The history of the Detroit Tigers goes all the way back to 1896 when the team was founded as a charter member of the Western League of baseball. This league was the minor league predecessor of the MLB of today. In 1900 the Western league reorganized itself as the American League, and in 1901 the league declared itself a major league. The Tigers are one of four charter American League teams to remain in its original city. The Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians are the other three. http://www.hollywoodsportsbook.com/baseball_history/detroit_tigers.cfm

The team played its first Major League Baseball game at Bennet Park (on the site that would one day become Tiger Stadium) against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 25th, 1901. Ten thousand fans attended that very first game at the corners of Michigan Ave and Trumbull Ave.

In their first two seasons Detroit blue laws made it impossible for the team to play home games at Bennet Park on Sundays. So team owner, James D Burns, built another baseball stadium on his own property known as Burns Park. The location of this park was on Dix Street between Waterman Street and Livernois Ave. http://www.baseballpilgrimages.com/burnspark.html

The Tigers nickname has a convoluted history. The best rumor about its origin is as homage to the Detroit Light Guard military unit who were known as the Tigers. According to Author Richard Bak, who wrote the book A place for summer, a narrative history of Tiger Stadium, this unit played a significant role in many Civil War battles and saw action in the Spanish American War. The earliest mention of the Tigers in print was in an article that appeared in the Detroit Free Press on April 16th, 1895. http://www.amazon.com/Place-Summer-Narrative-History-Stadium/dp/0814325122

The Tigers have played games as members of the American League East division, and when MLB reorganized into six divisions in 1998 they were moved to the American League Central. The team has appeared in ten World Series winning four of them.

They have won 10 American League Pennants; 1907, 1908, 1909, 1934, 1935, 1940, 1945, 1968, 1984, 2006. They won the American League East division a total of three times; 1972, 1984, 1987. We should note that the divisions were not created until 1969. This team has also won the American League Wild Card once in 2006. http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/det/history/timeline.jsp

The Tigers have retired six numbers in their history: #2 for Charlie Gehringer, #5 for Hank Greenberg, #6 for Al Kaline, #16 for Hal Newhouser, and #23 for Willie Horton. Ty Cobb’s numbers has also been retired, although numbers were not worn on jerseys when he played. The Tigers also retired #42 along with every other MLB team in honor of Jackie Robinson.

The Tigers have also taken #47, last worn by pitcher Jack Morris, and #11 last worn by Manager Sparky Anderson out of circulation. The #3, worn by Tigers legends Dick McAuliffe and Alan Trammell, and last worn by Gary Sheffield has not been reissued. #1, last worn by Lou Whittaker has also bee taken out of circulation. http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/det/history/retired_numbers.jsp

• Pitchers
• Armando Galarraga
• Todd Jones
• Kenny Rogers
• Jeremy Bonderman
• Macay McBride
• Zach Miner
• Nate Robertson
• Bobby Seay
• Justin Verlander
• Dontrelle Willis

• Infielders
• Cecil Fielder
• Miguel Cabrera
• Carlos Guillen
• Placido Polanco

• Outfielders
• Ty Cobb
• Gary Sheffield
• Curtis Granderson
• Magglio Ordonez
• Ryan Raburn
• Marcus Thames
• Clete Thomas