May 4 in Tigers and mlb history:
1902: George Mullin, a 5 time 20 game winning good Tigers pitcher, makes his big league debut.
1922: Hall of Fame Tigers outfielder Harry Heilmann smacks his only career walk-off homer. It?s a doozy, too. With the Tigers trailing the Browns 5-3 and two on, he hits a three-run shot off Elam Vangilder.
1928: Ty Cobb becomes the second member of the 700-double club, joining Tris Speaker. All these years later only two have joined them; Stan Musial and Pete Rose.
1939: In his first-ever at-bat in the city of Detroit, Boston Red Sox rookieTed Williams becomes the first player to hit a home run which totally clears the right field seats at Briggs Stadium.
1943: National League President Ford C. Frick demonstrates that the revised balata ball is livelier than the previous year's ball by bouncing it on a carpet in his office. The major leagues have turned to the balata ball because of wartime restrictions on the supplies used to make standard baseballs.
1963: The Detroit Tigers purchased Tom Sturdivant from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
1983: The Detroit Tigers returned Bob James to the Montreal Expos as part of a conditional deal.
2007: The Detroit Tigers signed Henry Mateo as a free agent.
2010: Ernie Harwell, one of the greatest broadcasters in baseball history, dies at the age of 92 after a year-long bout with cancer. He was the radio and television voice of the Detroit Tigers for 42 years, retiring from the booth in 2002. He received the Ford Frick Award in 1981 and was a member of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame.
Tigers players birthdays:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hickmch01.shtml
Charlie Hickman 1904-1905.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/tsitojo01.shtml
John Tsitouris 1957.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Howie_Koplitz
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kopliho01.shtml
Howie Koplitz 1961-1962.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/leachri01.shtml
Rick Leach 1981-1983.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Brian_Maxcy
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/maxcybr01.shtml
Brian Maxcy 1995-1996.
Tigers players and broadcasters who passed away:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mullebi01.shtml
Billy Mullen 1926.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Vic_Sorrell
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sorrevi01.shtml
Vic Sorrell 1928-1937.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Paul_Richards
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/richapa01.shtml
Paul Richards 1943-1946.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Jim_Delsing
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/delsiji01.shtml
Jim Delsing 1952-1956.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Ernie_Harwell
http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/3aee1452
Ernie Harwell Tigers broadcaster/announcer/surrogate dad/grandpa to generations of Tigers fans. 1960-1991, 1993-2002.
from Baseball Reference
