Tigers slugger Willie Horton was
honored with a declaration and
street naming by Detroit City
Council on Wednesday, May 22,
2019. West Canfield Avenue at
the John C. Lodge Service Drive
(M10) has been renamed Willie
Horton Drive. (Photo by Carlos
Osorio/AP News)
Willie
Wattison
Horton
is the
youngest
of
twenty-one
children
of James
Horton
and his
wife
Lillian
(Wattison)
Horton.
He
(Willie)
had
seven
children
with his
wife
Gloria.
(Photo
by HB
Meeks/Tell
Us USA
News)
Tigers
great
Willie
Horton
gets
street
named in
his
honor By
Wendell
Bryant
Tell Us
Detroit
DETROIT
- Tigers
slugger
Willie
Horton
was
honored
with a
declaration
and
street
naming
by
Detroit
City
Council
on
Wednesday,
May 22,
2019.
West
Canfield
Avenue
at the
John C.
Lodge
Service
Drive
(M10)
has been
renamed
Willie
Horton
Drive.
Willie
Wattison
Horton
is the
youngest
of
twenty-one
children
of James
Horton
and his
wife
Lillian
(Wattison)
Horton.
He
(Willie)
had
seven
children
with his
wife
Gloria.
A former
left
fielder
and
designated
hitter
in Major
League
Baseball
who
played
for six
American
League
teams,
primarily
the
Detroit
Tigers.
He hit
20 or
more
home
runs
seven
times,
and his
325
career
home
runs
ranked
sixth
among AL
right-handed
hitters
when he
retired.
He
enjoyed
his best
season
in 1968
with the
world
champion
Tigers
where
his
pinpoint
throw
from
left
field,
nailed
Cardinals
baserunner
Lou
Brock at
home in
Game 5
of the
World
Series.
That
year he
also
finished
second
in the
AL with
36
homers,
a .543
slugging
average,
and 278
total
bases.
In later
years,
he was
twice
named
the AL's
top
designated
hitter.
Horton,
also a
civil
rights
advocate
is also
known
for his
urging
calm
during
the
height
of
Detroit
civil
unrest
in 1967
from on
top of a
car
while
dressed
in his
Tigers
uniform.
Since
2003,
Horton
has
served
as a
Special
Assistant
to
Tigers
President/CEO/General
Manager,
originally
Dave
Dombrowski,
and now
Al
Avila.
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.
For
the
ninth
consecutive
year,
the
state of
Michigan
recognized
one
man's
ability
to
overcome
obstacles
and
achieve
a
lifetime
of
success
when
"Willie
Horton
Day" was
celebrated
on
Thursday,
October
18,
2012.
Horton
is the
fourth
person
in
Michigan
history
to be
given a
day,
with the
third
being
Rosa
Parks.
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