The Detroit Tigers Launch Binder

May 23, 2025 Christopher Posa

When we started this adventure, we were asked a lot of tough questions. But there was an easy one:

“So which binder are you going to do first?”

Seeing as we are a Detroit-based company and I am a lifelong Tigers fan, this was a no-brainer.

It did get more difficult, deciding which iconic moments and legendary players would appear on our very first product. We originally had many more players on the back cover, but the design got way too busy. So we had to peel a few away and ended up with:

Miguel Cabrera, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Al Kaline, Justin Verlander, and Sparky Anderson.

We think that’s a great group - but there’s absolutely arguments for players like Cecil Fielder, Kirk Gibson, and Jack Morris. Personally, I’d love to see two of my faves Mickey Tettleton and Tony Phillips there, too! Who knows - if we do a second print run, maybe we’ll squeeze in a few more greats.

We also had to pick our top five iconic moments. Man, how do you pick just five from such a storied franchise?

After bouncing around what seemed like dozens, we landed on

Verlander‘s first no hitter
Gibson’s World Series home run in ‘84
The Tigers sweeping the Yankees in 2012 (dude, they swept the Yankees!)
Cabrera joining the 3,000 hit / 500 home run club
And of course, Maglio’s walk-off against the A’s in 2006

I still revisit these on YouTube every now and again. They never get old.

With most teams, fans can probably agree on the legendary players. But iconic moments? Those are personal — they’re about how they made you feel in the moment. Wherever you were, however old you were — they stick with you.

Here are a few that have always stuck with me:

June 4, 1984
Dave Bergman hits a walk-off 3-run homer against the Blue Jays. The at-bat lasted 13 pitches and was broadcast on ABC’s Monday Night Baseball. Sparky Anderson called it the greatest at-bat in baseball history. Mmmm… maybe a bit much. But it was glorious.

June 28, 1987
Trailing 7-4 in the 9th, the Tigers tie it with three straight homers from Johnny Grubb, Matt Nokes (what a rookie year!), and Bill Madlock. I’ve been to a lot of games — but I’ve never heard a crowd louder than when Madlock tied it. The Tigers won in the 10th.

August 9, 2013
At Yankee Stadium, Tigers down 3-1, bottom of the ninth. Miggy hobbles through an at-bat against Mariano Rivera (after fouling one off his knee), then blasts a 2-2 pitch to dead center. The Yankees won 4-3… but I barely remember that. The homer was everything.

August 3, 2016
JD Martinez comes off the DL after six weeks, pinch hits against Chris Sale in a tie game, and launches the first pitch deep to left center. Tigers TV announcer Mario Impemba says, “Boy if he hits one here?” Booth partner Rod Allen: “Hah?!” Boom. Gone.