April 17 in Tigers and mlb history:

1820: Alexander Cartwright, considered by many the father of the national pastime, is born in New York City. This pioneer banker, who is given credit for establishing three strikes for an out and three outs for each half inning, will be elected into the Hall of Fame in 1938 after a review of his journals reveals his many contributions in developing and promoting the sport of baseball.

1869: The first professional baseball game ever played sees the Cincinnati Red Stockings defeat the rival Cincinnati Amateurs, 24 - 15.

1910: In a guest article in the New York Times, Charles Comiskey calls Ty Cobb the greatest player ever.
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1911: The New York Giants pick up four stolen bases in a 3 - 1 victory against the Brooklyn Dodgers, the start of a post-1900 record 347 steals for the year. Eight Giants will steal 19 bases or better.

1914: The Chicago White Sox purchased Ray Demmitt from the Detroit Tigers for $2,500.

1929: New York Yankees slugger Babe Ruth marries actress and model Claire Merritt Hodgson. The ceremony is held at five o'clock in the morning on Opening Day to avoid crowds.
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1932 - New York Giants first baseman Bill Terry ties a National League record with 21 putouts as the Giants beat the Boston Braves, 5 - 0.

1934: At Ebbets Field, Casey Stengel makes his managerial debut, but his Brooklyn Dodgers lose, 8 - 7, to the Boston Braves.
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1936: Tigers play their home opener at Navin Field with an expanded upper deck that includes a "porch" hanging over right field. A more recent photo.
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1939: On the morning of Opening Day in Washington, DC, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New York Yankees visit Abner Doubleday's grave at Arlington National Cemetery. Roosevelt is also scheduled to throw out the first pitch at Griffith Stadium, but the game is rained out and Vice President John Nance Garner will do the honors four days later.

1945: Pete Gray, a one-armed outfielder, plays his major league debut game with the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park. Gray hits a single off Les Mueller in four at-bats, and handles no chances in the outfield. St. Louis beats the Detroit Tigers, 7 - 1, for their ninth straight Opening Day win, setting a major league record that the 1975-1983 New York Mets will tie. Gray, one of many players recruited to perform during World War II, will hit .218 (51 for 254) in his only major league season.
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1947: The Brooklyn Dodgers win 12 - 6 over the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field, as Jackie Robinson gets his first major league hit, a bunt single, off Glenn Elliott. Robinson will bunt 42 times, collecting 19 hits, during the season.

1949: The Detroit Tigers purchased Gene Markland from the Chicago White Sox.

1951: In MLB history For the first time, public address announcer Bob Sheppard announces the Yankees lineup. The "Voice of God's" first player's name to be announced would be Dom DiMaggio, the leadoff batter for the visiting Red Sox.
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1951: In his first major league game, Mickey Mantle went 1-for-4 , April 17, 1951.

1951: The Philadelphia Athletics and the Washington Senators play the first home Opening Day night game in American League history. Washington wins, 6 - 1, behind the solid pitching of 40-year-old Connie Marrero as his batterymate Mickey Grasso hits a home run.

1951: Golf great Sam Snead tees off from home plate and hits the center field scoreboard at Wrigley Field before the Cubs' home opener. The Associated Press reports: "Sammy Snead settled a long-standing argument today over whether a golf ball could be driven from home plate over the towering scoreboard at Wrigley Field. It can, by a golfer like Sam. Wearing street clothes, Snead sent a ball zooming well over the scoreboard with a No. 2 iron after hitting the board with a swing with a No. 4 iron. Snead calculated the carry was 175 yards. The scoreboard rises 89 feet in the air some 50 feet behind the 400-mark on the centerfield wall."

1953: New York Yankees outfielder Mickey Mantle clears the bleachers at Griffith Stadium with a 565-foot home run off Chuck Stobbs. The shot comes in the 5th inning of a 7 - 3 Yankees victory over the Washington Senators. It is believed to be the longest home run in Griffith Stadium history.
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1954: At County Stadium, utility man Nino Escalera becomes the first black player to appear in a Cincinnati uniform. A native of Puerto Rico, Escalera pinch-hits a single in the Redlegs' 5 - 1 loss to the Milwaukee Braves. In the 7th inning, another black rookie, Chuck Harmon, follows him, pinch-hitting for Corky Valentine and pops out. Escalera, who will bat .159 and collect 11 hits in his only major league season, will eventually become a scout for the Oakland Athletics.

