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Tigers' Magic Number Is 9

Thanks to a dramatic walk off home run by Brandon Inge with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Tigers won their eighth straight game and decreased their magic number to clinch the Central Division to nine games. 

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Nine is also the number Eric McNair wore in 1941 and 1942 for the Tigers. Like Inge, McNair was a third baseman (although he switched to shortstop in '42). Also like Inge this year, McNair hit below the Mendoza line (.186 and .162 respectively) and was nicknamed Boob. McNair had one home run in a little less than two seasons with the Tigers, and I'd like to think it was as dramatic and awesome as Inge's was today.  

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Despite McNair's rotten time with the Tigers, he was a career .274/.318/.710 hitter and actually received MVP votes in three different seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, and Philadelphia Athletics.