Willie Horton

Trivia

• Since 2003, Horton has served as a Special Assistant to Tigers President/CEO/General Manager Dave Dombrowski. Former Tigers teammate Al Kaline also holds this position, and the two threw out the first pitch of the 2006 World Series at Comerica Park.
• On July 15, 2000 Horton became just the sixth former player given the ultimate honor by the Detroit Tigers; a statue of Horton was placed in Comerica Park and his number 23 was retired, joining a select group that includes former Tigers players Ty Cobb (who didn't wear a number), Charlie Gehringer (number 2), Hank Greenberg (number 5), Al Kaline (number 6), and Hal Newhouser (number 16).
• Horton played two more years in the Pacific Coast League and another season in Mexican baseball. Among his baseball superstitions was his use of the same batting helmet throughout his career; he repainted it when he changed teams. After retiring, he coached for the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox.
• His 325 home runs in the AL placed him behind only Harmon Killebrew (573), Jimmie Foxx (524), teammate Al Kaline (399), Rocky Colavito (371) and Joe DiMaggio (361) among right-handed hitters.
• He played his final major league game on October 5, 1980. In an 18-season career, Horton posted a .273 batting average and .457 slugging average with 1993 hits, 284 doubles, 1163 RBI, 873 runs and 20 stolen bases in 2028 games.
• His record of 646 at bats was broken by Alex Rodriguez in 1998; Horton remains one of only four Mariners to have played the full 162 games in a season.
• His Mariners record of 106 RBI was broken by Alvin Davis in 1984, his marks of 180 hits and 296 total bases were broken by Phil Bradley in 1985, and his record of 29 homers was broken by Gorman Thomas in 1985.
• On June 5 against the Tigers he hit what seemed to be his 300th career home run, but it struck a speaker hanging from the roof of the Kingdome and bounced onto the field for a single; he would collect #300 the next day against Jack Morris.
• In 1979 with the Mariners he was again named the AL's Outstanding Designated Hitter after hitting .279 with 29 HRs and a career-high 106 RBI, and he received the Comeback Player of the Year award as well.
• He spent 1978 playing for the Cleveland Indians, Oakland Athletics and Toronto Blue Jays, before finally settling with the Seattle Mariners from 1979-80.