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Detroit Tigers Team Notes Over 3 Million Views!!! Thankyou!

The Detroit Tigers are now identified as being interested in Anthony Santander. Of course, they are "all in" on Alex Bregman. Is the newer interest in Santander authentic or part of a strategy by Scott Harris to get Bregman and Scott Boras to finalize the deal?
 
January 6 in Tigers and mlb history:

1914: The National Commission grants some demands of the Players' union: players are to be notified in writing of their transfer or release and to receive a copy of their contract; players with 10 years in the Major Leagues are eligible to become free agents; clubs will pay traveling expenses to spring training and furnish all uniforms.

1914: To help the players pick up the ball as it leaves the pitcher's hand, baseball decrees all big league parks must have a center field wall that is green and blank. The safety measure will become known as the batter's eye.

1920: Future Hall of Fame pitcher Early Wynn is born in Hartford, AL. Wynn will make his major league debut in 1939 and will go on to win 300 games during a career with the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.

1932: New York Yankees slugger Babe Ruth puts on boxing gloves and gets into fighting shape for the upcoming season at Artie McGovern?s Gym in NYC.

1942: Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller reports to Norfolk, Virginia for duty in the United States Navy. Feller, who led the American League in victories in three previous seasons, will miss this season, as well as the 1943 and 1944 seasons before returning for nine games in 1945. Despite missing the time due to the World War II effort, Feller will lead the league in wins in 1946, 1947 and 1951, amassing 266 victories during an 18-year major league career.
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1956: A Federal Court bars former Little League Commissioner Carl Stotz from forming a rival group. Stotz initiated the suit because he felt the league had grown too big, and that increasing team rosters to 15 players was preventing less able players from getting any real playing time.

1958: Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants signs a contract worth $65,000. It's the largest deal ever signed by a member of the Giants.

1969: Umpires Al Salerno and Bill Valentine file a grievance against the American League and its president, Joe Cronin, over their dismissal last year. The grievance is filed by the new umpires union with the National Labor Relations Board.

1997: Former Atlanta Braves knuckleballer Phil Niekro is elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America, becoming the 227th member of the Hall. He receives 80.34% of the vote, as former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Sutton falls nine votes short of election. Niekro is only the 87th player to be elected by the BBWAA.

1999: Nolan Ryan is the first passenger to board the Nolan Ryan Express, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737. Ryan autographs both sides of the aircraft's nose on two specially designed decals each featuring a baseball with airplane wings and a Southwest colored tail. In July, Ryan will again board the NLE to fly to the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Cooperstown, New York.

2000: Gene Budig resigns as American League president and is appointed a senior adviser to Commissioner Bud Selig. The American and National Leagues will be disbanded as legal entities later this month, with their functions consolidated in the commissioner's office.

2004: The Detroit Tigers signed Brent Abernathy as a free agent.
2004: The Detroit Tigers signed Brandon Harper as a free agent.

2005: The Detroit Tigers signed Andrew Good as a free agent.
2005: The Detroit Tigers signed Mike Rivera as a free agent.

2008: Roger Clemens files a defamation lawsuit against trainer Brian McNamee for statements McNamee made in the Mitchell Report. McNamee had said he injected Clemens with performance-enhancing drugs.

2010: Andre Dawson, "The Hawk", is elected to the Hall of Fame getting 77.9% of the votes cast by the BBWAA. P Bert Blyleven and 2B Roberto Alomar fall agonizingly short of election, missing the honor by 5 and 8 votes respectively. Dawson, the 1987 National League MVP, played 21 seasons in the majors, principally with the Montreal Expos and Chicago Cubs, hitting .279 with 438 home runs, 1591 RBI and 314 stolen bases.

2015: The Detroit Tigers signed Tom Gorzelanny as a free agent.

2015: The BBWAA elects four players to the Hall of Fame, one of the largest classes ever. Three dominant pitchers all make it on their first try - Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz - while 2B Craig Biggio makes the grade on his third attempt.

2016: Ken Griffey, Jr. is elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA with the highest percentage of votes ever - 99.3%. Joining him in this year's class is Mike Piazza, who makes it on his fourth attempt. Griffey is the first #1 overall draft pick to make the Hall, while Piazza is the lowest pick (62nd round).

