Detroit Tigers
USINFO | 2013-06-15 18:10
Detroit Tigers
 2013 Detroit Tigers season
Established 1894
 
Team logo Cap insignia
 
Major league affiliations
American League (1901–present)
Central Division (1998–present)
Current uniform
 
Retired numbers 2 · 5 · 6 · 11 ·16 · 23 · 42
Colors
Navy blue, white, orange
              
Name
Detroit Tigers (1894–present)
 
Other nicknames
The Tigs, The Bengals, The Motor City Kitties, The Bless You Boys
Ballpark
Comerica Park (2000–present)
Tiger Stadium (1912–1999)
a.k.a. Briggs Stadium (1938–1960)
a.k.a. Navin Field (1912–1938)
Bennett Park (1896–1911)
Burns Park (Sundays, 1901–1902)
Boulevard Park (1894–1895)
Major league titles
World Series titles (4) 1984 · 1968 ·1945 · 1935
AL Pennants (11) 2012 · 2006 ·1984 · 1968 ·1945 · 1940 ·1935 · 1934 ·1909 · 1908 · 1907
   
Division titles (5) Central: 2012 · 2011
East: 1987 · 1984 ·1972
   
Wild card berths (1) 2006
 
Front office
Owner(s) Mike Ilitch
Manager Jim Leyland
General Manager David Dombrowski

The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in 1894 as part of the Western League. They are the oldest continuous one-name, one-city franchise in the American League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships (1935, 1945, 1968, and 1984) and have won the American League pennant 11 times (1907, 1908, 1909, 1934, 1935, 1940, 1945, 1968, 1984, 2006 and 2012). The team currently plays its home games at Comerica Park in Downtown Detroit.

The Tigers constructed Bennett Park at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Trumbull Avenue and began playing there in 1896. In 1912, the team moved into Navin Field, which was built on the same location. It was expanded in 1938 and renamed Briggs Stadium. It was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961 and the Tigers played there until moving to Comerica Park in 2000.

Franchise history

Main article: History of the Detroit Tigers

The club is a charter member of the American League, one of four clubs (with the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians) still located in its original city. Detroit is also the only member of the Western League, the AL's minor league predecessor, that remains in its original city under its original name. It was established as a charter member in 1894.

Western League: 1894–1900

The current Detroit club was a charter member when the Western League reorganized for the 1894 season. They originally played at Boulevard Park, sometimes called League Park. It was located on East Lafayette, then called Champlain Street, between Helen and East Grand Boulevard, near Belle Isle. In 1895, owner George Vanderbeck decided to build Bennett Park at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull Avenues, which would remain their base of operations for the next 104 seasons. The first game at the corner was an exhibition on April 13, 1896. The team, now occasionally called the "Tigers", beat a local semi-pro team, known as the Athletics, 30–3. They played their first Western League game at Bennett Park on April 28, 1896, defeating the Columbus Senators 17–2. [1]

When the Western renamed itself the American League in 1900, it was still a minor league, but next year it broke with the National Agreement and declared itself major, openly competing with the National League for players, and for fans in three contested cities. For a few years there were rumors of abandoning Detroit to compete for Cincinnati or Pittsburgh but the two leagues made peace in 1903 after similar moves into St. Louis and New York.

American League: 1901–present
The Tigers played their first game as a major league team at home against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 25, 1901, with 10,000 fans at Bennett Park. [2] After entering the ninth inning behind 13–4, the team staged a dramatic comeback to win 14–13. The team finished third in the eight-team league.

Eleven years later, an elegant stadium was constructed on the site of Bennett Park and named Navin Field for owner Frank Navin. In 1938 it was improved and named Briggs Stadium and renamed "Tiger Stadium" in 1961. Tiger Stadium was used by the Tigers until the end of the 1999 season. Since 2000 they have played in Comerica Park.

The Tigers
 

 

Tiger Stadium, home of the Detroit Tigers from 1912–1999 at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull in the Corktown district of Detroit.

There are various legends about how the Tigers got their nickname. One involves the orange stripes they wore on their black stockings. Tigers manager George Stallings took credit for the name; however, the name appeared in newspapers before Stallings was manager. Another legend concerns a sportswriter equating the 1901 team's opening day victory with the ferocity of his alma mater, the Princeton Tigers.
Richard Bak, in his 1998 book, A Place for Summer: A Narrative History of Tiger Stadium, pp. 46–49, explains that the name originated from the Detroit Light Guard military unit, who were known as "The Tigers". They had played significant roles in certain Civil War battles and in the 1898 Spanish–American War. The baseball team was still informally called both "Wolverines" and "Tigers" in the news. The earliest known use of the name "Tigers" in the media was in the Detroit Free Press on April 16, 1895. Upon entry into the majors, the ballclub sought and received formal permission from the Light Guard to use its trademark. From that day forth, the team has been officially called the Tigers.

The Cobb era (1905–21)
 

 

Ty Cobb in 1913.

In 1905, the team acquired Ty Cobb, a fearless player with a mean streak, who came to be regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. The addition of Cobb to an already talented team that includedSam Crawford, Hughie Jennings, Bill Donovan and George Mullin quickly yielded results, as the Tigers won their first American League pennant in 1907.

1907 American League Champions

Main article: 1907 Detroit Tigers season
Cobb and the Tigers lost in the 1907 World Series against the Chicago Cubs. With the exception of Game 1, which ended in a rare tie, the Tigers failed to score more than one run in any game and lost four straight.

1908 American League Champions

Main article: 1908 Detroit Tigers season
The Cubs would deny Detroit the title again in 1908, holding Detroit to a .209 batting average for the series, which the Cubs again won in five games.

1909 American League Champions

Main article: 1909 Detroit Tigers season
It was hoped that a new opponent in the 1909 Series, Pittsburgh, would yield different results, but the Tigers were blown out 8–0 in the decisive seventh game at Bennett Park.[3]

1915

Main article: 1915 Detroit Tigers season
In 1915, the Tigers won a then-club record 100 games but narrowly lost the American League pennant to the Boston Red Sox who won 101 games. The 1915 Tigers were led by an outfield consisting of Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford, and Bobby Veach that finished #1, #2, and #3 in RBIs and total bases. Cobb also set a stolen base record with 96 steals in 1915 that stood until 1962, when it was broken by Maury Wills. Baseball historian Bill James has ranked the 1915 Tigers outfield as the greatest in the history of major league baseball. The only team in Tigers' history with a better winning percentage than the 1915 squad was the 1934 team that lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals.

1916–1920
In the teens and twenties, Cobb remained the marquee player on many Tigers teams that would remain mired in the middle of the American League. Cobb himself took over managerial duties in 1921, but during six years at the helm, his Tigers never had a record better than 86–68.

1921

Main article: 1921 Detroit Tigers season
In 1921, the Tigers amassed 1724 hits and a team batting average of .316—the highest team hit total and batting average in American League history. (The Elias Book of Baseball Records, 2008, p. 88) That year, outfielders Harry Heilmannand Ty Cobb finished #1 and #2 in the American League batting race with batting averages of .394 and .389. As early proof of the baseball adage that good pitching beats good hitting, the downfall of the 1921 Tigers was the absence of good pitching. The team ERA was 4.40, and they allowed nine or more runs 28 times. Without pitching to support the offense, the 1921 Tigers finished in sixth place in the American League, 27 games behind the Yankees with a record of 71–82.

美闻网---美国生活资讯门户
©2012-2014 Bywoon | Bywoon