Ernie Harwell, gone but not forgotten

The Old Ball Game, photo by dblstripe

“Ernie (Harwell) is probably the most beloved person who has ever been in Detroit with the Detroit Tigers. He is loved by everybody and rightfully so. He’s a great broadcaster but even a better person. That comes across on his broadcasts.”
~ Detroit Tiger Hall of Famer Al Kaline

Two years ago today, one of the greatest members of the Detroit Tigers organization passed away. It’s no coincidence that Ernie Harwell received a baseball announcer’s highest honor by winning the Ford Frick Award from the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Here’s his Hall of Fame induction speech, set to a scrapbook of photos. There’s much more about Ernie Harwell on Michigan in Pictures.

Bryan shot this photo of the pitchers mound at old Tiger Stadium aka Ernie Harwell Park last fall. Check it out background big and in his Detroit slideshow.

We’ll close with words from Harwell’s farewell address that you can read in full at the Baseball Almanac. Click head over to “Ernie” on Absolute Michigan to read about the play about him by Mitch Albom and to see Ernie with thousands of the fans he talks about here…

“Thank you for letting me be part of your family. Thank you for taking me with you to that cottage up north, to the beach, the picnic, your work place and your backyard.

Thank you for sneaking your transistor under the pillow as you grew up loving the Tigers.

Now I might have been a small part of your life. But you have been a very large part of mine. And it’s my privilege and honor to share with you the greatest game of all.”

At the Corner: 100 Years at Tiger Stadium

at the corner, photo by 1ManWithACamera

“It was the most famous address in Michigan. Not the number, but everyone knows the location. The corner of Michigan and Trumbull was a connection for everyone all over Michigan to the city of Detroit”
~Charley Marcuse, former hot dog vendor at Tiger Stadium

The above is a quotation from a heartbreaking feature on the 100th anniversary of Tiger Stadium that we are linking to today from 100 years at Tiger Stadium on Absolute Michigan. It’s chock full of great links, photos and a video narrated by Jeff Daniels and featuring Tiger greats Al Kaline, George Kell and Ernie Harwell.

The feature was especially heartbreaking for me as I was as guilty as most of the rest of the media that let this historic milestone pass unmarked. Don’t get me wrong – I think Comerica Park is a fantastic place to play baseball and a fitting home for the Tigers. To me, the shame lies in the manner in which one of the finest ballparks in all of baseball was cast aside by a city that seemed more interested in squeezing one last dime from the stadium at Michigan & Trumbull than celebrating and honoring her rich legacy.

Check this out bigger and in Larry’s great Detroit Tigers and their ballparks slideshow.

Much more on Tiger Stadium and the Detroit Tigers at Michigan in Pictures.

If baseball is the national pastime, why isn’t Opening Day a national holiday?

Tigers ROAR!!, photo by Jesse Welter

The Detroit Tigers open the 2012 season today at 1:05 PM at home at Comerica Park vs. the Boston Red Sox. The game preview begins:

Opening Day will dawn Thursday afternoon. And in Detroit, it dawns in a big way.

You’ve got reigning AL Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander facing MVP runner-up Jacoby Ellsbury in the first inning. You’ve got Prince Fielder’s Detroit debut and Bobby Valentine’s first game at the steering wheel for Boston. You’ve got Miguel Cabrera manning the hot corner for the first time in four years.

…Regarding that aforementioned Verlander-Ellsbury matchup, it’s pretty rare stuff. The last time a reigning MVP pitcher faced the man who finished second to him in the balloting in his first start of the season? You have to go all the way back to 1932, when Lefty Grove faced Lou Gehrig.

Head over to Absolute Michigan for our Detroit Tigers 2012 season preview that includes all kinds of links and a look back at the very first Detroit Tigers Opening Day!

Jesse took this photo at game four of the playoff series vs. the Texas Rangers last October. Check it out on black and in his Tigers slideshow.

Much more about the Detroit Tigers on Michigan in Pictures!

All Star, Cy Young, MVP, Tiger

PITCH!, photo by robmelody

“Obviously pitchers are not just written off all of a sudden because they’re pitchers.”
~Tiger Pitcher Justin Verlander

Our feature on Absolute Michigan on Verlander’s MVP victory explains that Verlander is only the second player in baseball history to capture a Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and Most Valuable Player award over his career and finished this season with pitching’s Triple Crown.

Check it out background big!

Yom Kippur and Hall of Famer Hammerin’ Hank Greenberg

Detroit Tiger Hank Greenberg, source unknown

“When I was playing, I used to resent being singled out as a Jewish ballplayer. I wanted to be known as a great ballplayer, period. I’m not sure why or when I changed, because I’m still not a particularly religious person. Lately, though, I find myself wanting to be remembered not only as a great ballplayer, but even more as a great Jewish ballplayer.”
~Hank Greenberg, after his career

Tonight the Tigers continue their drive toward the World Series. Wikipedia’s entry for Hank Greenberg begins:

Henry Benjamin “Hank” Greenberg (January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), nicknamed “Hammerin’ Hank” or “The Hebrew Hammer,” was an American professional baseball player in the 1930s and 1940s. A first baseman primarily for the Detroit Tigers, Greenberg was one of the premier power hitters of his generation. He hit 58 home runs in 1938, equaling Jimmie Foxx’s 1932 mark for the most home runs in one season by any player between 1927 (when Babe Ruth set a record of 60) and 1961 (when Roger Maris surpassed it).

