Detroit: City of Champions (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing))

Professional sports have played an important part in the history of the people and the City of Detroit since the turn of the century. Detroit sports teams have given the city a unique identity and provided the means to gain both a sense of community pride and a unity of spirit. At no other time was this more evident than during the decades from the 1920s through the 1950s, when Detroit teams rose consistently to the top of their individual professions. In 1935, the three professional sports teams in Detroit accomplished a remarkable feat by each winning their respective league titles and going on to capture the World Championships of baseball, football, and hockey, earning for the City of Detroit the honored sobriquet of “City of Champions.” Here began a close and lasting relationship between Detroit sports teams and their fans.