DETROIT – When Mike Ilitch purchased the Detroit Tigers from Tom Monaghan in 1992, he took over a 75-87 team that finished sixth in the division.
The Tigers struggled for several years after Ilitch's ownership began, never finishing better than third in the division until 2006 and enduring several historically bad seasons, highlighted by the 43-119 debacle in 2003.
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But Ilitch brought baseball back to Detroit when he signed star catcher Pudge Rodriguez in 2004 and manager Jim Leyland in 2006.
The Tigers returned to the playoffs in 2006 as a wild-card team and marched all the way to the World Series, knocking off the American League powerhouse Yankees and sweeping the Oakland Athletics in the American League Championship Series. After taking home the AL pennant, the Tigers lost the World Series to the Cardinals in five games.
For the next four years, the Tigers battled to return to the playoffs, even losing a heart-wrenching Game 163 against the Minnesota Twins in 2009 to miss out on a playoff berth.
But in 2011, the Tigers won 95 games, the franchise's most since 2006, and won their first division title since 1987. It didn't take long for them to win another. Over the next three seasons, the Tigers dominated the AL Central Division, winning four straight titles and making another World Series run in 2012. The Tigers fell to the San Francisco Giants in four games.
Ilitch has done more for the Tigers than spend money for long playoff runs. He also helped orchestrate the team's move in 2000 to Comerica Park, where the team hosted the 2005 MLB All-Star Game.
Ilitch's death at age 87 marks a partial end to a Tigers era. Even though they didn't win a World Series during Ilitch's tenure, their resurgence in the last five years has brought Tigers baseball back to Detroit.
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