Against all odds, The Detroit Tigers have made the playoffs for the 17th time in the franchise’s 124 year history. In more recent memory, during the “expansion era” that began in 1961 when the major leagues expanded from their original 8 team per league format, Detroit has made the post season nine times. Six of those happened in the 21st century.
The number of playoff teams have increased, with three divisions and now three wild card teams per league, making it easier, in a sense, to make the playoffs in a given season. 2024 will be only the second time that the Tigers have made it as a wild card, the other being in 2006. All the other times, Detroit finished atop the American League, or in seasons since 1968, atop their division in first place to reach the post season.
Here is the list of Tiger teams that have reached the post season. As far as you can remember, how would you compare the 2024 Tigers to previous playoff teams from Detroit?
1968 Tigers (103- 59) World Series champions. The last year before the major leagues were broken into divisions, with the winner of the 10 team league going directly to the world series. The ‘68 Tigers were easily the class of the American league, beating the second place Baltimore Orioles by 12 games. The ’68 Tigers fell behind the St Louis Cardinals 3 games to 1, but won the last three to win Detroit’s first title since 1945.
Mickey Lolich pitched three complete game victories, in a season when Denny McLain win a modern day record 31 games, while the lineup featuring Al Kaline, Willie Horton, Bill Freehan, Jim Northrup, and Norm Cash won 103 games, finishing twelve games ahead of the second place Baltimore Orioles. The dominant season was a switch from the previous season, when three teams- Detroit, Boston and Minnesota went down to the wire, with the Tigers missing out by one game. The team had a habit of staging come from behind victories.
1972 Tigers (86-70) Often thought of the last hurrah of the heroes of 1968, the Tigers finished 86-70 half a game ahead of Boston, who finished 85-70. The first week of the season was canceled as MLB owners attempted to unilaterally impose restrictions on players, which led to the first players’ strike, and when play resumed, MLB decided that the lost games would not be made up.
This group was not as good as the ‘ 68 team, but they had plenty left in the tank. McLain had been traded, Joe Coleman joined Lolich in the rotation, and the core of the lineup returned. The Tigers faced the Oakland A’s in the AL championship series, and lost the best of five on a controversial (bad) call. It would turn out to be Oakland’s first of three consecutive World Series titles. This was also the last season before the AL adopted the designated hitter.
1984 Tigers (104- 58) This was another dominant Tigers’ team, getting out of the gate winning 35 of the first 40 games, winning a franchise record 104 games in all, then sweeping Kansas City in the ALCS and beating San Diego 4 games to 1 to win the World Series.
Expectations were high for the group led by Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, Kirk Gibson, Lance Parrish, and pitchers Jack Morris and Dan Petry, along with Cy Young winner Willie Hernandez out of the bullpen. To many, this was the greatest Tigers team in franchise history, and among the best in the history of the game.
1987 Tigers (98- 64) This version of the Tigers is most fondly remembered for the late season come from behind wins to catch and surpass the Toronto Blue Jays to win the American League’s eastern division. They may also be classified as a “last hurrah” of the heroes of the 84 team, with Lance Parrish being the most notable player to have moved on.
While the ‘87 Tigers did stage a thrilling comeback, the feat was not nearly as impressive as the 2024 club. In fact, Detroit was in first place as late as September 20 before the Jays took the division lead by as much as 3-1/2 games after back to back walk off victories over Detroit in Toronto. The Tigers were still a game back with three to play. The Tigers won their last four, including a three game sweep of Toronto back in Detroit to win the division by two games. Impressive, and thrilling, but nothing like coming from 11 games back or going on a red hot streak of 15-4.
The ‘87 club also won 98 games which was a dozen more wins than the western division champion Twins. Despite winning 9 of 13 games from Minnesota during the season, the Twins took 4 of 5 games to advance and become literally the worst team to win a World Series, at least based on winning percentage.
2006 Tigers (95-67) It took 19 seasons of some horrible baseball for the Tigers to get back to the post season, and this year’s model did it just three seasons after losing a (then) American league record 119 games. With former Tigers’ minor league manager Jim Leyland in the dugout, these Tigers pulled off the most unexpected run. In that regard, and the fact that they are the only Detroit team to make it as a wild card entry, they are similar to the 2024 Detroit club.
