Sports
Frank Tanana
born 1953 · baseball pitcher
Northwest Detroit native who came home to pitch for his boyhood team and threw the 1–0 shutout that clinched the 1987 division title on the season's final day.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 73- Birth name
- Frank Daryl Tanana
- Detroit years
- 1953–1971, 1985–1992
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Tanana grew up in northwest Detroit, the son of a former minor-league player who had joined the Detroit Police Department. As a boy he rooted for Al Kaline, Mickey Lolich and Willie Horton. He attended Detroit Catholic Central High School, where he was twice all-state in basketball and went 32–1 as a pitcher, and the California Angels made him a first-round pick in 1971. A hard-throwing strikeout king with the Angels, he later reinvented himself as a crafty finesse pitcher. In 1985 Texas traded him to the Tigers, the team he had cheered for as a child. His greatest Detroit moment came on October 4, 1987, the last day of the season: at Tiger Stadium he beat Toronto 1–0 with a complete-game shutout, clinching the American League East after a dramatic pennant race. He pitched for Detroit through 1992 and finished his career with 2,773 strikeouts.
Highlights
- Pitched for his hometown Tigers 1985–1992
- 1–0 shutout of Toronto on October 4, 1987, clinched the division
- Went 32–1 as a pitcher at Detroit Catholic Central
- 2,773 career strikeouts
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Played here · 1985–1992
Tiger Stadium
Demolished · 1912–1999
Where he clinched the 1987 division title with a 1–0 shutout; demolished in 2008–2009.