Authentic Thursday
Willie Horton career helmet
Horton wore this helmet for his first MLB game as a Tiger on April 10, 1963 and for his entire fifteen-year career with the Tigers. It was a “Tigers’ blue” and carried the revered Old English D on the front. In early 1977, Horton was traded to the Texas Rangers and the helmet was re-painted a “Rangers’ blue” and the Old English D emblem was changed to a T. The color of the helmet changed five more times as Horton moved from team to team and adopted that team’s color. As the color changed, a new emblem was added to the helmet to reflect the new team’s logo. Horton‘s last major league game was played October 5, 1980 as a Seattle Mariner. In 1981, he was dealt to Texas, but after Spring Training he was released, and he signed a minor league contact with the Pittsburg Pirates. All this time he wore the same helmet. When the helmet is flipped over, the original “Tigers’ blue” is still visible.
After playing briefly in the Mexican League, in 1983 Horton retired from playing baseball. Horton served as coaches for the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics and Detroit Tigers. In 2001, Horton accepted a front office position with the Tigers and is currently special assistant to the president.
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