The Jewish holiday Yom Kipper started last night, and this article on Greenberg’s career from the Baseball Almanac tells how rabbis got involved in the decision as to whether or not he would play on Rosh Hashanah in 1934, explaining that:

Rosh Hashanah was not the only major religious holiday that momentarily got in the way of the Tigers’ march to the 1934 World Series while simultaneously adding to the legend of Hank Greenberg. Nine days after the win over Boston, Detroit played the second place New York Yankees. Despite the fact that the pennant was not officially decided, Greenberg was not in the lineup. He was not injured, or suspended, or being benched for poor play. He had simply come up against Yom Kippur, the one day he could never hope to overcome.

Yom Kippur is the Jewish Day of Atonement, the holiest day on the calendar, when all the sins of the past year are “wiped away” through fasting and prayer. Devout Jews would never think of working on such a day. The 1934 Greenberg was not particularly devout; for his entire life, in fact, he would harbor deep doubts and questions about all organized religion. He was, however, still influenced by his father, who “put his foot down” (Greenberg 57). So he sat.

Also check out this great article on Hank Greenberg’s World War II service from Baseball Reference and his induction speech for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Tons more Detroit Tigers history & photos on Michigan in Pictures!

The Bronx Zoo called…

Altaic Warrior, photo by country_boy_shane.

Apparently the Detroit Tigers got loose.

Check it out background big and in Shane’s Featured in Flickr Explore slideshow.

Miguel Cabrera and the Detroit Tigers roar into the post-season!

Miguel Cabrera, photo by Keith Allison.

The Detroit Tigers open the 2011 AL Playoffs tonight in Yankee Stadium.

Over on Absolute Michigan we’ve posted our 2011 Detroit Tiger Playoff Watch. In it, we note that Detroit Tiger slugger Miguel Cabrera captured the American League batting title with a .344 batting average.

After batting .390 in August, Cabrera went .429 (39-for-91) from Sept. 1 onward, racking up 12 doubles, six home runs and 21 RBIs. He had just six hitless games from Aug. 1 on and carries a nine-game hitting streak into the playoffs. The last Tiger to win the AL batting title was Magglio Ordonez who hit .367 in 2007, and that Cabrera joins Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols as just the third active player to win a batting title, HR title and RBI title in his career.

Check this photo out background big and in Keith’s awesome MLB – Miguel Cabrerra slideshow.

Congratulations to Cabrera and go Tigers!!

Mickey Cochrane and the 1934 Detroit Tigers

Detroit Tiger Manager Mickey Cochrane, photo courtesy Boston Public Library

There were few things as exciting as watching somebody trying to get in there on a close play with Cochrane. Home plate was his, you see. You had to take it away from him. Tough? Just the same as a piece of flint.
~Doc Cramer regarding Mickey Cochrane

Yesterday the Detroit Tigers came from behind to beat the White Sox 6-5 in extra innings. It was their 12th in a row and a feat that only 3 Tiger squads have matched. Tiger Tales has the list with 13 in a row in 1927 and 14 from 1909 and 1934.

Speaking of 12 and 1934, the Bleacher Report (which I’m finding to be a really cool sports site) ranks the ’34 Tigers as the 12th best offense in baseball history. While the team ultimately fell to the Gas House Gang in the World Series, they won 101 games and dominated the AL for several years with a lineup was ridiculous, as Motown Sports explains:

The addition of outfielder (Goose) Goslin to a lineup that already featured stars Hank Greenberg and Charlie Gehringer, earned the Tigers’ offense the nickname “G-Men” after the legendary FBI officers of the day. While G-Men were known to get into shootouts with gangsters, the Tigers’ G-Men formed the nucleus of an offense that helped the club roar through the American League in 1934 posting a 101-53 record.

Four Tigers, Greenberg (139), Gehringer (127), shortstop Billy Rogell (100) and Goslin (100), each had 100 RBI campaigns. Gerhinger paced the league in hits, as well, with 214. However, the Tigers of ’34 not only could hit, but they could run, too. JoJo White (28), Pete Fox (25) and Gee Walker (20) finished amongst the top five in the American League steals leaders. The G-Men led the AL in runs, batting average (an incredible .300), doubles and stolen bases in 1934.

Click through for the ’34 Series program and much more about one of the greatest Tiger teams.

The manager of this team was Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane. He appeared on a 1935 cover of TIME Magazine, won the AL MVP for the Tigers in ’34 and led the Tigers to 2 pennants and the 1935 World Championship. Wikipedia notes that the fiercely competitive “Black Mike” was one of the greatest catchers in baseball history with a .320 batting average over a 13 year playing career, the highest until Joe Mauer surpassed it in 2009!

The photo of Mickey Cochrane on the dugout steps at Fenway Park is from 1934-38. You can view it background big and see more in the Boston Public Library’s Mickey Cochrane slideshow.

More Detroit Tigers photos on Michigan in Pictures including a post about another member of this legendary squad, 2nd baseman Charlie Gheringer.

The Final Pitch sets a new record for Papa Grande!

The Final Pitch, photo by Rudy Malmquist

Jose Valverde set a Tiger record for saves (view story) on this pitch with his 43d save in 43 chances, sealing a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins. It was the Tigers’ ninth straight victory, and your fun fact for today is that the last time the Tigers won this many games in a row was 1984 … and I think we all know what happened then!

It looks like Detroit is headed for the postseason again. Today the Tigers have American League Division Series tickets on sale – get them at tigers.com/postseason.

Rudy was fortunate enough to attend the game. He says that if you look closely, you can see that the ball has passed the batter but isn’t in the catchers glove yet. Check it out bigger and see more shots from the game in his slideshow!

Impossible Dream?

“Impossible Dream”, photo by Hilarywho

Tigers? Lions? We can dream, can’t we?

Hilary writes:

This spray-paint mural was made by Kobie Soloman. It covers the side of a building at the Russell Industrial Center in Detroit and is made up of elements of Detroit’s sports teams, aspects of Detroit industry, and representation of creative activities at the Russell.

Check this photo out bigger and in her Art slideshow.