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Austin Jackson is one of six Jacksons who has played for Detroit.
The Tigers have been playing baseball in Detroit for a very long time.
They’ve had hall of famers with names like Greenberg, Gehringer, and Newhouser. Eventually, a Cabrera will join that cast.
They’ve had bums with names like Rick Schu, Dontrelle Willis, and pretty much anyone that suited up during the 1990s.
But historically, which names have been the most common? What surname has appeared most often in Tigers’ programs and scorecards, beginning with Bennett Park in 1901 spanning all the way to the here and now?
You might think Martinez would pop up many times, but in fact, aside from J.D. and Victor on the current squad, the Tigers have had only one other Martinez, utility man Ramón, in 2005.
We thought it would be a good use of our time to compile such a list. It might not be useful information, but it’s information, nonetheless.
Here are your 12 most popular Detroit Tiger player last names in franchise history.
The envelope, please...
6 TIGERS
JACKSON (Austin, Damian, Edwin, Herb, Ron, Ryan)
Aside from current outfield mainstay Austin, this is really a fairly nondescript group of Jacksons. The Tigers did coax 13 wins, 200+ innings, and an All-Star nod out of Edwin Jackson during his one season in Detroit, the only such honor in his 12-year big league career.
TAYLOR (Ben, Bill, Bruce, Gary, Tony, Wiley)
The best of the bunch is probably Tony Taylor, the longtime second sacker for the Phillies who provided some veteran value to the Tigers in the early ‘70s.
This could have been seven Taylors if we included Tim, the very loyal-to-Detroit father that Tim Allen portrayed on Home Improvement. But his obsession always seemed to be with the Lions, Pistons, or Red Wings. Again, the ‘90s were a dark time for the Tigers.
THOMAS (Brad, Bud, Clete, Frosty, George, Ira)
Frosty is the one Thomas that catches your eye, but unfortunately, his pro career was short lived. After dominating in the minors, Frosty got his shot with the Tigers in 1905. Two games and eight runs later, it was back to the farm.
It’s worth noting that Ira Thomas carries the distinction of stroking the first pinch hit in World Series history, doing so for the Tigers in 1908 against the then-dominant Chicago Cubs.
WILLIAMS (Brian, Eddie, Frank, Johnnie, Kenny, Lefty)
Lefty is the most famous, or infamous, of this crew. He cut his teeth in Detroit in 1913-14 before moving on to become a very successful hurler for the White Sox. He would commit career suicide, however, in 1919, when he helped to throw the World Series against Cincinnati. After notching 23 wins during the regular year, Lefty would drop all three of his postseason starts, serving up meatballs left and right to the tune of a 6.61 ERA.
Delmon Young
7 TIGERS
YOUNG (Delmon, Dmitri, Ernie, John, Kip, Matt, Ralph)
Pretty interesting fact here; the Tigers have had exactly 14 players in their history whose last name began with the letter “Y.” And of those 14, half of them carried the name Young. Pretty remarkable.
Amazingly, as a rookie with the Tigers in 1978, Kip Young registered four wins (all complete games) in his first four starts. The buzz around town was that the next Mark Fidrych could be on the horizon. Unfortunately, those comparisons turned out to be all-too prophetic. Kip started getting hammered all over the park and would finish his career the very next year with a scant eight big league victories.
8 TIGERS
SULLIVAN (Billy, Billy Jr., Charlie, Jackie, Joe, John, John (2), Russ)
It’s safe to say that Irish gentlemen named Sullivan were not uncommon for the Detroit Tigers in the first half of the 20th century. In fact, only two of the eight Sullivans on this list (John #2 and Russ) appeared in games after 1950.
And try to figure this one out. Jackie Sullivan played one game as a Tiger in 1944, getting a lone turn at bat and making an out. That was his entire career. Also, his official name was Carl Mancel Sullivan, which somehow turned into “Jackie.” I always thought the more formal version of Jackie was Jack, or Jacque, or Jaclyn. Nope; apparently, it’s Carl.
