Alexis Gomez played for the Tigers in 2005 and 2006. He was an outfielder and DH for the
Tigers. The Tiges picked him up off of
waivers from the Royals in 2004. We gave
him free agency and then resigned him later in 2005. For the 2006 Tigers he hit .272 with 21 K’s
in 103 at bats. He was selected for the
post season roster and went 4 for 9 against the Athletics with a home run in
game two off of Esteban Loaiza. However
in the World Series against the Cardinals he did not fair as well going
0-3. He never played again in the majors. Today you will find Alexis playing for the
Diablos Rojas del Mexico of the Mexican League as a 32 year old utility player
from the Dominican Republic.
Mike Ivie played for the Tigers in 1982 and 1983 as a
DH/1B. He hit .229 for the Tigers with
14 homers in 301 at bats. He came to us
after playing for the Astros and Padres before Randy Smith was the GM! He had been a starting first baseman for the
Padres from 1975 thru 1977 when he was traded to the Giants for Derrel
Thomas. The Giants traded him to the
Astros for future Tiger Dave Bergman and Jeff Leonard. After the Astros released him the Tigers
signed him as a free agent.
Frank Howard, “Hondo”, was a member of the 1972 Tigers who
won the AL East flag. He came to Detroit
after playing for years as a Washington Senator and making the move with the
Senators to Texas to become the Rangers.
The Tigers purchased him from the Rangers but he was traded to the
Senators in a block buster deal at the time that sent Claude Osteen and John
Kennedy to the Dodgers for Hondo, Ken McMullen, Phil Ortega, Pete RIchert and
Dick Nen. The Dodgers got a solid
pitcher in Osteen and the Senators made out with Frank as their starting left
fielder and McMullen as their starting third baseman for years to come. But Frank did not last too long in
Detroit. He only played 14 games for the
Tigers in 1972 and was not eligible for the playoffs and then played the 1973
season as a DH. He hit .256 with 12
homers. But frank was known for his
power. He led the AL in homers in 1968 and 1970 and also led the AL in RBI’s in
1970 as well as walks. I saw him years
later in the late 1980’s at Yankee Stadium when he was a coach for the
Mariners. Jay Buhner and some of the
other Mariners were having a ball having Frank hit pop ups that towered over
anything I have ever seen. As the ground
crew was breaking down BP they players were still begging Frank to hit some
more for them to shag.
Marlin Stuart pitched for the Tigers from 1949 until he was
traded to the Browns in 1952. He went
10-11 for the Tigers in that time with a 4.96 ERA. The Tigers traded him to the Browns with Don
Lenhardt, Dick Littlefield and Vic Wertz for Bud Black, Jim Delsing, Ned Garver
and Dave Madison. This trade went
through even though Marlin would end up leading the league that season. Then again, maybe it was because he ended up
leading the league that he was traded.
Marlin led the league for most errors by pitcher that season and he only
pitched 117 innings that season.
Ken Holloway pitched for the Tigers from 1922 thru
1928. He was used mainly as a reliever
ad spot starter in that time. But he did
make it into the rotation in 1923 and 1927 as the number 3 and 4 starter. His best year had to be in 1924 when he went
14-6 with a 4.07 ERA. In 1926 Ken led
the league in a category that Marlin Stuart was not thinking of in 1952. Ken led the league in fielding percentage as
a pitcher with a perfect 100%. At the
end of the 1928 season he was traded with Jackie Tavener to the Indians for
George Uhle. He finished his major
league career in 1930 sharing the season with the Indians and the Yankees and
posting a combined record of 1-1 with a 6.72 ERA..
Jack Smith played for the Tigers in 1912. He led the league that year in fielding
percentage for third baseman with a perfect 100%. Of course he only had three chances. But he was flawless. He also was able to say that no pitcher ever
stuck him out. In fact, Jack never
struck out in his entire professional career.
That is because Jack’s professional career lasted all of one game. In 1912 Ty Cobb was suspended for beating up
a fan. His teammates felt the suspension
was not justified and so they struck. In
order the Tigers to field a team they ran around Philadelphia gathering as many
players as they could and 18 year old Jack Smith became a major leaguer. The league told the Tigers if they did not
get back to work they would all be in serious trouble and Ty told them all to
go back to work and he would serve his suspension. So the Tigers went back to work and Jack
Smith was no longer a major leaguer. But
for one day Jack was a big leaguer and never recorded and out at the plate (he
had no plate appearances) and was perfect in the field with a 100% fielding
percentage in 3 attempts.
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