April 19 in Tigers and mlb history:
1919: The Detroit Stars, a Black independent baseball team, beats Maxwell's, a white semi-pro team, 8-4. The Stars will become a charter organization in the Negro National League in 1920.
1927: The Tigers begin broadcasting their home games on WWJ with Ty Tyson as announcer.
1937: Detroit purchases aging slugger Babe Herman from the Reds.
1938: Hank Greenberg goes deep in an Opening Day 4 - 3 loss to the white sox at Comiskey Park, his 1st of 58 home runs that season.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C7XgWuJWwAAz7Cz.jpg
1940: The Detroit Tigers purchased Scat Metha from the Chicago White Sox.
1944: Mel Ott of the New York Giants hits the first National League home run of the season, the 464th of his career, helping the Giants defeat the Boston Braves, 2 - 1.
1945: Future Hall of Famer Joe Cronin of the Boston Red Sox breaks his leg running the bases. The injury will influence him to retire as a major league player. Cronin will continue to serve the Red Sox as their manager.
1949: The New York Yankees unveil a granite monument to Babe Ruth. Monument Park, located in the deep center field region of Yankee Stadium, also includes monuments for Lou Gehrig and Miller Huggins.
1949: Johnny Groth hits 2 home runs on Opening Day and the Tigers beat the white sox 5 - 1.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D35Zx9NWsAEhqQZ.jpg
1960: Roger Maris makes his New York Yankees debut, batting four hits, including two home runs, against the Boston Red Sox.
1960: The Tigers and Indians set a record for longest Opening Day ever—15 innings, with Detroit triumphing, 4-2.
1961: Al Kaline hits 2 doubles, en route to an American League leading best 41, as the Tigers beat the indians 5 - 2.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D4cVLDnWwAAhC3K.png
1964: Dave Wickersham pitches a 4-hit CG with 9 strikeouts in the Tigers' 3-1 win over the Twins.
1965: At a cost of $20K, the original Astrodome ceiling is painted because the sun's glare makes fielding fly balls hazardous. This will cause the grass to die and spur the introduction of artificial turf next season.
1971: Legendary broadcaster Russ Hodges dies from a heart attack in Mill Valley, California, at the age of 61. Hodges announced the Giants games in New York and San Francisco for 22 seasons, after working for four other teams. Hodges was best known for his famed "The Giants win the pennant!" call of Bobby Thomson's home run in 1951. Hodges will be the fourth recipient of the Ford Frick Award, posthumously, in 1980.
1973: The Detroit Tigers traded Charlie Sands to the California Angels for Mike Strahler.
1978: The Detroit Tigers signed Mark DeJohn as a free agent.
1982: The Detroit Tigers released Ron Mathis.
1984: The Detroit Tigers suffer their first loss of the season after nine consecutive wins. The Tigers fall to the Kansas City Royals and rookie Bret Saberhagen, who earns his first major league victory.
2001: The Detroit Tigers returned Jermaine Clark (earlier draft pick) to the Seattle Mariners.
2013: Boston's game against the Royals at Fenway Park is postponed as the city is in lockdown while a massive police chase takes place to find the second of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings.
2013: Vic Wertz Field dedicated outside Wertz's hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania. Wertz played 5 of his 17 major league seasons with the #Tigers in the 1940s & 60s.
https://www.bigvisionfoundation.org/wertz
2015: Yoenis C?spedes led the #Tigers to a 9-1 victory with 6 RBIs. He hit a grand slam in the 1st inning and then a 2-run home run in the 3rd inning.
2016: The Detroit Tigers signed Humberto Quintero as a free agent.
2017: Nicholas Castellanos hits 2 triples, but the Tigers lose to the rays 8-7 on a botched double play in the bottom of the 9th.
Tigers players coaches, and scouts birthdays:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/shortch01.shtml
Chick Shorten 1919-1921.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Bernie_DeViveiros
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/devivbe01.shtml
Bernie DeViveiros 1927, scout and coach 1947-1972.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wyattjo02.shtml
John Wyatt 1968.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/whitese01.shtml
Sean Whiteside 1995.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/murrahe01.shtml
Heath Murray 2001.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/garcibr01.shtml
Bryan Garcia 2019-present.
Tigers players who passed away:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Charlie_Hickman
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hickmch01.shtml
Charlie Hickman 1904-1905.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Allan_Travers
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/traveal01.shtml
Allan Travers 1912.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/carisfr01.shtml
Fred Carisch 1923.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Tommy_Bridges
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bridgto01.shtml
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/f8cf51bc
Tommy Bridges 1930-1943, 1945-1946, coach 1946, scout 1958-1960.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wilsoja01.shtml
Jack Wilson 1942.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/z/zachach02.shtml
Chris Zachary 1972.
from Baseball Reference
