December 19 in Tigers and mlb history:
1928: Senators player-manager Bucky Harris is traded to the Tigers for infielder Jack Warner. The future Hall of Famer will replace George Moriarty (68-86, 6th place) as the Motor City skipper.
1934: The Yankees send five players to San Francisco as part of the payment for Joe DiMaggio. He will play another season in the Pacific Coast League and will report at the end of 1935.
1934: Al Kaline is born in Baltimore, Md. Al becomes a High School, and Legion Ball Phenom playing 2 and at times 3 games in a day. Kaline is signed by Ed Katalinas a day after graduating from high school and signs for $35K.
Al sits on the bench in 1953 between Johnny Pesky and Fred Hutchinson going in as a defensive replacement.
In 1955 Kaline becomes the youngest player to win a batting title, also leading the A.L. in Hits with 200 and Total Bases with 321.
A complete 5 tool ballplayer, Kaline becomes the greatest defensive outfielder in American League history, winning 10 Gold Gloves for fielding excellence. After 5 full years and 85 assists, opposing teams stop running on Kaline's legendary throwing arm considered to be the Most Accurate in Major League History. Kaline is voted to 18 All-Star games batting a cool .324 12 for 37 with 2 Homeruns.
Al is the runnerup in the A.L. MVP ballot in 1955 and 1963, winning the prestigious Sporting News A.L. Player of the Year Award those seasons, a 3rd place finish in the MVP ballot in 1956 and 10 years in the top 10 voting for MVP over his career.
In the 1968 World Series, Kaline’s only appearance in the Fall Classic, he batted .379, hit two home runs and drove in eight to help Detroit knock off the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
Injuries keep Kaline from hitting 30 or home runs and several more seasons of 100+ Runs and 100+ RBI, missing 450 games to various injuries. Despite missing so many games, Kaline becomes the 12th member of the 3,000 Hit Club, and is a first ballot Hall Of Famer in 1980.
1936: Mickey Cochrane checks out of the hospital and goes to a Wyoming ranch to recover his health.
1968: Tigers slugger legally changes his name from William Wattison Horton to Willie Horton.
1983: The Tigers sign free agent slugger Darrell Evans, who hit .277 with 30 home runs for the Giants last season.
1986: After finding no other clubs interested in signing him, free agent pitcher and 20-game winner Jack Morris agrees to salary arbitration with the Tigers while at the same time accusing the major league owners of collusion against free agents.
Morris had offered to sign a one-year contract, with salary to be determined by an arbitrator, with either the Yankees, Angels, Twins, or Phillies, but was turned down by all four.
1990: Tigers stun the baseball world with press conference announcing that 1991 season will be Ernie Harwell's last with the team.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DRV1gwGXUAEyB-t.jpg:large
1990: The Detroit Tigers signed Mike Dalton as a free agent.
1990: The Detroit Tigers signed Dan Petry as a free agent.
1991: The Detroit Tigers signed Mike Walker as a free agent.
1992: Mark Carreon of the Detroit Tigers granted free agency.
2001: The Detroit Tigers signed Adam Riggs as a free agent.
2002: The Detroit Tigers signed Seth Greisinger as a free agent.
2002: The Detroit Tigers signed Warren Morris as a free agent.
2003: The Detroit Tigers signed Fernando Vina as a free agent.
2003: The Detroit Tigers signed Rondell White as a free agent.
2005: The Detroit Tigers signed Max St. Pierre as a free agent.
2012: The Detroit Tigers released Adam Wilk.
2016: The Detroit Tigers signed Travis Blackley as a free agent.
2016: The Detroit Tigers signed Jake Brigham as a free agent.
2016: The Detroit Tigers signed Brendan Ryan as a free agent.
2016: The Detroit Tigers signed Logan Watkins as a free agent.
2016: The Detroit Tigers signed Thad Weber as a free agent.
2018: Major League Baseball and the Cuban Baseball Federation reach a historic deal that will allow players from the island to be scouted and signed without having to defect. This recognizes the fact that there should be no going back to the days when players had to put their life and the well-being of their families at risk, and deal with unsavory criminal elements, in order to come to the United States. It creates a situation that is akin to that which prevailed before the Cuban Revolution in 1959. However, the Administration of President Donald Trump will kill the deal on April 8th as part of a policy of maintaining as hard a line as possible in dealing with Cuban authorities.
2018: The Detroit Tigers signed Eduardo Paredes as a free agent.
2018: The Detroit Tigers signed Chris Smith as a free agent.
2019: The Detroit Tigers signed Zack Godley as a free agent.
Tigers players, coaches, announcers, and executives birthdays:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Al_Kaline
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kalinal01.shtml
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/a141b60c
https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/kaline-al
Al Kaline 1953-1974, announcer 1975-2001, spring training coach 1975-2020, executive 2002-2020.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/tayloto02.shtml
Tony Taylor 1971-1973.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/parkecl01.shtml
Clay Parker 1990.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/woodyma01.shtml
Mark Woodyard 2005.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/garciro03.shtml
Rony Garcia 2020-present.
Players who passed away:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/griggar01.shtml
Art Griggs 1918.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Pete_Hill
http://www.nlbemuseum.com/history/players/hill.html
Pete Hill Detroit Stars Negro Leagues 1919-1921.
Baseball Reference
