By:
Advanced search…

Welcome to Detroit Sports Forum!

By joining our community, you'll be able to connect with fellow fans that live and breathe Detroit sports just like you!

Get Started
  • If you are no longer able to access your account since our recent switch from vBulletin to XenForo, you may need to reset your password via email. If you no longer have access to the email attached to your account, please fill out our contact form and we will assist you ASAP. Thanks for your continued support of DSF.

Detroit Tigers All-Stars By Decade

kalinecountry

kalinecountry

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Aug 2, 2011
Messages
194,626
Detroit Lions
Detroit Tigers
Detroit Red Wings
Boston Celtics
http://www.detroittigertales.com/2020/11/tigers-all-stars-1901-1909.html
Tigers All Stars: 1901-1909.
Tiger Tales

I am back. I have returned to Tiger Tales after a months long hiatus. My first writing project for the winter is going to be a compilation of Detroit Tigers All Star Teams by decade.

In each decade, I am going to select nine position players, one for each position in the field plus one other hitter. This ninth player could be a designated hitter, a multiple position player who didn't fit neatly into one position and/or the best hitter who didn't get selected as a position player. I refer to this final hitter as the utility player.

Then I will select five pitchers: four starters and one reliever. In earlier decades when relievers were not frequently used, it will just be the fifth best starting pitcher.
 
http://www.detroittigertales.com/2020/11/tigers-all-stars-1910-1919.html
Tigers All Stars: 1910 - 1919.
Detroit Tiger Tales

This is my second installment in my series of Detroit Tigers All Star Teams by decade. The first post is found below:

1901-1909.

In each decade, I select nine position players, one for each position in the field plus one other hitter. This ninth player could be a designated hitter, a multiple position player who didn't fit neatly into one position and/or the best hitter who didn't get selected as a position player. I refer to this final hitter as the utility player. Then I select five pitchers: four starters and one reliever. In earlier decades when relievers were not frequently used, it will just be the fifth best starting pitcher.

Some further general rules are as follows:
A player must have played at least half of his games with the Tigers at a given position or played that position more than any other position. In rare cases, I might cheat a little bit if none of the players qualifying at a given position are any good at all and there is a superior player who played a good number of games at that position.
A player must have played at least two full seasons with the Tigers, preferably at the assigned position.
Only games played with the Tigers are considered.
If a player played other positions with the Tigers besides his assigned position, his hitting performance in those games does count.
 
http://www.detroittigertales.com/2020/11/tigers-all-stars-1920-1929.html
Tigers All Stars: 1920 - 1929.
Detroit Tiger Tales

This week, I present the Detroit Tigers All Star team for the 1920-1929 decade. All Star teams for previous decades are found below:
1901-1909
1910-1919

In each decade, I select nine position players, one for each position in the field plus one other hitter. This ninth player could be a designated hitter, a multiple position player who didn't fit neatly into one position and/or the best hitter who didn't get selected as a position player. I refer to this final hitter as the utility player. Then I select five pitchers: four starters and one reliever. In earlier decades when relievers were not frequently used, it will just be the fifth best starting pitcher.

Some further general rules are as follows:
A player must have played at least half of his games with the Tigers at a given position or played that position more than any other position. In rare cases, I might cheat a little bit if none of the players qualifying at a given position are any good at all and there is a superior player who played a good number of games at that position.
A player must have played at least two full seasons with the Tigers, preferably at the assigned position.
Only games played with the Tigers are considered.
If a player played other positions with the Tigers besides his assigned position, his hitting performance in those games does count.
Many statistics and sometimes, especially for fielding evaluation, anecdotal information will be considered. For hitters, some of the statistics I consider are:

Games Played (G)
Plate Appearances (PA)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR),
Adjusted Batting Runs (ABR)
Adjusted On Base Plus Slugging (OPS+)
The follow are among those I use for evaluating pitchers:
Games (G)
Innings Pitched (IP)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR)
Pitching Runs (PR)
Relative ERA (ERA+)
The Roaring Twenties was not a winning period for the Tigers who finished in the middle of the American League most years and extended their pennant drought to two decades. Their best season was 1924 when they finished 86-68 and six games behind the pennant winning Washington Senators. Much like the teens, the twenties featured explosive line-ups and porous pitching staffs. The Tigers of 1920-1929 had a hard-hitting group of outfielders as they did in 1910-1919, but the twenties squads also had a catcher and some infielders who could hit.

