October 29 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Karim Garcia was an outfielder in the “lost years” of the 1990’s for the Tigers.  He signed out of Mexico with the Dodgers in 1992 at the age of 16.  The following year, at the ripe old age of 17, he made his pro debut with the Dodgers Bakersfield club which was class A+.  He led the team in homers with 19.  He was second on the team in K’s with 109.  His .241 batting average was 12^th on the team.  He was again in A+ ball in 1994 and hit 21 homers with 112 K’s and a .265 average.  In 1995 he jumped up to AAA with the Albuquerque Dukes and hit a respectable .319 with the same power he had showed previously win 20 homers and 102 K’s.  The Sporting News named him Minor League Player of the Year.   The Dodgers figured they should give ht kid a look see and called him up in September.  He got in 13 games and hit .200 with only 4 singles and 4 K’s.  1996 and 1997 were basically the same for Karim.  He spent most of the season in the minors and had only a token appearance in the majors that was not very productive.  At the end of the 1997 season Karim was left unprotected in the expansion draft and the Arizona Diamondbacks selected Karim as their 9^th overall pick.  1998 saw Karim in the majors as the number 4 outfielder.  He hit only .222 and had 9 homers and K’d 78 times to 18 walks.  At the end of the season the Tigers Randy Smith traded Louis Gonzalez to the Diamondbacks for Karim.  This was an odd deal for Randy as it did not involve the Padres or Astros nor a catcher.  Karim was again the number 4 outfielder in Detroit.  The lefty hit .240 in Detroit that first year with 14 homers and 67 K’s to 20 walks.  His best game in Detroit was probably on Sept 14 when he went 4 for 4 with 2 homers and a double with 3 RBI’s.  In 2000 the Tiges moved to a new ball park.  He moved along with them.  He was with the Tigers on opening day but after only 3 hits in 8 games and all the hits were singles the Tiges sent the 24 year old down to Toledo.  In 40 games Karim was hitting .297 with 15  homers and only 32 K’s with 11 walks.   But the Tiges pulled the plug on the Garcia experiment and traded him to the Baltimore Orioles.  Karim spent the next 4 years being signed and released by the Indians, Yankees, Indians again, Yankees again, Mets and finally Orioles again.  After 2004 Karim never played in the majors again.  Instead he went over to Japan and Korea where he played with the Lotte Giants and Hanwha Eagles (I never saw either of those teams play) before settling in the Mexican League.  In 2014 Karim hit .264 with 16 homers and K’s 53 times to 27 walks.  He was 38. 

Greg Gohr was on the mound for most of his career as a Tiger.  He was drafted by the Tiges out of Santa Clara University in the first round of the 1989 draft.   He was a right handed starter and made his way up the Tiger farm system until he made the opening day roster in 1993.  He made his debut in the third game of the season when Sparky Anderson called on Greg to stop the bleeding.  John Kiely was struggling  as Kiely had just given up 2 runs on two walks, an error and a single to reduce the Tiger lead over the Oakland A's to a mere 6-5 lead.  Runners were at the corners with only one out when Greg stepped on the mound.  Greg gave up two balls before he threw his first major league strike.  It also became his first major league hit allowed, homerun allowed and blown save.  The next batter came up and hit a line drive to left for a single.  The third batter grounded out for Greg's first batter retired.  Greg gave up a walk, a single and another walk before he was pulled.  Final line for his debut was 1/3 of an inning pitched, 5 runs on 5 hits, 2 walks and an ERA of 135.00.  Oh, and don't forget the blown save.  However, if you take out the inauspicious debut from Greg's stats for the rest of the season he has a 4.03 ERA in 15 games out of the pen with an 0-0 record.  In 1994 Greg got his first win when he was called in to pitch the 12th of a 6-6 game in Milwaukee's County Stadium.  He allowed a walk and a single but did not give up run.  Travis Fryman hit a double to drive in Juan Samuel, Tony Phillips and Lou Whitaker to give the Tigers the lead and eventually Greg's first win.  Greg went 2-2 that season with a 4.50 ERA.  He was 1-0 in 1995 with 0.87 ERA in 10.1 innings pitched.  In 1996 Greg was struggling a bit with a 7.17 ERA and a 4-8 record as part of our starting rotation when the Tiges sent him to the California Angels for Damion Easley.  Greg got in 15 games for the Angels that season.  On September 27, 1996, Greg was called in to face Kirt Stillwell with runners on first and second and two outs.  Greg struck him out looking on 4 pitches.  It was his only save as an Angel and the last time he pitched in the majors.  He was 28.  In four years he won 8 games while losing 11 and had a 6.21 ERA and 2 saves.

Darrell Brown started his major league career as a Tiger.  He was drafted by the Tigers in 1977 out of Cal State LA.  He worked his way up the minors hitting well but without a lot of power.  He also tended to K at a rate about double of his walks.  He made the roster coming out of spring training in 1981 and in the third game of the season he was called in to pinch run for Steve Kemp in the 7^th of a 2-0 game with the Tiges leading.  Kemp had just hit a triple off of Dave Stieb.  Stieb was pulled and Richie Hebner hit a single off of Jerry Garvin scoring Darrell.  Darrell came up to bat in the 8^th and K’d.  In the 9^th a fly ball was hit to Darrell in left and he caught it for the second out of the inning.  That was the extent of Darrell’s debut.  He got in 4 more games for the Tiges for the Tiges that April but did not get hit.  He was sent back down to AA Birmingham and hit .212 in 19 games.  He was promoted to AAA Evansville where he hit .270 but with only 1 homer and 46 K’s to 12 walks in 101 games.  He was called up again at the end of the 1981 season.  He appeared in 11 games without a start.  On October 1 he was called on to pinch hit for Mick Kelleher.  The Tiges trailed 5-4 to the Orioles and Tom Brookens was on first after a walk with 2 outs.  Darrell successfully bunted and reached first while Brookens moved to second.    It was his first hit as a Tiger.  Unfortunately Alan Trammell popped up to short to end the game.  Darrell never got another plate appearance as a Tiger.  He was traded to the Oakland Athletics with minor leaguers Mark Fellows and Jack Smith for Jeff Cox and Scott Meyer.  Neither would ever play for the Tigers.  Darrell played 8 games before being released at the end of the season.  He was picked up by the Twins and was their starting center fielder for 1983.  He hit .272.  In 1984 he was the 4^th outfielder for the Twins.  He hit .273 with only 1 homer.  He was released in spring of 1985 and never played in the majors again.  For his major league career he was a .274 hitter with only 1 homer and 47 K’s to 25 BB’s.  He played another 11 years in the minors before turning to scouting. 

Kip Young spent his entire time in the majors with the Tigers.  He was born in Ohio and went to play college ball with Bowling Green State University in Ohio.  He played four years there before the Tigers drafted him in the 1976 amateur draft.  He signed and went into the minors.  He quickly worked his way up the Tigers farm system so that in 1977 he was already playing for the Tigers AAA team, the Evansville Triplets where he was 4-4 with a 4.03 ERA.  In 1978 he was again in Evansville and was 11-3 with a 3.02 ERA as a starter when he was called up to replace Bob Sykes in the Tigers rotation.  The rotation that year was Jim Slaton, Milt Wilcox, Dave Rozema, Jack Billingham and Kip replacing Bob in July.   In his debut he was called out of the bullpen to replace Steve Foucault in a game against the California Angels in the 10^th inning of a 2-2 game.  Kip sent the Angels down 1-2-3 in the 10.  But in the 11^th he gave up a double to Carney Lansford and then after a wild pitch gave up a single to Lymon Bostock that scored Lansford.  Bostock himself scored later on single by Brian Downing.  Kip would get the loss but would not come out of the bull pen any more for the rest of the season.  He would make 13 starts for the Tiges and post a 6-7 record with a 2.81 ERA and 7 complete games!  The Tigers under Ralph Houk had 60 complete games that season.  He struggled in 1979 and was splitting time between the starting rotation and the bull pen.  He ended the season 2-2 with a 6.39 ERA and was sold to the Mariners at the end of the season.  Kip would bounce around the minors thru 1982 but never again made it back to the majors.    

