Bye, bye, Miggie - Tiger Legend gets Grand Send Off

**mikeg19** · October-02-23, 12:38 PM

It was difficult to have a connection with a man who mostly stayed out of the spotlight during his career. The limited interviews, broken english, resistance to seek the limelight all contributed to that. Was he a great baseball player? Yes, no doubt and I'd be surprised at some point he doesn't have a bronze statue in the outfield. But he is a man with a complicated legacy. The DUI, jail time, second family in Miami all contribute to a flawed but amazing athlete. He may be on the Mount Rushmore of great Detroit Tigers or athletes in general, but he won't ever be remembered in the way Yzerman/Isiah/Barry/Kaline are.

**softailrider** · October-02-23, 01:03 PM

Originally Posted by mikeg19

It was difficult to have a connection with a man who mostly stayed out of the spotlight during his career. The limited interviews, broken english, resistance to seek the limelight all contributed to that. Was he a great baseball player? Yes, no doubt and I'd be surprised at some point he doesn't have a bronze statue in the outfield. But he is a man with a complicated legacy. The DUI, jail time, second family in Miami all contribute to a flawed but amazing athlete. He may be on the Mount Rushmore of great Detroit Tigers or athletes in general, but he won't ever be remembered in the way Yzerman/Isiah/Barry/Kaline are.

I totally agree with that. To me, the man was an enigma, and not nearly as marketable as he could have been. Showing up way overweight and out of shape for the last few years was a bad optic; it was like an insult to his followers. He definitely had his foibles there's no doubt about it.

That being said, he was the greatest Tiger hitter of my generation, I don't know about Ty Cobb. Was he the greatest Tiger? Greater than Al Kaline? I'm not sure.

**jiminnm** · October-02-23, 05:11 PM

Originally Posted by softailrider

Was he the greatest Tiger? Greater than Al Kaline? I'm not sure.

Al Kaline once said that had he known how important stats would become after his retirement, he would have tried to hit at least one more home run and a few more hits. He finished his career with 399 homers, 3007 hits and BA of .297.

He was the best of my lifetime, but Cobb was at least the best of his time if all time Tiger. But for WW2 and four seasons lost to military service, we would be considering Hank Greenburg in that conversation.

**1953** · October-02-23, 07:05 PM

Thanks for all of the comments above - they seem spot on.

For my money, its Cobb, Kaline, Greenberg, in that order.

1953

**canuck** · October-03-23, 02:25 PM

Originally Posted by softailrider

I totally agree with that. To me, the man was an enigma, and not nearly as marketable as he could have been. Showing up way overweight and out of shape for the last few years was a bad optic; it was like an insult to his followers. He definitely had his foibles there's no doubt about it.

That being said, he was the greatest Tiger hitter of my generation, I don't know about Ty Cobb. Was he the greatest Tiger? Greater than Al Kaline? I'm not sure.

A paunch in baseball is part of the lore, though, isn’t it? Like chewing tobacco, and scratching your balls to signify something. You wouldn’t put a paunch on a Gordie Howe. Heck.