Willie Horton Marquee

b. October 18, 1942 · Detroit Tigers 1963–1977, Texas Rangers 1977, Cleveland Indians 1978, Oakland Athletics 1978, Toronto Blue Jays 1978, Seattle Mariners 1979–1980

Willie Horton played left field for the Detroit Tigers for fifteen seasons before closing out his career as a designated hitter across five more clubs in a short span, retiring in 1980.

He hit 325 home runs and batted .273 over 2,028 games, driving in 1,163 runs, a power-hitting career built largely in one city before its final well-traveled stretch across the American League.

He took the Outstanding DH Award twice, in 1975 and 1979, and was a Sporting News All-Star on two occasions.

He earned four All-Star selections, from 1965 to 1973. Arno, Virginia produced him, on October 18, 1942, and he batted and threw right-handed.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	4	1965, 1968, 1970, 1973
Outstanding DH Award	2	1975, 1979
Player of the Week	2	1975, 1976
The Sporting News All-Star	2	1968, 1975
Player of the Month	1	1976
The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year	1	1979

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1963	DET	15	43	6	14	2	1	1	4	0	8	2	.326
1964	DET	25	80	6	13	1	3	1	10	11	20	0	.163
1965	DET	143	512	69	140	20	2	29	104	48	101	5	.273
1966	DET	146	526	72	138	22	6	27	100	44	103	1	.262
1967	DET	122	401	47	110	20	3	19	67	36	80	0	.274
1968	DET	143	512	68	146	20	2	36	85	49	110	0	.285
1969	DET	141	508	66	133	17	1	28	91	52	93	3	.262
1970	DET	96	371	53	113	18	2	17	69	28	43	0	.305
1971	DET	119	450	64	130	25	1	22	72	37	75	1	.289
1972	DET	108	333	44	77	9	5	11	36	27	47	0	.231
1973	DET	111	411	42	130	19	3	17	53	23	57	1	.316
1974	DET	72	238	32	71	8	1	15	47	21	36	0	.298
1975	DET	159	615	62	169	13	1	25	92	44	109	1	.275
1976	DET	114	401	40	105	17	0	14	56	49	63	0	.262
1977	DET/TEX	140	523	55	151	23	3	15	75	42	117	2	.289
1978	CLE/OAK/TOR	115	393	38	99	21	0	11	60	28	69	3	.252
1979	SEA	162	646	77	180	19	5	29	106	42	112	1	.279
1980	SEA	97	335	32	74	10	1	8	36	39	70	0	.221
Career	—	2028	7298	873	1993	284	40	325	1163	620	1313	20	.273

On this day & linked events

1942

Born October 18, 1942

Arno, VA, USA

1963

Major-league debut: Willie Horton

Willie Horton made a major-league debut on September 10, 1963.

1970

Willie Horton's Three-Home-Run Game, 1970

Willie Horton hit three home runs for the Detroit Tigers against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 9, 1970.

1977

Willie Horton's Three-Home-Run Game, 1977

Willie Horton hit three home runs for the Texas Rangers against the Kansas City Royals on May 15, 1977.

1980

Final major-league game: Willie Horton

Willie Horton played a final major-league game on October 5, 1980.

Image: John Rice, CC BY 2.0