The Greatest Players in Detroit Tigers History

The Detroit Tigers entered the American League in 1901 and have won 4 World Championships (1935,1945,1968 and 1984) and 10 American League Pennants. The Tigers have also had there share of great players 20 of which have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Here is a look at the 10 greatest players in franchise history.

1) Ty Cobb (1905-1926) The greatest Tiger of all-time is arguably the greatest player in baseball history. Ty Cobb is the Tigers all-time leader in hits (3902), RBI's (1805) and batting average (.369). Ty Cobb led the American League in hitting 11 time while with the Tigers including hitting .420 in 1911 which is the Tigers single season record. Ty Cobb also holds the Tiger single season record for most hits with 248 in 1911. In 1911 Ty also hit in 40 straight games which is still the team record. Ty Cobb was one of the first players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.

2) Charlie Gehringer (1924-1942) Charlie Gehringer was one of the best fielding 2^nd baseman in baseball history,

3) Hank Greenberg (1930, 1933-1941,1945-1946) Hank Greenberg was one of the greatest power hitters in team history. He ranks third in team history with 306 home runs and fourth with 1202 RBI's. Hank holds the Tigers single season record with 58 home runs in 1938 and RBI's with 183 in 1937. He won the American League MVP in 1935 and 1940. Hank missed three seasons serving his country during World War II. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956 and his number 5 was retired by the Tigers.

4) Al Kaline (1953-1974) Al Kaline is the Tigers all-time leader in games played with 2834. He is also the Tigers all-time leader in home runs with 399. He ranks second with 3007 hits and 1583 RBI's. Al Kaline was also a tremendous fielder winning the gold glove award every year from 1957- 1967. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Tigers retired his number 6.

5) Hal Newhouser (1939-1953) Hal Newhouser won 200 games with the Detroit Tigers and is the only pitcher in league history to win back to back MVP awards (1944 and 1945). In 1944 he went 29 and 9 with an 2.22 ERA and in 1945 went 25-9 with 1.81 ERA. In 1946 he was just a strong going 26 and 9 with a 1.94 ERA. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992 and his number 16 was retired by the Tigers.

6) Sam Crawford (1903-1917) Sam Crawford ranks fifth in team history with 2466 hits 1264 RBI's. He holds the Tigers single season record with 26 triples in 1914. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1957.

7) Harry Heilman (1914, 1916-1929). His .342 batting average is 2^nd all-time in Tigers history. He ranks fourth in team history with 2499 hits and third in RBI's with 1442. He led the American League in hitting four time (1921,1923,1925 and 1927). He hit .403 in 1923. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1952.

8) Norm Cash (1960-1974). Norm cash ranks second in team history with 373 home runs. In 1961 he led the American League in hitting with a .361 average while hitting 41 home runs and driving in 132 runs.

9) Alan Trammell (1977-1996) Alan Trammell ranks fifth in team history with 2293 games played and seventh in team history with 2365 hits. During his Tiger career he hit over .300 seven times including a career high .343 in 1987. Alan was also an outstanding fielding shortstop winning 4 gold gloves. He also was voted the MVP of the 1984 World Series.

10) Lou Whitaker (1977-1995) Lou Whitaker won the 1978 American League Rookie of the Year award when he hit .285 with 58 RBI's. He is 6^th on the Tigers All-time hit list with 2369. He also won three gold glove awards at 2^nd base.

he led the league in both assists and fielding percentage seven times during his career. He was also one great hitter. He ranks third in team history with 1774 hits and fourth with 1427 RBI's. He was a career .320 hitter which is good enough for sixth all-time in Tigers history. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1949 and had his number retired 2 retired by the Detroit Tigers.