Detroit Tigers: 5 Best Late Round Picks in Team History

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NEW YORK – JULY 18: Outfielder Bobby Higginson #4 of the Detroit Tigers at bat during the game against the New York Yankees on July 18, 2002 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. TheYankees won 5-3. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

Bobby Higginson

The Detroit Tigers selected Temple University outfielder Bobby Higginson in the 12th round of the 1992 MLB Draft. Little did they know, Higgy would become one of the team’s best players of the decade, and one of the best Tigers to never make an All-Star team (thanks to a loaded AL outfield).

Higgy didn’t show a ton of power in the minor leagues, just raw contact skills, solid speed and a cannon for an arm in right. Once he reached the major leagues in 1994, the power really showed up (hmmm). Higgy blasted 14 home runs in 1994, and proceeded to hit 25 or more home runs in four of the next five seasons, with an injury-riddled 1999 season the only exception.

As quickly as his rise happened, it vanished nearly as fast. Higginson was productive in 2002, hitting .282 with 10 home runs and 12 stolen bases. However, he only mustered a .235 batting average and 26 home runs in the next three seasons, and was out of baseball early into the 2005 season.

Higginson was with the Tigers during some of the worst baseball in franchise history, and had just finished up before the magical 2006 season where everything turned around. There are always good players on bad teams, and Higgy is probably Detroit’s best example of that.

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