Editing Detroit Tigers (section)

===Western League beginnings (1894–1900) ===
[[File:Detroit Tigers 1900.jpg|thumb|left|1900 Detroit Tigers team photo]]
The franchise was founded as a member of the reorganized Western League in 1894.<ref>{{cite book|first=Richard|last=Bak|title=A Place for Summer: A Narrative History of Tiger Stadium|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rw532hJGaTwC|year=1998|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Rw532hJGaTwC&pg=PA40 40]|publisher=Wayne State University Press|isbn=978-0814325124|access-date=January 17, 2020|archive-date=March 1, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301063607/https://books.google.com/books?id=Rw532hJGaTwC|url-status=live}}</ref> They originally played at Boulevard Park, sometimes called League Park. It was located on East Lafayette, then called Champlain Street, between Helen and East Grand Boulevard, near [[Belle Isle Park|Belle Isle]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Richard|last=Bak|title=The Tigers first 4th of July game was in 1894|url=https://www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2013/07/05/the-tigers-first-4th-of-july-game-was-in-1894/|website=Vintage Detroit|date=July 5, 2013|access-date=January 15, 2020|archive-date=July 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716005730/https://www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2013/07/05/the-tigers-first-4th-of-july-game-was-in-1894/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1895, owner George Vanderbeck decided to build Bennett Park at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull Avenues, which would remain the team's base of operations for the next 104 seasons.<ref name="Bennett Park">{{cite book|first=Richard|last=Bak|title=A Place for Summer: A Narrative History of Tiger Stadium|year=1998|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Rw532hJGaTwC&pg=PA58 58–59]|publisher=Wayne State University Press|isbn=978-0814325124}}</ref><ref name=Dickson>{{cite web|first=Marcus W.|last=Dickson|title=April 28, 1896: There used to be a hay market here: Detroit Tigers open Bennett Park|url=https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/april-28-1896-there-used-be-hay-market-here-detroit-tigers-open-bennett-park|website=Society for American Baseball Research|access-date=July 30, 2018|archive-date=July 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730234613/https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/april-28-1896-there-used-be-hay-market-here-detroit-tigers-open-bennett-park|url-status=dead}}</ref> The first game at The Corner was an exhibition on April 13, 1896. The team, now occasionally called the "Tigers," beat a local semi-pro team, known as the Athletics, by a score of 30–3.<ref name="Bennett Park"/><ref name=Dickson/> The Tigers played their first Western League game at Bennett Park on April 28, 1896, defeating the [[Columbus Senators]] 17–2.<ref name="Bennett Park"/><ref name=Dickson/>

At the end of the 1897 season, [[Rube Waddell]] was loaned to the team to gain professional experience. After being fined, Waddell left Detroit to pitch in Canada.<ref>{{cite web|first=Dan|last=O'Brien|title=Rube Waddell|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/a5b2c2b4|website=Society for American Baseball Research|access-date=September 1, 2018|archive-date=September 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902052301/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/a5b2c2b4|url-status=live}}</ref>

When the Western League renamed itself the [[American League]] for 1900, it was still a minor league, but the next year, it broke from the National Agreement and declared itself a major league, openly competing with the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] for players and for fans in four contested cities.<ref>{{cite book|first=Richard|last=Bak|title=A Place for Summer: A Narrative History of Tiger Stadium|year=1998|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Rw532hJGaTwC&pg=PA70 70]|publisher=Wayne State University Press|isbn=978-0814325124}}</ref><ref name="Page 73">{{cite book|first=Richard|last=Bak|title=A Place for Summer: A Narrative History of Tiger Stadium|year=1998|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Rw532hJGaTwC&pg=PA73 73]|publisher=Wayne State University Press|isbn=978-0814325124}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first1=Joe|last1=Santry|first2=Cindy|last2=Thomson|title=Ban Johnson|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/dabf79f8|website=Society for American Baseball Research|access-date=July 30, 2018|archive-date=July 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730235021/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/dabf79f8|url-status=live}}</ref> For a while, there were rumors of the team relocating to [[Pittsburgh]]. However, these rumors were put to rest when the two leagues made peace in 1903 when they signed a new National Agreement.<ref>{{cite book|first=Richard|last=Bak|title=A Place for Summer: A Narrative History of Tiger Stadium|year=1998|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Rw532hJGaTwC&pg=PA77 77–79]|publisher=Wayne State University Press|isbn=978-0814325124}}</ref>