WALKER (Dixie, Frank, Gee, Hub, Jamie, Luke, Mike, Tom)
Jamie Walker epitomized the age-old baseball belief that if you can walk, chew gum, and fire the pill with your left hand, there’s a spot for you somewhere. He wasn’t terribly big and didn’t throw very hard. In fact, he was once so inept early in his career (as a Royal) that he allowed back-to-back bombs to Joe Randa and Bobby Higginson, a feat so disturbing and unforgivable at the time that he wasn’t allowed on a big league mound again until four years later. As a Tiger, of course.
The team's tribute to today's 313th anniversary of Detroit's founding, posted Thursday on Facebook.
1 TIGER
QUELLICH (George)
A brief break from the countdown to acknowledge the only Detroit Tiger with a “Q” last name in franchise history. You’d think Mr. Quellich would have had a little company here considering almost 50 “Q” names can be found in the baseball encyclopedia -- but alas, he is by his lonesome in Tigers’ annals.
George Quellich had a forgettable career, appearing in just 13 games for the 1931 Tigers and clocking one measly homer. But look a little closer and you see that the victim of said long ball was none other than Red Faber, an ageless right-hander for Chicago that wound up in the Hall of Fame. Plus, that’s one more big league home run than Rod Allen ever hit.
9 TIGERS
WILSON (Earl, Glenn, Icehouse, Jack, Mutt, Red, Squanto, Vance, Walter)
Let’s all just admit that ballplayer names were 100 times more interesting back in the day.
Today, the Tigers lineup has an Ian, a Victor, a Nick, and sometimes plain old Don.
Compare that to this zany bunch of Wilsons, including gems such as Icehouse, Mutt, and Squanto.
Those were truly the good old days of player names -- even if the monikers made little sense and often lacked any coherent explanation whatsoever as to what their actual origins were.
10 TIGERS
JOHNSON (Alex, Brian, Dave, Earl, Howard, Jason, Ken, Mark, Roy, Syl)
Howard Johnson was a part-time player with the ’84 champs, getting just one World Series AB while Marty Castillo and Darrell Evans grabbed most of the time at the hot corner. HoJo would, however, go on to become awesome for the New York Mets later in his career, and remains the only player in that franchise’s history to lead the National League in RBIs.
Jason Johnson was memorable not because of his pitching heroics, but because he was probably the only Tiger ever to take the field wearing an insulin pack (or pump). Amazingly, Johnson started 33 games in both of his Detroit campaigns and didn’t reach even 10 wins either time.
MILLER (Andrew, Bob, Bob (2), Eddie, Hack, Justin, Matt, Orlando, Roscoe, Trever)
Consider yourself a true Tigers fanatic if you remember even a few of these Millers.
Eddie was a nothing outfielder for 14 games in 1982. He also somehow managed to wear six different jersey numbers in just seven big league seasons.
Orlando Miller was similarly forgettable, but did team with Deivi Cruz in 1997 to become the only shortstop tandem in MLB history to register a combined weight of over five bills. Nice work, fellas.
SMITH (Bob, Chad, Clay, George, George (2), Heinie, Jack, Jason, Rufus, Willie)
Righty reliever Chad Smith was recently sent back down to Toledo, which doesn’t bode well for his future. See, most of the Smiths on this list only last one or maybe two seasons with the Tigers. In fact, of the 10 Tiger Smiths, only one (the first George) played more than three years with the club. He did so as a nondescript reliever in the late ‘20s.
14 TIGERS - The most of any name in team history
JONES (Alex, Bob, Dalton, Davy, Deacon, Elijah, Jacque, Ken, Lynn, Rupert, Sam, Todd, Tom, Tracy)
The victor in this name challenge is the tried-and-true “Jones,” and it’s not even close. A whopping total of 14 Jones’s have suited up for the Tigers over the years.
Such a feat was accomplished despite an extended period of inactivity from 1926 to 1961 when not a single Jones sported the Old English D.
It’s not a group of baseball legends by any means.
Jacque was a nightmare in left field during his lone Tigers’ season, and Todd routinely turned the final three outs of a game into some type of baseball fan torture chamber.
But on-field failures can’t take away from their hard-earned last name glory. Jones will forever be the official surname of your Detroit Tigers, until a Miller or Wilson or Quellich comes along to unseat them.
So while fans all over the Motor City spend the next two months looking forward to the playoffs and anticipating the possibility of a World Series triumph, I’ll be dreaming about “Tigers that Start with the Letter Q.”
It’s been far too long.
