Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Great Major League Sports in Detroit

By Abby Skyler


The town of Detroit has long been known as Motor City, USA. The home of Ford Motor Company and Chrysler, Detroit has a colorful history as the center of the American automobile industry. Many of us might not realize the equally rich professional sports the city of Detroit enjoys. Major league sports in Detroit play a very important part in the city, both as a business provider and source of entertainment and city pride.

Tigers Baseball in Detroit

Although it is typically outshined by towns like Boston and NYC, baseball in Detroit has a history as wealthy as either of its East Coast rivals. The Detroit Tigers are members of Major League Baseball's American League Central Division and have been playing in the town since 1894. The Tigers are a charter member of the American League and one of just four franchises still found in its original city. The Detroit Tigers have won four World Series titles (1935, 1945, 1968, and 1984), 10 American League pennants, and were home to legendary baseball figure Ty Cobb for 22 seasons. The Tigers played all their baseball in the same place, Tiger Stadium, until the conclusion of Comerica Park in 2000.

Rockers Soccer in Detroit

Despite lacking a representative club in America's premier soccer league, Major League Soccer, soccer in Detroit has still been well represented in the past. The city of Detroit has been home to 2 pro indoor soccer teams. The Detroit Rockers were members of the National Professional Soccer League from 1990-2001, winning a championship in 1992. The Detroit Ignition started play as members of Major Indoor Soccer League before joining the Xtreme Soccer League.

Lions Football in Detroit

Motor City football has a history virtually as loaded as that of Detroit Major League Baseball. The Lions represent the town as part of the North Division in the National Football Conference in the N. F. L.. The Lions started play in 1929 as the Portsmouth Spartans in Portsmouth, Ohio. In the peak of the Great Depression the team was purchased and moved to Detroit in 1934. Detroit Lions have won four NFL Championships (1935, 1952, 1953, and 1957) and gone to the playoffs at the finish of the 2011 NFL season with a 10-6 record. The Detroit Lions currently play football at Ford Field in downtown Detroit.

Red Wings Hockey in Detroit

No debate about sports and Detroit would be complete without mentioning the impact of hockey on the the Motor City. The Red Wings have been dominating professional hockey in Detroit since 1926 and the franchise was a founding member of the NHL's Original Six. The accolades the franchise has earned are so numerous it would be very unlikely to add them all. The Red Wings have the most Stanley Cup titles of any team based in the U.S. with 11. The Red Wings trail only the Montreal Canadiens (24) and Toronto Maple Leafs (13). The Detroit Red Wings missed the NHL playoffs only four times between 1934/35 and 1965/66 seasons. Now the Detroit Red Wings have made the postseason in 25 of the last 27 seasons, including 20 straight appearances. The Red Wings play all of their home games at Joe Louis Arena.




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