One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit as a member of the reorganized Western League in 1894 and is the only Western League team still in its original city. They are also the oldest continuous one name, one city franchise in the AL.

Ty Cobb, nicknamed "The Georgia Peach", has not only the highest career batting average in franchise history (.368), but the highest career batting average in MLB history (.366), edging out legendary players such as Rogers Hornsby (.359), Shoeless Joe Jackson (.356), and Lefty O'Doul (.349).

In 1909, Ty Cobb led the league with nine home runs, all inside the park.

On May 15, 1912, after climbing into the stands to attack a fan that was heckling him, Cobb was suspended. Three days later, the Tigers protested the suspension by fielding a team of replacement players against the Philadelphia Athletics. They lost 24-2.

The 1934 Tigers became known as the "G-Men", with the team's top stars being Gehringer, Greenberg and Goslin. The team sailed to the pennant with a 101-53 record and were matched up in a classic World Series between the "G-Men" and St. Louis' "Gashouse Gang."

On July 15, 1973, Nolan Ryan was one out away from his second no-hitter of the season, striking out 17 batters on a Sunday afternoon at Tiger Stadium, when Detroit's Norm Cash stepped to the plate with two outs in the ninth. After two strikeouts and a groundout in his previous at-bats, Cash stepped up to the plate with a table leg from the Tigers clubhouse, prompting plate umpire Ron Luciano to break out laughing as he told Cash he needed an actual bat.

On January 11, 1971, at the age of 27, Tigers relief pitcher John Hiller suffered a heart attack at his home in Duluth, Minnesota. After missing the 1971 season, Hiller returned in 1972, helping the Tigers win the American League (AL) East title and winning Game 4 of the 1972 AL Championship Series. In 1973, he compiled a 1.44 earned run average (ERA) and broke the major league single-season saves record with 38. Hiller's comeback was rated as "one of the most heartwarming sagas in sports," and Slugger Frank Howard called it "the kind of thing you see once in a lifetime."

A prodigious home run hitter, Hank "The Hebrew Hammer" Greenberg narrowly missed breaking Babe Ruth's single-season home run record in 1938, when he hit 58 home runs, setting a new team record and leading the league for the second time. His 59th home run was washed away in a rainout, and it has long been speculated that Greenberg was intentionally walked late in the season to prevent him from breaking Ruth's record, though Greenberg himself dismissed these speculations as "crazy stories."

A three-time All-Star, Mickey Lolich is most notable for his performance in the 1968 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals when he earned three complete-game victories, including a win over Bob Gibson in the climactic Game 7. Lolich holds Detroit Tigers team records in single-season strikeouts (308), career strikeouts (2,679), and shutouts (39).

The 1915 Tigers were led by an outfield consisting of Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford, and Bobby Veach that finished #1, #2, and #3 in RBIs and total bases.