January 28 in Tigers and mlb history:
1901 - The American League formally organizes as a major league, having been a top minor league in 1900: the Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Americans are admitted to join the Washington Nationals, Cleveland Blues, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, and Chicago White Sox.
Three of the original clubs - Indianapolis, Minneapolis, and Buffalo - are dropped.
League power aggregates in Ban Johnson as trustee for all ballpark leases and majority stockholdings, and with authority to buy out refractory franchises.
Player limit is 14 per team, and the schedule will be 140 games. American League contracts give the Players Protective Association what it asked for, with five-year limits on the rights to player services.
1907 - In an effort to reduce playing-date conflicts between their leagues, presidents Harry Pulliam of the National League and Ban Johnson of the American League meet to plan schedules. Conflicting dates are reduced to 27.
1949 - The New York Giants sign their first black players: Negro League players Monte Irvin and Ford Smith. Both men are assigned to the Jersey City Giants (International League). Irvin will star for the Giants, but Smith will never make the major leagues.
1958: The San Francisco Giants trade infielders Gail Harris and Ozzie Virgil to the Detroit Tigers for outfielder Jim Finigan and $25,000. Virgil becomes the first black player in a Tigers uniform.
1968 - Goose Goslin and Kiki Cuyler are admitted to the Hall of Fame by unanimous vote of the Special Veterans Committee. Goslin was a career .316 hitter who played in four World Series. Cuyler was a .321 career hitter with four stolen base crowns.
1973 - The Hall of Fame Special Veterans Committee selects 19th-century players Mickey Welch and George Kelly, plus umpire Billy Evans, for enshrinement in Cooperstown.
1974 - Detroit Wolverines and Detroit Tigers Right fielder Sam Thompson, first baseman Jim Bottomley, and umpire Jocko Conlan, are selected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee.
1980 Hank Aaron refuses an award from Bowie Kuhn for his career home run total. He’s displeased with how the league treats retired black ballplayers.
1992 - Detroit Tigers first baseman Cecil Fielder avoids salary arbitration by agreeing to a $4.5 million contract, for the largest single-season deal in major league history.
Tigers players birthdays:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Magglio_Ordonez
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/ordonma01.shtml
Magglio Ordonez 2005-2011.
Tigers players who passed away:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kenneve01.shtml
Vern Kennedy 1938-1939.
from Baseball Reference
