Detroit Tigers: Five Former Players Appear on Hall of Fame Ballot for First Time

Detroit Tigers fans will certainly be seeing some familiar faces on the 2017 Hall of Fame ballot. Five former Tigers players were added to the ballot for the first time.

Detroit Tigers players Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander are surely bound for Cooperstown at this point in their respective careers.

What’s more, the likes of Ian Kinsler and Victor Martinez also have a shot at making it into baseball’s Hall of Fame.

However, five former Tigers could beat the quartet to the punch.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame recently announced the ballot for the class of 2017.

The former Detroit players new to the ballot include Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillen, Ivan Rodriguez, Matt Stairs and Edgar Renteria.

Ordonez, Guillen and Rodriguez stand out as the trio were catalysts on the 2006 team that took Detroit all the way to the World Series.

One of, if not the, memorable moment from that campaign was Ordonez’ walk-off home run against Huston Street to sweep the A’s send clinch the American League pennant.

In seven seasons with the Tigers, Ordonez hit .312 with a .373 on-base percentage and an .849 OPS. The outfielder turned in one of the better offensive seasons in recent memory in 2007 when he batted .363 with 139 RBI, an 8.0 WAR and a 169 wRC+.

The veteran finished second to Alex Rodriguez in the MVP voting that season.

Overall, Ordonez appeared in two All-Star games while taking home a Silver Slugger in 2007.

Joining him on the ballot for the first time are four ex-teammates. These four include Matt Stairs, who played in just 14 games for Detroit in 2006. Stairs would go on to spend 19 years in the Majors.