Most surprising Silver Slugger winner in Detroit Tigers history

When looking back at Tigers history, certain standout individual seasons immediately come to mind: Miguel Cabrera’s Triple Crown in 2012, Justin Verlander’s MVP campaign in 2011, or Magglio Ordonez’s batting title in 2007.

While these are players Tigers fans know and love and "expected" high levels of production, there is one season that stands out for being unexpected — that being Damion Easley's 1998, which netted him the AL Silver Slugger award at second base.

Baseball is funny in this way as it, at times, produces these types of unexpected outbursts from players you wouldn't expect given their career arcs or prior seasons. Think Jose Bautista launching 54 homers in 2010, Ben Zobrist breaking out with 27 homers in 2009, or R.A. Dickey reinventing himself to win the 2012 Cy Young and being a 20 game winner. Baseball is like that, and even though Easley’s season might not have reached those type of heights, it was every bit as surprising to Tigers fans.

After being traded by the California Angels in 1996, Easley immediately made an impact offensively for the Tigers by hitting .343 and carried this momentum into the following season (1997). Easley's 22 home runs tied with Travis Fryman for third behind Tony Clark (32) and Bobby Higginson (27), and he knocked in 72 RBI, good for fourth on the club. His .268 average and .368 on-base percentage were also among the team's best.

Heading into 1998 and coming into his prime age-28 season, Easley continued his ascent mashing a career-best 27 home runs, 100 RBI, 38 doubles, and a .271 average. Easley's stellar month of May, which netted 10 home runs and 34 RBI, gave him an enormous cushion for the eventual Law of Averages to kick in (which it did) — Easley would hit .230 in June with one home run in July and August (two total across the two-month period). Fortunately for Easley, his early-season production would give him the honor for his first-ever (and only ever) All-Star selection and Silver Slugger award.

As one of the most consistent and reliable players for the Tigers during the Randy Smith era, Easley never played on a winning roster and never once made the playoffs in his career. While he never was able to replicate his '98 success, it remains one of the most surprising bright spots during a dark era of Tigers baseball.