Major League Baseball is asking its fans to vote for the four most impactful players who best represent the history of each franchise. The winners will be announced in July at the All Star Game in Cincinnati. Today, I will give my Franchise Four picks for the American League Central, save the White Sox.
With 6 of their 8 nominees debuting in the major leagues prior to 1950, the Indians representation is focused on their early successes, with the remaining 2 covering their renaissance in the 1990s. The obvious choices are Nap Lajoie, for whom they owe their nickname, Tris Speaker, and Bob Feller. For the final slot, I will go with the criminally overlooked Larry Doby, who gets none of the credit that Jackie Robinson gets despite facing the same challenges.
The Tigers nominees are more spread out across their long history, although their four selections are all fairly obvious. With little thought, my picks here are Miguel Cabrera, Hank Greenberg, Ty Cobb, and Al Kaline.
