Detroit Tigers, Champions of the American League in 1907, photo by Boston Public Library.

We’re not going to be able to say the same thing 102 years later, but the 2009 Detroit Tigers certainly played well above preseason expectations.

The photo above shows the 1907 Detroit Tigers, who won the AL pennant but lost to the Chicago Cubs:

Top row, left to right: John Eubanks, Claude Rossman, Sam Crawford, Bill Donovan, George Mullin, Ed Willett, Fred Payne and Ed Killian. Center: Davy Jones, Red Downs, Ty Cobb, Bill Coughlin, Germany Schaefer, and Elijah Jones. Front: Ed Siever, Jimmy Archer, Hughie Jennings, Boss Schmidt and Charley O’Leary.

See this bigger in the ridiculously awesome McGreevey Collection slideshow (view collection) from the Boston Public Library.

The collection consists of early Boston baseball photographs dating from 1875 to 1916. Represented are many of the most important ballplayers of the 19th and early 20th century including Cy Young, Ty Cobb, Mike “King” Kelly, Kid Nichols and many others. Also included are panoramic photos of the ballparks of the era including the Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston and the Polo Grounds in New York. The centerpiece of the collection is a series of photographs related to the first World Series in 1903 between Boston and Pittsburgh.