Detroit Tigers Who Appeared on the Wheaties Cereal Box

Wheaties was created in 1921 thanks to a sloppy technician at the Washburn Crosby Company.  He accidently spilled some wheat mixture on a hot stove which turned this stuff into a crisp layer. Cleaning it off the stove made little flakes which were tasted – and a lightbulb went off over their heads. “Gee -we could probably sell this stuff!”

After three years of processing, it was ready for the public in November 1924, as “Washburn's Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes”. They realized the name was too long and clunky, so they held an employee contest to re-name it. After losers like “Nutties”, the name “Wheaties” won, thanks to the suggestion of Jane Bausman the wife of a company manager.

The sports connection began in 1927 thanks to it's ads on the wall of the Nicollet baseball park in Minneapolis. The cereal soon became the sponsor of the radio broadcasts, cementing its sports connection. The first sports figure to be put on the box was Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees, in 1934.

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So – With the almost countless sports figures who have been on the cover of the Wheaties box, just how many of them were Detroit Tigers?
CHARLIE GEHRINGER (1938)
HANK GREENBERG (1947)
GEORGE KELL (1951)
TOM TRESH (1964)
KIRK GIBSON (2005)

Other Tigers who appeared, but with unknown dates:
SPARKY ANDERSON
BEAU BELL
TOMMY BRIDGES
MICKEY COCHRANE
GOOSE GOSLIN
HEINIE MANUSH
HAL NEWHAUSER
RAYMOND RADCLIFF
GERALD WALKER
RUDY YORK

So that's it? After over 100 years, only fifteen Tigers made the Wheaties box?
That's downright shameful.

Here are other Detroit Tigers who should have been on the Wheaties box and deserved to be:
HANK AGUIRRE
STEVE BOROS
GATES BROWN
BILLY BRUTON
JIM BUNNING
MIGUEL CABRERA
NORM CASH
TY COBB
ROCKY COLAVITO
SAM CRAWFORD
CHICO FERNANDEZ
BILL FREEHAN
PURNAL GOLDY
HARRY HEILMANN
WILLIE HORTON
AL KALINE
CHET LEMON
MICKEY LOLICH
JERRY LUMPE
DICK McAULIFFE
DENNY McLAIN (legal problems aside)
JACK MORRIS
BUBBA MORTON
JIM NORTHRUP
RAY OYLER
BUBBA PHILLIPS
MIKE ROARKE
MICKEY STANLEY
ALAN TRAMMELL
DIZZY TROUT
BOBBY VEACH
JUSTIN VERLANDER
DON WERT
VIC WERTZ
LOU WHITAKER
EARL WILSON
JAKE WOOD

It's not too late to add some of these Tigers posthumously...after all, they did it with Babe Ruth and a few others. I mean, how could they overlook Al Kaline? Or Ty Cobb??? That's scandalous.

C'mon, Wheaties.

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