REMEMBERING THE 1968 DETROIT TIGERS

0n July 20,1969 the first astronauts landed on the moon. It was a great achievement! In October of 1968 another great event took place. The Detroit Tigers won the World Series

The Tigers had not won the world series since 1945. Twenty-three long years. They had not won in my lifetime. Twenty-Three years seemed like a very long time. It does not seem so long today when I realize it has been forty-two years since they have last won the series in 1984.

The team had a record in 1968 of 103 wins and 59 losses. They had a pitcher named Denny McClain. Denny McLain won thirty-one games in 1968. He won the Cy Young award and was the leagues most valuable player in 1968. The manager was Mayo Smith.

It was the last year of two leagues. The American League and the National League. The following year due to expansion of baseball the leagues were divided into divisions and went to the playoff system.

In 1968 the last year ever of the two league system the Tigers won the American League pennant and the St. Louis Cardinals were the National League winners. The two teams met in the world series. The Cardinals took the lead three games to one. Things did not look good for the Detroit team, but it was not over. The Tigers surprised the world making a great comeback and winning the 1968 world series four games to three.

Pitcher Mickey Lolich who won seventeen games during the season won three of the games for the Tigers in the series. He was voted the most valuable player in the series.

Tiger great and veteran player Al Kaline was out part of the season with a broken arm. He returned to play in the series hitting 371 with two home runs. Al Kaline was one of baseball's greatest players finishing with over three thousand hits. He remained with the Tigers after his playing career in various rolls until his death in 2020.

Some of the other prominent players on that 1968 team were Norm Cash, Dick McAuliffe, Jim Northrup, Mickey Stanely, Willie Horton, John Hiller, Earl Wilson, Joe Sparma and Dick Tracewski. Actually, all the players on the Tigers that year were popular with the fans. The Detroit baseball fans really liked the 1968 Tiger team and were very excited about the victory. Most of the players on that team are gone now but the fans of the 1968 team have not forgotten them.

The Detroit Tigers went on to win another world series sixteen years later in 1984 under manager Sparky Anderson. That win was forty-two years ago. It is not easy to win a series!

Fans do not forget when a team win's a series.

The Tigers come back in the 1968 series and Mickey Lolich's three wins made that series very memorable. Two more things about that series that did not take place on the field. It was the last series that was played before the playoff system was started. The other thing all the games were played in the afternoon. Many people took the afternoons off to go to the games. When you look at pictures of the crowds most men were wearing short sleeve white shirts and ties. The 1968 world series was played way before business casual came into style.

WRITTEN BY

RON TURETT

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Thanks again, Ron