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CRAIG MONROE
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Craig Monroe played nine seasons in the majors with the Texas Rangers (2001), Detroit Tigers (2002-07), Chicago Cubs (2007), Minnesota Twins (2008) and Pittsburgh Pirates (2009). He was originally drafted in the eighth round of the 1995 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Rangers. The Texarkana, TX, native joined the Tigers organization on February 1, 2002, when he was selected off waivers from the Rangers. He played his first full season in 2003, hitting 23 home runs. On July 19, 2006, Monroe hit a grand slam off Javier Vazquez of Chicago (AL) that was decisive in the Tigers' 5-2 win. A career .252 hitter, he recorded career highs with 28 homers and 92 RBI with Detroit in 2006. He also hit five home runs in the 2006 postseason, which culminated in a World Series appearance. Monroe's five post season home runs tied the tigers career postseason record set by Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg.
Currently, Monroe serves as a studio analyst for the Detroit Tigers on FOX Sports Detroit and occasionally serves as an analyst on game broadcasts.
2019
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TORII HUNTER
On August 22, 1997, Torii Hunter made his Major League debut for the Minnesota Twins, beginning what would be a 19-year career in the big leagues. Hunter spent his first 11 seasons with the Twins before a five-year stint with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Tigers signed Hunter to a free agent deal on November 16, 2012 and he immediately became a clubhouse leader and mainstay in right field during his two seasons in Detroit. In 2013, Hunter batted .304 with 17 home runs and 84 RBIs, earning an All-Star Game appearance and winning a Silver Slugger award. He followed that up by hitting .284 with 17 home runs and 83 RBIs in 2014. In both seasons, the Tigers were crowned as AL Central Champions.
During his time in Detroit and throughout his career, Torii Hunter fought for increased African American participation and inclusion at the highest levels of professional baseball, calling for reforms to combat the dwindling percentage of African Americans in the pros. Hunter retired in 2015, ending an illustrious career that included five All-Star Game appearances, two Silver Slugger awards, and nine Gold Glove awards, solidifying his status as one of the best defensive outfielders in Major League Baseball history.
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GATES BROWN
Willie Horton was born in Arno, Virginia but grew up in Detroit, Michigan. He Gates Brown joined the Detroit Tigers in 1963 and spent his entire career with the organization. Brown holds the American League record for the most pinch-hit at bats in a career, with 414. Brown's timely hitting was crucial in sealing the Tigers' World Series Championship in 1968, where he hit .462 as a pinch hitter during the season.
In 1978, Brown returned to the Tigers as their hitting coach, a position he would hold through the championship season of 1984.
2009
PREVIOUS LEGACY AWARD WINNERS
The Willie Horton Legacy Award was created in 2009 to honor African Americans who have strengthened the legacy of baseball in the African American community and have contributed to the rich history of the Detroit Tigers. Each year it is awarded during Negro Leagues Weekend.
WILLIE HORTON
AFRICAN AMERICAN LEGACY AWARD
about willie horton
Willie Horton was born in Arno, Virginia but grew up in Detroit, Michigan. He became the first African American superstar for his hometown Tigers and spent 15 seasons with the team. As a powerful right-handed hitter, Willie Horton was one of the strongest men in the game and launched 325 home runs throughout his career, ranked sixth among American League right-handed hitters when he retired. Mr. Horton enjoyed his best season in 1968 with the world champion Detroit Tigers, finishing second in the American League with 36 home runs, a .543 batting average, and 278 total bases. Mr. Horton works in the Tigers Front Office as the Special Assistant to the Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager, Al Avila.
To pay homage to the prominent legacy of African Americans in the game of baseball and to the rich history of the Negro Leagues, the Tigers host an annual Negro Leagues Weekend celebration. This celebratory weekend consists of long-standing traditions to honor former Negro Leagues players, past and current African American Tigers players, and youth baseball players.
The Detroit Tigers are committed to celebrating the legacy of players along with continuing to educate Tigers fans about the history and impact of the Negro Leagues to the game of baseball.
