Well, here we are. This list is finally coming to a close. For those of you that have been following along for the last four months, thank you. I’m sure along the way there were a few surprises. Over the past few months I’ve moved guys up and down this list. One day I may [...]
Rank: 2
Name: Albert William Kaline
Position: Outfield
Tigers Tenure: 1953-1974
Awards: Received MVP Votes 14 times (Finished 2nd twice and finished 3rd twice), 15-time All Star, Third in Rookie of the Year Voting (1954), 10-time Gold Glove Winner, Baseball Hall of Fame (1980)
Best Season: 1955. Kaline’s 1955 season is incredible to look at today. The things this guy [...]
Rank: 3
Name: Henry Benjamin Greenberg
Position: First Base and Outfield
Tigers Tenure: 1930, 1933-1941, 1945-1946
Awards: Received MVP Votes Eight Times, Won MVP Award (1935 and 1940), Five-Time All Star, Baseball Hall of Fame (1956)
Best Season: 1940. This was not easy and I’m not even close to sure that I picked the “right” season. However, it’s hard to [...]
Rank: 4
Name: Charles Leonard Gehringer
Position: Second Base
Tigers Tenure: 1924-1942
Awards: Received MVP Votes Ten Times, Won MVP Award in 1937, Six-Time All Star, Baseball Hall of Fame (1949)
Best Season: 1934. Gehringer won the the American League Most Valuable Player award in 1937 and you could easily make the case that it was his best season. However, [...]
Rank: 5
Name: Harry Edwin Heilmann
Position: Outfield and First Base
Tigers Tenure: 1914, 1916-1929
Awards: Received MVP Votes (1922-1928), Baseball Hall of Fame (1952)
Best Season: 1923. Heilmann won the American League batting title in 1923 and finished second to Babe Ruth (maybe you’ve heard of him?) in on base percentage and slugging percentage. In other words, he was [...]
Rank: 6
Name: Samuel Earl Crawford
Position: Outfield
Tigers Tenure: 1903-1917
Awards: Received MVP Votes 4 times, Baseball Hall of Fame (1957)
Best Season: 1911. In every season he played with the Tigers (excluding the last one), Crawford had an OPS+ of at least 114, so there were plenty of good seasons to chose from. In 1911, Crawford hit a [...]
Rank: 7
Name: Harold Newhouser
Position: Pitcher
Tigers Tenure: 1939-1953
Awards: Seven Time All Star, Received MVP Votes Four Times, Two Time MVP Winner (1944 and 1945), Baseball Hall of Fame (1992)
Best Season: 1945. Newhouser had one heck of a run from 1944-46 and it really was a tossup between the three season. 1945 wins here because the Tigers [...]
Rank: 8
Name: Alan Stuart Trammell
Position: Shortstop
Tigers Tenure: 1977-1996
Awards: Fourth in Rookie of the Year Voting (1978), Six-time All Star, Four-Time Gold Glove Winner, Three-Time Silver Slugger, AL Comeback Player of the Year (1983), World Series MVP (1984), Received MVP Votes Seven Times (2nd in 1987)
Best Season: 1987. Trammell was absolutely robbed of the 1987 MVP [...]
Rank: 9
Name: Norman Dalton Cash
Position: First Base
Tigers Tenure: 1960-1974
Awards: Received MVP Votes Six Times, Four-time All Star, 1971 AL Comeback Player of the Year
Best Season: 1961. When Magglio Ordonez had his great season in 2007, the comparison people kept throwing out there for him and that season was Norm Cash’s 1961 season. Cash and [...]
Rank: 10
Name: Kirk Harold Gibson
Position: Outfield
Tigers Tenure: 1979-1987 and 1993-1995
Awards: ALCS MVP (1984), Received MVP Votes (1981, 1984, 1985)
Best Season: 1984. Gibson put together a great run in the 1980s for the Tigers and he was at his best in 1984. Gibson helped lead the Tigers to a 35-5 start and a 104 win season [...]