{"id":18177,"date":"2025-05-05T22:04:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T22:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/?p=18177"},"modified":"2025-05-05T22:04:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T22:04:15","slug":"cinco-de-tigers-5-northwoods-league-alums-who-became-detroit-tigers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/2025\/05\/05\/cinco-de-tigers-5-northwoods-league-alums-who-became-detroit-tigers\/","title":{"rendered":"Cinco De Tigers: 5 Northwoods League Alums Who Became Detroit Tigers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">By Mark H. Stowers<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The special Cinco de Mayo Celebration evokes other \u201cgreat Cinco sets\u201d worth celebrating but with a baseball twist. With a history spanning over 30 years, the Northwoods League has provided ample talent to the Major Leagues. The Royal Oak Leprechauns joined the prestigious league in 2024 and four players were drafted last season. The Detroit Tigers have benefited, with several NWL players making their roster after playing in the Northwoods League. Here\u2019s a look at Cinco Northwoods alums with ties to the Detroit Tigers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">More than 350 alumni have made it the bigs, but the FIRST-EVER NWL player to make his MLB debut did so in 1999. None other than right-handed-pitcher <strong>Jeff Weaver<\/strong>, a former Dubuque Mud Puppy pitcher. Weaver made his first start for the Detroit Tigers on April 14, 1999, against the Minnesota Twins. Weaver strode the mound from 1999 to 2001 for the Tigers, picking up 39 wins before being traded to the Yankees. Weaver would pitch for the Dodgers, Angels, Mariners and Cardinals, piling up 104 wins and ironically, help the Cardinals beat the Tigers in the 2006 World Series.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">After Weaver came other talented NWL-related Tigers. <strong>Andy Dirks<\/strong>, a member of the NWL\u2019s Brainerd Blue Thunder in 2006 and 2007 won the \u2018Silver Glove\u2019 award in his 1<span class=\"s1\"><sup>st<\/sup><\/span> season with the Blue Thunder and also was named a Post-Season All-Star in 2007. Dirks holds a Northwoods League record after reaching base safely in 52 consecutive games. His 52-game streak broke the previous record of 50 set in 1995. He was called up by the Tigers in 2011 and played parts of three seasons in Detroit. Dirks is currently a color commentator for the Detroit Tigers TV broadcast team. Former Mankato MoonDog <strong>Ryan Kreidler<\/strong> made his Major League debut for the Detroit Tigers in 2022.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Curtis Granderson<\/strong>, who in 2001 graced Northwoods League ballparks as a member of the Mankato Mashers, was an American League All Star for the Detroit Tigers. Major League Baseball players bestowed Granderson with their highest honor by voting him as the 2009 Marvin Miller Man of the Year. He also previously served as the face of the Northwoods Foundation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\"><strong>Max Scherzer<\/strong>, a former La Crosse Logger, has played for the Tigers and won multiple awards, including two World Series \u2013 2019 and 2023. He came to the Tigers via a trade from the Diamondbacks in 2009, and d<\/span><span class=\"s3\">uring his five-year tenure in the Motor City, Scherzer made the American League All-Star Team twice and won the 2013 American League Cy Young Award. He also helped the Tigers win four consecutive\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s4\">American League Central<\/span><span class=\"s3\">\u00a0titles from 2011 to 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p5\">And to add a Seis player to the Cinco List, former Leprechaun <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=macdon000zac\"><strong>Zach McDonald<\/strong><\/a>, who was drafted last season and is working his way through the Tigers\u2019 minor league system with his eye on Comerica Park.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The NWL has filled Major League Baseball rosters with top talent and there\u2019s more where that came from. To see the Major Leaguers of tomorrow, today, check out the Royal Oak Leprechaun <a href=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/schedule\/\"><span class=\"s5\">schedule<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">For a complete list of Detroit Tigers NWL alumni over the years, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/?s=Detroit+Tigers\"><span class=\"s5\">https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/?s=Detroit+Tigers<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Mark H. Stowers The special Cinco de Mayo Celebration evokes other \u201cgreat Cinco sets\u201d worth celebrating but with a  [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.5 (Yoast SEO v26.