REcipIents
May 15, 2020 was the 100th anniversary of the first official game played by the Detroit Stars in the new Negro National League.
The Detroit Stars played their first game on Easter Sunday, April 20, 1919, at Mack Park on Detroit's East Side. They defeated the 1918 city champion Maxwell Internationals, a powerful white semi-pro team, in front of 3500 fans. The Maxwells' roster included one former major-leaguer and at least four former minor-leaguers.
Entrepreneur Rube Foster of Chicago, the "Father of Black Baseball", attended the Stars' debut. Foster was instrumental in setting up the Stars and may have had an ownership interest in the club, though the owner of record was Detroiter Tenny Blount.
The Stars' captain and manager was Hall of Fame outfielder Pete Hill, whose team included Hall of Famer Jose Mendez and veteran Black Baseball stars like pitcher John Donaldson and catcher Bruce Petway. Hall of Fame pitcher Andy Cooper joined the club in 1920.
In 1920, the Detroit Stars became charter members of Rube Foster's Negro National League (NNL). The new league had eight members, including fabled teams like the Chicago American Giants, the Kansas City Monarchs, and the Indianapolis ABCs.
The Stars' inaugural game as members of the NNL was played at Mack Park in Detroit on May 15, 1920, when they defeated the Cuban Stars. Detroit finished second in the league in 1920, runners-up to Foster's American Giants.
The founding of the new league was a watershed moment in Black Baseball history, as the Negro National League became the first successful league of the segregated era, clearly demonstrating that African American players were good enough to play in the major leagues and had been kept out solely due to blatant discrimination.
The NNL prospered in the 1920s as the ongoing Great Migration swelled the African American populations of Detroit as well as other Northern and Midwestern industrial cities.
The Stars played at Mack Park through 1929, when a July fire destroyed the main grandstand. Although they finished the 1929 season at Mack Park, opposition to rebuilding from white citizens in the neighborhood forced them to relocate in 1930.
Featuring great players like Hall of Famer Cristobal Torriente as well as Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe and Bingo DeMoss, Detroit fielded a contending club throughout the 1920s. However, the Stars never won a pennant. The closest they came was in their first season at new Hamtramck Stadium in 1930 when they won the second-half NNL title before losing the Negro National League Championship Series to St. Louis in seven hard-fought-games. Stearnes' heroic performance powered the Stars, as Detroit's superstar hit .467 and slammed 3 homers and 8 extra-base hits in the seven games, scoring 9 runs and driving in 11.
Undoubtedly the greatest black player to spend most of his career in Detroit, Norman "Turkey" Stearnes was a five-tool player originally from Nashville, Tennessee. He was fast on the bases, hit for both power and average, and played a top-notch center field. Stearnes won six home run titles and holds the Negro League career record for home runs. The left-handed hitter was one of the greatest sluggers of all-time - black or white.
Stearnes made his major Negro League debut in 1923 with Detroit, playing for the Stars through 1931 as well as in 1937. He also starred for the Chicago American Giants and Kansas City Monarchs in the 1930s. Stearnes worked at the Rouge plant for 27 years, becoming a UAW member in 1941 when Ford's was organized. He raised his family and lived in Detroit until his death in 1979. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fall in Cooperstown in 2000.
Victims of the Great Depression, the Stars folded along with the league in 1931. In 1932, the Detroit Wolves - featuring five future Hall of Famers - played in Hamtramck for half a season until the new Negro East-West League also failed.
In 1933, the Indianapolis ABCs relocated to the Motor City, becoming a new version of the Detroit Stars. They played in Hamtramck for one year before folding. Slick-fielding Hall of Fame infielder Ray Dandridge made his professional debut with the Stars in 1933.
In 1937, the semi-pro Titus Detroit Giants became charter members of the new Negro American League (NAL), adopting the storied Detroit Stars name. They, too, lasted only one summer, becoming the last major Negro League team to hail from Detroit.