The top five Tigers of 1920-1929 by Wins Above Replacement were:
Harry Heilmann 57
Ty Cobb 35
Johnny Bassler 21
Lu Blue 21
Hooks Dauss 18 (including 2 as batter)

The rest of the All Stars are shown in Tables 1 and 2 below and player profiles follow.
 
http://www.detroittigertales.com/2020/12/tigers-all-stars-1930-1939.html
Tigers All Stars: 1930 - 1939.
Detroit Tiger Tales

This week, I present the Detroit Tigers All Star team for the 1930-1939 decade. All Star teams for previous decades are found below:

1901-1909
1910-1919
1920-1929

In each decade, I select nine position players, one for each position on the field plus one other hitter. This ninth player could be a designated hitter, a multiple position player who didn't fit neatly into one position and/or the best hitter who didn't get selected as a position player. I refer to this final hitter as the utility player. Then I select five pitchers: four starters and one reliever. In earlier decades when relievers were not frequently used, it will just be the fifth best starting pitcher.

Some further general rules are as follows:
A player must have played at least half of his games with the Tigers at a given position or played that position more than any other position. In rare cases, I might cheat a little bit if none of the players qualifying at a given position are any good at all and there is a superior player who played a good number of games at that position.
A player must have played at least two full seasons with the Tigers, preferably at the assigned position.
Only games played with the Tigers are considered.
If a player played other positions with the Tigers besides his assigned position, his hitting performance in those games does count.
Many statistics and sometimes, especially for fielding evaluation, anecdotal information will be considered. For hitters, some of the statistics I consider are:

Games Played (G)
Plate Appearances (PA)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR),
Adjusted Batting Runs (ABR)
Adjusted On Base Plus Slugging (OPS+)
The follow are among those I use for evaluating pitchers:
Games (G)
Innings Pitched (IP)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR)
Pitching Runs (PR)
Relative ERA (ERA+)

After two decades with no titles, the Tigers captured two pennants in the thirties (1934, 1935) and the franchise's first championship in 1935. Much like the teens and twenties the Tigers had an explosive offense, including four consecutive seasons from 1934-1937 where they scored over 900 runs (or averaged 6 runs per game). In fact, in 1934, they scored 958 runs which was most in Tigers history. The Yankees also had an awesome offense during that period, so it took strong pitching to beat them and the Tigers had it in 1934 and 1935. In those two seasons, the Tigers finished first in run production and second in run prevention.

The top Tigers of 1930-1939 by Wins Above Replacement were:
Charlie Gehringer 64
Hank Greenberg 37
Tommy Bridges 35
Billy Rogell 26
Schoolboy Rowe 19 (including 3 as a batter)
Vic Sorrell 19

One conspicuous absence from that list is Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane who only played two full seasons in Detroit, but led the team as a manager and player in 1934-1935. The rest of the All Stars are shown in Tables 1 and 2 below and player profiles follow.
 
http://www.detroittigertales.com/2020/12/tigers-all-stars-1940-1949.html
Tigers All Stars: 1940 - 1949.
Detroit Tiger Tales

This week, I present the Detroit Tigers All Star team for the 1940-1949 decade. All Star teams for previous decades are found below:

1901-1909
1910-1919
1920-1929
1930-1939

In each decade, I select nine position players, one for each position on the field plus one other hitter. This ninth player could be a designated hitter, a multiple position player who didn't fit neatly into one position and/or the best hitter who didn't get selected as a position player. I refer to this final hitter as the utility player. Then I select five pitchers: four starters and one reliever. In earlier decades when relievers were not frequently used, it will just be the fifth best starting pitcher.

Some further general rules are as follows:

A player must have played at least half of his games with the Tigers at a given position or played that position more than any other position. In rare cases,
I might cheat a little bit if none of the players qualifying at a given position are any good at all and there is a superior player who played a good number of games at that position.

A player must have played at least two full seasons with the Tigers, preferably at the assigned position.

Only games played with the Tigers are considered.

If a player played other positions with the Tigers besides his assigned position, his hitting performance in those games does count.