Happy Finneran was briefly a Detroit Tiger.  He was a minor league pitcher starting in 1911 with the Norfolk Tars of the Virginia League.  He won 21 games that first season and was 18-15 in 1912 when he was given chance at the majors with the Philadelphia Phillies.  He got in 14 games at the end of the season and was 0-2 with a 2.53 ERA.  He spent most of 1913 at Lowell of the New England League and was 14-2 and was again given another shot with the Phils. He got in only 3 games for the Phils pitching only 5 innings without a decision.  In 1914 Happy jumped to the newly formed Federal League.  The Federal League was a Major League that was started to rival the American and National Leagues.  They had 8 teams in places like Baltimore, Buffalo, Indianapolis and Kansas City that did not have major league teams.  They also took head on the AL and NL with teams in St. Louis, Brooklyn, Pittsburgh and Chicago.  Many players jumped from the AL and NL to the FL for more money and for better treatment by the owners.  Happy joined the Brooklyn Tip-Tops in 1914.  Happy was their number three starter going 12-11 with a 3.18 ERA on team with a combined 3.33 ERA.  But the AL and NL were putting the squeeze on the FL.   The AL and NL teams promised the players they would drop the reserve clause.  But they were very slow to actually do anything.  After the season the Federal League started an antitrust lawsuit against the AL and NL.  The case went before a Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis who was said to be death to monopolies.  He had broken up Standard Oil in 1907.  In 1915 the FL struggled and Indianapolis moved to Newark in while the lawsuit languished before Judge Landis.    Happy in the meantime had become the Tip-Tops ace getting 24 starts with 12 complete games and going 10-12 with 2.80 ERA.  After the season the Federal League folded and thus dropped the law suit.  Judge Landis had still not ruled.  The AL and NL settled outside the courts with the FL and allowed the St. Louis Terrapins owner to buy the St. Louis Browns and the Chicago Whales owner was allowed to buy the Chicago Cubs.  He moved his newly purchased Cubs into his FL ballpark which he had previously named after himself, Weeghman Park.  Today we know that park as Wrigley Field.  But the Baltimore franchise was not happy and filed another antitrust lawsuit.  From that lawsuit baseball was ruled a “sport” by the Judge and not subject to antitrust laws.  The AL and NL kept the reserve clause on the books for another 50 plus years.  Players like Happy had to find new teams to play for.  He found he was back in the minors.  In 1918 Happy was finally back in the majors and this time with Detroit.  His first game was against a great Chicago White Sox team.  He was called in to stop the Sox who had scored 2 runs in the 9^th to make the score 7-3 with no outs.  Happy held the Sox scoreless and got the save.  Happy got in 4 more games for the Tiges with 2 starts.  He lost both starts and was 0-2 with a 9.88 ERA.  In May the Tiges sent him to St. Paul of the American Association.  Five days later the New York Yankees purchased Happy’s contract which was possible under the reserve clause.  He faced the Tigers 3 times in the remainder of the season but only recorded one decision, a loss in one of his last games.  After the season Happy never pitched in the majors again.  The following year, the Chicago White Sox threw the World Series due to poor treatment by the owners.  The owners created a new position in baseball, the Commissioner of Baseball.  They appointed one Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis. 

Frank Browning started his pro baseball career in 1906 as a right handed pitcher for the Waco Navigators of the Texas League.  He was 21-12 in 1908 when he left Texas for San Francisco of the Pacific Coast League.  He was 9-2 with San Fran before the season ended giving him a combined record of 30-14.  In 1909 he was 32-16 for San Fran with a league record 16 game winning streak and a no hitter.  This was enough for the Tigers to give Frank a try.  He played for the Tigers at the beginning of the season and got into 11 games, 6 as a starter.  He was 2-2 with a 2.57 ERA on a team with a 2.82 ERA.  He struck out 16 while walking only 10.  But by the end of May he was done pitching in the majors.  He went back to San Fran and was 9-14 for the rest of the season while putting up a very respectable 2.07 ERA.  He play one more year in San Fran before going back to Texas and ending his pro career in 1916 back in the Texas League.

October 28 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Jeremy Bonderman started his career as a Tiger in 2003. He had come to Detroit in a steal of a deal. In a three way deal we sent Jeff Weaver off and welcomed Carlos Pena, Franklyn German and Jeremy. He was a starting pitcher from the get go. In 2003 he was 6-19 with a 5.56 ERA on a very bad Tiger team that was 43-119. Jeremy was the number three starter behind Mike Maroth and Nate Cornejo. Maroth would earn the dubious distinction of losing 21 games. Jeremy came close. Neither deserved that distinction as both had more K’sthan walks and showed control and ability but had little run support and defensively the team allowed extra runs per game that would be charged to their ERA. In 2004 he was the number four starter in a rotation of Maroth, Jason Johnson, Nate Robertson and Jeremy. In 2006 Jeremy had a solid year to help the Tiges to the pennant. Kenny Rogers and Jeremy started more games than any other pitchers in the league. Jeremy had his best year at 14-8 with a 4.08 ERA and a solid post season with a stellar clinching game against the Yankees that will be remembered by any fan who was there. Jeremy pitched 8.1 innings and gave up only two runs on five hits and one walk. He struck out four and the biggest celebration I have witnessed in Detroit ensued. I took my son to the game and after the celebration on the field the players went into the dugout and we headed out thinking it was over. No one was on the concourse and we heard a roar from the crowd. We went back in and saw that the Tiger players had come back out on the field with champagne and were spraying the fans and bringing the fans into the celebration! Jeremy was never able to repeat his 2006 performance and after 2010 he was released. He was out of baseball for 2 years.  No, he was not in the minors, he was out.  But in 2013 he made a comeback.  He signed with the Seattle Mariners and was 1-3 with a 4.93 ERA and the Mariners released him in July.  The Tiges signed him and he got another chance with the Tiges.  In 2013 he was 1-1 with a 6.48 ERA in 11 games in relief and was released at the end of the season.  But I will forever remember Jeremy Bonderman for that game against the Yankees.

Bob Melvin got his start in the major leagues with the Tigers.  He started in the Tigers farm system as a 19 year old in 1981.  By 1985 he was hitting .271 in Nashville and was brought up to Detroit and split the role of back up catcher to Lance Parrish with Marty Castillo.  Melvin was strong defensive catcher but hit only .220 without a lot of power in 41 games.  Marty was even weaker at the plate with a .119 average and was even weaker for power.  So neither was really a suitable back up.  At the end of the season the Tigers got their back up.   They traded Bob, and Juan Berenguer for Matt Nokes and Eric King, and Dave LaPoint.  Matt became the solid back up that would replace Lance and Bob became the Giants back up.  In 1988 he found he was the starter only to be traded to the Orioles where again he was the back up but this time to Mickey Tettleton.  Bob bounced around with the Royals, Red Sox, Yankees and White Sox but was never the starting catcher.  He was done as a player in the majors in 1994 and in the minors in 1995.  He became a manager in the majors and actually made his managerial debut at a Tiger skipper when Phil Garner was suspended in 2000.  He moved on to Seattle and may have earned the fastest ejection from a game when he was ejected while exchanging the line up cards.  He started arguing with umpire crew chief Joe West about a call from the night before and was tossed before the game started.  He moved on to the NL and won manager of the year honors with the Diamondbacks.  As it happens with all managers he was fired a couple years later.  This year he was named interim manager for the Athletics.  I have not heard if interim has been removed from the title or not.


Liz Funk was the starting center-fielder for the Tigers in 1930.  He had been in the minors for four years before he got into one game for the Yankees in 1929.  He did not make a plate appearance.  He was the starting center-fielder for the Tigers the very next season.  He hit .275 and was solid defensive outfielder.  Despite his play in 1930 he was in the minors in 1931 with the Louisville Colonels.  He made it back to the majors in 1932 and 1933 with the White Sox.  He hit .258 for the Sox.  He bounced around and dropped in and out of baseball until 1941 when he was finally out of baseball altogether.  If you are wondering, his given name was Elias Calvin Funk.


