September 18 in Tigers and mlb history:
1903: In the absence of official sanction, the presidents of the pennant-winning clubs in the National and American Leagues sign an agreement to meet in a best-of-nine series for the championship.
1908: The White Sox stay close to the top when Ed Walsh tops Walter Johnson to win, 1 - 0. The Sox manage just three hits off the Senators' ace.
1908: The largest crowd in the history of the National League - 35,000 - cheer as the Giants shove the Pirates to five games off the pace by sweeping a doubleheader. Christy Mathewson shuts out the Bucs in the first game, 7 - 0, for his 11th shutout and his 33rd win. Then the Giants collect 18 hits to take the nitecap, 12 - 7, as Hooks Wiltse and Joe McGinnity combine for the win.
1909: Before 35,409, the largest paid baseball attendance ever, Chief Bender beats Bill Donovan and the Tigers 2 - 0 at Philadelphia to keep the A's in the pennant race. The A's are 14-8 against Detroit this year, setting an American League record for most wins against the pennant winner. Ty Cobb is the Triple Crown winner with a .377 BA, nine home runs (all inside-the-park), and 107 RBI. He also will lead the American League with 216 hits, 116 runs, and 296 total bases. His 76 stolen bases make him the only player ever to win a quadruple crown.
1912: The Detroit Tigers purchased Henri Rondeau from the Washington Senators for $4,000.
1912: The Detroit Tigers traded Claud Derrick to the New York Highlanders for Red McKee.
1920: National League directors meet in New York, NY, joined by Jacob Ruppert, Cap Huston, Charles Comiskey, and Harry Frazee of the American League. They name a committee to draw up an agreement along the lines of Albert Lasker's proposal, and give the five AL clubs still backing Ban Johnson an ultimatum: come in by November 1st or the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, and Boston Red Sox will pull out of the AL and join a 12-team National League (with a team in Detroit, MI to complete the roster). The AL five turn it down, and bluff and counterbluff blow through the autumn air.
1931: Lefty Grove wins his 30th game, beating the White Sox, 3 - 1, on five hits. He is the first to win 30 since Jim Bagby of Cleveland in 1920 and will be the last American League hurler to do so until Denny McLain in 1968.
1937: Pittsburgh OF Paul Waner establishes a 20th-century National League record with his 8th year of 200 or more hits.
1947: Hank Greenberg makes his final career appearance, with the Pirates: goes 0-for-3 with 2 walks.
1955: Al Kaline has 3 hits for the second straight day, en route to winning the batting title with a .340 average, leading the league in hits 200, and Total Bases 321, all at age 20. Tigers beat the indians 10 - 3.
1956: Mickey Mantle hits his 50th home run, only the 8th to do so, in the 11th off Chicago's Billy Pierce, as New York wins, 3 - 2, to clinch another pennant.
1960: Braves' hurler Lew Burdette faces the minimum 27 batters as he no-hits the Phillies, 1 - 0. Tony Gonzalez, who is hit by a pitch in the 5th inning, is erased on a double play.
1965: On Mickey Mantle Day at Yankee Stadium, 50,180 fans see Mantle play his 2,000th game. Joe DiMaggio and Bobby Kennedy are on hand as Mantle is given a barbecue grill in the shape of a prairie schooner and a six-foot Kosher salami weighing 100 pounds. In Mantle's first at bat, Detroit's Joe Sparma comes off the mound to shake his hand. Mick then flies out. Detroit wins 4 - 3 with reliever Denny McLain getting the win.
1966: The Twins beat the Yankees, 5 - 3, in 10 innings, on Bob Allison's pinch three-run homer, sending the Yankees to the cellar in the American League. In his last plate appearance of the year, Mickey Mantle whiffs and becomes the first player to strike out 1,500 times in his career.
1967: Boston rallies to beat the 1st place Tigers in Detroit. A Carl Yastrzemski home run, his 40th, ties the game 5 - 5 in the 9th inning and a solo home run by Dalton Jones wins it in the 10th. Hours later, Detroit will receive another blow when Denny McLain allegedly leaps off a couch and sprains his left ankle. He will not pitch until the last game of the year.
Minnesota keeps pace by beating Kansas City 2 - 0 behind Jim Kaat's 6-hitter. The White Sox lose 3 - 2 to the Angels when Rick Reichardt hits a 9th-inning RBI single. Boston, Detroit, and Minnesota are now tied for 1st, with Chicago in 4th place, a half-game back.
1976: In his last major league at-bat, future Hall of Fame Cleveland player-manager Frank Robinson strokes a pinch-hit single against the Orioles.
1984: The Tigers clinch the American League East championship with a 3 - 0 win over the Brewers as starter Randy O'Neal records his first ML win. Tom Brookens hits a solo home run. Willie Hernandez gets his 30th save.
Hernandez strikes out Jim Sundberg, and 48,810 fans erupt in celebration at #TigerStadium #Relive84
Roger Craig: "It looks like we finally have overcome the legend of the 1968 World Champions ... As great as the Tigers were in 1968, they are history. Now we're the heroes. ...
I never dreamed so many tears and so much champagne would flow on this night"
Detroit becomes the 4th team this century to be in first place every day of the season, joining the 1923 Giants, the 1927 Yankees, and the 1955 Dodgers.
1984: Tim Raines becomes the first player in major league history with four consecutive seasons of 70 or more stolen bases by swiping four in Montreal's 7 - 4 win over St. Louis.
1987: In Detroit's 7 - 6 win over the Brewers, Darrell Evans belts his 40th homer of the year. He is the first 40-year-old to hit 40 homers.
1996: The Detroit Tigers selected Fernando Hernandez off waivers from the San Diego Padres.
2002: The Detroit Tigers traded a player to be named later and Tom Farmer (minors) to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Hiram Bocachica. The Detroit Tigers sent Jason Frasor (September 18, 2002) to the Los Angeles Dodgers to complete the trade.
2011: Justin Verlander pitches 8 shutout innings for his 24th win as the Tigers beat the a's 3 - 0.
2012: The Tigers defeat the red-hot Athletics, 12 - 2, but lose P Max Scherzer, who departs after two innings with shoulder fatigue. Miguel Cabrera homers twice, including a grand slam in the 8th, and drives in 6 runs; Prince Fielder and Jhonny Peralta also homer.
2013: The Detroit Tigers signed Justin Miller as a free agent.
2016: Miguel Cabrera gets his 2,500th career hit, the 4th youngest to do it, and the Tigers beat the indians 9 - 5.
Tigers players birthdays:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/George_Uhle
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/u/uhlege01.shtml
George Uhle 1929-1933.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dejohma01.shtml
Mark DeJohn 1982.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/masonro01.shtml
Roger Mason 1984.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/earlsc01.shtml
Scott Earl 1984.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/holtch01.shtml
Chris Holt 2001.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/melusmi01.shtml
Mitch Meluskey 2002.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/turnbsp01.shtml
Spencer Turnbull 2018-present.
from Baseball Reference
