January 8 in Tigers and mlb history:
1903: The St. Louis Browns purchased Ed Siever from the Detroit Tigers.
1941: In a poll in The Sporting News, the Baseball Writers Association of America names the 1940 All-Star team: Hank Greenberg (LF), Joe DiMaggio (CF), Ted Williams (RF), Frank McCormick (1B) Joe Gordon (2B), Luke Appling (SS), Stan Hack (3B) and Harry Danning (C) are the position players, and Bob Feller, Bucky Walters, and Paul Derringer the pitchers.
1944: Bill Terry announces his retirement from baseball and plans to start a cotton business.
1963: Funeral services for Hall of Fame second baseman Rogers Hornsby are held in Chicago, Illinois. Hall of Fame director Sid Keener, American League president Will Harridge and Hall of Famers Lou Boudreau, Gabby Hartnett, Ted Lyons and Ray Schalk attend the services for Hornsby, who died from a heart attack on January 5th.
1986: The Detroit Tigers signed Tom Brookens as a free agent.
1986: The Detroit Tigers signed Kirk Gibson as a free agent.
1986: Willie McCovey is the only player elected this year to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA. McCovey, who receives 346 votes, becomes the 16th player to gain election in his first year of eligibility.
1987: Ten free agents (Doyle Alexander, Bob Boone, Andre Dawson, Rich Gedman, Ron Guidry, Toby Harrah, Bob Horner, Lance Parrish, Tim Raines, and Gary Roenicke) fail to meet a midnight deadline and thus will not be allowed to re-sign with their former clubs until May 1st if they are not offered contracts by new teams.
The general lack of interest in the players will become the focus of the Players Association's first anti-collusion suit against the owners.
1991: For the first time since 1984, three players are elected to the Hall of Fame: two 300-game winners, Gaylord Perry and Ferguson Jenkins, and a member of the 3,000-hit club, Rod Carew, who becomes the 22nd player to be named in his first year of eligibility. Ironically, none of the three players ever appeared in a World Series.
1995: Mike Schmidt, who hit 548 home runs and won two MVP Awards in 18 years with the Philadelphia Phillies, is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1996: For the first time in 25 years, and only the 7th time in history, the BBWAA fails to elect a single player for induction into the Hall of Fame.
2002: Ozzie Smith, a 15-time All-Star shortstop, is elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA in his first year of eligibility. Smith won 13 Gold Glove Awards during his 19-year career with the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals.
2003: Eddie Murray, the only switch-hitter in major league history with 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, is elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility by being chosen on 85 percent of the ballots cast by the BBWAA.
Former All-Star C Gary Carter also is elected on his sixth try after falling 11 votes short last year.
2004: The Seattle Mariners traded Carlos Guillen to the Detroit Tigers for Juan Gonzalez (minors) and Ramon Santiago.
2005: The Detroit Tigers signed Doug Creek as a free agent.
2008: Goose Gossage is voted into the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA on his 9th try. Gossage had a 126 ERA+ and was a nine-time All-Star while saving over 300 games. He is the fifth reliever voted into the Hall, but the third in the past five years.
He joins Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley and Bruce Sutter as relief pitchers enshrined in Cooperstown.
2014: One year after failing to elect anyone, the BBWAA atones by giving three players their ticket to Cooperstown in this year's Hall of Fame election.
Pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, 300-game winners both, and 1B Frank Thomas are all elected on their first try.
2015: The Detroit Tigers signed Thad Weber as a free agent.
2016: The former scouting director of the St. Louis Cardinals, Chris Correa, pleads guilty to five charges of hacking following an investigation by the FBI over allegations that the Cards had spied into the Houston Astros' scouting database.
Tigers players birthdays:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Reno_Bertoia
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bertore01.shtml
Reno Bertoia 1953-1958, 1961-1962.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/nosekra01.shtml
Randy Nosek 1989-1990.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/johnsbr01.shtml
Brian Johnson 1997.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/whelake01.shtml
Kevin Whelan 2014.
Tigers players and coaches who passed away:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Schoolboy_Rowe
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rowesc01.shtml
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/c60dae04
Lynwood 'Schoolboy' Rowe 1933-1942, coach 1954-1955, scout 1956-1961.
Baseball Reference