Johnny Nuen turned the only unassisted triple play in the history of the Tigers.  He started his pro baseball career in 1920 and worked his way up the minors until he was called to start the season with h Tigers in 1915.  He was a back up first baseman behind Lu Blue and the switch hitting Johnny hit .265.  Johnny was again the back first sacker in 1926 and 1927 behind Blue.  But on May 30^th, 1927 Jimmy Cooney Jr. turned an unassisted triple play for the Chicago Cubs against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  It was only the 6^th time it had been done in major league history.  The very next day Johnny was playing first.  With the Tigers holding a very thin lead of 1-0 in the 9^th.  Glenn Myatt led off the inning as a pinch hitter and drew a walk.   Charlie Jamieson then got on base so the Indians had runners on first and second with no outs.   Homer Summa then came to the plate.  He hit a line shot to Johnny at first.  He then tagged Jamieson who was leading off first and the Johnny headed to second base as Glenn Myatt was already rounding third.  Johnny was heard all over the ball park yelling out “unassisted triple play!  unassisted triple play!”  It took the fans a moment to realize that Johnny had just saved the game in one play.  When the did they started cheering.  An unassisted  triple play has only been turned 8 times since Johnny and Jimmy did it on back to back days.  Johnny went on to make another unusual record about a month later when in New York he had five hits and five stolen bases in one game.   Johnny continued to be the back up first baseman for the Tiges through 1928.  In his time in Detroit he .288 with no homers and only 51 RBI’s.  After Detroit, Johnny went to the Boston Braves in the rule 5 draft.  He had similar results at the plate with the Braves but did not turn a triple play.  After his time in the majors as a player Johnny went to the minors as a player manager.  He lead the Norfolk Tars and then the famed Newark Bears to the league titles.  He then was a coach for the New York Yankees before managing the Yanks in 1946 and then the Cincinnati Reds in 1947 and 1948.  After that he went on to scout in the majors for 40 years.  In 1986 he finally had a conversation with Jimmy Cooney when Sports Illustrated set up a conference call between the two.  He died four years later short of his 90^th birthday.

October 27 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Brent Clevlen was considered a hot prospect when he first came on that scene as a Tiger. He first came up in 2006 from AA Erie when things were going well for the Tiges. He had been hitting only .230 in Erie when he was called up. In his debut he faced our rival Twins and went 2 for 3 with a double and a walk. Hs scored two runs and threw a runner out at home to end the first inning from center field. We thought we had the next Willie Mays. For the season he hit .282 with three homers in 39 at bats. However, it did not and the feelings for Brent in Detroit tempered after 2006. In 2007 he got in 13 games and was 1 for 10. In 2008 he was in only 11 games but had more at bats but still went 5 for 24 for a .208 average and no homers. But he hit .279 in Toledo with 22 homers. So there was still interest in him. In 2009 he was in Toledo and hitting .265 with 16 homers. But the Tigers released him. He signed with the Braves and in 2010 he was in four games and went 1 for 4. The Braves released him and he has bounced around the minors. He played for the Wichita Wingnuts of the independent American Association in 2014 and 2015.  He hit .372 with 20 homers and a .447 OBP in 2014 and was on an ungodly pace of .444 in 2015 for 11 games before he went to Puebla of the Mexican Leagues which is a step up from Witchita.  He hit .301 in 108 games.  He is 32 today so you may still see Brent back in the majors. But not likely with Detroit.

Jason Johnson pitched two seasons with the Tigers in 2004 and 2005. He had pitched in the majors for parts of seven seasons with the Pirates, Devil Rays and Orioles before coming to Detroit. He was 34 and 53 with the O’s over five seasons with an ERA of 4.84 as a starter. The O’s released him after 2003 and the Tigers signed him. In 2004 he was the number two starter behind Mike Maroth. He was 8-15 with a 5.13 ERA on Tiger team that was 72-90. He was back with the Tigers in 2005 and it was more of the same. He was the number two starter behind Mike Maroth and was 8-13 with a 4.54 ERA on team that was 71-92. He was granted free agency at the end of the year and signed with the Indians. In June he was purchased by the Red Sox and in August released. He was signed by the Reds and finished the season on his third team of the season. He played briefly with the Dodgers in 2008 before playing his final season in the pros in the Yankees minor league system.

Bip Roberts was winding down his career when he came to Detroit.  He had played in the majors for 11 seasons before his brief stay with the Tiges.  He had played seven seasons with the Padres, two with the Reds, one and half with the Royals and a half with the Indians.  He played a bit of everything but mainly second base and outfield.  He was a singles hitter and a good base stealer.  He was an all star one year for the Reds in 1992.  The Tigers picked him up as a free agent from Cleveland at the end of the 1997 season.  He lasted only until June 23 when he was traded to the Athletics for Jason Wood.  For Detroit he got in 34 games as mainly a DH.  He hit .248 with 6 stolen bases.  Bip finished the season with the Athletics and then his playing days were done.  Today he is the cohost of the Giants Pre Game shows on cable.

Bob Patrick got into 9 games for the Tigers over two seasons.  He had started in the minors in 1938 with the Alexandria Aces of the Evangeline League.  He moved on to Beaumont in 1940 and then on to Buffalo in 1941.  He made his debut at the end of the 1941 season as a left fielder against the White Sox and went 1 for 4.  A few games later he got his second and final hit of the season against the White Sox again and this time he scored a run as well.  He started the 1942 season with the Tigers and was in opening day as a pinch hitter but did not get on base.  A week later against the White Sox again, he hit a homer to win the game 2-1 in the eighth.  He got a double and drove in two runs against the Browns and then the next day he got one at bat and recorded an out and a walk.  I believe Bob left baseball and went in to the military after that as it was 1942.   He never played ball again in the majors or minors and he is buried in Fort Smith National Cemetery. 

George Smith pitched from 1926 thru 1929 for the Tiges.  He was 17-5 with a 3.99 ERA at AA level Toronto in 1925.  Toronto, while not a farm team of the Tigers, fed a lot of players to the Tigers.  On the 1925 Maple Leafs were future 1926 Tigers, Sam Gibson, Clyde Manion, Charlie Gerhinger and George.  In George’s major league debut he faced the first place Cleveland Indians in April.  He was called into the game in the 7^th with the Tiges trailing by 10.  He gave up one run on three hits.  He would not get into another game until June.  He would not get a decision until July when he took a loss against the Washington Senators when he pitched the last five innings of game against Walter Johnson.  The game was tied 7-7 when he was called from the pen.  George gave up 3 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks but did get a K.  His K tied Walter Johnson’s single K for the game as well.  George got his first win In September when he was called in to pitch the last 6 innings against the St. Louis Browns.  The Tigers were down 3-1 after 3 innings.  George did his part by not allowing a Brown run to score while his teammates scored five.  Five days later George got his first start.  Unfortunately he lasted only 2/3’s of an inning.  The Chicago White Sox scored 3 runs off of 4 hits given up by George and he was pulled.  He would end his first season at 1-2 with a 6.95 ERA.  George would continue this for the rest of his major league career.  He was used mainly in relief and over 4 years with the Tiges posted a 9-6 record with a 4.90 ERA.  He only had 5 starts in 105 games with Detroit.  He last pitched for the Tiges in July of 1929.  He went out to Seattle to finish the 1929 season with the Pacific Coast League Seattle Indians.  He was picked by the Boston Red Sox for the 1930 in the Rule 5 draft.  He went 1-2 for the Sox and his major league career was over.  He would pitch 3 more years in the minors before his baseball career was over. 

Frank Okrie pitched for the Tiges in 1920. He started his professional baseball career in 1919 with London of the Michigan Ontario League.  He was with Detroit at the beginning of the 1920 season.  In his major league debut when he was called in to finish an ugly game.  The Tigers were behind the Indians 11-3.  Frank pitched the last inning and faced the top of the Indians batting order.  He got Jack Graney, Ray Chapman and Tris Speaker out 1-2-3.  About 2 months later he got his first major league start.  He faced Carl Mays and the New York Yankees.  He pitched a complete game but lost 7-5 to the submariner Mays.  About a month later he was called in from the bull pen to face the Yankees again.  The Tiges trailed 3-1.  He got the Yanks out without a run and the Tiges went on to score 3 runs in the 9^th to give Frank his first and only win in the majors.  His last game was August 4, 1920.  Less than 2 weeks later, the same Carl Mays that beat Frank in his one and only start faced the same Indians of Frank’s debut.  Carl came in with a submarine pitch that struck Ray Chapman, Frank’s second batter ever faced, in the head.  Chapman would die from the beaning becoming the only major leaguer to be killed in a game.  Frank would pitch three more seasons in the minors before his baseball career was over.  He had two sons that played pro ball.  Len was a catcher for the Red sox and Senators in the 1940’s and 50’s Tom who was in the St. Louis Browns farm system in the 1940’s. Frank died in 1959 and is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Clarence Huber played third base for the Tigers in 1920 and 1921.  He started his pro baseball career in 1916 with the Mexia Gassers of the Central Texas League.  He moved to the Paris Survivors of the Western Association to end the season and hit a combined .249 playing shortstop.  He missed 1917 and 1918 while in the military during World War I.  He returned from the military and went to play ball in Greenville, SC with the Greenville Spinners of the South Atlantic League.  He hit .353 and .290 over two seasons while making the transition from short to third.  The  Tigers called him up in September.  In his debut he played the whole game at third against the Boston Red Sox.  He 0-4 but walked twice and scored a run.  He got in 11 games for the Tiges that season and got 9 hits in 42 at bats for a .214 average.  He was back in Detroit for the beginning of the season and was a defensive replacement on opening day.  He did not get an at bat and never got in another game for the Tigers.  Instead he went back to the minors until 1925 when he joined the Philadelphia Phillies for the 1925 and 1926 seasons as their starting third baseman.  He hit only .266 for the Phils during those two seasons and was back in the minors for the rest of his career which ended in 1930. 