Many statistics and sometimes, especially for fielding evaluation, anecdotal information will be considered. For hitters, some of the statistics I consider are:

Games Played (G)
Plate Appearances (PA)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR),
Adjusted Batting Runs (ABR)
Adjusted On Base Plus Slugging (OPS+)
The follow are among those I use for evaluating pitchers:
Games (G)
Innings Pitched (IP)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR)
Pitching Runs (PR)
Relative ERA (ERA+)

The first four decades in Detroit Tigers history were dominated mostly by offense, but pitchers emerged as the stars of the 1940s. In an earlier post,
I listed the top starting pitchers in Tigers history and seven of the top twenty pitched in the 1940s: Hal Newhouser (2), Tommy Bridges(3), Dizzy Trout(5), Virgil Trucks(8), Schoolboy Rowe(14), Fred Hutchinson(15), Bobo Newsom(19). It was arguably the best pitching decade for the Tigers in terms of excellence and depth. Some of those pitchers were ranked high, in part, because of their performance in the 1930s and 1950s, but the collection of talent still made it difficult the select a 1940s All Star staff.

Another thing which presented a challenge in picking 1940s All Stars was playing time missed due to service in World War II. Players that served in the war often missed three years (usually 1943-1945) and sometimes even longer. Conversely, those who were not called to duty or did not serve for whatever reason had the advantage of playing against a lower level of competition.

It ultimately was a successful decade for the franchise as they won two more pennants (1940 and 1945) and their second championship (1945).

The top Tigers of 1940-1949 by Wins Above Replacement were:
Hal Newhouser 54.
Dizzy Trout 37.
Virgil Trucks 22.
Rudy York 19.
Fred Hutchinson 18 (including 4 as a batter).

So, four of the top five were pitchers and Bridges (who will not make the 1940s team) tied Greenberg for sixth with 16 WAR. The decade All Star team is listed in Table 1 and 2 below and player profiles follow.
 
Tigers All Stars: 1950-1959
Tigers All Stars: 1950-1959.
Detroit Tiger Tales

This week, I present the Detroit Tigers All Star team for the 1950-1959 decade. All Star teams for previous decades are found below:
1901-1909
1910-1919
1920-1929
1930-1939
1940-1949

In each decade, I select nine position players, one for each position on the field plus one other hitter. This ninth player could be a designated hitter, a multiple position player who didn't fit neatly into one position and/or the best hitter who didn't get selected as a position player. I refer to this final hitter as the utility player. Then I select five pitchers: four starters and one reliever. In earlier decades when relievers were not frequently used, it will just be the fifth best starting pitcher.

Some further general rules are as follows:
A player must have played at least half of his games with the Tigers at a given position or played that position more than any other position. In rare cases,
I might cheat a little bit if none of the players qualifying at a given position are any good at all and there is a superior player who played a good number of games at that position.
A player must have played at least two full seasons with the Tigers, preferably at the assigned position.
Only games played with the Tigers are considered.
If a player played other positions with the Tigers besides his assigned position, his hitting performance in those games does count.
Many statistics and sometimes, especially for fielding evaluation, anecdotal information will be considered. For hitters, some of the statistics I consider are:

Games Played (G)
Plate Appearances (PA)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR),
Adjusted Batting Runs (ABR)
Adjusted On Base Plus Slugging (OPS+)
The follow are among those I use for evaluating pitchers:
Games (G)
Innings Pitched (IP)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR)
Pitching Runs (PR)
Relative ERA (ERA+)
The 1950s decade was not one of the most eventful periods in Tigers history. In 1950, the Tigers finished in second place in The American League with a 95-59 record, three games behind the New York Yankees. From 1951-1959, they finished no higher than fourth place. From 1951-1954, The Tigers endured four consecutive losing seasons including a record of 50-104, the first 100-loss season in franchise history.

The Tigers then played around .500 ball or a little above from 1955-1959, but were still never in serious contention for a title. The Tigers teams of the fifties did not feature as many stars as previous eras, but Al Kaline did start his Hall of Fame career in 1953.

The top Tigers of 1950-1959 by Wins Above Replacement were:
Al Kaline 34
Harvey Kuenn 21
Frank Lary 20
Charlie Maxwell 17
Ray Boone 17

The decade All Star team is listed in Tables 1 and 2 below and player profiles follow.
 
http://www.detroittigertales.com/2020/12/detroit-stars-all-star-team-1919-1931.html
Detroit Stars All Star Team: 1919-1931.
The Detroit Stars were a charter member of the Negro National League in 1920.
Detroit Tiger Tales

On December 16, 2020, Major League Baseball announced that it will now officially recognize seven profession Negro Leagues that operated between 1920-1948 as major leagues. Historians have long considered baseball played in these leagues as comparable in quality to the White major leagues. It is about time that they these leagues get their due recognition.

