Days 1-10: Cobb, Kaline, Greenberg....Thames?!

Marcus Thames hits .343 with 7 HRs and 14 RBIs to start the year!

OK, I must admit right out of the gate that I was so excited to see how all of the great Tigers across all eras would perform in this league and to compare their performances.   I did NOT foresee that the first Player of the Block (best performer for the 10 day period) would be Marcus Thames of the 2006 team!  Thames slugged SEVEN homers in TEN days, outpacing Miguel Cabrera, Hank Greenberg, Cecil Fielder, and everyone else to take the crown as Most Outstanding Player of this set.


That's not to say that there weren't many other outstanding performers as the season kicked off.  1961 Al Kaline is hitting an amazing .525. while 1911 Ty Cobb is close behind at .512.   Earl Whitehill (1924), Harry Coveleski (1915), and Tommy Bridges (1935) all racked up three wins already.  Willie "Guillermo" Hernandez is off to a blazing start, earning four saves for the 1984 team already!  1907's Wild Bill Donovan is your early ERA leader, at 0.50  Three players are riding 10-game hitting streaks already:  1968 Jim Northrup, 1911 Ty Cobb, and 1935 Hank Greenberg.   Others are struggling just a bit.  1973 Aurelio Rodriguez is just 1 for 33 (0.30 average) so far this season, and 1945 Dizzy Trout apparently got his nickname from watching runners continuously sprint around the bases (0-3 with 28 hits allowed and 24 earned runs in just 12 innings)

1950 Hoot Evers (left) and 1950 George Kell (right) each had 

five-hit games, as did Wahoo Sam Crawford (1907).

Vic Wertz is the big guy in the middle, he's off to a good start as well,

.343 with three homers

Aurelio Rodriguez has more

sideburns than hits so far this season

Too early to see which teams are going to be contenders, but 1915 is off to the best start at 8-2.   World Series winners 1968 and 1984 are tied with two other teams with 7-3 records so far.  1940 if off to a dismal 1-9 start.

One thing that may look odd as you look at the League Leaders and other reports is the three-letter abbreviation for the team.  Usually it would be like BOS or CLE, but since these are all Tiger teams and can't all just be DET, I used the year there.   So, Ty Cobb would show '15, while player from this century would have the number '2' and then the year (i.e. Marcus Thames 2006 would show 206).  Boring myself with this explanation, but just trying to explain why that looks a little unusual.

One thing I highly encourage for the daily reports is to click on the "Day 1" or whatever number to see the Daily Report.  You'll see full box-scores, game stories, standings, leaders, etc. for that given day.  I will try to hit the highlights of each day in the write-ups, but too many games to cover everyone so please do check the day's Daily Report for detailed info on your teams.


Day 1  Opening Day saw lots of fireworks as several close games and strong hitting performances kicked off the season!  1950 Hoot Evers had 5 hits in a win against the 1911 team. the 2013 team erupted for 7 runs in the first inning, and held on for a 9-6 win over 1961.  Marv Owen's walk-off single lifted the 1935 team over 1946.  In an unexpected Ironman performance, 1993 Mark Leiter went the distance, topping Hal Newhouser and the 1945 team 2-1.  1987 Matt Nokes and 1984 Rupper Jones each hit two HRs in leading their teams to victory.

Day 2  The 1961 team pummeled Max Scherzer and the 2013 team 17-1.  Fear not, Max Scherzer fans, as Mad Max recorded wins for the 2012 and 2014 teams on this same day (this multiple years for some players will take some getting used to!).  1950 George Kell, had five hits, including a walk-off, in an 8-7 win over 1911.  One of those classic old baseball names, Boss Schmidt, had three hits and Matty McIntyre's extra-inning, walk-off single gave the 1908 Tigers a 7-6 win over 1987.

Day 3  Two shutouts today as 1987 Frank Tanana and 1993 Bill Krueger blanked the 1908 and 1945 teams, respectively.   Stormin' Norman Cash blasted Doug Fister for 2 dingers and Willie Horton added 4 hits as 1968 topped 2013 7-3/  The 2011 Tigers romped 12-3 over 1944, with Wilson Betemit getting 4 hits.   In a nice flashback to recent Tiger glory, Justin Verlander went the distance and J.D. Martinez had 4 hits and 4 RBIs to lead the 2014 team to victory.

Day 4  The 1911 team beat 1993 22-14 in a game that featured 39 combined hits!  1950 Johnny Lipon and 1934 Mickey Cochrane each had four hits in their team's wins.  Andrew Romine had three hits for the 2014 team in their 4-3 win over 1961, not sure if Romine will do enough in another game this year to get 'ink' so wanted to include that here!

Day 5  A good day for pitchers!  1908 Ed Summers shut out 2006 team in a 1-0 duel with Zack Minor (yes, do you remember Zach Miner?!)  1915 Harry Coveleski tossed a three-hit shutout of the 1946 team.  1973 Mickey Lolich outdueled 1935 Schoolboy Rowe in a 2-1 game.  Wahoo Sam Crawford and Jim Delahanty each homered to support George Mullin as 1911 beats 1993 8-5.  1924's Bob Fothergill and 2013 Prince Fielder each rapped four base hits.  

Day 6  Bless you boys!  The 1984 team wins in extra innings over 1940, aided by two passed balls that led to the winning run.  1950 got 4 runs in the top of the 9th to surprise the 1944 squad.  2014 got 11 K's from David Price and used Joe Nathan's 1st save to top the 1961 team.  1911's Ed Willett tossed a three-hit shutout.  1924 catcher Johnny Bassler tallied four hits.  2006 Jeremy Bonderman got his first win, with the help of a couple hits from Placido Polanco.  

Day 7 Big day for Max Scherzer as he got 11K's in a win for the 2012 team and 12 K's in a win for the 2013 team.  1984 Milt Wilcox and 1940 Schoolboy Rowe tossed shutouts (Rowe had a season-low two hits allowed). 1908 Matty McIntyre and 2013 Prince Fielder each had four hits in their team's wins. 

Day 8  Marcus Thames belts two HRs, including a walk-off, to lead 2006 over 1993.  Fernando Rodney got the win.  1911 Ed Lafitte blanked Eldon Auker and the 1935 team.  

Day 9  Another day, more dramatics from Marcus Thames.  The slugger hit a homer and drove in 4 runs in the 2006 team's win. over 1993.  Matt Nokes had two homers and a walkoff for the 1987 team, and copycat Charlie Gehringer had the same for the 1935 team.  1934 Gee Walker had 4 hits and 4 RBIs.  2013 Anibel Sanchez outdueled 1968 Denny McLain in a 3-1 game.  1950 Art Houtteman twirled a shutout of the 2014 team to earn his second victory of the season. 

Day 10  Big day for Al Kaline, as he amassed 4 hits and 4 RBis for the 1961 team.  1915 Hooks Dauss blanked the 2014 team, racking up 10 K's in the process.  Willie Horton's three-run HR powered the 1973 team to victory over the 1993 team.  It took 13 innings but 1911 finally topped 1940.