Julius Willigrod started his major league experience with the Detroit Wolverines in 1882.  He had first played pro ball with the Omaha Green Stockings of the Northwestern League in 1879 and was with the San Francisco Knickerbockers in 1881.  In 1882 he made his debut in a July game against the Cleveland Blues as a shortstop.  It had only been 3 months since Jesse James had been killed.  Julius went 1 for 3 in the game which was a 4-1 loss to the Blues.  He never played another game with the Wolverines but instead played 9 more games for the Blues he had debuted against.  His major league and professional experience was done about a month later.  For the Blues Julius was 5 for 36 giving him a career average of .154 with 2 RBI’s.  He died in 1906 in San Francisco, three years before the great earthquake. 

October 26 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Hugh Shelley started in the Tigers organization in 1932 playing in class D and then B ball.  He started with the Class D Moline Plowboys of the Mississippi Valley League and moved up to the Decatur Commodores by the end of the season.  He was an outfielder who hit .275 in his minor league time.  He continued to move up and in 1935 was hitting .284 for the Beaumont Explorers when he got that call up to the Tigers and made his debut as a pinch hitter against the Senators in Detroit.  He replaced Schoolboy Rowe who was not having a good day.  Hugh came in and got a single off of Leon Pettit but would not get any further than first base.  That would be his first of two hits in his career.  He got an RBI on his second hit.  He played with the Tigers from the end of June until his last appearance which was the last game of the season, after the Tigers had clinched the pennant.  In those months Hugh rode the bench most of the time.  He only got in 7 games and had only 8 at bats.  In 1936 he was back in Texas with the Fort Worth Cats and then up to the Toledo Mud Hens.  He continued to play in the minors until 1946 when he was again with the Beaumont Explorers.  But this time he was the property of the Yankees.  He died in Beaumont in 1978. 

Roy Moore joined the Tigers partway thru the 1922 season.  He was a left handed pitcher who pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics for two and a half years before coming to Detroit.  His best season was 1921 when he was 10-10 with Philly with a 4.51 ERA.  However, Roy was a bit wild.  He led the league that year in wild pitches and was second in the league in walks.  After going 0-3 for the Athletics and hitting three batters in 15 games, he was sold to the Tiges in July of 1922. For Detroit he went 0-0 in 9 games and 19.2 innings.  He posted a 5.95 ERA but continued to be wild at an alarming rate.  He hit 5 batters in the 19.2 innings with Detroit.  This put him tied for 10^th.  Detroit had the top three pitchers hitting batters and the number five and Moore.  You would expect no less for a club managed by the great intimidator himself, Ty Cobb.   However, the pitchers ahead of Roy did it many more innings.  Roy led the league in hit batters per inning.  Roy played part of 1923 with the Tiges.  Three games in fact.  He did not win a game and did not hit a batter in the 12 innings he pitched for the Tiges.  Roy was done in the majors after 1923 but stuck around in the minors for a couple more years and tried his hand at managing in the minors as well.

“Lefty” Ed High surprisingly, was a left handed pitcher for the inaugural 1901 American League Tigers first.  He was pitching in Hampton, VA in 1900.  In 1901 he was pitching for the Newport News Shipbuilders.  Then he went to the New Orleans Pelicans before getting call to the Tigers.   He debuted for the Tigers on the Fourth of July against the Milwaukee Brewers at the Lloyd Street Grounds in Milwaukee.  Milwaukee was one of the original American League teams in 1901.  But they finished a poor 8^th place at 48-89.  The next year they moved to St. Louis and became the Browns.  Ed pitched in four games for the Tiges and won one game.  He posted a 3.50 ERA in 18 innings pitched.  He gave up 21 hits in those innings and walked six.  Less than ten days after his last appearance the Tigers released Ed.  Ed would never pitch in the majors again and was done in baseball after playing again for the New Orleans Pelicans in 1902.

Kid Gleason played on the 1901 Tiger team with Ed High.   Kid had been in the National League since 1888 playing with the Phils, St. Louis Browns, the famed Baltimore Orioles and the New York Giants before jumping from the Giants to the Tiges.  Kid started his playing career as a pitcher and in 1890 was 38-17 for the Phils and occasionally played the outfield.  When he got the Orioles under Ned Hanlon he started playing second base.  This was because the pitchers mound was moved back and this ended Kid’s pitching career.   A successful second baseman, Kid was the starting second baseman for the first two years of the Tigers as a major league team.  He anchored the middle infield with Kid Elberfeld who was at short.  The two of them led the team in RBI’s.  Elberfeld with 76 and Gleason with 75.  He was traded by the Tigers after the 1902 season to the Giants but did not play for them.   Instead he found himself playing for the Phils again.  He stayed there thru 1908.  He started coaching for the White Sox in 1911 and played one in 1912 with the Sox becoming one of the few players to play in four decades.  Kid took over as manager of the Sox in 1919.  1919 was the year of the Black Scandal.  Kid was done managing in 1923 and became a coach for the Philadelphia Athletics and stayed there until his death in 1933.

October 25 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Wilkin Ramirez got his start in the majors as a Tiger in 2009.  He had spent six years in the minors before getting a call in May of 2009.  He was DH.  In his first at bat he struck out against Matt Harrison of the Rangers.  He came up again in the third and struck out again.  He came up in the 6^th and poked a shot into deep center for his fir major league hit, RBI and home run.   He was sent back down to Toledo and hit .258 with 33 steals before getting brought up again in August.   He stayed around for the rest of the season. He started two more games with the Tigers and went 0 for 3 against the Orioles and 2 for 3 against the Royals with two runs, a RBI and a triple.   The rest of the games he was used as a pinch runner mainly and an occasional pinch hit.  He was back in AA Erie and back up to AAA Toledo in 2010 before he was traded to the Braves for a player to be named later or cash.  In 2011 he was up with the Braves in May, June and July and hit .231 with 0 steals and 2 RBI’s.    He was granted free agency and in signed with the Minnesota Twins.  In 2013 he was up with the Twins for 35 games as an outfielder and hit .272 with 6 RBI’s.  His problem that seems to have really shown up in 2013 is a ratio of 3 walks to 23 K’s.

Joe Siddall was a back up catcher for the Tigers in 1998.  He had spent parts of three seasons in the majors prior to coming to Detroit.  He spent 1993 and 1995 with Montreal and had five hits in 30 at bats.  He became a free agent and signed with the Marlins in 1995.  For the Marlins he was got 7 hits in 47 at bats.  He was again a free agent and bounced around before getting back into the majors after signing with the Tigers as a free agent for the 1998 season.  He did not do too much different in 1998 hitting 12 hits for the Tiges in 65 at bats.  His career average was .169 and his average as a Tiger was .185. 

