Comments on: Willie Horton in . . . the All-Time Franchise All Stars

By: nunyer

nunyer — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 21:13:31 +0000

I’m too young to have any recollection of Willie Horton as a player beyond his Cardboard Gods late 70s stint as a Mariners DH… But having grown up in the burbs of Detroit, with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc who lived in Detroit proper during the race riots of 1967, I’ve heard plenty of Horton stories.

He has a statue in Comerica Park for many reasons… He was the aforementioned goodwill ambassador / fan favorite, had a killer season during the 1968 championship year and most importantly… he’s black.

Don’t get me wrong… I am not suggesting any kind of silly fuzzy feelgood affirmative action nonsense got him the statue… I’m just saying that I don’t think Horton could have meant as much to the city in the era in which he played if he was white. The man stood out in his Tigers uniform in the middle of a 1967 race riot and tried to bring the peace. Plenty of people I’ve talked to that grew up back then in Detroit.. parents, relatives, coworkers, teachers, you name it… They all said that the Tigers pennant run in ’68 calmed the whole city down after the firestorms of ’67… and Horton was a big part of that… both with his play and his contributions on the field.

By: ramblinpete

ramblinpete — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:12:42 +0000

To this East-coast National League fan, Willie Horton is a mythical figure; proud, consistent, devoted, and a champion. Sort of an AL version of Willie Stargell, (with less glossy numbers, albeit); a leader associated with a particular city, a particular turbulent era, a particular team.

To this same fan, (who grew up in Manhattan and loved Rusty Staub), Mickey Lolich reamains a Fat Bum.

By: jessedwick

jessedwick — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:18:02 +0000

This lineup may be shocking…

C: Freehan
1B: Greenberg
2B: Gehringer
3B: Kell
SS: Trammell
LF: Wahoo Sam Crawford
CF: Cobb
RF: Kaline
DH: Norm Cash
Wild Card: Cecil “Big Daddy” Fielder

SP: Schoolboy Rowe
RP: Guillermo Hernandez

Ask this again in 10 years and watch the Hank Greenberg vs. Miguel Cabrera debate erupt. Provided they can continue to afford Miguel for any length of time.

Rowe is a sentimental choice on account of the nickname. And Crawford’s triples record is IMO the one untouchable record in baseball.

By: sthek

sthek — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:40:48 +0000

As someone who was lucky enough to see 2-4 Tiger games a year in person (between Little League bus trips and a generous older brother) during Horton’s prime, I’m pretty confident that the Horton statue at Comerica Park (gag) has more to do with his unofficial role as the Tiger’s good-will ambassador than his way more-than-respectable career numbers. “Beloved’ doesn’t begin to describe his relationship with the fans, especially the young kids. We usually sat behind the left-field fence; Willie would often come up to the fence between innings to talk to us–ask our names etc.- and often, when returning a couple innings later, he’d pick up where he’d left off, remembering the names of those he’d spoken to earlier. He’d also occasionally throw the between-innings warm up ball to us.
Unbelievably decent guy, warm without the slightest phoniness. Being an actual homegrown Detroiter didn’t hurt his relationship with the fans either.

If I remember correctly, he later had some bad blood with Tiger management, though. It was at the end of his career after his time in Seattle. He was seven hits short of 2,000 and kind of lobbied for the Tigers to bring him back to get those hits. It seems like he was pretty pissed for quite awhile when they didn’t bring him back. I’m glad things worked out, though; I can’t imagine any player being more deserving of a statue.

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:39:46 +0000

37. 35 : Thanks for chiming in, Champ. Glad to have a Tigers' fan's input. I think in the overall vote Hall of Famer Sam Crawford is being edged out in favor of a Cash/Horton combo at DH/wildcard. Also, I think your Wille H. vote is edging him ahead of Hiller. Tough call.

By: Champ Summers

Champ Summers — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:04:40 +0000

36. 20 I like your 4 man rotation (throwing out the war years, but with one change...Mickey Lolich 1971 (25 wins, 308 Ks, 2nd in Cy voting) for Justin Thompson. Also, as a life-long Tiger fan....thanks to everyone for not including "Cardiac" Todd Jones as the RP. He's the all-time Tigs leader in saves and the 00's leader in disappointment.

By: Champ Summers

Champ Summers — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:48:38 +0000

35. C: Freehan
1B: Greenberg
2B: Gehringer
SS: Trammell
3B: Kell
LF: Heilmann
CF: Cobb
RF: Kaline
DH: Horton
Wild card: Cash
SP: Newhouser
RP: Hernandez

….the shakiest of my selections was Willie Hernandez at RP. I think that I would rather face Hiller in his prime than Hernandez. It was a tough call between Freehan and Parrish. Coincidentally, all Tigs that have their #’s retired are on my team….Kaline, Gehringer, Greenberg, Newhouser, Cobb*, Horton

*technically…didn’t have a uniform number, but otherwise would be retired.

I also have to admit to giving the edge Kell at 3B (he was the tiger’s t.v. play-by play announcer growing up alongside Kaline.

By: Jeb

Jeb — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:41:15 +0000

34. 5 What? You mean this isn't the Willie Horton that Lee Atwater and company made famous?

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:59:34 +0000

33. 31 , 32 : Looks like Lou Whitaker is edging out the other contenders in the wild card race. Norm Cash is close to Whitaker in the voting, counting DH votes. That famous '61 season of his has a little of a shaky feeling for me; he admitted he used a corked bat that year. Bill James sees little to choose from between Freehan and Parrish, but he does rank Freehan higher.

By: Scott Long

Scott Long — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:45:39 +0000

32. It is pretty close between Parrish and Freehan and to be honest Freehan should win the battle considering he was slightly better defensively and playing during a time when .301 could win the batting title. I just put Parrish on my list because I always liked him and think he was forgotten in the discussion.