Detroit Tigers: 4 hometown players in franchise history

The Detroit Tigers franchise has a rich history. Some of the greatest in the game have worn the Olde English D. In this post, however, we look at four players who were born in the Motor City and wore the Olde English D.

The Detroit Tigers have had names like Ty Cobb, Al Kaline, Mickey Lolich, and Jack Morris. But, these players weren’t born in Detroit. Over the years, the Tigers have had plenty of players who were born in Detroit.

Some of these players aren’t played maybe a season or two for the Detroit Tigers. We aren’t looking for All-Stars or Hall-of-Famers. We just want to profile four players from the Motor City. Charlie Gehringer is a Tigers legend, native to Michigan. He was born in Fowlerville and inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1949.

Baseball has been in Detroit since the 1800s, with the founding of the Detroit Wolverines in 1881. The team was disbanded in 1888 and the Detroit Tigers wouldn’t come to Detroit until 1901. As one of the American Leagues charter franchises, they are the oldest continuous one-name, one-city franchise in the American League.

The state of Michigan has produced many great baseball players throughout the history of major league baseball. There have also been many players who are lesser known but still had fruitful major league careers.

Here is a look at five players, who were born in the city of Detroit and at some point in their career represented the Olde English D in the majors.

The first player of focus is Bill Fahey, who spent the last three years of his career with the Detroit Tigers.

Leo Cristante was born December 10, 1926, and spent one year playing for the Detroit Tigers. He was a career minor league player, spending 13 seasons in the minors.

Cristante’s lone season playing for the Olde English D came in 1955 where he posted a 3.19 ERA through 20 games. In 36.2 innings of work, Cristante posted a 0.2 WAR, just below his career WAR of 0.3.

Following his stint with the Tigers, Cristante spent the rest of his career in Dodgers farm system, including when they were called the Brooklyn Dodgers. Leo is buried at Our Lady of the Hope Cemetary just north of Woodhaven. Our Lady of the Hope has had many notable people attend its church throughout the years alongside Cristante. Most notably, Jack Castignola, who coached Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler at Miami of Ohio.

So far, we have listed off lesser-known ballplayers for the club. It seems wrong though not to list the great Hal Newhouser. After, all he is a Tigers legend who was considered to be the most dominant pitcher of the World War II baseball era. If you were to ask someone who the top five Tigers are of all-time, almost everyone would include Newhouser on their list.

He was inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame and notably quit after as a baseball scout after the Astros ignored his recommendation to draft Derek Jeter.

Hal Newhouser was born May 20, 1921, in Detriot, Michigan. Considered one of the best pitchers of his era the Detroit Tigers retired his number in 1997.

The Detroit Tigers signed Newhouser as a free agent before the start of the 1939 season.  Through his first two years in the big leagues, he struggled with control. He walked more batters then he struck out.

When the US joined World War II Newhouser tried to enlist but was classified as a 4-F due to a leaky heart valve. That didn’t stop the Tiger great from trying to enlist multiple times but ultimately he stayed in the Motor City to become a great ballplayer.

During wartime baseball, he became a dominant pitcher racking up a 29-9 season in 1944. The inaugural Sporting News pitcher of the year went to Newhouser following the 1944 season.

When Newhouser ended his career in in 1995 he had racked up over 200 wins. He finished his career with a 207-150 record, 3.06 ERA, and 1,1976 strikeouts. He’s also the only pitcher in baseball history to win consecutive MVP awards.

According to Baseball-Reference, he is the 8th greatest Tiger posting a 61.6 career WAR. He’s just ahead of Justin Verlander on the list. Newhouser is well known amongst Tigers fans and has a stadium outside of Comerica Park.

The next player on our list pitched only 36 2/3 innings for the Olde English D.

Jerry Davie was born on February 10, 1933, in Detroit and made his debut with the Tigers in 1959, only to retire from baseball in 1960.

Davie’s stint with the Tigers might best be described as a cup of coffee stint. The Detroit Tigers signed him to a contract in 1952, and he didn’t reach the majors until 1959. He started off a relief pitcher posting solid outings throughout April.

The Tigers moved Davie into the starting rotation beginning in May, and Davie bounced up and down as a starter. In his first outing, he gave up four earned runs. He bounced back after that, winning back-to-back starts.

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A poor outing in June saw he sent back to minor leagues and his career in the majors was over. He’d retire from baseball following the minor league season in 1960. He finished his career in the majors with a 2-2 record, a 4.17 ERA and 20 strikeouts over 36 and two-thirds innings pitched.

The Detroit Tigers have had plenty of homegrown talent throughout the years. Wayne State University compiled a list you can see here. It also includes baseball players born in the state of Michigan. Greats like screwball pitcher Mike Marshall and Ed “Knuckles” Cicotte.

Marshall was on a screwball pitcher with a long career, who was a teammate alongside Tommy John when we had the infamous surgery. He now runs a pitching camp advocating the screwball pitch and his nephew is current a minor league pitcher employing his philosophy.

Cicotte is best known for being apart of the 1919 Black Sox. But, before he was banned from baseball from life he spent his first year with the Detroit Tigers. From there, he went on to rack up over 200 wins as a knuckleball pitcher before being banned from life.

Next: The Tigers should sign these two relievers

The Tigers undoubtedly have a rich history in baseball lore. Seeing that there are some hometown boys who wore the Olde English D should be a thing Tigers fans alike can enjoy together.