Detroit is rebuilding - both the city and the baseball team. Let's check in on Los Tigres.
Tiger Stadium was the team's home for each of its four World Championship seasons - in 1935, 1945, 1968, and 1984.
The last of those title-winning teams was managed by Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson, who pushed all the right buttons as the '84 Tigers roared out of the gate and went wire-to-wire for the title.
Let's see Sparky's All-Time Tigers lineup card:
Eight Hall of Famers and an 11-time All-Star. This is a well-oiled machine right here.
Lance Parrish, Lou Whitaker, and Sam Crawford would start for two-thirds of the league's All-Time squads. Not here. Cecil Fielder slugged nearly .500 as a Tiger and he ranks sixth in franchise history - among first basemen. Sparky Anderson invited Fielder, Rudy York, and Dick McAuliffe to Spring Training but they couldn't break through.
There was a much more competitive battle in left field, where Heilmann starts out of position. Can Willie Horton hold on to the backup job?
This might not be a popular pick with longtime Tigers fans, but Bobby Veach deserves a spot here. Detroit will just have to embrace small ball without Horton or Fielder, their 5th- and 6th-leading home run hitters.
Anderson's pitching rotation is rock-solid as well, with four bonafide Hall of Famers on the staff.
Two of Detroit's top-six pitching WAR leaders and the top two winningest hurlers are not present. Could any of them bump Lolich or Morris out of the rotation?
Bridges and Trout stood out against their pre-integration peers a little more than Lolich and Morris did in their respective eras. It's not enough to steal a spot from Tiger stalwarts and World Series heroes.
No change needed in the bullpen, though Sparky might want to shield franchise saves leader Todd Jones from high-leverage situations. Hiller, Henneman, and Hernandez are all less hittable.
The Tigers All-Time roster is as locked in as any we've seen so far. Detroit has built a pipeline of top-five draft picks but none have panned out as of yet. Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene could blossom into superstars one day, but they'd still have a tough time claiming a spot here.
TL; DR: One change from the original roster. Horton out, Veach in.
We've got two more teams in the AL Central, and then I'm going to give away some cards. Come back Tuesday for the Kansas City Royals (or come back tomorrow for some random hockey talk.)
Thanks for reading!
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No arguments here and some great cards too!
ReplyDeleteHard to argue if Dennis has no arguments.
DeleteTigers seem to have a bunch of guys who stay with the team forever, but not many great players who pass through for a few years, at least on the position player side.
ReplyDeleteTwo Canadian Baseball Hall of Famers here with John Hiller and Sparky Anderson.
ReplyDeleteAnderson is in as a result of his play/managing in Montreal and Toronto IL teams..
That's my first look at that Kaline card. Wow.
ReplyDeleteHaha yes if Dennis approves, it's a solid roster!
ReplyDeleteIt's a good thing Detroit's rotation is loaded with guys who can pitch complete games, because that bullpen is a surprising weak spot.
ReplyDeleteBobby Veach must be (or must have been, until today) one of the greatest players whose name I an not familiar with. Glad to learn about him.
ReplyDeleteI started to wonder whether Sparky Anderson should be with the Reds. He did win more pennants there, but I'm surprised to see he spent almost twice as much time in Detroit, so I guess he's in the right place. Guess it's one of those cases where childhood memories are the strongest.
I half expected to see Mickey Tettleton here, but apparently I forgot Lance Parrish played for the Tigers! He's always been a Phillies or Angel to me, just a bias of when I started watching baseball I guess. I even forgot that he played for the Jays!
ReplyDelete