1955: At Forbes Field, the Pittsburgh Pirates' 20-year-old rookie Roberto Clemente makes his major league debut, playing both ends of a doubleheader, ironically but perhaps fittingly, against the Brooklyn Dodgers, the team that first signed him but left him unprotected in the Rule V draft. In his first at-bat, the future Hall of Famer rifles one back through the originator, Johnny Podres, and off the glove of shortstop Pee Wee Reese, for the first of his 3,000 career hits.
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1955: Baseball Legend Al Kaline of the Detroit Tigers hits three home runs in Briggs Stadium, including a pair in the 6th inning, to drive in six runs. The Tigers rout the A's, 16 - 0 behind Steve Gromek's strong pitching. Kaline extends his 2-day streak of 6 straight hits.
Kaline becomes the first Tigers player to hit two home runs in the same inning, a feat that will be also done by Magglio Ordonez.
For Kaline's 1955 season, the 20 year old will lead the league in batting average .340 hits with 200 and total bases with 321, and finish second in the MVP vote to Yogi Berra.
The Game That Made Al Kaline a Star.
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1956: Three future Hall of Fame members make their major league debuts. Luis Aparicio of the Chicago White Sox, Don Drysdale of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Frank Robinson of the Cincinnati Redlegs play the first games of their brilliant careers.

1956: Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees hits a pair of tape measure home runs against Camilo Pascual at Griffith Stadium. Both long balls are estimated at over 500 feet. New York and the Washington Senators combine for six home runs in a 10 - 4 Opening Day victory for the Yankees.
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1960: Cleveland Indians general manager Frank Lane, notorious for his multiple transactions, sends American League home run king, Rocky Colavito, to the Detroit Tigers for the league's defending batting champion, Harvey Kuenn.
The trade is especially unpopular with Indians fans, who regard Colavito as their most popular player and best hitter.
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1968: Tigers come from behind in the 10th inning and win on a 2-run walk-off home run by Willie Horton and beat the indians 4 - 3.
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1971: Willie Horton goes 5-for-6 with 2 home runs and the Tigers beat the red sox 10 - 9.
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1976: At Wrigley Field, Mike Schmidt leads a Philadelphia Phillies assault with a single, four home runs in consecutive at-bats, and eight RBI to overcome a 12 - 1 deficit after three innings and beat the Chicago Cubs in 10 innings, 18 - 16. Chicago ties the game in the 9th after the Phillies have taken a 15 - 13 lead. Hitting .167 going into the game, Schmidt connects for two homers off Rick Reuschel, one off Mike Garman, and the last, a two-run shot off Reuschel's brother Paul in the 10th inning. Schmidt also becomes the first National League player in modern times to hit four home runs in a row.

1983: Nolan Ryan strikes out seven Expos in a 6 - 3 Houston victory to become only the second pitcher in major league history to record 3,500 career strikeouts.

1986: Tigers score 5 runs in the top of the 8th inning on a 2-run single by Mike Laga, RBI double by Alan Trammell, & 2-run triple by Larry Herndon, to beat the White Sox 10-6.

1991: Lou Whitaker hits a pinch-hit 3-run home run in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game. Milt Cuyler scores on a passed ball in the bottom of the 10th to give the Tigers a 5-4 win over Toronto.
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1993: The Detroit Tigers score 20 runs in a game for the second time this week, beating the Seattle Mariners, 20 - 3. Rob Deer is 1 for 2 and scores four runs, while Travis Fryman has four hits and scores five times. Chad Kreuter adds four hits and three runs and Gary Thurman paces the Tigers with four RBI.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/b...99304170.shtml

1995: The Detroit Tigers signed Juan Samuel as a free agent.

2006: Detroit's Chris Shelton and St. Louis' Albert Pujols hit their major league-leading ninth home runs, joining Mike Schmidt (1976), Larry Walker (1997) and Luis Gonzalez (2001) as the only players in major league history with at least nine home runs in their team's first 13 games.
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2009: Mets' Gary Sheffield hits his 500th career home run, joins Ty Cobb & Rusty Staub as the only players to hit home runs in the majors in both their teens and their 40s. All former Tigers.

2012: Jamie Moyer becomes to oldest pitcher to record a win in Colorado's 5 - 3 victory over the San Diego Padres at Coors Field. At 49 years and 150 days of age, he eclipses Jack Quinn, who recorded the last win of his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers on September 13, 1932. It is career win number 268 for Moyer, tying him with Hall of Famer Jim Palmer.