Al Cowens played one and half seasons with the Tigers in the early 1980’s.  He had spent six years with the Royals and was a good defensive outfielder and hit .270 with some speed on the bases as well.  He was traded to the Angels for the 1980 season but only lasted a couple months before the Tigers traded fan favorite and power hitting Jason Thompson for Al.  Al finished the 1980 season as the top fielding right fielder in the league and hit .280.  He had a feud with former Tiger pitcher Ed Farmer that came to a head in 1980.  Farmer had hit Cowens with a pitch the year before playing with the Royals and fractured Al’s jaw.  Al was out for 21 games.  Farmer had also hid Frank White and put him out for 33 games.   At a game in Chicago Al hit a grounder off of Farmer and while Farmer watched the ball get tossed to first for the out, Al charged the mound and Farmer.  Al was suspended seven games and Farmer filed a complaint and an arrest warrant was issued for Al.  The charges were later dropped after Al agreed to shake hands with Farmer.  In 1981 he was the Tiges starting center fielder but hit .261 with only 3 steals.   Before the 1982 season started he was sold to the Mariners.  He played five seasons with the Mariners hitting .255 before his major league career was over.   He died in 2002 at the age of 50 of a heart attack.

October 24 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Macay McBride

Dave Johnson

George Bullard

Jack Russell

Hugh High

Heinie Smith

Chief Sockalexis was not a Tiger but he is my favorite for today.  He is the man that the Cleveland Indians are named after.  He was actually the first person to cross the color line in the National League.  He was a member of the Penobscot Indian tribe of Maine.  Here is a great quote about him in his SABR bio that can be found on his baseball-reference page.  http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sockach01.shtml

“His presence in the lineup increased attendance both at Cleveland's League Park and on the road. He was a sensation, though many fans bought tickets to jeer at the first Native American ballplayer in major league history. "Columns of silly poetry are written about him, [and] hideous looking cartoons adorn the sporting pages of nearly every paper," commented Elmer Bates on May 15 in Sporting Life. "He is hooted and bawled at by the thimble-brained brigade on the bleachers. Despite all this handicap the red man has played good, steady ball, and has been a factor in nearly every victory thus far won by Tebeau's team." “

But a severe drinking problem ended his career shortly after it began.  He only played in 94 games over three seasons but his talent shown through. 

Again, from the same SABR bio:” 

Cleveland's American League team (which began play in 1900) had been called the Naps in honor of playing manager Napoleon Lajoie, but when Lajoie left the team after the 1914 season, a new nickname was in order. In January 1915, team owner Charles Somers, after consulting with several local sportswriters, decided to revive the name that had defined the city's National League club 18 years before. Somers, perhaps recalling the all-too-brief period of excitement that Louis Sockalexis had brought to Cleveland in 1897, dubbed his team the Indians, a name that remains to this day.

October 23 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Denny Bautista should not be confused with Danny Bautista who was a Tiger outfielder in the mid 1990’s.  Denny was a right handed cousin of Pedro Martinez and Ramon Martinez.  However, Denny did not achieve the same success as cousin Pedro.  Denny started his major league career in 2004 with the Baltimore Orioles.  He played two games with Baltimore before being sent to Kansas City that same year.  In KC he was 0-4 in 5 starts.  KC brought him back in 2005 and in 7 starts he was 2-2 with a 5.80 ERA.  Those two wins were his first wins of his career.  He split time in 2006 with KC and Colorado and won 2 more games for a career total of 4 in 2007 with Colorado.  After the 2007 season he was traded to the Tigers for Jose Capelian.  Jose had been 0-1 with a 6.43 ERA for the Tigers in a partial season with the Tigers as a member of the bull pen.  Denny was with the Tiges for the first half of the 2008 season and was 0-1 in 16 games with a 3.32 ERA also coming out of the pen.  So we got the better of the deal.  At the end of June in 2008 he was sent to Pittsburgh for Kyle Pearson.  Denny was off to the San Francisco Giants for part of 2010 where he won a World Series before ending his career in the Seattle Mariners farm system in 2011 at the age of 28.  His final MLB stats was a 11-15 record over 7 seasons and a 5.88 ERA.

Dwight Lowry

Jim Bunning will likely never be elected in the state of Michigan even after being a Tiger.  He was at Xavier University when the Tigers signed him in 1949.  He was given a $4,000 signing bonus and $150 a month.  He was also allowed to miss spring training for the next three years as he finished up college. 

Billy Sullivan Jr. was one of first father/son combos to play for the Tigers.  His father played one game as a catcher for the Tigers after a 16 year major league career.  Billy Jr. was told by his dad that a life in the minors was not a way to make a living in baseball.  So Billy went to college at Notre Dame while playing first base.  He was very busy in college and graduated in 3 years.  After college he was signed by the Chicago White Sox in 1931.  He was a lefty pull hitter and upon reporting to the Sox manager Donie Bush immediately threw Billy into a game starting in right field.  The next day he was shifted over to third base and became the Sox starting third baseman for the season.  In 1932 he was finally moved back over to his normal first base spot.  He hit .278 with the Sox over three seasons while earning his law degree from Notre Dame.  He was sent to Cincinnati and the Cleveland.  In Cleveland he learned to play catcher under Steve O’Neil.  The Indians then traded Billy for a more established catcher, Rollie Hemsley, of the lowly St. Luis Browns.  There he became the starting catcher in 1938 but it was for the Browns.  Billy was the starter for two seasons before being traded to the Tigers in January of 1940.  Enclosed are copies of the paperwork Billy received in the mail telling him he was no longer with the St. Louis club.  If people tell you baseball didn’t used to be a business you can tell them they are wrong.  Clearly this is not a very warm way to find you need to pack up your family and leave town.  For Billy it turned out to be a good thing.  On the Tigers was former St. Louis Browns pitcher, Bobo Newsom.  Bobo was very superstitious and while Billy was back up to Birdie Tebbets Bobo insisted that Billy catch his games as he did in St. Louis.  The Tigers won the AL Pennant and the pennant clinching game was a wild one in Cleveland.  Billy started the game and had to go the entire game after a Tribe fan dropped a peach basket of beer bottles on the head of Birdie Tebbets in the bull pen knocking him unconscious.  During the game Billy kept changing the signs every inning.  The Tigers were paranoid that their signs were being stolen.  This is probably due to the fact that they were stealing signs from the other teams with binoculars in the bleachers.    After the game Billy was immortalized in photos by hefting the Tigers starter that day, Floyd Giebel on his shoulders with Rudy York and carrying him off the field.  Billy started 3 games in the World Series, all of Bobo’s starts.  Thus Billy and his dad became the first father son combo to both play in a World Series.  Unfortunately Billy went 2 for 13 and the Tigers lost the series to the Reds.  Billy played one more year for the Tigers before being traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers.  In 1943 Billy joined the Navy for the duration of the war.  He war broke out and Billy went into the Navy.  After the war he gave baseball one more shot and joined his former Tiger teammate, Hank Greenberg on 1947 Pittsburgh Pirates before calling his baseball career over.  For his career Billy was a .289 hitter.  For his two seasons as a Tiger he hit .295. 

Jack Jones

October 22 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Drew VerHagen is probably someone none of you know as a Tiger.  He was drafted out of Vanderbilt where he helped them to a NCAA title.  He has been performing very well in our minors including a 3.67 ERA in 19 starts in Toledo in 2014.   The rightie was called up to the Detroit and made his major league debut on July 19 in Cleveland.  The Tiges had just taken 2 from the Dodgers, and then 3 out of 4 against the Royals before heading to Cleveland.  The Tiges dropped 3 out of 4 against the Tribe and Drew started the second game of the series.  He lasted 5 innings and gave up 3 runs on 5 hits.  He also walked 3 and K’d 4.  But the Tiger bats scored only 1 run in those 5 innings and Drew got tagged with a loss.  That was his only game to date as Tiger.  He went on the DL after that and finished the 2014 season on the DL with a back.  Maybe he will be part of the Tiger bull pen in 2015.

Brad Thomas has a very international flair to his baseball career ending as a Tiger.  Brad was born in Australia in 1977.   He played for Australia in the Sydney Olympics in 2000.  In 2001 he made his major league debut as a Minnesota Twin.  He started 5 games that season for the Twins but was 0-2 with a 9.37 ERA.  He spent 2002 pitching for AAA Edmonton in Canada.  He was back with the Twins in 2003 and 2004 pitching in 6 games for the Twins.  He was 0-1 for the two seasons combined.  In 2005 and 2006 he pitched in Japan.  In 2007 he was pitching in the Seattle Mariners organization but went to Venezuela to pitch winter ball.  This was followed by 2008 and 2009 when he pitched in Korea.  In 2010 he signed with the Tigers.  He had his best year in the majors in 2010 when he was 6-2 with a 3.89 ERA.  His first win came against his old team, the Twins, when he replaced Max Scherzer in the 4^th with the Tiges trailing 6-1.  The Tiges came back and scored 9 runs over the next couple of innings while Brad blanked the Twins.  After 2.1 innings of relief Brad was relieved by Phil Coke.  The final score was 11-6 Tiges with Brad the winner.  Brad returned to the Tiges in 2011 but his role was diminished.  He appeared in only 12 games as opposed to the 49 he appeared in during 2010.  His record was 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA.  At the end of the season he refused a minor league assignment by the Tigers and became a free agent but has not played pro ball since.

