The Greatest Tiger Designated Hitters

In 1973 baseball decided to let fat guys and guys that could not play the field any longer a new way to stay in the game, and thus the Designated Hitter was created. Ron Bloomberg, a notoriously bad fielder, was the first DH in the American League. It has been great for the game and has extended the careers of many players so that they had an impact. Can you imagine what would have happened to the careers of Edgar Martinez, Tony Oliva, Willie Horton, and today, David Ortiz, Frank Thomas, and Jim Thome without the DH. The National League is crazy for not adopting the rule. Even Hank Aaron was a DH.

Now, everyone has the DH. Softball, Little League, Colleges, and High Schools. It is great for the game and participation for all levels. The object of the game is to play, and some guys can just flat out hit a baseball, even if they can't catch one. Specialists they call them.

I live in Northern Virginia where the Nationals are the home team, but I would rather drive to Baltimore to watch a real game instead of the pitcher sacrificing the runner 5 times a game. Besides, it keeps those old managers in the dugout and the announcers from getting a thrill talking about the double switch. Take that Tim McCarver. Here are some DH facts and firsts:

• Ron Blomberg became the first DH in major league history (1973)
• Tony Oliva became the first DH to hit a home run (1973)
• Dan Driessen became the first National League DH, and the first to hit a home run in a World Series (Games 1 and 3, 1976)
• Glenallen Hill became the first non-Series DH in NL history (interleague play, 1997)
• Rickey Henderson became the first non-Series DH to hit a home run in NL history (interleague play, 1997)
• Pedro Guerrerro became the first National League DH in an All-Star game (1989)Box score of the 1989 Baseball All-Star Game from Retrosheet
• Minnie Miñoso is the oldest player to have appeared as a DH (at age 53, 1976)
• Edgar Martinez is the only DH to win a batting title (1995)
• Al Kaline became the first player selected for the Baseball Hall of Fame to have ever played as a DH (1974)
• Rafael Palmeiro is the only DH to win a Gold Glove Award (despite playing only 28 games at first base, 1999)
• Frank Howard has been the tallest DH (at 6 ft 7 in, 280 pounds (127 kg), 1973)
• No player in MLB history has won the MVP Award during a season in which his primary position was designated hitter.

Only three players have won the MVP Award in years they played a significant amount of games as a DH. The first was Boston Red Sox outfielder Jim Rice, who in 1978 played as a DH in 49 of his 163 games (including the one-game playoff against the Yankees). In 1979, California Angels outfielder Don Baylor played 65 of his 162 games as a DH, and in 1996, Texas Rangers outfielder Juan González played 32 of his 134 games as a DH.

The Tigers have had their share of good and bad DH's. Remember that Robert Fick hit the last homerun in Tiger Stadium playing the DH spot. When I think of DH's and the Tigers, I immediately think of Gates Brown. The "Gater" was a joy to watch as he waddled to the plate and there was always excitement when he was at the plate because he had a flair for the dramatic. He did much more as a pinch hitter than a DH, but he was the Tigers first DH. Gates played in a career high 133 games in 1973, the first year of the DH.

Rusty Staub

The Mickey Lolich trade to the Mets brought Le Grand Orange, Rusty Staub, to the Tigers. Rusty was a professional hitter, and slower than Sean Casey, and me.

Before the 1976 season, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers with pitcher Bill Laxton for pitcher Mickey Lolich and outfielder Billy Baldwin.

In his three plus seasons with the Tigers, Staub hit .277 with 70 home runs. He was voted to start the 1976 All-Star Game, where he went 2-for-2.

In 1978, Staub became the first player to play in all 162 regular-season games exclusively as a designated hitter. Not playing the field at all proved beneficial, as Staub finished second in the Major Leagues with 121 RBI and finished fifth in American League Most Valuable Player voting. He was selected to the Sporting News American League All-Star team at the end of the season as the designated hitter.

Staub held out to start the 1979 season, and eventually he was dealt to the Montreal Expos in July of that same season.

The Others

Actually if you look at the most dominant of the Tiger DH's, you will be surprised to know that the alltime leader in games played at the position is a fat guy named Dimitri (I never missed a meal) Young, followed by Kirk Gibson, Rusty Staub, and Darrell Evans. Not a bad group at all. Dimitri played more games, 488, and had the highest average, and 82 dingers, and an impressive 267 RBI. Staub played 100 fewer games and had 255 RBI and 55 home runs.

I think that Darrell Evans was one of the greatest free agent signings of all time. He had very good years in Detroit and was here with the 1984 and 1987 teams. Darrell was an impact player.

Kirk (Two Swings) Gibson also had a productive career at the DH spot hitting 60 home runs from that position to go along with 220 RBI. The other prominent DH's for the Tigers were Willie Horton and Al Kaline, at the end of their careers. It is a pretty good field and I know how I would vote if looking at it objectively.