January 31 in Tigers and mlb history:
1919 - Future Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson is born to Jerry and Mallie Robinson in Cairo, Georgia. Robinson will become the first black player in 20th century major league history when he debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
1931 - Hall of Fame shortstop Ernie Banks is born in Dallas, Texas. Banks will make his debut with the Chicago Cubs in 1953 and hit 512 home runs during a 19-year career.
1952: The Hall of Fame elects two new members: Harry Heilmann, with 203 votes, and Paul Waner with 195. Waner, a .333 career hitter, rapped out 3,152 hits and struck out just 376 times in 9,459 career at-bats.
Heilmann was similarly skilled with the bat, winning four batting titles with the Detroit Tigers and finishing his career with a .342 average.
1959: Former major league star Joe Cronin succeeds Will Harridge as president of the American League. A Hall of Fame shortstop who played for the Pirates, Senators and Red Sox, Cronin batted .301 over a 20-year playing career. He signs a seven-year pact and will remain in office until his retirement in 1973.
1969: The National Association approves the use of the Designated Hitter for the International, Eastern, Texas and New York-Pennsylvania leagues. The rules vary slightly for each league. The Texas League will be the first to use the DH, in April.
1969: The American and National leagues agree to try an experimental rule change in spring training using a designated pinch hitter, but they don't agree on the implementation. The AL tells the teams to use the DPH when they are the home team; the NL gives the home manager the choice of which rules to use, but the visiting manager has to agree. The Mets, Giants, and Cardinals say that they will not use the rules, and the Astros and Reds follow suit.
1971 - The Special Veterans Committee selects seven men for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame: former players Jake Beckley, Joe Kelley, Harry Hooper, Rube Marquard, Chick Hafey, and Dave Bancroft, as well as executive George Weiss. A number of this year's choices will later be derided as some of the worst ever made by the Veterans Committee.
1977 - Joe Sewell, Amos Rusie, and Al Lopez are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. Sewell batted .312 over 14 seasons with the Indians and Yankees. Rusie won 246 games over nine seasons from 1889 to 1898. Lopez won four fielding titles in 19 years as a catcher, but it is his .584 winning percentage in 17 seasons as a manager that got him into Cooperstown.
Tigers players birthdays:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/George_Burns_(burnsge02)
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/burnsge02.shtml
George Burns 1914-1917.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hargrpi01.shtml
Pinky Hargrave 1928-1930.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Duke_Maas
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/maasdu01.shtml
Duke Maas 1955-1957.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Hank_Aguirre
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/aguirha01.shtml
Hank Aguirre 1958-1967.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/powerte01.shtml
Ted Power 1988.
Tigers players who passed away:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Ossie_Vitt
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/vittos01.shtml
Ossie Vitt 1912-1918.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gibsosa01.shtml
Sam Gibson 1926-1928.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Harry_Chiti
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/chitiha01.shtml
Harry Chiti 1960-1961.
from Baseball Reference