It is of course tragic that the Black leagues were not integrated with the White leagues and shameful it has taken so long for them classified as major leagues. Now that it has finally happened though, it is time for more baseball writers and analysts to delve into the records and stories and make the rich history of the Negro Leagues more widely known.

For those of us who love statistics, it is important to understand the challenges of analyzing Negro Leagues data. Hall of Fame historian Jay Jaffe discussed these issues in a recent FanGraphs article. I will summarize some of them here:

Negro Leagues statistics are only about three quarters (73%) complete according to Ben Lindbergh, writer at The Ringer. It varies by era depending on how well newspapers printed box scores and accounts.
For example, the 1920s era is mostly complete while the 1940s era is only about half complete.

Seasons prior to 1920 will be excluded. For example, Hall of Fame outfielder Pete Hill played for the Chicago American Giants, one of the greatest Black teams ever, from 1911-1918 but those years will not be counted in official major league statistics. His statistics from 1920-1925 with the Detroit Stars and other teams will count.

Seasons after 1948 will be excluded. So, seasons for players, such as Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks, playing in the highly competitive Negro American League from 1949-1962 will not be recognized.

Players like Jackie Robinson who played in both the Negro Leagues between 1920-1948 and also the White major leagues will have their official total statistics altered to include their time in the Negro Leagues.

The Negro Leagues had shorter seasons - usually somewhere between 50 and 100 games - than the White majors. Teams may have played 100 or more additional games outside of league play often against inferior local teams, but these games will not be counted.

The official site for Negro Leagues statistics is Seamheads.com. It is a fun site and you should get to know it.

My first dive into the Seamheads database and other more anecdotal sites will involve putting together a Detroit Stars All Star team similar to the decades teams I have been assembling for the Tigers.

The Detroit Stars were established as an independent league team in 1919 and became a founding member of the Negro National League in 1920. The Stars played through 1931 when the Negro National League collapsed due to the great depression. A different Negro National League was established in 1933. The Detroit Stars played in the league the first year, but were not very successful and played under 40 games.

My All Star team is going to be based on 1919-1931. While 1919 is not officially recognized, they had a strong team in a competitive league that year.

In prior posts, I have assembled All Star Teams for the Detroit Tigers by decade:
1901-1909
1910-1919
1920-1929
1930-1939
1940-1949
1950-1959

The Stars All Star team will be constructed similarly. I will select nine position players, one for each position on the field plus one other hitter. This ninth player could be a multiple position player who didn't fit neatly into one position and/or the best hitter who didn't get selected as a position player. I refer to this final hitter as the utility player. I will also select five pitchers.

The All Star teams are listed in Tables 1 and 2 below. Player profiles follow.

https://www.mlb.com/news/turkey-stearnes-negro-leagues-hall-of-famer
Turkey Stearnes excelled in 'unorthodox' way.
MLB.com

Display on Detroit Stars baseball player Turkey Stearnes at Detroit Historical Museum.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EtHCKukXcAA2YlK?format=png&name=small
 
Last edited:
http://www.detroittigertales.com/2021/01/detroit-tigers-all-stars-1960-1969.html
Detroit Tigers All Stars: 1960-1969.
Detroit Tiger Tales

This week, I present the Detroit Tigers All Star team for the 1960-1969 decade. All Star teams for previous decades are found below:
1901-1909
1910-1919
1920-1929
1930-1939
1940-1949
1950-1959
Detroit Stars: 1919-1930

In each decade, I select nine position players, one for each position on the field plus one other hitter. This ninth player could be a designated hitter, a multiple position player who didn't fit neatly into one position and/or the best hitter who didn't get selected as a position player. I refer to this final hitter as the utility player. Then I select five pitchers: four starters and one reliever. In earlier decades when relievers were not frequently used, it will just be the fifth best starting pitcher.

