Celebrating 113 seasons of Tigers' baseball

On this day in 1901, the Detroit Tigers played their first game as a major league team at Bennett Park in Detroit. 10,000 fans turned out to watch their first Opening Day against the Milwaukee Brewers (who left for St. Louis to become the St. Louis Browns the following season).

Photo via absolutemichigan.com

The Tigers were down 13-4 heading into the ninth inning. They went on to score 10 runs, winning 14-13. They finished the season in third place with a 74-61 record.

Since that first season in 1901, the Tigers have won four World Series titles (1935, 1945, 1968 and 1984), 11 American League Pennants (1907-1909, 1934, 1935, 1940, 1945, 1968, 1984, 2006, 2012), five Division titles (1972, 1984, 1987 in the East and 2011, 2012 in the Central) and one Wild Card berth (2006).

But most importantly during these last 113 seasons, the Tigers have created memories. They've given us some of the greatest players baseball has ever seen. In 1936, Tigers' great Ty Cobb received the most votes of any player on the inaugural ballot to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1955, Al Kaline won the American League batting title with a .340 batting average. At age 20, he remains the youngest player to do so.

Photo by Julian H. Gonzalez/Detroit Free Press

Shortstop Alan Trammell and second baseman Lou Whitaker stand as the longest continuous double-play combination in major league history, playing 19 seasons together with Detroit.

In 1968, Denny McLain became Major League Baseball's first 30-game winner since 1934 after a 5-4 victory at Tiger Stadium against the Oakland Athletics.

Virgil Trucks threw two no hitters during the 1952 season, making him the third major leaguer to do so at the time.

Beyond that, the Tigers have always meant a little something more to Detroit. Yes, our nickname is Hockeytown. I won't dispute that moniker. But I believe that no team in this city, and in this state, brings people together the way the Tigers have for 113 seasons.

In the summer of 1967, Detroit experienced one of the worst riots in American history. It was a city divided.

Down 3-1 to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1968 World Series, the Tigers came back to win four games and took home their first title in 23 years. The '68 team was largely credited for healing a city so badly hurting from the racial violence that had burdened it.

"Those men, that team, were something. They were a close-knit bunch who cared for each other. They provided an outlet for a city that desperately needed one. And they could play. Boy, could they play." - Ernie Harwell

Oh, and let's talk about Ernie. For 42 years, Ernie Harwell was the voice of Tigers baseball. His signature phrases still hold a special place in our hearts ("He stood there like the house by the side of the road, and watched it go by." "That one is LOOOONG gone!") Everyone loved Ernie, and Ernie loved everyone. He was, and still is, Tigers baseball.

Despite a drought between the 1968 World Series title and the one that came in 1984, Tigers fans still had much reason to be excited about the team. Mark "The Bird" Fidrych, who put on a Tigers uniform from 1976-1980, quickly became one of the game's most popular personalities. He won the AL Rookie of the Year award in 1976 after finishing with a 2.34 ERA and a 19-9 record. There's no way I can describe Fidrych in words. He was so much more than that. Teams in visiting cities actually requested that Fidrych pitch because they knew it would sell more tickets. Seriously.

Unfortunately, Fidrych never won a ring with Detroit. His career was cut far too short due to injury. But in 1984, the Tigers began their season 35-5 and easily went on to win the World Series against the San Diego Padres.

My love affair with the Tigers began somewhere between 1996 and 1997. I decided to fall in love with this team during a rough time, as they were in the middle of what would become 12 consecutive losing seasons. I still remember the final game at Tiger Stadium. I locked myself in my room and cried during the post game ceremony when Brad Ausmus was putting the home plate from The Corner into its new home at Comerica Park. What can I say? I was an emotional seven year old.

In 2002, I sat through a 55-106 season. "Surely it can't get much worse, right?" I thought to myself. Number one rule as a Detroit fan: never ask if things will get worse. Because they will. And they did. The very next season, the Tigers set an American League record (and fell one short of tying the MLB record) by winning 43 games and losing 119.

Photo via detnews.com

But three years later, something crazy happened. The Tigers started winning. While they didn't win the World Series that season, it will always remain my favorite year of Tigers baseball. Never in a million years did I think that they would turn it around so fast, and in such a memorable way.