To this writer, the ‘24 Tigers bear more similarity to the 06 team than any other, because their march to October was so unexpected. But unlike this year’s team, the 2006 team got out to a 10 game lead in August and faded down the stretch, losing their last five games, handing the division to the Twins, who went 16-7 to finish the season.
There was just one Wild Card entry in the post season that time, and the Tigers grabbing it may have been fortuitous as they beat the New York Yankees in a best of five series, then beat the Oakland A’s 4 to 1 in the ALCS, before losing to the Cardinals in the World Series.
It’s noteworthy that the 2006 team turned out to be a one and done performance. While the team posted records of .500 or better for the next few seasons, including a tie for the division in 2009, which was broken by a game 163, the roster was almost completely overhauled by the time they would get back to the post season.
2011- 2014 Tigers
The Tigers won four consecutive division titles, their longest streak in franchise history. Only Ty Cobb’s 1907- 1909 teams won consecutive pennants, and neither group managed to win a World Series title.
The 2011-14 team boasted lineups that scared the heck out of opposing pitchers, with sluggers like Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, Prince Fielder, and J.D. Martinez. They had some of the greatest pitching rotations ever assembled, featuring Cy Young winners Verlander, Scherzer, Porcello, and Price, plus ERA champion Anibal Sanchez. The teams won 95, 88, 93 and 90 games, respectively. Ironically, it was the 88 win team in 2012 that made it to the World Series. 88 wins are still within reach for this year’s Tigers as of Friday’s night wild card clinching victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Three of the four teams played in the ALCS. There were no great winning streaks to win the division, just a team packed with stars that wasn’t particularly well balance, and which never quite got over the hump. As the team faded in 2015, GM Dave Dombrowski was let go in favor of Al Avila. After they fell short in 2016, owner Mike Ilitch passed away, and the Tigers had the worst record in the major leagues from that point until this season.
2024 Tigers
As far as comparisons go, the 2024 Tigers aren’t really that similar to previous Tigers’ playoff teams.
- This year’s model didn’t win 100 games like the teams in 1968 and 1984. They didn’t even win a division like other Tigers’ playoff teams.
- The ‘87 squad made a late season comeback, but nothing like a 31- 11 run to come from 10 games behind.
- The 2006 team featured the same sort of excitement because the club had been so bad very recently and their run was completely unexpected, but they actually stole the wild card by falling out of first place on the last day of the season.
- The 2006 team had young stars in Verlander, Zumaya and Granderson, but they also had a healthy veteran crop of pitchers and hitters. The current Tigers have no players over 30 in either the regular lineup or the starting rotation. Kenta Maeda and Andy Ibáñez are the only two players on the active roster 30 or older.
- The Tigers currently have the youngest starting roster in the major leagues, meaning that they may just be getting warmed up for a long run of success. Scott Harris has a young wild card caliber roster, a strong farm system, and minimal salary commitments by MLB standards to work with going forward. The Tigers are set up beautifully.
- Given up for dead, being sellers at the trade deadline, nobody expected the Tigers to be in the post season. Not only did they make it in anyway, they boosted their farm system significantly and may have found a long-term option at shortstop in Trey Sweeney.
- The 2024 team came roared back from 10 games out of a playoff spot in August, with an 0.2 percent probability of making the playoffs, going 31- 11 to finish the season, blowing past Boston Texas, Tampa Bay, Seattle, Minnesota, and Kansas City.
- The Tigers have done it after players named Greene, Carpenter, Olson came off the injured list. After Flaherty, Chafin, and every free agent who wasn’t nailed down for next season was traded if they had any value. After Torkelson and Meadows struggled so badly that they were sent to Toledo to sort themselves out. Tarik Skubal has been the only consistently dominant presence all season long.
- They did it by using starters as relievers and vice verse, mixing and matching the whole way for the last two months of the season. Three of every five rotation days were “TBD” for much of August and September. It’s hard to know how long the pitching brilliance will hold up in the postseason, but unlike most of their likely opponents, the Tigers pitching staff has already been in postseason style “hands on deck mode” for most of the second half.
- The term “unbelievable” is much over used in sports analogies, but it is truly appropriate for what the 2024 Tigers have accomplished.
Suffice it to say that no Tigers team, ever, has done what we’ve just witnessed from the 2024.