1968  DETROIT  TIGERS

This is my tribute page to the 1968 Detroit Tigers.  I grew up in the suburbs just outside Detroit and  started actively following baseball and the Tigers in 1967.  They came heart-breakingly close to winning the pennant in 1967, but couldn't sweep back-to-back double headers against the Angels on the final weeked of play to get it done.  Boston won the pennant by one game. But 1968 was a different year.  The riots of the previous summer were a thing of the past.  The city was looking for a unifying force and the Tigers delivered.  Denny McLain put together an amazing season with 31 wins, and every game was exciting, because those Tiger bats could come alive at any time and score a lot of runs. The World Series against St. Louis seems, inretrospect, to be the product of a Hollywood script-writer's imagination.  Teams don't come back from a 1-3 deficit and win the World Series.  At least not before 1968.  But the Tigers were truly magical that year, and did just that.  And the heart of a ten-year old, once won, is won forever.

24 Mickey Stanley

23 Willie Horton

30 Jim Northrup

1 Ray Oyler

3 Dick McAuliffe

8 Don Wert

25 Norm Cash

29 Mickey Lolich

17 Denny McLain

11 Bill Freehan

10 John Hiller Long Relief

16 Earl Wilson Starting Pitcher

21 Joe Sparma Starting Pitcher

Mayo Smith Manager

6 Al Kaline Pinch Hitter, RF

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1968 Detroit Tigers Trivia Game