Biggest deficit Tigers have ever overcome in September to make the playoffs

In the Detroit Tigers' 124-season history, they've made 16 playoff appearances and won 11 pennants and four World Series championships. In 15 of those 16 playoff appearances, they've finished first in their division, and in the only exception year, 2006, they finished second.

The 2024 Tigers are currently embroiled in the beginning of a dramatic race to the finish line for the last Wild Card spot, tied for three games behind the Twins with the Red Sox and Mariners (through Sept. 9). If they make it, it'll be their greatest and most unfathomable September comeback by far, having entered the month just barely above .500 and sitting 8.5 games back from the division-leading Guardians.

In most past Tigers seasons, when they were winning, they were really winning. The 2014 Tigers, the last team to make it to the playoffs, held onto a division lead for most of the season before dipping in August and still finishing with a one-game lead by the end of the year. The 1984 Tigers, the last to win a World Series, was up by a half-game four games into the season, and finished a whopping 15 games up from the Blue Jays on Sept. 30.

Although no Tigers team has had to fight as hard as this year's for a postseason appearance, the 1940 Tigers were the last to overcome more than 1.5-game deficit from a division leader heading into September.

The 1940 Detroit Tigers made a September surge to take the AL pennant and almost win it all

The 1940 Tigers were led by none other than Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg, who won AL MVP that year and led baseball in RBI and slugging. On Sept. 1, 1940, they lost a game to the St. Louis Browns, putting them 3.5 games behind the then-Cleveland Indians. Back then, the postseason was just the World Series, so their hopes for a ring were entirely contingent upon beating Cleveland to top the American League.

After being swept by the Chicago White Sox, they were down by four until something clicked during their very next series against Cleveland. By Sept. 7, they were tied, and it was a game of ping pong through the rest of the month. Their last series of the regular season was against none other than Cleveland, and despite losing the series two games to one, their one win was enough to put them on top.

Detroit met Cincinnati in the World Series, which went back and forth for six games until a nail-biting Game 7 tiebreaker that ended in 2-1 win for the Reds. The next four seasons of Tigers baseball ranged from mediocre to bad, but they came back to win it all against the Cubs in 1945, after hanging onto a division lead for dear life all through September.

The 2024 Tigers have the benefit of an expanded playoff format, but they could still be writing themselves into the history books if they manage to make their first postseason appearance in a decade happen this year.