if it is a prerequisite to be popular if you are named Rocky?That was certainly the case for Rocky Colavito as a Cleveland Indian, but it wasn’t that he didn’t have fans when he was traded to the Tigers.