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cinco De Tigers: 5 Northwoods League Alums Who Became Detroit Tigers - Royal Oak Leprechauns<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/2025\/05\/05\/cinco-de-tigers-5-northwoods-league-alums-who-became-detroit-tigers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cinco De Tigers: 5 Northwoods League Alums Who Became Detroit Tigers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Mark H. Stowers The special Cinco de Mayo Celebration evokes other \u201cgreat Cinco sets\u201d worth celebrating but with a [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/2025\/05\/05\/cinco-de-tigers-5-northwoods-league-alums-who-became-detroit-tigers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Royal Oak Leprechauns\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-05T22:04:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leps Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leps Admin\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/2025\/05\/05\/cinco-de-tigers-5-northwoods-league-alums-who-became-detroit-tigers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/2025\/05\/05\/cinco-de-tigers-5-northwoods-league-alums-who-became-detroit-tigers\/\",\"name\":\"Cinco De Tigers: 5 Northwoods League Alums Who Became Detroit Tigers - Royal Oak Leprechauns\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-05T22:04:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/#\/schema\/person\/8efef23bbece1a20320d663e068bdb18\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/2025\/05\/05\/cinco-de-tigers-5-northwoods-league-alums-who-became-detroit-tigers\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/2025\/05\/05\/cinco-de-tigers-5-northwoods-league-alums-who-became-detroit-tigers\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/2025\/05\/05\/cinco-de-tigers-5-northwoods-league-alums-who-became-detroit-tigers\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cinco De Tigers: 5 Northwoods League Alums Who Became Detroit Tigers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/\",\"name\":\"Royal Oak Leprechauns\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/#\/schema\/person\/8efef23bbece1a20320d663e068bdb18\",\"name\":\"Leps Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0a638cc05f6073d45d2998a9be9368a06c0d41a7a9748628b4274c9f6002b567?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0a638cc05f6073d45d2998a9be9368a06c0d41a7a9748628b4274c9f6002b567?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Leps Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/author\/danny\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cinco De Tigers: 5 Northwoods League Alums Who Became Detroit Tigers - Royal Oak Leprechauns","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/2025\/05\/05\/cinco-de-tigers-5-northwoods-league-alums-who-became-detroit-tigers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cinco De Tigers: 5 Northwoods League Alums Who Became Detroit Tigers","og_description":"By Mark H. Stowers The special Cinco de Mayo Celebration evokes other \u201cgreat Cinco sets\u201d worth celebrating but with a [...]","og_url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/2025\/05\/05\/cinco-de-tigers-5-northwoods-league-alums-who-became-detroit-tigers\/","og_site_name":"Royal Oak Leprechauns","article_published_time":"2025-05-05T22:04:15+00:00","author":"Leps Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Leps Admin"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/2025\/05\/05\/cinco-de-tigers-5-northwoods-league-alums-who-became-detroit-tigers\/","url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/2025\/05\/05\/cinco-de-tigers-5-northwoods-league-alums-who-became-detroit-tigers\/","name":"Cinco De Tigers: 5 Northwoods League Alums Who Became Detroit Tigers - Royal Oak Leprechauns","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-05-05T22:04:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/#\/schema\/person\/8efef23bbece1a20320d663e068bdb18"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/2025\/05\/05\/cinco-de-tigers-5-northwoods-league-alums-who-became-detroit-tigers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/2025\/05\/05\/cinco-de-tigers-5-northwoods-league-alums-who-became-detroit-tigers\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/2025\/05\/05\/cinco-de-tigers-5-northwoods-league-alums-who-became-detroit-tigers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cinco De Tigers: 5 Northwoods League Alums Who Became Detroit Tigers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/#website","url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/","name":"Royal Oak Leprechauns","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/#\/schema\/person\/8efef23bbece1a20320d663e068bdb18","name":"Leps Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0a638cc05f6073d45d2998a9be9368a06c0d41a7a9748628b4274c9f6002b567?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0a638cc05f6073d45d2998a9be9368a06c0d41a7a9748628b4274c9f6002b567?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Leps Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/author\/danny\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18177"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18178,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18177\/revisions\/18178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}