Since then, winning has come to be expected. Mike Ilitch and Dave Dombrowski have created a winning culture.

In 2008, Curtis Granderson became the third player in Major League history to reach 20 doubles, 20 triples, 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a season (Jimmy Rollins joined the club just a few weeks later).

Miguel Cabrera became the first player since 1967 to win the Triple Crown. Justin Verlander has thrown two no-hitters, won the AL Rookie of the Year Award, was unanimously selected the AL Cy Young Award winner in 2011, and the same year became the first starting pitcher to win the AL MVP Award since 1986.

We're lucky. Even today, in 2013, we are witnessing some of the greatest baseball players of our generation.   Sure, not every season has been perfect. They've made some questionable moves. But hey, we survived the Randy Smith Era, didn't we? What can't we do?

And the greatest thing is, I haven't even begun to scratch the surface on what the Tigers franchise has given us, and the game of baseball, for the last 113 years. Hank Greenberg, Norm Cash, Willie Horton, Hal Newhouser, Charlie Gehringer and Jack Morris just to name a few more.

So happy birthday, Tigers. Thank you for being there for us all these years. And here's to many, many more.

April 9, 2013 Game Recap: In GIFs

The Tigers defeated the Blue Jays 7-3 at Comerica Park earlier this afternoon. Detroit combined for 15 hits, four of those coming courtesy of Miguel Cabrera. Torii Hunter went 3-5, including his 2000th career hit (we'll get to that later). New dad Alex Avila was 2-4 with a solo home run - his second of the year.

Melky Cabrera finished 3-4 with one RBI. Colby Rasmus connected for a solo home run in the ninth inning off Joaquin Benoit (new permanent closer? We shall see!)

Anibal Sanchez went 7 innings, giving up two runs on five hits. It's nice to see another Tigers pitcher go more than five innings.

But here's the really cool, interesting stuff that happened that had to be immortalized on the internet forever in GIF form.

First of all, Don Kelly made a super amazing catch in left field. Look at him bounce off the wall like it's made of clouds. Absolutely no regard for his body, and it resulted in what's easily one of the top plays of the season in Major League Baseball. Yes, the season is a week old. But this catch will be played in every season-ending montage that is made: COUNT ON IT.

Cabrera hit an absolute BOMB for his first home run of the season. Not only was it a BOMB (I can only type this word in all caps. Not sorry) but it was also a three-run shot. And why was it a three-run shot? Because Austin Jackson and Hunter both singled to get on base. Because they play the way 1-2 hitters should. They are amazing. I am happy. This lineup is freakin' awesome.

In the sixth inning, Hunter notched his 2,000th career hit. 2,000 is a big number. It's really big. 

And then at this very moment right here, I had one of those "oh wow" realizations. Torii Hunter is a Detroit Tiger. You guys. I'm a young gal, so I literally grew up watching Hunter play. I remember those 11 years he spent in the AL Central with the Twins. I remember how he killed the Tigers, and then continued to do so in an Angels uniform for five years. And now he's got that beautiful Old English D on his chest, and he earned hit number TWO THOUSAND at Comerica Park. As a Tiger. What?!

And then the fans and the team gave him a nice long ovation and Lindsay got goosebumps.

While this was a very good game for the Tigers and their fans, I think we can all agree on the most memorable moment. And that moment was this....

Former University of Michigan QB Denard Robinson: Not a pitcher

So there you have it! Tomorrow, the Tigers will play the Jays at 1:08 p.m. Here's to hoping mother nature is kind.

Sexism in Sports Journalism: The public's opinion

As I said in my previous blog, I'm doing a project on sexism in sports journalism for my Ethical Issues in Media Class. I decided to conduct an anonymous survey to see what my Twitter followers really felt about women in sports journalism.

I don't want to dwell on this topic. I want to ignore the ignorant. I don't want to give sexists and misogynists the time of day. But while looking at these results, I couldn't not share some of the responses I received. I want a chance to answer some of the things that were said, while also showing opinions that demonstrate maybe society and sports culture is on the right path. Maybe.

As I write this post, I've collected 131 responses. Since I don't have a premium account, I'm only able to analyze 100 of them. So this is out of a pool of 100 sports fans.

