For a ten season stretch (1964-73), Bill Freehan was one of the top Catchers in the American League.  In each of those years, he would be named an All-Star, and he would add an 11th one in 1975.

A member of the Tigers for his entire career, the apex of his career was in 1968, which was the season he staffed a roster of pitchers who took the Tigers to a World Series win.  Freehan himself was the runner-up to the MVP Award that year, and he was third the year before.  A five-time Gold Glove winner, Freehan would smack an even 200 Home Runs with 1,591 Hits.

A two-time World Series Champion with the Tigers (the only team he ever played for), Tommy Bridges was a major force in that first championship, winning two games in the Fall Classic.  The curveball specialist led the AL in Strikeouts twice and won twenty games three years in a row (1934, 1935 & 1936).  Bridges was also a six-time All-Star.   Overall, Bridges would have a record of 194-138 with 1,674 Strikeouts.

Four-Time All-Star, Norm Cash had a monster season where he won the Batting Title, On Base Percentage Title the OPS Title and slugged 41 Home Runs.  The sad thing for Cash is that he did this in 1961 where the baseball world was affixed with Roger Maris’ chase for the single season home run record.  While that was Cash’s best season, he still had a lot of good ones and would blast 373 Home Runs as a Tiger.

Cash was also a huge part of Detroit's 1968 World Series Championship, and he batted .385 in that playoff.  Over his career, he had 1,793 Hits and a Slugging Percentage of .490.

Possibly one of the most underrated baseball players of the 1910s, three-time RBI title winner, Bobby Veach shared the outfield with Ty Cobb, Harry Heilmann and later Sam Crawford; all three Hall of Famers. 

Veach was a good player in his own right, as along with his three RBI titles he was also a two-time league leader in Doubles and in 1919, he led the AL in Hits.  He was also an above-average fielder, who as a Tiger had a Slash Line of .311/.370/.444 with 1,859 Hits.

Losing out on almost four years of Baseball service due to World War II, Hank Greenberg still managed to be a two-time American League MVP and a four-time Home Run Champion.  Greenberg was an incredible slugger, posting eight seasons where he eclipsed .600 in Slugging and his incredible Slash Line of .319/.414/.616 is nothing short of incredible.  Greenberg is also a two-time World Series Champion.

The longtime Shortstop for the Detroit Tigers, Alan Trammell spent almost as much time on the Hall of Fame ballot as he did with the Tigers.  The career Detroit Tiger was the MVP of the 1984 World Series; a team that had one of the best seasons in modern history.  

Amazingly it took well over three decades before a player from the 1984 World Series Championship team to make the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Even more incredible is that Lou Whitaker never made it past the first ballot.

Hal Newhouser played 15 of his 17 Hall of Fame seasons in Detroit where the highlight was winning the elusive Pitcher’s Triple Crown in 1945.  To say that this was a magical season might be an understatement as he won the MVP (becoming the first Pitcher to duplicate that as he won it the year before) and pitched his team into a World Series Championship in 1945.

Miguel Cabrera began his Hall of Fame career with the Florida Marlins, and as was always typical of Florida, they traded their superstar before he was due to make some serious dough.  He landed with Detroit and his career went to a great level in Motown.

“The Mechanical Man”, Charlie Gehringer was as good a baseball player as he was quiet, and considering he was known for not talking much, you can imagine that he was a pretty good baseball player!

The deadball era was a long time ago but there are still some records that exist to this day, two of which are the most Triples of all time and the most inside the park Home Runs in a season.  Those are held by “Wahoo” Sam Crawford, who played most of his career with Detroit.

Harry Heilmann benefited from Ty Cobb’s guidance (you see, someone did!) and was one of the smoothest hitters of the 1920’s.  Heilmann would win the Batting Title four times (all with an average over .390) and the lowest he hit that decade was .328.  While he was not exactly part of the power boom of the 20’s, he still finished in the top five in Slugging six times and exceeded the 1.000 plateau in OPS five times.  

It is a good thing this wasn’t based on character was it.

Regardless of how unlikable Ty Cobb was (in every possible metric), Ty Cobb was easily one of the greatest hitters who ever lived.  “The Georgia Peach” won 11 Batting Titles and until Pete Rose eclipsed his record had the most Hits all-time in Major League Baseball, though Cobb would play significantly less games than Rose.

While Al Kaline was not named the greatest Detroit Tiger of all-time, Al Kaline was the player who would be referred to as “Mr. Tiger”.

From 1953 to 1960 there were few in the majors who were as good a line drive hitter as Harvey Kuenn.  From that time period, he won the American League Rookie of the Year and won a Batting Title.  Considering that during the 50’s he only batted under .300 once, it was easy to see how even on average Detroit Tigers teams, he could still make eight All-Star teams.

Talk about being forgotten.  Darrell Evans is one of the few eligible players to hit more than 400 Home Runs and not get elected to the Hall of Fame.  He actually never made it past the first ballot.  He only made the All-Star Team twice.  He was a great fielder but Mike Schmidt won all the Gold Gloves at third.  He won a World Series with Detroit but was overshadowed by Whitaker, Trammell, Morris, and Hernandez.  A lot of this may have happened because he had a lifetime Batting Average of .248.

You would not think that an eleven-time All-Star would be forgotten among Hall of Fame consideration, but in the case of career-long Detroit Tiger, Bill Freehan that appears to be the reality.

Bill Freehan gained a lot of respect among Major League players.  He may not have been a huge force with his bat (though he did have a few respectable seasons), but he was among the best in handling a pitching staff and the defensive roles of a professional catcher.  It was primarily through these attributes that Freehan gained as much MVP support as he did, as he was a serious contender in two seasons.  Freehan may not have won the MVP, but he did win the Gold Glove five times and was an All-Star eleven times.

Bill Freehan was never a regular in any top ten offensive categories, but few catchers were when he played.  He did more than most at that position, and as such, a great overall ballplayer, it is curious that the respect he got in terms of postseason awards did not translate into a larger Hall of Fame vote.

How is it possible to hit .361 and hit 41 home runs without anyone noticing?  The answer is to perform that incredible feat the same year that Roger Maris hit 61 Home Runs.

Playing with Alan Trammell for virtually his entire career, Lou Whitaker was one half of the longest-running double play combination in Baseball history.  Like Trammell, Whitaker was a great player with both bat and glove and a big part of Detroit’s World Series win in 1984.

Whitaker was one of the top Second Basemen of his era, yet he did not receive the same respect or notoriety as others.  He won the American League Rookie of the Year in 1978, and though he did not live up to the lofty expectations placed upon him, records show that he was a very consistent performer. Though he was not among the league leaders in offensive categories, he was a competent producer and easily among the top in his position.

The criticism of Lou Whitaker stems from the fact that it looked so easy for him.  Everything he did had such a beautiful flow; he often looked like he wasn’t giving it all on the field.  He was also quiet, unlike the boisterous athlete people would expect.  As such, he did not draw much attention to himself and preferred it that way.  When Whitaker didn't make it past the first year of Hall of Fame voting (which he should have), he didn’t complain.  He simply said that if he didn’t make it the first time, don’t bring his name back up”.  This type of humility just makes you like “Sweet Lou” even more.

Frank Tanana won 240 career games, yet never seemed to be on the tip of the tongue when you think of all time great pitchers; or even really good ones. Yet, a closer look at the Michigan native shows a Pitcher whose career was a lot better than you may initially think.