Chick Lathers was a Tiger 100 years before Brad Thomas was a Tiger.  Chick was born in Dearborn, MI as Charles Ten Eyck Lathers.  He went to Detroit Central High School and later the University of Michigan in 1909.  He signed with the Tigers and played with them in 1910 at the age of 21.  He got in 41 games and hit .232 playing second, third and short as a back up.  In 1911 he returned and hit .222 playing first, second, third and short in 29 games as a back up.  1912 found Chick playing with the Providence Grays of the International League.  He hit .313 and led the team in hits with 172.  But that was Chick’s last time playing pro ball.  He went to run his own dairy farm for years and died in Petoskey, MI in 1971.

Dan O’Leary is a colorful character who played one season with the Detroit Wolverines.  Dan’s exact year of birth is in question.  He was famous for telling grand stories of himself.  He identified his birth year as 1856 later in his career.  But this appears unlikely when compared to the rest of his life.  He was born in Detroit but moved to Chicago when as a fire fighter in Detroit his company went to help put out the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.  If Dan was born in 1856 he was 15 at the time of the fire.  While not unheard of, it is not very likely.  He started in baseball back in Detroit in 1876 with the Cass club.  In 1877 he may have started in Detroit as President of the Cass club and catcher but by the end of the season he was in Minneapolis playing for the Browns.  He made the majors with Providence Grays of the National League in 1879. He was in two games and went 3 for 7 getting 2 RBI’s and scoring a run.  He was in Boston in 1880 and was in 3 games there.  In 1881 he made it back to Detroit with the Wolverines.  But he only appeared in 2 games and went 0 for 8 with 2 K’s.  He also dropped a fly ball in the eighth that led to a Providence come back and victory over the Wolverines.  Dan also claimed to have found Hall of Fame slugger Sam Thompson.  Dan claimed to have found him playing for the local Danville nine while managing in Indianapolis and signed him to a contract with Indy and then sold him to Detroit the following year.  However, records show Sam was signed by Indy from Evansville where he had been playing under contract and then sold to Detroit.  In the end Dan played a total of 32 games over 5 years with 5 teams and had a .243 batting average.  

October 21 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Casey Fien pitched for the Tigers in two different stints although at first glance it looks like only one.  Casey was drafted out of college by the Tigers in 2006.  He worked his way up to a major league debut in 2009.  The rightie came in to relieve Zach Minor who had relieved Rick Porcello in a game against the White Sox.  The Tigers trailed 5-1.  Casey came in and pitched the last 2.1 innings and gave up only one walk while striking out 2.  He really showed great control as only two batters got more than 1 ball into the count.  But not all Casey’s games were that good.  He came in to pitch the bottom of the 13 of a game against the Indians.  He gave up a double to Jhonny Peralta and then a single to Jamey Carroll that scored Peralta and earned his only decision as a Tiger.  Casey pitched a total of 9 games and 11.1 innings for the Tigers with a 7.94 ERA.  The following March 1, the Red Sox picked up Casey off of the waiver wire from the Tigers.  Three days later the Blue Jays picked him off of the waiver wire from the Sox.  2 weeks later the Blue Jays released him and the Tigers then signed him as a free agent.  He played in two games for the Tiges in 2010 and in 2.2 innings gave up 3 runs on 4 hits.  The Tigers granted him free agency after the season and he was signed by the Astros who released him with a 2-2 record in AAA at Oklahoma City.  The Twinkies then picked him up for 2012 where he was 2-1 with a 2.06 ERA as a reliever.  In 2013 and 2014 Casey was still with the Twinkies and appeared in 181 games and is more effective against righties.  He was also 12-9 with a 3.54 ERA.  He would have been a welcome addition to our bullpen in 2013 and 2014.

John Flaherty came to Detroit in a swap of catchers.  The Tiges sent Rich Rowland to Boston for John in 1994.  He was the Tigers starting catcher in 1995 and 1996 until he was traded in one of the earliest trades Randy Smith made with the Padres.  Randy traded John with Chris Gomez to the Pads for catcher Brad Ausmus and Andujar Cedeno.  John hit .238 for the Tiges compared to his career average of .252.  He was not huge power hitter but he could hit a home run or two with 15 to his credit as a Tiger over the 193 games he played with the Tiges.  John went on to play for the Devil Rays, and Yankees and got in the post season with the Padres once and the Yankees twice.  He did not get on base in the post season.  His last year was 2005.

Franklin Stubbs ended his career a Tiger.  He had played 9 seasons in the majors with the Dodgers mainly but also spent some time with the Astros and Brewers from 1984 thru 1992.  He was a starting first baseman and outfielder who was a .230 hitter with some power but an awful lot of K’s to his credit.  He had a K to BB ratio of almost 3 to 1.  He was thought to be done in the majors in 1992 after playing with the Brewers.  He played 1993 in the minors for the Red Sox and then went to Mexico to play there for 1994.  The Tigers signed him for the 1995 season as a free agent.  For Detroit he hit .250 with 2 homers and 19 RBI’s.  He only got 116 at bats and the Tigers released him after the season.  He is a coach for the Chattanooga Lookouts today.

Mark Christman started his career as a Tiger third baseman and shortstop in 1938.  He was a .270 hitter in the Tiger minors for four years before he got his call to the big club.  For Detroit in 1938 he hit .248 with 1 homer and 44 RBI’s.  He was splitting duty with Don Ross at third.  Don hit .260 and also had 1 homer but was a poorer fielder.  Mark started the 1939 season with the Tigers again but only got in six games before being traded to the Browns in a blockbuster deal at the time with George Gill, Bob Harris, Vern Kennedy, Chet Laabs and Roxie Lawson for Beau Bell, Red Kress, Jim Walkup and Bobo Newsom.  Mark went on to be the starting third baseman on the St. Louis Browns only pennant winning team, the 1944 Browns.  He was the number two player for RBI’s on the team with 83 and hit .271 while finishing 11^th in MVP balloting.  He was sold to the Senators before the 1947 season started and his major league career was over after the 1949 season.  He went on to manage in the minors in the 1950’s. 

Bill Lelivelt pitched for the Tigers for two years over a hundred years ago.  He started with the Tigers in 1909 and appeared in 4 games and pitched one complete game for a loss.  His record in 1909 was 0-1 and he had an ERA of 4.50.  He did record a save in 1909 as well.  In 1910 he returned to the Tiges and started a game against the White Sox in Detroit.  He pitched the complete game but lost 4-0.  Only one of the runs was earned and he only gave up 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out two.  But the Tiges did not keep him and he was traded in July to Mobile with $2,800 for Frank Allen and George Suggs.  Bill never did make back to the majors but is brother, Jack, who also started his major league career in 1909 would play on in the majors thru 1914 with the Senators, Highlanders (Soon to be Yankees) and Naps (soon to be Indians).  Jack also would play in the minors as late as 1931 and he managed in the minors for 14 seasons, the last was 1940.  He died before the 1941 season started at the age of 55 in Seattle where he was managing.  