2013: The Tigers and Mariners combine for 40 strikeouts in 14 innings, three short of the major league record set by the Angels and A's on July 9, 1971, in 20 innings. Prince Fielder leads the pack with five strikeouts, while Austin Jackson and Franklin Gutierrez both earn golden sombreros. Starting pitchers Max Scherzer and Felix Hernandez post almost identical pitching lines, both striking out 12 and giving up a single run in eight innings of work.
The Tigers top the M's, 2 - 1, with the game ending when Justin Smoak is tagged out at home by the Bengals' Brayan Pena while trying to score the tying run from first base on Dustin Ackley's double.

2015: Tigers win on Jose Iglesias' walk-off single in the 9th to beat the White Sox 2-1 and improve to 9-1. The last two Tiger teams to start 9-1 were in 1984 and 1968.

2017: The Detroit Tigers released Matt Murton.

Tigers players and coaches birthdays:

Charlie Jaeger 1904.

Pedro Garcia 1976.

Max St. Pierre 2010.

Ryan Raburn 2004, 2007-2012.

Mike Rojas coach 2011-2013.

Ronny Rodriguez 2018-2019.

Tigers players who passed away:

Walter Wilson 1945.

Dick Brown 1961-1962.

Baseball Reference

WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY.
Totally Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are trying to rebuild their offensive skills after spending years in the bottom of MLB. They are moving up the ranks but very slowly. In comparison to the other 29 teams, they currently rank 25th offensively and average 3.73 runs per game.
Only Gio Urshela, Kerry Carpenter and Matt Vierling are performing well at the plate. The rest of the roster is struggling.

But which player has disappointed you the most at the plate so far?
Before we give you the options, we’re intentionally not including Javy Baez for obvious reasons. Nor the rookies such as Parker Meadows and Colt Keith. It is expected that they would meet roadblocks in their development at the plate.

Here now, are your options:
JAKE ROGERS
.111/.200/.222/.422
1 HR, 2 RBIs
almost 50% SO rate
Hits in the bottom of the order. Priority is his game calling.

SPENCER TORKELSON
.219/.296/.297/.593
0 HR, 6 RBIs
25% SO rate
Hits in the heart of the order (#2, #3, #4). Priority is his offense.

So which of these 2 players’ performances has disappointed you the most so far this young season?

Which of these 2 players' performances has disappointed you the most so far?

1. Jake Rogers

2. Spencer Torkelson

VOTE

How Tarik Skubal learned one of baseball's nastiest pitches.
Tigers official site

Tigers RHP Duque Hebbert has been assigned to Single-A Lakeland for his full-season debut.You might remember Hebbert as the Nicarguan pitcher who struck out Juan Soto, Julio Rodríguez and Rafael Devers in last year's World Baseball Classic.

As a Tiger, Harvey Kuenn tallied: 1953 Rookie of the Year, 7 time All Star, 1959 Batting Title.

1951 Tigers led by Vic Wertz, George Kell, and Virgil "Fire" Trucks.

Injuries & Moves: RHP Dylan White moved to developmental list.
Tigers official site

After a slow start, Parker Meadows connects for 1st home run of '24.
Tigers official site

Boxscore.

Video highlights from the loss.

Tigers 4 - Rangers 5: So close to a comeback.
The Tigers’ late-inning heroics weren’t quite enough to call it a win.
BYBTB

Tigers rally again, but come up short vs. Rangers.
Detnews

Three errors come back to bite Detroit Tigers in 5-4 loss to Texas Rangers.
Freep

With storm looming and stadium cleared, Tigers fall in 9th inning to Rangers.
Mlive

April 18 in Tigers and mlb history:

1880: Sam Crawford born in Wahoo, Nebraska. Finished career 39 hits shy of 3000. Hit more triples than anyone in MLB history with 309. He averaged 20 per 162 games. Led the league 6x; also led in HR once and RBI 3x, inside-the-park home runs in a season (12). Career .309 hitter.
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1899: At age 26, John McGraw makes his managerial debut with the Baltimore Orioles of the National League. McGraw leads them to a 5 - 3 victory over the New York Giants, a team he will later manage for more than 30 years.

1905: The Detroit Tigers signed Duff Cooley as a free agent.

1914: Sam Crawford celebrated turning 34 by going 2 for 3, including a HR, and walking once as the Tigers beat the Cleveland Naps 4-3. Crawford was a 6.2 WAR player that season, which was his career high.
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1916: Grover Cleveland Alexander of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches his first of 16 shutouts of the season against the Boston Braves.

1923: The debut of Yankee Stadium is a huge success with an announced attendance of 74,217. Bob Shawkey of the Yankees, aided by a three-run home run by Babe Ruth, beats Howard Ehmke and the Red Sox, 4 - 1.
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1929: At Yankee Stadium, Babe Ruth hits a home run in his first at-bat since his marriage the day before. As he rounds second base tips his hat to his new bride, Claire Merritt Hodgson.

