December 27 in Tigers and mlb history:
1874: The first documented baseball game in Cuba takes place in a field known as Palmar de Junco, in the province of Matanzas. In the match, called after seven innings due to darkness, the Habana team defeated that of Matanzas with the unbalanced score of 51 to 9 runs.
1919: One day after secretly working out a deal to sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee says his team will deal any player except Harry Hooper. But Hooper will be sent to the Chicago White Sox after the 1920 season.
1941: The Boston Braves mascot, Chief Nokahoma, adopted today, is considered by many as an aberration of a Natchez Native American and misrepresented in Plains Indians headdress.
1953: the Lions beat the Browns 17-16 at Briggs (Tiger) Stadium to win their second straight NFL championship.
1967: Boston Red Sox pitching star Jim Lonborg undergoes surgery on his left knee, four days after a skiing accident. Lonborg, who won a career-high 22 games for the Red Sox during their "Impossible Dream" season, will struggle to regain his pitching form.
1972: Roberto Clemente's final home run comes on his final swing during a batting demonstration in front of "300 admiring kids during a baseball clinic at the town of Aguadilla," reports United Press International, according to whom Clemente hits "the fifth pitch about 350 feet out of left field at the local park."
Clemente's fellow Pirate and fellow Puerto Rican Fernando Gonzalez is on hand and his recollections will later be recorded by Clemente biographer Kal Wagenheim: "That day in Aguadilla, he spent the whole afternoon under the sun ? giving a clinic for the kids. At one point he was giving batting pointers, and there was a kid ? about eighteen years old ? pitching to him. The people in the stands kept yelling, 'Roberto, bet you can't hit a homer!' Finally, on the last pitch, he smacked the ball right out of the stadium. He gave the kid the bat as a souvenir, and somebody else got the ball. Afterward, they erected a small monument to mark the spot where the ball fell. I think that was the last time Roberto swung a bat, and he hit a home run."
1992: The Detroit Tigers signed Juan Encarnacion as an amateur free agent.
1995: Hall of Fame umpire Al Barlick dies at the age of 80 in Springfield, Illinois. Known for his decisiveness and hustle, Barlick worked National League games from 1940 to 1972, and gained election to the Hall in 1989.
2001: After 21 years being heard on WABC, the New York Yankees will broadcast their spring training, regular-season and postseason games on all-news station WCBS-AM which is owned by Infinity Broadcasting. The five-year deal with the Yankees' YES Network, created earlier this year, is worth approximately $50 million.
2012: OF Hideki Matsui announces his retirement at a press conference in New York, NY. He had hit .304 with 332 home runs as a three-time MVP during his prime in Japan, then added 175 homers, a World Series MVP award and a .282 average winding down his career in the US.
2020: Stories circulate that the Rays have traded former Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell to the Padres in return for four prospects. Snell was at the center of the most controversial play of the most recent postseason when Rays manager Kevin Cash took him out of a dominating start against the Dodgers in Game 6 of the World Series, only to see his bullpen cough up the lead and the game in short order, giving the Dodgers the title.
2020: Hall of Famer and 300-game winner Phil Niekro passes away from cancer at age 81. He is best known for having one of the best knuckleballs of all-time, and for sharing with his brother Joe the record for most wins by a pair of brothers, with 539.
2022: The Rangers sign free agent P Nathan Eovaldi for two years at $34 million, adding him to a revamped starting rotation that also includes another off-season signee in Jacob deGrom.
2022: The Detroit Tigers signed Aneurys Zabala as a free agent.
Tigers players birthdays:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Charlie_Carr
Charlie Carr Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com
Charlie Carr 1903-1904.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Jackie_Tavener
Jackie Tavener Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com
Jackie Tavener 1921, 1925-1928.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Red_Lynn
Red Lynn Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com
Red Lynn 1939.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Jim_Tobin
Jim Tobin Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com
Jim Tobin 1945.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Dean_Palmer
Dean Palmer Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com
Dean Palmer 1999-2003.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Rick_Porcello
Rick Porcello Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com
Rick Porcello 2009-2014.
Tigers players who passed away:
Fritz Buelow Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com
Fritz Buelow 1901-1904.
Marv Peasley Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com
Marv Peasley 1910.
Baseball Reference