This post is part of a series. Click here for the introduction.

The Tigers have won 11 AL pennants (1907, 1908, 1909, 1934, 1935, 1940, 1945, 1968, 1984, 2006, and 2012) and 4 World Series titles (1935, 1945, 1968, and 1984). So that’s 4 wins in 11 tries in the championship round since 1901, or a trip to the World series about every 10 years or so and a win about every 30. Not too bad, but we are due to win another pennant soon and overdue on a title. So while the Tigers have been producing some joy for their fans in my lifetime (unlike the Lions), let’s see if we have the ship pointed in the right direction. We will begin with the ownership once again.

Mike Illitch, better known nationally as the founder of Little Sleazers Little Ceasers Pizza, bought the team in 1992 from the founder of Domihoe’s Domino’s Pizza, Tom Monoghan (What’s the deal with national pizza chains from the Detroit area? Don’t forget Hungry Howie’s and Jets!). He also owned the Red Wings, but we’ll get to that when it’s hockey time. One of the first things he did was rehire Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell, who had been controversially let go at the end of 1991. I greatly appreciate this move personally. Ernie Harwell is part of the soundtrack of my youth, both on T.V. and on the radio. I particularly remember enjoying how he’d butcher hispanic names, but his voice is the sound of baseball and summer to me.

Illitch initially oversaw a poor stretch for the team, with only one winning season until 2005. I remember the fans being fairly anti-Illitch at the time, but he responded by pointing to his success across the street with the Red Wings and saying he would spend the money when the time was right. True to his word, he did eventually spend. It just took him about ten years to commit to a full rebuild. In 2001, the Tigers decided to bottom out and start over rather than continue lingering on the fringes of contention for years and years at a time (sensing a Detroit sports team pattern here?). This led to the infamous 43-119 team in 2003. This was the most losses in a season in MLB since the 1962 Mets lost 120, but he began to spend money on free agents almost immediately thereafter, and in only three years the Tigers were back in the World Series.

Mike Illitch played minor league baseball in the 50s, even being originally signed by the Tigers in 1952 for $3000 before a knee injury eventually caused his retirement. He desperately wanted to win a World Series title and spent tons of money trying to make it happen. Sadly, he passed away in 2017 without achieving his goal. His desire to win and willingness to spend money in order to achieve that goal, as well as his local roots and obvious love of baseball, endeared him greatly to Detroit Tigers fans. Control of Illitch Holdings, who own the Tigers and Red Wings, passed on to his son Christopher upon his death.

Christopher Illitch has taken the approach of an immediate but patient rebuild. This began in 2017, right after Mike Illitch died. It probably should have begun sooner, but the elder Illitch was still hoping to win a title. His son wants to build through drafting prospects before spending big bucks on free agents. This seems like a good approach to me, and there are some good prospects coming (pitchers Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal are already here and pitcher Matt Manning, 1B/3B Spencer Torkelson, and OF Riley Green might see time later this year). Baseball prospects are very difficult to predict, so it isn’t likely all will pan out. All you can do now is give them a shot and see who sticks.

Overall, Tiger ownership under the Illitches Illitchi Illitchian regime Mike and Christopher Illitch has been pretty good. Time will tell if the love of baseball and willingness to spend were passed down from father to son, but we should find out in the next year or two if that will happen. The prospects put the team on a schedule to be good soon, so the money needs to be there to supplement with free agency. I would say I’m cautiously optimistic for now. Next up is the front office. In the meantime I’ll enjoy listening to Not Ernie Harwell Dan Dickerson (Ernie Harwell’s very good replacement since his retirement in 2002) calling the Tigers games on the radio, still one of my favorite summer traditions. Play ball!