Third base has often been a hole for Tigers throughout their history

For a decade with the Tigers, Tom Brookens outlasted challengers to his starting job at third base.

Almost immediately after he became manager of the Tigers in 1979, Sparky Anderson had one player he drooled over the most. For years, Sparky bugged Jim Campbell and his successor as GM, Bill Lajoie, imploring them to acquire this player.

That player was Buddy Bell, an All-Star third baseman. The Tigers never got Bell (except for a stretch as their manager after Sparky had retired), and they’re still looking for their All-Star third baseman.

Sure, Travis Fryman (1994) and Brandon Inge (2009) have earned All-Star selections as third baseman in the last 15 years or so, but they were more ceremonial honors, not coronations of their greatness at the hot corner.

No, the Tigers haven’t had a truly great third baseman, or even a really good one, since the 1950s when George Kell picked them at third. Kell was the best defensive third baseman in the American League in the late 1940s and into the 1950s. Brooks Robinson modeled himself after Kell, whom most Tiger fans remember for his southern drawl rather than his play on the diamond. Kell was a batting champion, a .300 hitter year after year, a Hall of Famer. But since his last game for Detroit in 1952, it’s fair to say that the franchise has been looking for a superstar at the position.

In the late 1950s, Ray Boone served well for a few years, even making the All-Star team. The granddaddy of Bret and Aaron and the father of Bob, Ray was a very good ballplayer, but his tenure in Motown was brief. In the 1960s, the Tigers had Don Wert at third base, one of the first of many players they converted into a third baseman. Wert had been a second baseman and shortstop in the minors, and he hit more like a shortstop. He was consistent but unspectacular for eight seasons. He was followed by Aurelio Rodriguez, a master with the glove but a liability with the bat. The original “ARod” won the Gold Glove in 1976, wrestling it away from Robinson. But Rodriguez wasn’t a star at the hot corner – he just didn’t hit well enough.

That brings us to the Sparky Era, when the Tigers tried everything at third base for about a decade, but always settled on Tom Brookens. The light-hitting Brookens was “scrappy” – a baseball term that often gets applied to players short on skill. That was the case with Brookens, who played third most of the time from 1979 to 1988. During that stretch, which included their World Series title in 1984, Detroit tried several options at the hot corner: Enos Cabell, Chris Pittaro, Darnell Coles, Rick Schu, Howard Johnson, etc. It was Johnson who had the most promise, but the Tigers traded him away before the 1985 season. Johnson went on to win a home run title with the Mets. The Tigers kept searching for a third baseman, trying Scott Livingstone for a few seasons before Fryman arrived. A shortstop, Fryman was the best player to come out of the Tigers farm system in about a decade. But Alan Trammell was in front of him at his position, so Fryman was moved to third. He was the best player to man third for Detroit since Kell: strong-arm, good hands, nice range, and a productive bat. Then the Tigers traded him to Arizona for, among others, Joe Randa. Randa was meant to replace Fryman at third, which he did with mediocrity. After a few years of an aging Dean Palmer and young hotshot Eric Munson, the Tigers switched Inge from catcher to third in 2005.

You know what’s happened since. In 2008, Miguel Cabrera was acquired in the blockbuster trade with the Florida Marlins, prompting Dave Dombowski to name him the new third baseman. That lasted about two weeks and eight errors before Miggy was moved across the diamond to first base. He’s been wonderful there since, until Prince Fielder was signed in January, suddenly giving the Tigers a logjam of wide-waisted, heavy-hitting first baseman. Cabrera will evidently go back to third base, a move few people (experts or otherwise) believe will work. Nope, most Tiger fans are sure that Cabrera will be back at first or at DH by the end of April, if not sooner. That will leave another hole at third base, probably filled by Inge.

But, as we know, the Tiger are used to searching for the answer at third base, they’ve been doing it for more than 50 years.