August 15 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Roberto Novoa pitched in 16 games for Tigers in 2004.   He did not start a game and only pitched a total of 21 innings.  In his debut he gave up a single and a double iln the only two batters he faced.  However, he was given 1/3 of an inning pitched as the runner who got the single was thrown out trying to steal second.  He did record a win with the Tigers.  He came in to a game against the Red Sox in relief of Mike Maroth with the bases loaded and the Tigers winning 3-2.  He walked Kevin Youkilis and recorded a blown save.  He then struck out the next four batters, Orlando Cabrera, Manny Ramirez, Jason Veritek and Kevin Millar.  The Tigers came back and scored a run and Roberto snatched a win from Mike Maroth.  Before the next season started Roberto was traded to the Cubs with Scott Moore and Bo Flowers for Kyle Farnsworth.  He got up to the majors in 05 and 06 with the Cubs but was in the minors after that and last year appears to be his last year in pro ball when he was in the Mexican League.

Chris Brown ended his major league career as a Tiger in 1989.  He had started his career with the Giants in 1984 and became a starting third baseman for them in 1985 and 1986 when he was an all star.  Half way through the 1987 season he was traded by the Giants to the Padres with Keith Comstock, Mark Davis and Mark Grant for Dave Dravecky, Craig Lefferts and Kevin Mitchell.  He never quite got it going with the Padres and they soon dealt him to Detroit with Keith Moreland for Walt Terrell in 1989.  In Detroit he played 17 games as a third baseman and hit .193.  He missed a lot of games for bizarre reasons and hit teammates thought he was a malingerer.  He was released shortly after reporting to the Tigers that he had missed a game because he had “slept on the wrong eye”. After baseball he was a driver of diesel fuel tanker trucks in Iraq for Halliburton.  He was part of a convoy where several other drivers were killed.  He returned to the US and he died on December 26, 2006 from burns he suffered about a month earlier in a vacant house he owned in Texas.  It has never been determined if the fire was an attempted homicide or not. 

Duffy Dyer finished his major league career as a back up catcher in 1980 and 1981.  He had been in the majors since 1968 when he made his major league debut with the Mets.  He was primarily a back up his entire career.  With the Mets he backed up Jerry Grote.  Later with the Pirates he backed up Manny Sanguillen and in Montreal he backed up Gary Carter.  The Tigers picked him up in a trade for Jerry Manuel.  For Detroit Duffy hit .185 in his back up roll to Lance Parrish.  He was released in May of 1981 by the Tigers and his professional baseball career was over.

Arlo Brunsberg was a major leaguer for the Tigers in 1966.  He made his major league debut as a late season call up on September 23, 1966.  In the bottom of the seventh in a game against the Twins in Minnesota, he came in as a defensive replacement for Bill Freehan.  He did not make an error nor did he throw out any runners.  He had one at bat and lined out to Zoilo Versalles at short.  The Twins won the game 12-4.  His next game was about a week later when he was brought into the last game of the season against the Kansas City Athletics and Catfish Hunter.  He came in the fifth inning as a pinch hitter for pitcher Fred Gladding.  Arlo was hit by pitch.  He was stranded at first.  He came up to bat one more time in the 7^th and hit into a fielders choice.  Those two games were the extent of his major league career.  He never got a hit.   He did not commit an error nor did he get a chance to throw out a runner. 

Barney Schultz was pitcher for the Tigers in 1959.  This was a single season that was separated by time in the minors both before and after.  His most recent major league experience prior to the one year in Detroit was 1955 when he pitched his first season in the bigs with the Cardinals.  He had been sent to minors after 1955.  He was traded for another minor leaguer in 1958 and did not get up to the Tigers until 1959.  He went 1-2 with the Tigers in 13 games and posted a 4.42 ERA in 13 games without a start.  He was sent to the  Cubs in 1960 but did not get back up to the majors until 1961.  He did manage to stay in the bigs until 1965 and stayed in baseball in the minors until 1966 when he was 39.  In his seven years he played in the majors he posted a 20-20 record.  In the 21 seasons or partial seasons in the minors he posted a 155 and 168 record.

Joe Casey played three seasons in Detroit from 1909 through 1911.  This was after he had spent three years at Boston College.  He was a back up catcher to Boss Schmidt in Detroit.  He hit a wopping .170 with Detroit in those three seasons compared to Boos Schmidt’s .243.  Joe did manage 5 RBI’s in his 108 plate appearances for Detroit.  He also hit three doubles and stole a base.  Sometimes you have to take what you can get.  Joe went on to play professional ball in the minors into 1924 with one brief sojourn back up to the majors in 1918 when he played 9 games for the Washington Senators. 

Jack Warner split part of two seasons with the Tigers in 1905 and 1906.  He started his major league career in 1895 with the Boston Beaneaters as a catcher.  He played another ten years with the Louisville Colonels, New York Giants and Boston Americans before 1905 when he split time with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Tigers.  He started the season with St. Louis and sold to the Tigers for $1,500 in August of 1905.  He played 36 games with the Tiges that year and hit .202.  In 1906 he started the season with the Tigers and played 50 games hitting .242 before being sold to the Senators where his major league career ended in 1908.