Today in Baseball: Detroit Tigers field amateur team

Today, 108 years ago, the Detroit Tigers fielded mainly an amateur team against the Athletics in Philadelphia. Why? Continue reading and you'll find out. What was the reason, the Tigers refused to play? Well, in a game vs the Highlanders in New York a few days earlier, Cobb was heckled by a Highlander fan. He …

Baseball Related Songs: “The Park at the Corner” by Russ Franzen

In this episode of Baseball Related Songs, we pay attention to another song written and performed by singer-songwriter Russ Franzen: "The Park at the Corner." Like "Tiger Stadium's Lament" this song is also about the former Tiger Stadium, aka Navin Field or Briggs Stadium. As written in the previous blog post about him, Russ Franzen …

Today in Baseball: Ty Cobb makes professional debut

Today 116 years ago, Ty Cobb made his first steps in professional baseball. On this day in 1904, the Georgia Peach debuted for the Augusta Tourists of the South Atlantic League (no ties with the current league that operates under the same name). At the age of 17, Cobb debuted for the Tourists with a …

Al Kaline passes away at 85

Detroit Tiger great Al Kaline has passed away today. The 18-time All-Star, World Series winner (1968), 10 time Gold Glove winner, the 1955 American League batting champ and Hall of Famer passed away at the age of 85. Even though the alkaline batteries were not named after him, Kaline could have modeled for them.  His …

Jonathan Schoop joins Tigers

The Detroit Tigers and Curaçao-born infielder Jonathan Schoop have agreed on a one-year contract worth $6.1 million. As part of the Minnesota Twins last season, Schoop reached the playoffs for the second time in his career. After spending  five seasons with the Baltimore, the Orioles traded him to the Milwaukee Brewers halfway the season. With …

Babe Ruth’s jersey sold for $5.6 million

An auction at Yankee Stadium brought together some fine Babe Ruth memorabilia. Piece de Resistance was a road jersey that was worn by the Bambino. This jersey was reportedly sold for a whopping $5.6 million, a record-breaking amount. At Yankee Stadium, more than 400 items were brought in for an auction, mostly by his family …

This day in baseball: The highest paid player

In the wake of the Bryce Harper lunacy, today a blog post about two players that were the highest paid players in their days. Regarding the money they got, none could stand in the shadow of Harper's $330 million. On this day in 1927, a certain Yankee player became the highest paid player ever as …

Baseball related songs: “1976” by The Baseball Project

In this episode of Baseball related songs a second song of the Baseball Project, "1976." In one of the previous posts about Baseball related songs, we paid attention to "Satchel Paige said".  The Baseball Project was formed in 2007 by Peter Buck, Mike Mills (both R.E.M.), Scott McCaughey (The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5), Steve Wynn …

Detroit Tigers and West Michigan WhiteCaps extend PDC

The affiliation news keeps coming. This time the Detroit Tigers extended their Player Development Contract with their A Full Season farm team West Michigan WhiteCaps. Even though the current contract will only expire in 2020, the Tigers were eager to extend their partnership with their A Full Season farm team. Since the WhiteCaps became a …

Charm offensive by MLB

Major League Baseball announced that regular season games will precede tournaments like the 2019 NCAA College World Series. This game will be a regular season game. The Detroit Tigers and the Kansas City Royals will face each other in the week the College World Series opens at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha. The Tigers-Royals game would …

Tom de Blok practices at A Full Season level

In a Tweet, Detroit Tigers minor league writer Emily Waldon, showed a clip with Tom de Blok throwing pitches in a bullpen next to Jordan Zimmerman. I hear you think "Wow". But Zimmerman was scheduled to pitch an exhibition game with the A-Advanced team of the Tigers. https://twitter.com/EmilyCWaldon/status/975415394923053057 After a stellar performance with team Kingdom of …

Tom de Blok enters Tigers’ prospect top 50

According to the website prospects1500.com, Dutch pitcher Tom de Blok has entered the top 50 of Detroit Tigers prospects. Rather quick after his debut with the Tigers' A Full Season team, the West Michigan WhiteCaps, Tom has made his presence felt. Just before the 2017 season, Tom was signed by the Detroit Tigers after a …

Detroit extends PDC with Connecticut

Today the Detroit Tigers and their A Short Season affiliate the Connecticut Tigers announced the extension of their Player Development Contract through the 2020 season. The current contract was about to expire after the 2018 season. The two clubs are affiliated since 2010 when the Oneonta Tigers moved to Norwich CT and filled the void …

Season over for Tom de Blok

Don't worry, this isn't about a season ending injury. But the season for Tom de Blok is simply over because his team, the West Michigan WhiteCaps was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. In the first round of the Midwest League play offs, the West Michigan WhiteCaps faced the Dayton Dragons. The best …

Astros acquire Justin Verlander in surprising move.

The Houston Astros have acquired a big prize just before the trading deadline of September 1st. In exchange for three top talented minor leaguers, the American League West team hauled in Justin Verlander. By getting the 34-year old right hander before September 1st, he can be placed on the Astros' post season roster. Another nice …

Tom de Blok debuts as starting pitcher

Last night, Dutch pitcher Tom de Blok debuted as a starting pitcher with the Connecticut Tigers. The parent club from Detroit think Tom, who used to be a reliever/closer in the Dutch leagues, can be converted into a starter.  The 21-year old pitcher from Amstelveen in the Netherlands started in the second game of the …

Sergeant Pepper’s Mudhens

The Toledo Mudhens, AAA farm team of the Detroit Tigers in the International League will have Beatles tribute night on June 16 when the team dons jerseys with a Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band theme.  As a part of the flashback Fridays, the Mudhens will have a Beatles tribute night. On that night, the …

Tom de Blok signs deal with the Detroit Tigers

Today L&D Amsterdam Pirates announced on their Facebook page that Tom de Blok will leave the club. De Blok has signed a deal with the Detroit Tigers after his good performance during the World Baseball Classic for team Kingdom of the Netherlands. Tom de Blok had a couple of solid outings during the World Baseball …