The Ultimate Detroit Tigers Time Machine Book by Martin Gitlin

Author:Martin Gitlin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lyons Press
Published: 2022-04-05T00:00:00+00:00

Catcher Bill Freehan and winning pitcher Mickey Lolich celebrate the clinching of the 1968 crown.

COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME LIBRARY

A Mike Shannon home run with two out in the ninth spoiled the shutout, but it did not matter. The Tigers and their fans could celebrate. They both did with relish—20,000 Detroiters greeted their heroes at the airport. But the victory meant more than a championship to Lolich. The World Series Most Valuable Player had not only won thrice but had stepped out of McLain’s shadow. And it felt great. “Mickey Lolich has always been a number on the roster,” he crowed. “Finally, somebody knows who I am.”5

Far more important was the impact the Tigers made on the city 15 months after it had been torn apart figuratively and literally by racial strife. “For one brief, shining moment after Detroit won the American League pennant, blacks and whites mingled in color-blind joy, thousands strong, on the streets of downtown Detroit,” offered the Free Press.6

And when the team snagged the World Series crown, an even more raucous celebration proved that its meaning extended far beyond a baseball achievement. Wrote legendary local sports columnist Joe Falls in theSporting News: “My city needed a release; it needed an outlet to release its pent-up emotions. It found it in a baseball team, men playing a boy’s game.”7

Owner John Fetzer reportedly expressed it more succinctly to Smith. “You’ve not only won the pennant and the series,” he said. “You might have saved the city.”8

Fetzer was referring to the entire organization. But one player who received a bit less of an opportunity to contribute during the regular season had performed particularly well. And that was Kaline, who in his first chance to shine in World Series competition rose to the occasion by batting .379 with two homers and eight RBIs. And he continued to prove wrong those who assumed that in his mid-30s he was ready to be put out to pasture. Kaline was about to cement his legacy as one of the greatest all-time Tigers.

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