Detroit Tigers championship history and World Series appearances

The Gritty Tigs fell just one win short of moving on to the ALCS this year, but they'll always have their Wild Card sweep of the Astros and late-season surge to show for what turned into a pretty magical season for Detroit.

It was the first time the Tigers played October baseball since 2014, when they were swept by the Orioles in the ALDS as Detroit's era of dominance over the AL Central came to a close. They might very well be headed for another one, though, with All-Stars Tarik Skubal and Riley Greene at the helm under the management of skipper AJ Hinch. But to fully appreciate how far the Tigers made it this year, we should look back on the team's history of winning.

When's the last time the Detroit Tigers won the World Series?

The last time the Tigers won the World Series was 1984, led by Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson and Hall of Fame players Jack Morris and Alan Trammell. That was the year of Al Ackerman's "Bless you boys," as the Tigers won 104 games (still their most wins in a single season) and started the season 35-5 before finishing 15 games ahead of the second-place Blue Jays.

Detroit Tigers' championship history and World Series appearances

The Tigers have four World Series championships in their 123-year history — 1935 against the Cubs, 1945 against the Cubs again, 1968 against the Cardinals, and 1984 against the Padres. They have 11 American League pennants, dating back to 1907. This year, the Tigers broke what was a tie with the Angels for the longest active playoff drought when they clinched a Wild Card berth with just three games to go in the regular season.

What is the longest World Series drought in Detroit Tigers history?

The Tigers are currently in their longest World Series drought. It's been 40 years since that 1984 title against the Padres, but they did get so tantalizingly close to ending it at the 22- and 28-year marks, with their World Series appearances in 2006 and 2012 against the Cardinals and Giants. Before that, the longest drought lasted 23 years between 1945 and 1968, when the Tigers beat the Cubs and Cardinals.

History of Detroit Tigers World Series MVPs

The World Series MVP award was introduced in 1955, so the Tigers only have two MVPs from their 1968 and 1984 titles: Mickey Lolich and Alan Trammell. Lolich pitched three complete games in the '68 Fall Classic, and the third was in Game 7 after only two days of rest. He matched up against legendary Cardinal Bob Gibson, who kept the Tigers scoreless through six innings before a misread fly ball by Curt Flood and a Jim Northup triple eventually won the series for Detroit.

In 1945, Trammell matched a record for number of hits collected in a best-of-five World Series with nine. He hit two homers in Game 4, a game the Tigers would eventually go on to lose, and batted .450 with a 1.300 OPS against the Padres.