2023: The Dodgers decide to cut ties with P Trevor Bauer, who is currently serving a 194-game suspension for domestic violence. They are forced to make a decision after arbitrator Martin Scheinman reduced the length of the punishment from 324 games on December 22nd, forcing the club to either place him back on the 40-man roster or have him designated for assignment. Bowing to pressure from various groups who do not want to see the club associated with Bauer given the revelations that came out of the investigation into his case - even if authorities declined to press criminal charges - they choose the second option. They now have seven days to either trade him or grant him his unconditional release. In the latter case, the move will cost the Dodgers $22.5 million still owed on the three-year contract Bauer signed before the 2021 season.

Tigers players and coaches birthdays:

Joe Lake 1912-1913.

Billy Purtell 1914.

Ralph Branca 1953-1954.

Tom Ferrick coach, 1960-1963.

Lenny Green 1967-1968.

Bob Adams 1977.

Casey Fossum 2008.

Tigers players who passed away:

Charlie O'Leary 1904-1912.

Dick Donovan 1954.

Lenny Green 1967-1968.

Bill Campbell 1986.

Baseball Reference
 
MONDAY MUSINGS.
Totally Tigers
 

Motor City Metrics Tigers Podcast: The Alex Bregman Sweepstakes. 65 minutes.
Rogelio, Yooper and special guest Griff discuss the ongoing rumors of Alex Bregman coming to Detroit
 

Days of Roar Tigers Podcast: Detroit Tigers target Alex Bregman: Insider insight from Astros. 70 minutes.

The New Year is underway, and with it, Evan and Mark have New Year's resolutions for the Detroit Tigers in the 2025 calendar year. The resolutions include Tarik Skubal, Kevin McGonigle, the American League Central and making a big splash via trade or free agency. What does all that mean? Listen to find out. After the break, Robert Ford, the radio voice of the Houston Astros, joins "Days of Roar" to share insider insight about Tigers target Alex Bregman. Topics include Bregman's relationship with Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, his leadership behind the scenes, his on-field performance and more. Evan and Mark also tackle the big question surrounding the 2024-25 offseason: Is it Bregman or bust for the Tigers? To wrap up, we take a look at the Tigers' bullpen. Jason Foley, Tyler Holton, Beau Brieske and Will Vest are the only relievers guaranteed to make the Opening Day roster. Do the Tigers need to add externally to their bullpen? The guys talk which free agents the team could consider.
 
January 7 in Tigers and mlb history:

1913: Future Hall of Fame first baseman Johnny Mize is born in Demorest, GA. Known as "The Big Cat," Mize will hit 359 home runs and will gain election to the Hall in 1981.

1915: The Detroit Tigers waive Wally Pipp to the New York Yankees. Pipp hit .161 in 12 games, but he'll anchor first base in New York for a decade until Lou Gehrig's appearance.

1920: Babe Ruth reacts to his recent sale to the Yankees in the Boston Evening Standard saying, "Frazee is not good enough to own any ball club, especially one in Boston."

1924: The Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians make a seven-player deal involving star first baseman "Tioga" George Burns. A .328 batter in 1923, Burns joins second baseman Chick Fewster and catcher Roxy Walters in heading to the Indians, while catcher Steve O'Neill, second baseman Bill Wambsganss, outfielder Joe Connolly and pitcher Danny Boone join the Red Sox.

1924: The New York Yankees buy the contract of Louisville Colonels star outfielder Earle Combs, who hit .380 last year for Louisville. Colonels owner Bill Kneblekamp gets $50,000, outfielder Elmer Smith and another player, and demands that the Yankees play an exhibition game in Louisville with a guarantee that Babe Ruth is in the lineup. This reportedly nets Kneblekamp an additional $5,000.

1933: Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis announces that he is cutting his salary by 40 percent. Landis's action is a sign of the times during the Great Depression; most players will have their salaries reduced for the coming season.