1929: The New York Yankees wear uniform numbers in a game for the first time! Players are assigned numbers based on their order in the lineup. In this photo, Babe Ruth shows off his now iconic #3 for photographers.
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1936: the Governor of Michigan declared April 18 "Detroit Champions' Day" to recognize the Tigers, Lions, and Detroit Red Wings Championship Wins.
Champions Day - Wikipedia

1939: Announcer Red Barber calls the action in the Brooklyn Dodgers' 7 - 3 loss to the New York Giants, marking the first time a regular-season Brooklyn game is broadcast on the radio.

1946: Jackie Robinson makes his minor league debut for the Montreal Royals, the International League affiliate club of the Brooklyn Dodgers. In becoming the first openly black person to play Organized Baseball in the 20th century, Robinson bangs out a home run and three singles on his way to winning the league batting championship.
Jackie Robinson is greeted by teammate George Shuba with a handshake after hitting a HR in his first game with the Montreal Royals, farm club of the Brooklyn Dodgers. The gesture is considered a historic interracial first for pro baseball. #Inspirational
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1950: Vin Scully calls the first game of his illustrious 67-year career with the Dodgers.
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1950: At the Polo Grounds, Sam Jethroe becomes the first black to play for the Boston Braves. A former Cleveland Buckeyes star, he goes 2 for 4, including a home run, to lead the Braves to an 11 - 4 beating of the New York Giants. Warren Spahn is the winner. Jethroe will go on to become National League Rookie of the Year after leading the majors in stolen bases.

1950: The first opening night game is held in St. Louis. The Cardinals, behind a complete game by Gerry Staley and home runs from Red Schoendienst and Stan Musial, beat the Pirates, 4 - 2, at Sportsman's Park.

1950: U.S. President Harry Truman throws out two balls at the Washington Senators opener - one left-handed and the other right-handed - then watches the Senators beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 8 - 7. When rain starts falling in the 6th inning, he puts on a raincoat and remains to the end.

1952: Stealing considerable thunder from Brooklyn's victorious home opener, a 7 - 6, 12-inning triumph, Willie Mays makes the catch he'll later call his greatest. The Associated Press reports: "Willie Mays, army-bound centerfielder of the New York Giants, astounded an opening day crowd of 31,032 fans at Ebbets Field with a sensational catch of a drive by Bobby Morgan in the 7th inning." With two out, two on and the Dodgers down by one, "the sophomore star made a diving, sliding catch of a sinking liner near the left centerfield wall that robbed Morgan of a potential triple." Unfortunately for Mays, Ebbets Field's Little League dimensions afford little leeway for such hijinks. "I go and catch the ball in the air," Mays recalls 45 years later. "I'm in the air, like this, parallel. I catch the ball, I hit the fence. Ebbets Field was so short that if you run anywhere you're going to hit a fence. So I catch the fence, knock myself out."
"As he lay motionless," reports the New York Times, "players of both sides rushed to his aid. All, that is, but the three Dodgers on the bases, who continued their wild dash for the plate, only to learn Willie had held on to the ball for the third out." Willie's impression is that the first player to reach his side has a somewhat less altruistic agenda.
"The first guy that I saw - there were two guys - when I open my eyes, was Leo Durocher and Jackie Robinson. And I'm saying to myself, 'Why is Jackie out here?' Jackie came to see if I caught the ball, and Leo came to see about me."

1956: Ed Rommel becomes the first major league umpire to wear glasses during a game as he arbitrates a contest between the Yankees and Senators.

1958: At the LA Coliseum, in front of a National League record crowd of 78,672, the Dodgers play their first home game on the West Coast,
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1960: Ted Williams becomes the first major leaguer to homer in four different decades.
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1964: Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers strikes out the side on nine pitches, becoming the first pitcher in major league history to achieve the feat twice. ?Hitting against Sandy Koufax is like drinking coffee with a fork,? Hall of Famer Willie Stargell said.
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1964: Tigers beat Angels 3-2 on a Norm Cash 3-run home run (2nd) in the 5th inning.
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1965: In his major league debut, Jackie Moore catches 12 innings and singles the winning run to third in the Tigers' win over the Angels at Dodger Stadium. Ray Oyler, one of the game?s worst-hitting regulars ever, plays in his first game.
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1968: Al Kaline hits his 305th career homer in his 2000th game. Tigers win their 6th straight a 5 - 0 win over the indians.
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1970: Nolan Ryan strikes out 15 batters and pitches a one-hitter as the New York Mets defeat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7 - 0, at Shea Stadium. It is the first shutout of Ryan's career.