Some further general rules are as follows:
A player must have played at least half of his games with the Tigers at a given position or played that position more than any other position. In rare cases, I might cheat a little bit if none of the players qualifying at a given position are any good at all and there is a superior player who played a good number of games at that position.
A player must have played at least two full seasons with the Tigers, preferably at the assigned position.
Only games played with the Tigers are considered.
If a player played other positions with the Tigers besides his assigned position, his hitting performance in those games does count.
Many statistics and sometimes, especially for fielding evaluation, anecdotal information will be considered. For hitters, some of the statistics I consider are:

Games Played (G)
Plate Appearances (PA)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR),
Adjusted Batting Runs (ABR)
Adjusted On Base Plus Slugging (OPS+)
The follow are among those I use for evaluating pitchers:
Games (G)
Innings Pitched (IP)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR)
Pitching Runs (PR)
Relative ERA (ERA+)
The 1960s decade was a decade of change in Major League Baseball. After 60 years of 16 teams and two eight-team leagues, baseball expanded rapidly during the sixties.
MLB added four teams in 1961-1962 and four more in 1969 alone. They also extended the schedule from 154 to 162 games starting in 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.
In 1969, they went to four divisions of six teams each, two in each league.

For the Tigers, it was mostly a winning decade capped by their third world championship in 1968 amid riots and turmoil in the motor city.
In 1961, they went 101-61 and led the league with 841 runs scored despite the presence of the Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris powered Yankees. Unfortunately, the Yankees were better at run prevention and finished eight games ahead of the Tigers with 109 wins.
In 1967, the Tigers took it to the last game of the season finishing with 91 wins and a game out of first.
The Tigers had only two losing seasons - 1960 and 1962 - and did not stray far from .500 in either of those years.

The top Tigers of 1960-1969 by Wins Above Replacement were:
Al Kaline 49
Norm Cash 43
Dick McAuliffe 29
Bill Freehan 25
Denny McLain 22

The decade All Star team is listed in Tables 1 and 2 below and player profiles follow.
 
http://www.detroittigertales.com/2021/01/detroit-tigers-all-stars-1970-1979.html
Detroit Tigers All Stars: 1970-1979.
Detroit Tiger Tales

This week, I present the Detroit Tigers All Star team for the 1970-1979 decade. All Star teams for previous decades are found below:
1901-1909
1910-1919
1920-1929
1930-1939
1940-1949
1950-1959
1960-1969
Detroit Stars: 1919-1930

In each decade, I select nine position players, one for each position on the field plus one other hitter. This ninth player could be a designated hitter, a multiple position player who didn't fit neatly into one position and/or the best hitter who didn't get selected as a position player. I refer to this final hitter as the utility player. Then I select five pitchers: four starters and one reliever. In earlier decades when relievers were not frequently used, it will just be the fifth best starting pitcher.

Some further general rules are as follows:
A player must have played at least half of his games with the Tigers at a given position or played that position more than any other position. In rare cases, I might cheat a little bit if none of the players qualifying at a given position are any good at all and there is a superior player who played a good number of games at that position.
A player must have played at least two full seasons with the Tigers, preferably at the assigned position.
Only games played with the Tigers are considered.
If a player played other positions with the Tigers besides his assigned position, his hitting performance in those games does count.
Many statistics and sometimes, especially for fielding evaluation, anecdotal information will be considered. For hitters, some of the statistics I consider are:

Games Played (G)
Plate Appearances (PA)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR),
Adjusted Batting Runs (ABR)
Adjusted On Base Plus Slugging (OPS+)
The follow are among those I use for evaluating pitchers:
Games (G)
Innings Pitched (IP)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR)
Pitching Runs (PR)
Relative ERA (ERA+)
While I first became a fan of baseball and the Tigers in 1968 at the age of five, I became more aware of what was going on during the 1970s and fell in love with the game. So, the decade teams now become part of my experience as well as Tigers history. It was a decade of Big Hair and Plastic Grass (See Dan Epstein), zany characters, the "three-year" designated hitter "experiment" and more expansion. Most importantly it was the decade where the long-lasting management and player union battle finally changed sports forever.
The reserve clause came to a historic end and "Catfish" Hunter signed the first free agent contract after the 1974 season.

For the Tigers, it was a decade of transition. The aging version of the 1968 championship team had winning seasons from 1971-1973 including a playoff appearance. In the strike-shortened 1972 season, they finished 86-70 just a half game ahead of the Boston Red Sox. They ultimately lost to the world champion Oakland Athletics in a close five-game series.