October 20 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Jose Veras was briefly a Tiger.  He was signed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998 at the age of 17 from high school in the Dominican Republic.  He was a starter in minors for Tampa but never amounted to much.  He struggled to ever get a ERA below 4.50 and was normally a .500 pitcher or below in the minors.  The Devil Rays never saw anything to bring him up to the majors and after 2004 he was granted free agency and signed with the Rangers.  He improved at Texas AAA team going 3-5 with a 3.79 ERA in the bull pen.  But Texas was not convinced and released him.  He was then signed by the Yankees who kept him in the pen and he bloomed to 21 saves with a 2.41 ERA at the Yanks AAA team in Columbus in 2006. The Yanks brought him up to the majors and was in their bullpen for 3.5 years.  He was never going to be the closer with Mariano Rivera but he did get in over 100 games and posted a 4.43 ERA for the Yanks.  In 2009 he was sold to the Cleveland Indians and started to bounce around the majors.  He has yet to play more than a season for any team since that time.  He has played with the Indians, Marlins, Pirates, Brewers and Astros before becoming a Tiger in 2013.  At the time he was traded to the Tiges in late July with a minor leaguer for player to be named later.  The player claimed was minor leaguer David Paulino.  Prior to the trade he had faced the Tiges and had earned a loss to the Tiges and a save.  With the Tigers he picked up a loss and 2 saves while putting up a 3.20 ERA.  The Tiges made the post season and this was enough that Jose made the post season roster.  He pitched 1.2 innings against the A’s in game 3 of the ALDS and did not allow a run.  He then pitched against Boston in almost every game.  In game 1 he faced 2 batters and K’d them both.  In Game 2 he got the first out of the 8^th and then gave up a double before he was pulled.  The runner scored.  In game 3 he struck out the only batter he faced.  In game 5 he pitched 1.2 innings and allowed only one hit while getting 2 K’s and not allowing a run.  But in game 6 he was brought in to face Shane Victorino with the bases loaded.  He gave up a grand slam before K’ing Dustin Pedroia.  He was then relieved as the Tigers lost the game and the series.  Jose was then released after the 2013 season despite a 3.20 regular season ERA and a decent post season with the exception of the grand slam.  In 2014 Jose started the season with the Cubs and was 0-1 with a 8.10 ERA.  He was released in June and the Astros signed him.  He then became the good Jose and was 4-0 with a 3.03 ERA.  Who knows what will happen in 2015.

Juan Gonzalez was a Tiger for one year.  He was a Rangers outfielder for 11 seasons before Randy Smith made one his few trades with a team other than the Padres or Astros.  He won the MVP twice at Texas and was an all star as well as won 5 Silver Slugger awards and the AL home run title twice.  The Tigers made a big deal out of trading Alan Webb (a minor leaguer), Frank Catalanotto, Francisco Cordero, Bill Haselman, Gabe Kapler and Justin Thompson for  Juan, Danny Patterson and Gregg Zaun at the end of the 1999 season.  He was going to lead the Tigers into the new ball park and hit lots of homer for us.  He lasted one year and hit .289 with 22 homers.  His lowest totals in 7 years.  At the end of the season he was granted free agency and the Tigers dropped his $7.5 million salary.  He signed with Cleveland for $10 million and eventually got back to Texas before ending up with the Royals and Indians for one last game in 2005.

Don Heinkel was a reliever for the Tigers in 1988.  He had worked his way up the Tigers chain for six years before he got his ticket up to the show.  He got in 21 games and pitched a total of 36.1 innings.  He had a decent K to BB ratio with 30 K’s and only 12 BB’s.  He did not get a decision but did get one save against the Seattle Mariners.  He posted a 3.96 ERA.  The Tigers released him at the end of the season and he signed with the Cardinals.  He was 1-1 with the Cards in 7 games with 5 starts.  He had a 5.81 ERA with the Cards.   He was done with the majors but did continue to pitch in the minors until 1993.

Dave Collins was a Tiger for one season in 1986.  He had bounced around for a few years starting in 1975 from the Angels, to the Mariners, to the Reds, to the Yankees, to the Blue Jays and then to the Athletics before he was traded to the Tigers for Barbaro Garbey.  He played the outfield for the Tigers and hit .270 with 1 home run and 27 RBI’s.  He was released at the end of the season.  His .270 average as a Tiger was not far from his career average of .272 and his 162 game average for homers was 3 to the 1 he got as a Tiger and his average for RBI was 36 compared to the 27 het got as a Tiger.  He went on to play for the Reds and Cardinals until 1990 when he was done as a player.  He did manage briefly in the minors in 2001 and 2007. 

Bill Froats was a Tiger pitcher in 1955.  He had attended Notre Dame before joining the Tigers in 1951.  He finally made it to the majors in 1955 and made his major league debut against the Indians as reliever in seventh inning of a game the Tigers trailed 8-3 at Cleveland.  He first faced Ralph Kiner and walked him.  Then Joe Altobelli hit a sac bunt to move Kiner to second.  He walked George Strickland before getting Jim Hegan to hit into a double play.   No runs, hits or errors for Bill.  The Tigers scored two in their half of the seventh and Bill came back in to pitch the 8^th.  He sent down Ray Narleski, Al Smith and Bobby Avila in order in the 8th.   The Tigers did not score in the top of the ninth and Bill’s time in the big leagues was over.   Bill died in 1998 but his autograph for some reason commands a great deal of money.  In recent auction his autograph went for over $1,000.  I have no idea as to why.

Bruce Campbell played outfield for the Tigers on the AL Champion, 1940 team.  He had spent a handful of games up with the White Sox for three years before going to the Browns and Indians as a starting right fielder.  He was a .300 hitter with average to below average power.   The Tigers picked him up in 1940 in a trade with the Indians that sent Beau Bell to Cleveland.  For Detroit in 1940 he hit .283 with 8 homers and 44 RBI’s in 103 games.  He had a very good World Series against the Reds hitting .360 with one homer and four RBI’s.  He returned to the Tiges in 1941 and hit .275 and 15 homers and 93 RBI’s but this time as a full time outfielder with Hank Greenberg in the Army.  The Tigers traded him to the Senators in December of 1941 with Frank Croucher for Jimmy Bloodworth and Doc Cramer.  Bruce would play one year with the Senators before going off to war.  When he returned in 1946 he was released by the Senators and played one last season in the minors hitting .270 before his career as a professional baseball player was over.

October 19 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Q. What current speedster, now playing for his fifth team in the majors, has stolen 40+ bases in four out of the previous five seasons?

Hint: He's well on his way to top that total again this year.

Hint: After three seasons in the minors, he switched from switch. He now bats only right-handed.

Twint: He got his first stolen base in the majors two weeks before he got his first hit.

Twint: Although he starred football and basketball as well, he chose baseball as a Huskie.

A. RAJAI DAVIS (23 SB in 71 G this year; Has played for PIT, SFG, OAK, TOR, DET; 1^st SB16-Aug-2006, 1^st H 29-Aug-2006; University of Connecticut Avery Point)

Dave Haas pitched for the Tigers in the early 1990’s. He played at Wichita State for four years before signing with the Tigers and working his way up the minor league system. He got a late season call up in 1991 and in his debut pitched 4.1 innings of relief against the powerful Oakland A’s and held them to two hits. He also struck out four including McGwire and Canseco and he got McGwire to hit into a double play as well. He got his first win and only for the season when he came in to a game in the 13^th with the Tigers having just taken the lead when Pete Incaviglia hit single to drive in Skeeter Barnes. But Dave gave up a run to the Orioles and had blown the save. But Mickey Tettleton hit a walkoff the next inning to give Dave the win. Dave was back with the Tigers in 1992 and used as a spot starter. He was 5-3 with a 3.94 ERA. He came back again in 1993 but was 1-2 as a reliever and posted a 6.11 ERA. He was done playing in the majors after that season but hung around in the minors for another four seasons. His career record was 7-5 with a 4.84 ERA all with the Tigers.

Mike Gardiner was a middle reliever for the Tigers in the early 1990’s. He started his career as a starter in Seattle and then later in Boston. He was their number two starter in 1991 and was 9-10 with a 4.85 ERA. But in 1992 the Red Sox added Frank Viola, Joe Hesketh and John Dopson so Mike was expendable. He was 4-10 with a 4.75 ERA but was traded at the end of the season with a minor leaguer to Montreal for Ivan Calderon. Mike was solid at AAA Ottawa and had a 2.16 ERA in five starts. But Mike never found his role in Montreal. He was used as a spot starter and a reliever and posted a 2-3 record with a 5.21 ERA and released in August. The Tigers then signed him as a free agent and used him the rest of the year exclusively as a reliever. He did not record a decision but dropped his ERA to 3.97. In 1994 he was again in Detroit but only started one game. He was used again mainly in relief and was 2-2 with a 4.14 ERA. He was released and then resigned by the Tigers for 1995. But 1995 saw the Tigers greatly reduce Mike’s role. He got in only 9 games and pitched 12 innings. His ERA was 14.59 and was again released at the end of the year but never made it back to the majors. He pitched in the minors until 1998 with the Mets, Yankees, Astros and Marlins farm teams.