In 1954, Ted Rasberry's semi-pro Grand Rapids Black Sox moved to Motown, joined the Negro American League, and rebadged themselves as the Detroit Stars. After the integration of the formerly all-white major and minor leagues, however, the NAL had declined to minor-league in quality. Though the 1950s Stars played mostly on the road, they did play some games at Briggs (later Tiger) Stadium when the Detroit Tigers were out of town. Prior to the 1950s, the Detroit Stars were never allowed to play at Navin Field or Briggs Stadium by the Tigers' owners.
This last incarnation of the Detroit Stars folded after 1961 along with the greatly debilitated NAL, marking the end of the Negro League era.
HISTORY OF
DETROIT STARS
African American
heritage celebration
passing of the bat history of detroit stars willie horton african american legacy award digital Negro leagues baseball cards
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History of detroit stars
willie horton african American legacy award
digital negro leagues baseball cards
digital negro leagues baseball cards
willie horton african American legacy award
History of detroit stars
Passing of
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Gregory Pace Jr.
Werner Blakely Jr.
Jon Campbell Jr.
John Malcom
Steve Mann
Alex Darden
Nick Plummer
Dazon Cole
Johnny Slater
Lawrence Herron
Mark Brown
Daniel Fields & Victor Roache
D.J. Henderson
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According to the Hall of Fame Website: Negro Leagues legend Satchel Paige called Turkey Stearnes "one of the greatest hitters we ever had. He was as good as Josh [Gibson]. He was as good as anybody who ever played ball".
The Stars were one of the most prominent Negro League clubs in the 1920s. They also regularly played against strong white semi-pro teams and won the city's prestigious semi-pro championship regularly in the 1920s.
A Nashville native, Stearnes came to play in Detroit in 1923 at age 22. He later made his home in Detroit, raised his family while working at Ford's Rouge plant for 27 years (1938-64). He became a UAW member in 1941 when Ford was first organized. He died in Detroit in 1979. Stearnes was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
The Stars featured five future Hall of Famers from 1919–1931, including Norman "Turkey" Stearnes, one of the greatest home run hitters in baseball history - white or black.
The Stars were one of the most prominent Negro League clubs in the 1920s. They also regularly played against strong white semi-pro teams and won the city's prestigious semi-pro championship regularly in the 1920s.
The Detroit Stars were founded in 1919 by Rube Foster, who is considered the "Father of Black Baseball". Detroit became a charter member of the NNL a year later.
Founded in 1920, the Negro National League (NNL) was the first successful black baseball league of the segregated era.
about willie horton
Willie Horton was born in Arno, Virginia but grew up in Detroit, Michigan. He became the first African American superstar for his hometown Tigers and spent 15 seasons with the team. As a powerful right-handed hitter, Willie Horton was one of the strongest men in the game and launched 325 home runs throughout his career, ranked sixth among American League right-handed hitters when he retired. Mr. Horton enjoyed his best season in 1968 with the world champion Detroit Tigers, finishing second in the American League with 36 home runs, a .543 batting average, and 278 total bases. Mr. Horton works in the Tigers Front Office as the Special Assistant to the Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager, Al Avila.
2022
REcipIents
2023
2022
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2011
2010
2009
2008
Jarren Purify & Oliver Service
Gregory Pace Jr.
Werner Blakely Jr.
Jon Campbell Jr.
John Malcom
Steve Mann
Alex Darden
Nick Plummer
Dazon Cole
Johnny Slater
Lawrence Herron
Mark Brown
Daniel Fields & Victor Roache
D.J. Henderson
Jarren Purify & Oliver Service
Gregory Pace Jr.
Werner Blakely Jr.
Jon Campbell Jr.
John Malcom
Steve Mann
Alex Darden
Nick Plummer
Dazon Cole
Johnny Slater
Lawrence Herron
Mark Brown
Daniel Fields & Victor Roache
D.J. Henderson
2023
2022
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2011
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2009
2008
REcipIents
2023
2009: Gates Brown
2010: Jake Wood
2012: Earl Wilson
2013: Larry Herndon
2014: Bill Burton
2015: Lou Whitaker
2016: CHet Lemon
2017: Gary Sheffield
2018: Torii Hunter
2019: Craig MOnroe
2022: Cecil Fielder
2023: Curtis Granderson
