August 17 in Tigers and mlb history:
1903: The Detroit Tigers released Heinie Smith.
1919: The Tigers draw a record 31,500 at home, but lose 4 - 2 to the Senators in 11 innings. Ten ground rule doubles are hit into the crowd lining the outfield.
1923: After 111 games, Babe Ruth is hitting .401 with 31 homers. He'll wind up with his highest batting average, .393. With 205 hits, a major league record 170 walks, and 4 times hit by pitches, Ruth will reach base a record 379 times.
1948: An estimated crowd of 100,000 fans pass by the body of Babe Ruth which is on display at Yankee Stadium.
1948: A day after Babe Ruth dies, Yankee Tommy Henrich hits his fourth grand slam of the season tying one of the Bambino's records. The hit, off the Senators' Sid Hudson, to join Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Rudy York - and, later, Al Rosen and Ray Boone - for the American League record. Henrich, who broke in with the Yankees in 1937, had never hit a grand slam before this season. Bob Porterfield wins for New York, 8 - 1.
1967: The Houston Astros traded Eddie Mathews to the Detroit Tigers for players to be named later.
The Detroit Tigers sent Leo Marentette (December 10, 1968) and Fred Gladding (November 22, 1967) to the Houston Astros to complete the trade.
1969: The Tigers tie a club record with six homers, and Denny McLain wins his 19th, beating the A's at Oakland 9 - 4.
Al Kaline homers in the 7th and 9th off relievers, but the first three Bengal homers come off starter Catfish Hunter.
1973: The Detroit Tigers released Rich Reese.
1980: The Tigers retired Al Kaline?s jersey number 6 in a ceremony held between games of a doubleheader against the Texas Rangers, George Kell emceed and also in attendance were Ed Katalinas, who signed the man later dubbed Mr. Tiger to a bonus contract off the Baltimore sandlots; Hall of Famer second baseman Charlie Gehringer and Kaline?s former teammate, Pat Mullin, who?d given him his No. 6 jersey.
1984: At Detroit, the Tigers draw 36,496 to break their attendance mark of 2,031,847 set in 1968. They also top the Mariners 6 - 2, behind Milt Wilcox. Alan Trammell returns to SS for the first time in 39 games and adds two hits.
1989: The Detroit Tigers signed Keith Atherton as a free agent.
2009: The Tigers obtain slugging 1B Aubrey Huff from the Orioles in a trade for Brett Jacobson. Huff is hitting .253 with 13 homers and 72 RBI. Huff will flop with the Tigers batting .189.
2011: The Detroit Tigers traded a player to be named later, Francisco Martinez (minors), Charlie Furbush and Casper Wells to the Seattle Mariners for Doug Fister and David Pauley. The Detroit Tigers sent Chance Ruffin (August 17, 2011) to the Seattle Mariners to complete the trade.
2012: Prince Fielder hits a pair of two-run homers to lead Detroit to a 5 - 3 win over the Orioles; the second shot, off J.C. Romero in the 8th, breaks a 3 - 3 tie; the Tigers' other run is the result of a 1st-inning homer by their other big bopper, Miguel Cabrera.
2013: Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers hits a walk-off homer against Aaron Crow in the 9th inning for a 6 - 5 win over the Royals.
2016: The Detroit Tigers signed Pedro Ciriaco as a free agent.
Tigers players birthdays:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/justiwa01.shtml
Walt Justis 1905.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mclaupa01.shtml
Pat McLaughlin 1937, 1945.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Hub_Walker
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/walkehu01.shtml
Hub Walker 1931, 1935, 1945.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Rudy_York
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/y/yorkru01.shtml
Rudy York 1934, 1937-1945.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lemanda01.shtml
Dave Lemanczyk 1973-1976.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Matt_Anderson
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/anderma01.shtml
Matt Anderson 1998-2003.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Mike_Maroth
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/marotmi01.shtml
Mike Maroth 2002-2007.
Tigers players who passed away:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Johnny_Lipon
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/liponjo01.shtml
Johnny Lipon 1942, 1946, 1948-1952.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Jimmy_Bloodworth
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bloodji01.shtml
Jimmy Bloodworth 1942-1943, 1946.
from baseball reference