The Tigers then suffered four consecutive losing seasons from 1974-1977 including a hapless 102-loss team in 1975 that suffered nineteen consecutive defeats that summer. They did have some bright spots including the epic comeback of reliever John Hiller, the rag to riches story of outfielder Ron Leflore and the magical 1976 season of Mark Fidrych. The late 1970s saw the emergence of several young stars including Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, Lance Parrish, Jack Morris and Dan Petry which resulted in winning records in 1978 and 1979.

The team WAR leaders were
Mickey Lolich 33
John Hiller 27
Bill Freehan 20
Joe Coleman 16
Ron Leflore 14

The decade All Star team is listed in Tables 1 and 2 below and player profiles follow.
 
http://www.detroittigertales.com/2021/01/detroit-tigers-all-stars-1980-1989.html
Detroit Tigers All Stars: 1980-1989.
Detroit Tiger Tales

This week, I present the Detroit Tigers All Star team for the 1980-1989 decade. All Star teams for previous decades are found below:
1901-1909
1910-1919
1920-1929
1930-1939
1940-1949
1950-1959
1960-1969
1970-1979
Detroit Stars: 1919-1930

In each decade, I select nine position players, one for each position on the field plus one other hitter. This ninth player could be a designated hitter, a multiple position player who didn't fit neatly into one position and/or the best hitter who didn't get selected as a position player. I refer to this final hitter as the utility player. Then I select five pitchers: four starters and one reliever. In earlier decades when relievers were not frequently used, it will just be the fifth best starting pitcher.

Some further general rules are as follows:
A player must have played at least half of his games with the Tigers at a given position or played that position more than any other position. In rare cases, I might cheat a little bit if none of the players qualifying at a given position are any good at all and there is a superior player who played a good number of games at that position.
A player must have played at least two full seasons with the Tigers, preferably at the assigned position.
Only games played with the Tigers are considered.
If a player played other positions with the Tigers besides his assigned position, his hitting performance in those games does count.
Many statistics and sometimes, especially for fielding evaluation, anecdotal information will be considered. For hitters, some of the statistics I consider are:

Games Played (G)
Plate Appearances (PA)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR),
Adjusted Batting Runs (ABR)
Adjusted On Base Plus Slugging (OPS+)
The follow are among those I use for evaluating pitchers:
Games (G)
Innings Pitched (IP)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR)
Pitching Runs (PR)
Relative ERA (ERA+)

After two turbulent decades which changed Major League Baseball forever, the 1980s was a period of relative calm. The New York Yankees' six-decade dynasty came to a halt and an era of more parity ensued. The Tigers were arguably the best team in the American League over the course of the decade with winning records each year from 1980-1988, their fourth world championship in 1984 and an additional division title in 1987.

Led by the great up the middle quartet of catcher Lance Parrish, second baseman Lou Whitaker, shortstop Alan Trammell and center fielder Chet Lemon, the Tigers consistently had strong offense and defense. They also had solid pitching including starters Jack Morris and Dan Petry and relievers Willie Hernandez and Aurelio Lopez. It all culminated with the glorious 1984 season where they started 35-5, went wire to wire and dominated post-season in route to the championship.

After two somewhat disappointing, although winning, seasons in 1985 and 1986, the Tigers came back to win 98 games in 1987 capping the season with an East Division title after the most thrilling pennant race in franchise history. Losing to the objectively inferior Minnesota Twins in the playoffs was a let down, but that's part of the crapshoot nature of baseball's post-season.
One could argue that the Tigers should have won more titles in the eighties, but it was still a fun decade for Tigers fans.

The team WAR leaders were:
Alan Trammell 53
Lou Whitaker 44
Jack Morris 30
Chet Lemon 28
Lance Parrish 25

The decade All Star team is listed in Tables 1 and 2 below and player profiles follow.
 
http://www.detroittigertales.com/2021/02/detroit-tigers-all-stars-1990-1999.html
Detroit Tigers All Stars: 1990-1999.
Detroit Tiger Tales

This week, I present the Detroit Tigers All Star team for the 1990-1999 decade. All Star teams for previous decades are found below:
1901-1909
1910-1919
1920-1929
1930-1939
1940-1949
1950-1959
1960-1969
1970-1979
1980-1989
Detroit Stars: 1919-1930

In each decade, I select nine position players, one for each position on the field plus one other hitter. This ninth player could be a designated hitter, a multiple position player who didn't fit neatly into one position and/or the best hitter who didn't get selected as a position player. I refer to this final hitter as the utility player. Then I select five pitchers: four starters and one reliever. In earlier decades when relievers were not frequently used, it will just be the fifth best starting pitcher.

