10 greatest Detroit Tigers players of all time, ranked

The Hebrew Hammer was one of the most feared hitters of his day and you have to wonder what his final numbers would have looked like if military service didn’t take him off the field for three years in his early 30s. Regardless, he led the league in home runs four times, including in 1938 when he hit 58 long balls, coming close to Babe Ruth’s then-single-season record of 60.

The two-time MVP won a pair of World Series crowns with the Tigers, hitting .318 in 23 career World Series games. He also has a pair of MVP awards to his name, along with four All-Star nods. Perhaps just as much a credit to his slugging teammates, Greenberg drove in 139 or more runs five times in a seven-year span from 1934 to 1940.

9. Justin Verlander (2005-16)

Verlander is the only active player on this list, but as anyone who has watched baseball the last two decades can attest, he belongs. The future Hall of Famer came up with the Tigers and spent his first 13 seasons in Detroit, winning Rookie of the Year in 2006 as the Tigers reached the World Series.

His finest season in Detroit came in 2011 when he won both the Cy Young and MVP awards. He went 24-5 that year with a 2.40 ERA and a league-best 250 strikeouts. Ever the workhorse, Verlander led the league in innings pitched three times in a four-year span and ranks eighth in Tigers history in total innings pitched — a wild feat considering his era and that he did it in 11 full seasons.

8. Miguel Cabrera (2008-23)

If Cabrera wasn’t the most feared hitter in baseball in the early part of the 2010s, then there aren’t many on the list ahead of him. The only player to win the batting triple crown in the last half century (2012), Cabrera won four batting titles and hit .320 or better in six out of seven years in his prime.

Though Cabrera only led the league in home runs once, he hit 511 for his career, good for 25th in baseball history. The 12-time All-Star and two-time MVP won a World Series with the Florida Marlins, and though he couldn’t get the Tigers over the hump, he did lead them to the 2012 Fall Classic.

7. Hal Newhouser (1939-53)

Try finding a more dominant three-year stretch from a pitcher than what Newhouser did from 1944 to 1946. In that time, he went 80-27 with a 1.99 ERA, going the distance in 83 of his 104 starts. He twice led the league in strikeouts and twice in ERA — both times under 2.00 — and won a pair of MVPs, becoming the first pitcher ever to win the award in consecutive seasons. As a Tiger, he accumulated more WAR than any other pitcher (58.8).

Maybe most impressive about Newhouser is that he didn’t start as a can’t-miss phenom. In his first three seasons, he threw to a 4.85 ERA. But as he mastered his curveball, his numbers improved. Though he walked more than his fair share of batters throughout his career, his walk rate dropped significantly from years three to four.

After his playing days, he became a scout, and if you ever want a fun fact to throw around at parties, google why he retired in the early 1990s.

6. Harry Heilmann (1914, 1916-29)

One of only six players in American League history to hit .400 in a season, Heilmann was one of the most prolific hitters of his time and remains one of the forgotten greats in baseball history. The four-time batting champion hit .342 for his career and is one of only six players ever to lead the AL in average at least four times. Coincidentally, two others are on this list.

After his retirement, Heilmann became a beloved radio voice of the Tigers, known for his storytelling ability. He continued calling games until his failing health took him out of the booth.

5. Lou Whitaker (1977-95)

Whitaker, the 1978 AL Rookie of the Year, played all 19 years of his career in Detroit, compiling 2,369 hits along the way. The second baseman won three Gold Gloves and four Silver Sluggers and appeared in more games than any Tiger ever, other than Cobb and Kaline.

Whitaker’s 75.1 career WAR is the highest for any player not in the Hall of Fame, excluding those kept out from the steroid era. Instead, he’ll have to settle for having his No. 1 retired by the Tigers and a nice, shiny 1984 World Series ring.

4. Alan Trammell (1977-96)

No two players exemplified the 1980s Detroit Tigers more than Trammell and Whitaker, so it’s only fitting that the two appear back-to-back on the upper half of this list (they were also the longest-running double play combination in MLB history, playing short and second for 19 years).

Trammel, for his part, is a Hall of Famer, World Series MVP, six-time All-Star and, for good measure, ex Tigers manager. The four-time Gold Glove winner and six-time Silver Slugger finished his career with 2,365 hits — seventh-most in Tiger history. Though his raw numbers won’t blow you away (still, they’re very good!), he accumulated 70.6 WAR in his career and struck out only 9.3 percent of the time.

3. Charlie Gehringer (1924-42)

Looking at Gehringer’s numbers, it’s hard to fathom that he did not get into the Hall of Fame until the sixth ballot. The six-time All-Star and 1937 AL MVP hit above .300 13 times in his career, including in ’37 when he also won the batting title with a .371 average. Gehringer led the league in hits, runs and doubles twice each. He also ranks third in Tigers history in triples (146) and fourth in RBI (1,427).

Gehringer played in three World Series for the Tigers and was on the 1935 championship team. He hit .321 in 81 World Series at bats.

2. Al Kaline (1953-74)

The epitome of an all-around player, Kaline was an elite hitter and fielder through his 21-year career, all with the Tigers. The 18-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove-winning outfielder is the franchise’s all-time home run leader with 399 and his 1,583 RBI rank second in Tigers history behind only Cobb.

Kaline was also brilliant during the 1968 World Series, hitting .379 with a 1.055 OPS in the Tigers’ seven-game triumph over the St. Louis Cardinals. Nicknamed Mr. Tiger, few players in the modern era have been more synonymous with their team than Kaline with Detroit.

1. Ty Cobb (1905-26)

Purely as a baseball player, Cobb is one of the all-time greats, and calling him that might not do him justice. The 12-time batting champion won each of his crowns in a 13-year span and in the year he didn’t win it, he still hit .370. He is the all-time leader in batting average (.366) and owns a career .944 OPS. His 4,189 career hits ranks second all-time behind only Pete Rose and his 892 stolen bases rank fourth all-time (but first on the all-time list of steals of home with 54).

In 1936, Cobb was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on its inaugural ballot, receiving more votes than any other player.