We'll start with the demographics.

18-24: 48%
25-34: 34%
35-44: 8%
45-54: 4%
55-64: 0%
65+: 1%

Female: 32%
Male: 68%

A 25-34 year old male answered: “No, and they shouldn’t be.”

I would love to find out which of my Twitter followers feels this way to ask him more questions. If a woman is working just as hard as a man and is just as familiar with the sport (or sports) that she is covering, why has she not earned that respect?

An 18-24 year old male said: "They can be color commentators, but I'd still want a man to be a play by play announcer."

A common response I had for this one was that they didn't want the sound of a woman's voice calling the games. One person did respond that he couldn't answer the question fairly because he had never heard a woman call a game before. I believe that a woman is perfectly capable of describing the action in the game. If it became more commonplace, people would more accurately be able to judge whether they prefer a woman or man doing play-by-play.

A 25-34 year old male asked the question, "Should men be allowed in women's locker rooms?" The answer is: they already are. This is a common misconception and an argument many people try to bring up (as evidenced in my survey). An article from USA Today in 2010 clears this up. 

An 18-24 year old female, who answered "yes," said: "People need to be able to handle the fact they are in control of their bodies and their actions, not what someone else’s attire or lack of."

So many people are quick to blame the victim. When someone is harassed or assaulted, people immediately ask what the victim was wearing. Who were they with? What time of day was it? Instead of implying that the victim did something wrong, we need to focus on the people doing the harassing. This happens in the locker room for all different sports. Female reporters are there to do their job, not to be leered at. 

An 18-24 year old answered: "I look at the article first and the name of the author second.  The article is what is important." 

To me, this would be an interesting experiment. Give someone a few articles in the 10% who don't take women sports journalists as seriously as men, but don't reveal the author for any of the articles. See if they can tell which "gender" is the voice of the story.

A 25-34 year old male said that gender has influenced his opinion because: "Women don't know shit about sports."

Sigh. Do I even need to touch on this one? It absolutely, positively, completely blows my mind that there are people out there who believe women are incapable of having sports knowledge. No, not all women are sports fans. And not all men are sports fans either. A sports fan is a sports fan. A sports journalist is a sports journalist. This doesn't need to be segregated into genders.

More results

When I asked for people to name their favorite sports reporters, I had plenty of different answers. The most popular ones were Ken Rosenthal, Erin Andrews, Bill Simmons and Colin Cowherd.

I also asked for people to name which sport they follow the most. MLB (77 votes), NFL (51), NHL (35) and NBA (18) were among the most named. College basketball, soccer and tennis also received multiple votes while a variety of other sports were each named one time.

Back to the survey

I was mostly encouraged by some of the answers I received. However, some responses made me seriously question some of the people that follow me. Seriously. Seriously. 

An 18-24 year old female said she doesn't take women as seriously as men because, "They just want the attention from the male dominated career. 'Oh I'm so unique, I'm one of the guys.'"

Now obviously I can't speak for all journalists. But as a female who has absolutely adored sports since she was about four years old, and as a professional who now covers sports for a job, I can safely say that I have never done it for the attention. I have never done it to be "one of the guys." This is my passion. Finding something you truly love to do and being able to make a career out of it is so rare, and I've found that through sports.

This respondent also went on to say that women are "oogled at" but that the females "ask for it and want it." I've already touched on this topic above, so I'm not going to repeat myself. I'm just seriously concerned that people feel this way.

An 18-24 year old male said that he does not take women as seriously as men "because they have never played football or baseball." 

This is another argument that I have never quite understood. Yes, someone who has played the sport they are covering will have a different perspective with more experience. But does that mean all journalists should be athletes? If you've never played the sport, can you not be a fan either? Because you've never played the sport? Does that really seem logical?

So...moving on

I have been inspired by so many journalists, both women and men, as I continue to move forward in a career in sports reporting. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I can't change the minds of sexists and misogynists. It's not my job to prove to anyone that women are just as capable as men at covering sports.

I know that I'm smart when it comes to sports. I know plenty of women who are smart when it comes to sports. As long as I carry that with me, not a single negative thing I hear or see can stop me from doing what I want to do.