Detroit Tigers History is full of Hall of Famers and great moments, but do you know...

... about all the characters and the legends? Detroit Tigers History is something like a roller coaster- no not Todd Jones- but the same idea. This team has seen the best and the worst of times... kids tend to think that they've never been very good, at least until the revival of 2006, but that's not quite true, actually it's a BIG LIE ... perpetuated by extraterrestrials, the US Government, and the NFL.

Characters... all kinds of 'em... One guy brought a table leg up to the plate to face Nolan Ryan ... another was considered the worst hitter in the major leagues ... or how 'bout the slugger who did calisthenics at the plate and was traded for a batting champ? ...or what about the guy who drank 20 Pepsi Colas a day... or the manager who was traded for another manager- you'll have to check back to find out about them- I can't do this all at once!

This outfit has won 10 pennants which trails only the you-know-whos in the American League and the Athletics who have always been feast or famine...(well actually the stupid crybaby Bosox have 11, but one of those came in 1967 when they only beat us out by 1 game, so we won't count it). Along with those pennants come 5 World Series winners, (and a couple of division championships) so it's pretty apparent, even to you Indians fans, that the Tigers have had their share of success. Pennants were won in '07, '08, '09, '34, '35, '40, '45, '68, '84, '06, We'll look at 'em all in detail... eventually, but here's a couple to get you started...

1968- McLain wins 31 and Cardinals are beaten in Series 4-3

NEW! 1984- Started season with a 35-5 record won the Fall Classic

We will visit the other pennant winners a little later. Hey, Detroit Tigers History goes back a lonnng way... it takes a while to type all this stuff in, you know?

We'll also spend some time with some of the forgotten teams- forgotten... maybe with good reason... We'll look at the first team in Detroit Tigers history to finish last, in 1952 .... even though one of their pitchers threw TWO NO-HITTERS that season. The same guy- Can you guess who? -went 5-19 that year, but also had another one-hitter and a two-hitter- WOW!! Well here he is!

... and I won't forget to mention the famous midget (can I still say that?) who batted against our boys in '51... I can feel the hand of Bill Veeck in this stunt! Our Buddy Bob Cain was laughing so hard he could barely throw the ball. Did Eddie Gaedel get a hit? DID HE?? Find out here!

And some of the other not-quite-up-to-par ballclubs... the 1975 bunch also ate a lot of sod... but the 1976 team played a little better thanks to a rookie nicknamed after a kids' TV character. Do you know who it is? I know most of the old-timers haven't forgotten that year in Detroit Tigers history.

...but those bad teams of the 70s set the stage for the glorious '80s... Division Winners, Pennants, World Championships... some of the best teams in Detroit Tiger History... I promise you... we'll check 'em all out... well almost all of 'em.

The wretched teams of the early uh-ohs- that's appropriate- we'll eventually spend some time with them- the WORST teams in Detroit Tigers History- but, believe me, I'm in no hurry for that!

Some of the best players in major league history wore that Old English D, one of the most famous logos in sports. Maybe we'll get a chance to check out some of our Hall of Famers. It's a pretty impressive list!

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