1933: The Detroit Tigers purchased Ike Boone from the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1976: The Detroit Tigers signed Alex Johnson as a free agent.
1976: The Detroit Tigers drafted Steve Kemp in the 1st round (1st pick) of the 1976 amateur draft (January).
1976: The Detroit Tigers drafted Mike Walters in the 2nd round of the 1976 amateur draft (January Secondary), but was not signed.
1976: The Detroit Tigers drafted Ron Roenicke in the 3rd round of the 1976 amateur draft (January Secondary), but was not signed.

1984: The Detroit Tigers signed Ramon Pena as a free agent.

1985: Lou Brock and Hoyt Wilhelm are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
During his career, Brock established the record for the most stolen bases in major league history (which will later be broken by Rickey Henderson).
While the knuckleballing Wilhelm pitched in more games than any other major league pitcher (Jesse Orosco will eventually break that mark).
Nellie Fox is named on 295 of the 395 ballots (74.7%), but the BBWAA and the Hall of Fame committee decline to round Fox's total to the required 75%. As this is Fox's last year on the ballot, he will only be inducted when he becomes eligible to be considered by the Veterans Committee.

1991: Bill Lajoie announces his retirement as Tigers VP and GM after 23 seasons with the team. Architect of 1984 world championship team.

1992: Starter Tom Seaver and reliever Rollie Fingers, two of the greatest pitchers of their generation, are elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA.

1993: The Detroit Tigers sign first baseman Cecil Fielder to a five-year $36 million contract, temporarily making him the highest-paid player in the majors.

1993: Mike Illitch announces Tiger Stadium upgrades.

1999: The Montreal Expos selected Roberto Duran off waivers from the Detroit Tigers.

2003: The Detroit Tigers signed Robinson Cancel as a free agent.

2004: The Detroit Tigers signed Andy Van Hekken as a free agent.

2005: Boston Red Sox owner John Henry calls Doug Mientkiewicz to discuss the defensive replacement's possession of the game ball caught at first base for the last out of the 2004 World Series. Larry Lucchino, the club's president, has made it clear he wants the team to have ownership of the historic ball. The ball now resides in a safe deposit box along with the back-up infielder's Olympic gold medal.

2005: Bud Selig announces that MLB and the Players Association will donate $1,000,000 to help last month?s tsunami victims in Southeast Asia.

2005: The Detroit Tigers signed Mike Hessman as a free agent.

2006: The minimum salary for players in the major leagues is rising $11,000 this year to $327,000.

2006: Baseball's world governing body, the IBAF, threatens to withdraw its sanctioning of the World Baseball Classic unless the United States government allows Cuba to compete.

2016: Former Tiger Curtis Pride named MLB's Ambassador for Inclusion.

2020: As Major League Baseball's investigation into allegations of sign stealing by the Houston Astros continues and punishment is expected to be announced soon, news reports indicate that there is evidence that a similar scheme was used by the Red Sox in their World Series-winning season in 2018, by using the video replay room to capture their opponents' signs and relay them to batters. Sox manager Alex Cora was on the coaching staff of the Astros in 2017, when the scheme that prompted the original investigation allegedly was put in place.

2021: The Mets pull off a blockbuster deal, acquiring SS Francisco Lindor and P Carlos Carrasco from the Indians for four younger players: IFs Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez, P Josh Wolf and OF Isaiah Greene. The Mets are expected to use the bottomless resources of new owner Steven Cohen to sign Lindor to a long-term deal before he becomes a free agent at the end of this season.

2021: Hall of Fame Manager Tommy Lasorda passes away at home at the age of 93.

2021: The Detroit Tigers signed Miguel Del Pozo as a free agent.

2023: The Phillies acquire two-time All-Star closer Gregory Soto in a five-player trade with the Tigers. Joining him is utility player Kody Clemens, while the Phils give up three prospects, OFs Matt Vierling and Nick Maton and C Donny Sands.

Tigers players birthdays:

Topper Rigney 1922-1925.

Johnny Grabowski 1931.

Ray Semproch 1960.

Jim Hannan 1971.

Brayan Pena 2013.

Frankie Rodriguez 2016-2017.

Tucker Barnhart 2022.

Tigers players who passed away:

George Mullin 1902-1913.

George Burns 1914-1917.

Davey Claire 1920.

Red Borom 1944-1945.

Baseball Reference
 
AND THEN THERE WERE THREE.
Totally Tigers
 
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