Canfield
Street
at Lodge
Expressway
to be
renamed
Willie
Horton
Drive
DETROIT
– The
Detroit
City
Council
today
approved
the
intersection
of
Canfield
Street
and the
John C.
Lodge
Service
Drive to
be
assigned
the
secondary
name of
Willie
Horton
Drive.
Secondary
street
signs
will be
placed
above
the
original
street
name to
signify
the
dedication.
Willie
Horton
lived at
three
locations
along
Canfield,
including
the
Jefferies
Projects.
He also
played
baseball
at Poe
Elementary
School
field,
now
called
William
Clay
Ford
Field,
located
at 1200
West
Canfield
St.,
west of
John C.
Lodge
Service
Drive.
To
honor
Detroit
Tigers
legend
and
“Hometown
Hero,”
Willie
Horton,
a
ceremony
will
take
place on
Wednesday,
May 22
at noon.
The
youngest
of 21
children,
Horton
was born
on
October
18, 1942
in Arno,
Virginia.
At the
age of
nine,
Horton’s
family
moved to
Detroit.
By 13,
he was
turning
the
heads of
area
baseball
scouts
and on
August
6, 1961,
he
became a
member
of his
hometown
team
when he
signed
his
first
professional
contract
with the
Tigers
after an
outstanding
career
at
Detroit’s
Northwestern
High
School.
His
18-year
big
league
career
included
14
seasons
with the
Tigers
and he
was an
integral
part of
the 1968
World
Championship
team. A
lifetime
.273
hitter,
Horton
collected
1,993
hits,
325 home
runs and
1,163
RBI over
2,208
games.
Horton
currently
serves
as a
Special
Assistant
to
Tigers
Executive
Vice
President
of
Baseball
Operations
and
General
Manager
Al
Avila.
Among
the many
honors
he has
received
in his
lifetime,
Horton’s
uniform
number
23 was
retired
and a
statue
in his
likeness
was
unveiled
by the
Tigers
on July
15, 2000
and
stands
among
the
Tigers
Hall of
Famers.
On
August
6, 2004,
Detroit
Northwestern
High
School
named
their
newly
constructed
baseball
and
softball
fields
as the
Willie
Horton
Baseball
and
Softball
Diamonds.
A
monument
in
Horton’s
honor
was
installed
at the
fields
in 2005.
Also, in
2004,
former
Governor
Jennifer
Granholm
signed
House
Bill No.
5200,
which
permanently
declared
October
18 of
each
year to
be known
as
“Willie
Horton
Day.” On
June 14,
2006,
the Army
honored
Willie
with one
of the
highest
military
awards
given to
a
civilian,
the
Order of
Saint
Maurice.
He was
the
first
professional
athlete
to earn
the
honor
and his
loyal
support
and
distinguished
contributions
have
been
ongoing
for many
years to
our
military.
Additionally,
Horton
sponsors
a $5,000
scholarship
that is
awarded
annually
to a
high
school
senior
from his
alma
mater,
Detroit
Northwestern
High
School.
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