August 8 in Tigers and mlb history:
1903: Furious when an old black ball is put into play when Cleveland is at bat in the last of the 11th and his objections are ignored by umpire Tom Connolly? Naps manager Nap Lajoie hurls the ball over the grandstand? suffering the loss of the game to Detroit by forfeit. Detroit was leading 6 - 5.
1920: Detroit Tigers pitcher Howard Ehmke wins the American League's shortest game ever when he defeats the New York Yankees 1 - 0, in one hour and thirteen minutes. With no outs and two on in the 5th inning? the Yanks fail to capitalize as Ping Bodie falls for the hidden ball trick applied by 2B Ralph Young.
1945 - A line drive of the bat of Hank Greenberg fractures the skull of pitcher Jim Wilson, resulting in two hours of surgery. Wilson will recover and pitch in the majors until 1958.
1991 - The Detroit Tigers fan a team record 21 times in a 14-inning 4 - 0 win over the Blue Jays. Mark Salas hits a 3-run pinch homer off Tom Henke in the top of the 14th. Mickey Tettleton follows one out later with another homer. Starters Bill Gullickson and Tom Candiotti match zeroes for 7 innings.
2001: Tigers P Nate Cornejo makes his major league debut against Rangers P Joaquin Benoit. It is the first time since August 21? 1990? that both starting pitchers are making their big league debuts. The Tigers tie a modern record by scoring 13 runs in the 9th inning to snap a 6 - 6 tie and roll 19 - 6. Damion Easley gets 6 hits? including 2 in the 9th? to tie an American League and team record? last done by Ty Cobb. The winning pitcher is former Ranger Danny Patterson? who faces one batter in the 8th.
2004: The Red Sox defeat the Tigers 11 - 9? despite 7 Detroit home runs. Tim Wakefield records the win for Boston despite tying a major league record by allowing 6 of the homers. Wakefield is the 6th modern pitcher to yield 6 round-trippers? but the first since Philadelphia's George Caster did so 64 years ago against the Red Sox. The last pitcher to give up 6 homers and still win the game was Brooklyn's Hollis Thurston in 1932.
2005: The Tigers defeat the Blue Jays 9 - 8? in 12 innings despite getting outhit 20 to 15. DH Rondell White, and RF Magglio Ordonez both have 2 rbi. SS Carlos Guillen hits a homerun.
Tigers players birthdays:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Jack_Smith_(smithja02)
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/smithja02.shtml
Jack Smith 1912.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Frank_Howard
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/howarfr01.shtml
Frank Howard 1972-1973.
from baseball reference