1981: Sporting News with Al Kaline and Iran hostage and Tiger's Fan Joe Subic.
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1981: The Sporting News publishes a report finding that Ty Cobb's career hit total is 4,189, not 4,191. MLB & the HOF have yet to officially acknowledge the correction. Cobb lost 1 game, 5 at bats, 2 triples, 1 home run, 15 rbi, yet gained 5 stolen bases, when comparing from the 1975 Baseball Encyclopedia which was the complete and official record of MLB.
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1981: Tom Seaver of the Cincinnati Reds notches the 3000th strikeout of his Hall of Fame career. Seaver strikes out Keith Hernandez of the St. Louis Cardinals, joining Bob Gibson, Walter Johnson, Gaylord Perry, and Nolan Ryan as members of the exclusive pitching club.

1984: Tigers edge Royals 4 - 3 in 10 innings, now 9-0. Jack Morris pitches 9 innings, but gives up a 3-0 lead in the 8th and the game goes to extras. Alan Trammell scores on an error in the bottom of the 10th.

1987: Tigers beat the White Sox 3-2 on a solo home run by Dave Bergman in the bottom of the 8th.

1987: Mike Schmidt became the 15th major league player to reach 500 home runs.


1991: A sellout crowd of 42,191 watches the Chicago White Sox play their first game at New Comiskey Park and sees the home team get crushed by the Detroit Tigers, 16 - 0. Jack McDowell gives up the park's first home run to Cecil Fielder.
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1995: Jack Morris, the winningest pitcher of the 1980s, announces his retirement.

2005: The Detroit Tigers selected Adam Peterson off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

2010: Miguel Cabrera hits a 3-run home run on his birthday to give the Tigers a 4-2 win in Seattle. Max Scherzer strikes out 4 in 6 innings in his first win as a Tiger.

2011: Miguel Cabrera goes 2-for-4 with an RBI and 3 runs scored on his birthday in an 8-3 win in Seattle.

2017: Harwell Field, honoring Ernie Harwell, opens at Wayne State University.
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2018: Miguel Cabrera hits a home run on his birthday for the third time in his career. Tigers beat the Orioles 6-5 on a walk-off home run by Dixon Machado.

2023: Clayton Kershaw records the 200th win of his career with a typical performance, holding the Mets scoreless over seven innings while racking up nine strikeouts in a 5 - 0 Dodgers win. At 200-88, Kershaw is just the fourth pitcher of the modern era to record his 200th win before having 100 losses, following Whitey Ford, Lefty Grove and Pedro Martinez.

Tigers players and owners birthdays:

Frank Navin owner 1908-1935.

Sam Crawford 1903-1917.

Doug Flynn 1985.

Brian Dubois 1989-1990.

Rico Brogna 1992.

Miguel Cabrera 2008-2023.

Jake Rogers 2019, 2021, 2023-present.

Tigers players who passed away:

Roscoe Miller 1901-1902.

Bill Sweeney 1928.

Jack Burns 1936.

Baseball Reference

HIT AND RUN.
Totally Tigers

Today, we’re going to address some great questions our reader, Jim, sent to me.
He wrote “When do we start wondering if the hitting coaches aren’t very good at their job? We rightfully praise the pitching coaches for their magic, so why not wonder if the hitting coaches are failing? Outside hitting coaches are still a thing for Tigers’ players.”

Isn’t it ironic that we know so much about Chris Fetter and his staff but almost nothing about the hitting coaches?
Part of that is because of the differences between hitting and pitching. Every pitch a pitcher throws is seen, located and analyzed but we don’t get to see every detail of a batter’s mechanics as he swings and why he didn’t make solid contact. Only recently has the tv broadcast taken to critiquing batters’ hitting skills in helping us understand the difference between success and failure.

We also see the pitching coaches throughout a game. The hitting coaches? Never. I imagine that 99% of fans couldn’t identify them in a lineup. Their work is always behind the scenes and away from fans’ eyes.
So as we delve into how to evaluate the hitting coaches, we must first understand what is now considered normal in the industry. It’s because the Tigers have been notoriously outdated in adopting what other teams consider to be standard.
For over 5 years now, MLB teams started adding multiple hitting coaches. Today, over half of all teams have 3 hitting coaches. The others have 2. Until 2023, the Tigers were the last team in baseball to add more than 1 hitting coach. They now have 3......