Some further general rules are as follows:
A player must have played at least half of his games with the Tigers at a given position or played that position more than any other position. In rare cases, I might cheat a little bit if none of the players qualifying at a given position are any good at all and there is a superior player who played a good number of games at that position.
A player must have played at least two full seasons with the Tigers, preferably at the assigned position.
Only games played with the Tigers are considered.
If a player played other positions with the Tigers besides his assigned position, his hitting performance in those games does count.
Many statistics and sometimes, especially for fielding evaluation, anecdotal information will be considered. For hitters, some of the statistics I consider are:
Games Played (G)
Plate Appearances (PA)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR),
Adjusted Batting Runs (ABR)
Adjusted On Base Plus Slugging (OPS+)
The follow are among those I use for evaluating pitchers:
Games (G)
Innings Pitched (IP)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR)
Pitching Runs (PR)
Relative ERA (ERA+)

The 1990s was a decade of disharmony and disillusionment in Major League Baseball. This included the longest player strike ever from 1994-1995 and the historic cancellation of the 1994 post-season. There was an offensive explosion during the decade culminating in the record setting home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, an exciting event at the time, but later perceived with skepticism. The abundance of home runs during the decade marked the beginning of a Steroids controversy which still rages today.

There were four new expansion teams during the decade and the first expansion of playoffs since 1969. In 1994, baseball went from four divisions to six and a wildcard team was added to the playoffs in each league. The new playoff structure, of course, was delayed by the player's strike until the 1995 post-season. On the field, baseball was dominated by the Atlanta Braves and, once again, the New York Yankees.

The Tigers had arguably the worst decade in franchise history with losing records every season except two and no serious playoff contention in any year. The main culprit was a horrendous pitching staff which finished at or near the bottom of the league most seasons. They reached their nadir in 1996 when the the staff ERA was an incredible 6.38. Only the Philadelphia Phillies of 1930 did worse with a 6.71 ERA and they played in the Baker Bowl which was perhaps the most extreme hitter's park in history.

Offensively, the Tigers were quite potent from 1990-1994 leading the league in runs scored in 1992 and 1993 and finishing in the top three in the American League each year. They also led the league in home runs each year from 1990-1992 and finished second in 1993 and 1994.

In 1990, mammoth first baseman Cecil Fielder hit 51 home runs to become the first major league player with 50 home runs since 1977. Holdovers Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell and newcomers Travis Fryman, Tony Phillips and Mickey Tettleton also contributed to an entertaining offense, but the feeble pitching prevented them from winning.

The team WAR leaders were:
Travis Fryman 28
Tony Phillips 25
Lou Whitaker 23
Cecil Fielder 17
Alan Trammell 15
Not surprisingly, there are no pitchers on this list.

The decade All Star team is listed in Tables 1 and 2 below and player profiles follow.
 
https://totallytigers.wordpress.com/2023/02/17/saturday-survey-65/
SATURDAY SURVEY.
Totally Tigers

A number of MLB teams go beyond how Cooperstown recognizes baseball greats. Many teams retire the numbers of significant former players whether they are elected to the Hall of Fame or not. Others have their own team Hall of Fame.

Despite being one of baseball?s oldest teams, the Tigers have only 13 players wearing the Olde English D in Cooperstown. Their policy is to retire only the numbers of players who got elected. They have made 2 exceptions with Willie Horton and Lou Whitaker.

Should the Tigers recognize more of their greats? Those who spent significant time with the team and contributed multiple great moments? Fan favorites?

If they did create their own Hall, would you pay to visit it?

In other words, if they built it, would you come? (Sorry, the line was just sitting there, begging to be used.)

Would you pay to visit a Tigers' Hall of Fame?

1. Yes

2. No

VOTE
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

About Us

Founded in 2011, Detroit Sports Forum is a community of fanatics dedicated to teams like the Lions, Tigers, Pistons, Red Wings, Wolverines, and more. We live and breathe Detroit sports!

Stay Connected

Forum statistics

Threads
34,450
Messages
1,126,651
Members
965
Latest member
liberyjonney

Affiliates

    Discussion Hub
Back
Top