My 25 favorite Detroit Tigers- Placido Polanco

I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with performance as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...

#23 Second Baseman Placido Polanco 

I am a little surprised that people don't talk about the fleecing of the Philadelphia Phillies that was accomplished when Dave Dombrowski traded for Placido Polanco. Sure he did not get one of the best players in baseball...but let us not forget that Dontrelle Willis came in that deal and he was a complete disaster in Detroit. For Polanco...Dave dealt away a backup middle infielder...and one of the last pieces of the 119 loss season of 2003...and a relief pitcher that would be in a foreign prison sooner rather than later. Polanco was a great fit for the Tiger...me manned second baseman and was way more than solid there...but he was also the #2 hitter here in Detroit that really set the table for the offense. 

In just over five seasons in the Old English D Polanco won two Silver Slugger awards, a Gold Glove, and was an All Star once. His impact on the team was hard to measure but he was a key part of the 2006 World Series team...and most of us remember him scampering home on the Magglio Ordonez home run that sent this team back to the world series for the first time in 22 years. 

His best year in Detroit was 2007...the year before Miggy...where Placido hit .341 and had 200 hits. Granted the Tigers finished second in the division that year...but were a full 8 games back at the end of the season. Of course when we talk about Polanco we talk about how he left Detroit without so much as a qualifying offer...it is such a curious move. The front office decided to go with Scott Sizemore who would save the team some payroll dollars but was a move that never worked out. I remember asking Sizemore that off season if he thought he could live up to the love Detroit has had for it's second baseman over the years, and he said of course. He was confident he could get it done, but the loss of Polanco was a sore spot for Tigers fans all the way till they reacquired Omar Infante...

Of course by 2009 Polanco was at the end of his hot streak. He had a decent 2010 season for the Phillies but not like he had been...of course much better than what the Tigers got out of Sizemore, Will Rhymes, and Ramon Santiago. However by 2012 the Tigers would have needed a better option at second even if they had kept Polanco...

My 25 Favorite Tigers 

My 25 favorite Detroit Tigers- Dan Petry

I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with performance as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...

#24 Pitcher Dan Petry

Around the 1986 season I started hearing about and caring about where my Detroit Tigers players were signing autographs. This was back in the day before guys charged to sign stuff...and all you had to do to get something signed was find out where the player would be...and wait in line...I was lucky enough to also get a few signatures on the concourse of Old Tiger Stadium as the players were leaving the clubhouse. One of the first guys I remember meeting from the 1984 team was Dan Petry...at Westland Mall...

This was before I was a stat nerd, and a sports writer, or knew how to evaluate a guy based on his performance. What I knew about Dan then was he was the #2 guy for the entire 1980's. His best year was 1984 and his worst year was probably 1987 where had it not been for Walt Terrell and Frank Tanana Petry's performance would have left the starting rotation very exposed. 

What I know now is despite pitching in three post seasons he does not have a playoff win...and was blown up in the only loss to San Diego in the 1984 World Series...it's funny but I can not remember much about those games played out west that post season...granted I had just turned 8 but whatever. 

Petry was a home grown talent and he was always the next guy up after Jack Morris. He was a work horse and probably suffered from pitching in Tiger Stadium as much as he did. However much like the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons...the organization wasn't fast enough in dealing away the core pieces of the '84 championship team...even though Petry was traded away for Gary Pettis, who would show fans of my generation what it was like to have a legit base stealer...

When I look at Petry's numbers now I really think he got used up in those seasons in the middle of the 80's. He pitched more than 230 innings for four years in a row and when 1987 rolled around it seems like the tank was empty. 

Petry would come back to Detroit for the 1990 season, and was traded to the Atlanta Braves during the 1991 season. A few days later he was traded to the Boston Red Sox.  

 More of my Detroit Tigers All Time Favorite players list