Robert Edgar Willett, sometimes known by the nickname "Farmer", was a right-handed American baseball pitcher. He played professional baseball for 17 years from 1905 to 1921, including ten seasons in Major League Baseball with the Detroit Tigers of the American League from 1906 to 1913 and the St. Louis Terriers of the Federal League from 1914 to 1915. In 274 major league games, Willett compiled a 102–100 win–loss record with 142 complete games, an earned run average (ERA) of 3.08, 600 strikeouts, and 695 assists in 1,773 innings pitched.

The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central Division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit as a member of the minor league Western League in 1894 and is the only Western League team still in its original city. They are also the oldest continuous one name, one city franchise in the AL. Ty Cobb, who played his first season with Detroit in 1905, later became the first Tiger to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.