by David Fleitz

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dlfleitz@wcnet.org

George Kell, Tiger third baseman from 1946 to 1952.

Hank Greenberg taking batting practice.

I didn't feel any urgency to get it done, because Detroit's all-time team has remained the same for many years now, with only a few exceptions. Here's my all-time team of the Detroit Tigers:

First base: Hank Greenberg, a Hall of Famer, over Norm Cash and Cecil Fielder.

Second base: Charlie Gehringer, also in the Hall of Fame, with Lou Whitaker in second place. Both men played 19 seasons for the Tigers, and never played for anyone else.

Shortstop: Alan Trammell. No one else is even close. Before Trammell came along, the consensus all-time Detroit shortstop was Billy Rogell, who played the position on the Tiger pennant winners of 1934, 1935, and 1940. Harvey Kuenn started well, but only played shortstop for a few years before moving to the outfield.

Third base: George Kell. Kell is in the Hall of Fame, though he may be one of the weaker selections. Kell only played in Detroit for seven seasons, but the team has not had very many good third basemen. Travis Fryman probably finishes second in this category.

Outfield: Ty Cobb, Al Kaline, and Harry Heilmann. I put Heilmann, winner of four batting titles from 1921-1927, slightly ahead of Sam Crawford here. All of these outfielders are in the Hall of Fame, and Cobb was the first player selected to the Hall in 1936. Kirk Gibson, Rocky Colavito, and Willie Horton finish behind Crawford and the first three.

Catcher: Mickey Cochrane, ahead of Lance Parrish.

Left-handed pitcher: Hal Newhouser, who won the MVP Award in 1944 and 1945. He's in the Hall of Fame, though he compiled his best records (29-9 in 1944, 25-9 in 1945) against inferior wartime competition. Mickey Lolich is close behind.

Right-handed pitcher: Jack Morris, ahead of Hall of Famer Jim Bunning because Morris played more seasons in Detroit. Morris pitched two complete-game wins for Detroit in the 1984 World Series.

Relief ace: Willie Hernandez, the 1984 MVP who provided the final piece necessary for the Tigers to win it all that year.

The sad thing about the Tigers is that no one on the current team appears to be even remotely capable of dislodging one of the members of the all-time team in the foreseeable future.

In fact, you could make an all-time 25-man roster for Detroit, with the all-time team and adding all the second-place finishers, with several additional pitchers like Denny McLain, Frank Lary, and guys like that to round out a pitching staff, and still not use anyone on the current team. That's how bad the present group is.

If pitcher Jeff Weaver keeps improving and learns to control his temper, he could be on the all-time team someday. Other than him, no other Detroit player appears to have the talent to do so. The Tigers have become one of the sad-sack franchises of the American League, and it will probably take a change in ownership to turn the team around.