Tim Belcher had been a starter for seven years before he signed with the Tigers as free agent for the 1994 season. He had been a solid starter for the Dodgers in his early career. He was 50-38 over five years with the Dodgers and had 21 complete games including a league leading 10 with 8 shutouts in 1989. He went to Cincy in the Eric Davis deal and then on to the White Sox before coming to Detroit. He was signed as a free agent for $3.4 million for the Tiges. In 1994 for Detroit he led the league in starts with 25 in that strike shortened year. He also led the league in losses with 15. He won 7 for the Tigers and had a 5.89 ERA. The Tigers released him at the end of the season and he signed with the Reds the following May only to be traded less than 2 weeks later to the Mariners without ever pitching for the Reds. After the Mariners he went on to the Royals and Angels. His career totals for 14 seasons were 146 and 140 with a 4.16 ERA and 42 complete games.

Gary Taylor attended Central Michigan University before joining the Tigers in 1966. He pitched at A level teams from 1966 through 1968 and in 1969 made a big jump to AAA in Toledo. He had a solid year in Toledo with a 12-5 record and was called up to the Tiges in September of 1969. In his debut he came in to pitch against the Royals in a game the Tiges trailed 6-2. He gave up a walk and a single but did not allow a run. He stayed up and pitched in 6 more games. He did not get a decision except for a loss to Bill Lee and the Red Sox. Bill and Gary both came in in relief. Bill pitched 6.2 innings and allowed 5 hits and 5 walks but did not give up a run. Gary pitched 3 innings and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks. Gary was back in the minors in 1970 and stuck around to 1971 in the Tigers farm system before his pro baseball career was over at the age of 25.

Ossie Alvarez was Cuban born player in the Washington Senators minors for years before becoming a Tiger. He actually made it up to the Senators in 1958 as a back up infielder. He was a weak hitting shortstop mainly, hitting .209 in 87 games for the Nats. He had 41 hits of which 3 were doubles. He was traded to Cleveland at the end of the 1958 season for Jay Porter. Less than a month later he was traded again to the Tigers with Don Mossi and Ray Narleski for Billy Martin and Al Cicotte. For Detroit Ossie appeared in 8 games and never played in the field. He was mainly a pinch runner and only had 2 plate appearances. In his first he struck out against Herb Score. In his second he was a pinch hitter for Jim Bunning and got a single off of Jim Perry. That was his last major league plate appearance. He played in the minors until 1966 often in Mexico where he made his home until he died in 2008. Today you can find his 1959 Topps card as a Tiger to commemorate his pinch hit off of Jim Perry.

October 18 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Ed Farmer was a relief pitcher who played part of one season with the Tigers.  Ed started his career in the majors with the Cleveland Indians in 1971.  He was used as a spot starter and a reliever for the Tribe until they traded him to the Tiges half way thru the 1973 season for Tom Timmerman and Kevin Collins.  For the Tiges that year Ed got in 24 games and finished 12 of those with 2 saves and an ERA of 5.00.  He also won 3 games with the Tiges.  He beat the Brewers when he pitched 4.1 innings of relief and only gave up 1 run on two hits and he won back to back games against his former team, the Indians on July 2 and July 3 when he came in in relief and pitched 1.2 innings in each game and did not give up a hit but struck out three.  Just before the 1974 season started Ed was traded to the Yankees in a three way trade.  The Tigers also send Jim Perry to the Indians.  In return the Tigers got Jerry Moses.  The Indians also sent Rick Sawyer and Walt Williams to the Yankees.  Ed never did pitch for the Yankees.  He was sold to the Phillies two days later.  He would play for the Phils twice, Orioles, Brewers, Rangers, White Sox and Athletics.  He was and all star with the White Sox in 1980.

Willie Horton was a power hitting outfielder for the Tigers in the 1960’s and 1970’s.  He was an all star for the Tiges four times.  He had a fantastic year in 1968 hitting .285 for fourth best in the league, 36 homers for second in the league, 85 RBI’s for fourth in the league.  He was 7 for 23 in the World Series with a homer, triple and a double and 3 RBI’s.  He was famous for going into the streets of Detroit in his uniform during the 1967 riots to try to calm things down.  In 1977 he was traded to the Rangers for Steve Foucault.  He went to play for the Indians, Athletics, Blue Jays, and Mariners before his career was over in 1980.  He had his number retired by the Tigers and is a special assistant to Mike Illitch today. 

Vern Holtgrave was a Tiger for his entire time in the majors.  Vern had worked his way up the Tigers farm system compiling a 37-40 record before he was called up to the Tigers as a late season call up.  He was brought in to a game against the Indians that was already out of hand as the Tiges trailed 5-1 in the fourth.  Vern came in and in his first inning he walked 2 but did not allow a run and struck out Leaon Wagner.  In his second inning of work he was perfect getting Rocky Colavito to pop up to third and and also getting Fred Whitefield and Max Alvis.  But in his third inning he got in trouble.  He gave up a lead off single and then a wild pitch and a single to pitcher Tom Kelley who drove in the run.  He struck out Vic Davillio but another single to Dick Howser and Leon Wagner getting back at Vern with a single brought home Tom Kelley.  Vern had pitched three innings and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks.  He also struck out 2.  That was the end of Vern’s major league experience.  Vern played one more season in the Tigers minors in 1966 before his professional baseball career was over.  Willie Horton, who was born on the same day as Vern, was a pinch hitter the game Vern played in.

Roy Cullenbine started his major league career as a Tiger but in January of 1940 was granted free agency by commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis.  Landis hated the farm system and in 1938had decimated the Cardinals farm system releasing about 80 players from their obligations to the Cardinals and granting them free agency.  His argument was that the farm system did not guarantee that the best players were playing in the majors.  It was possible to have the second or third best third basemen hidden in a farm system.  In January of 1940 Landis hit the Tigers and released about 100 players from their obligation to the Tigers.  Roy was one of these. He was highly regarded outfielder and signed a contract with the Dodgers and received a $25,000 bonus to sign.  However, he was traded to the St. Louis Browns.  He was an all Star for the Browns and then went to Senators, Yankees and Indians before coming back to Detroit by a trade with the Indians for Dutch Meyer and Don Ross in 45.  It was in time to play in the World Series where he hit .227 and drove in four runs for the victorious Tigers over the Cubs.  He played the next two seasons as a Tiger before he was done with baseball.  He ended his career with a career on base percentage of .408.

Yats Wuestling played as a Tiger shortstop in 1929 and 1930.  He was a weak hitting shortstop hitting only .200 but showed good defense.  So the Tigers kept him around for 1930 but his batting average dropped even further to .164 and his defense also took a dip.  So in May of 1930 the Tigers traded him to the Yankees with Ownie Carroll and Harry Rice for Waite Hoyt and Mark Koenig.  Yats ended the season with the Yanks and then was done in the majors.  His career average was .189 and he drove in total of 19 runs and never hit a home run in the majors.

Babe Pinelli played one season as a Tiger in 1920.  He had spent one year in the majors in 1918 with the White Sox before being purchased by the Tigers.  With Detroit he hit .229 as a third baseman shortstop. He went on to play six more seasons in the majors with the Reds as their starting third baseman.  But what Babe was more known for was hit umpiring career.  He started as an ump in 1935 and worked in the NL calling unappreciated strikes on Babe Ruth.  His last game as an umpire in the 1956 World Series where he worked behind the plate for Don Larsen’s perfect game.

Frank Meinke played his entire major league career as a Detroit Wolverine.   He started in 1884 and was 8-23 as a pitcher and .164 hitting shortstop. He also played a few games at third, second and outfield.  In 1885 he returned to Detroit and was 0-1 as a pitcher and was .000 as an outfielder.  He was done in May of 1885.  He continued playing baseball for a couple more seasons in the minors with the Chattanooga Lookouts, Denver Mountain Lions and LaCrosse Freezers. 

October 17 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

John Ennis played over have his major league time with the Tigers.  He started his major league experience in 2002 with one game and four innings pitched with the Atlanta Braves.  His four innings and 4.5 ERA was not enough for the Braves to keep him so the Tigers picked him up off the waiver wire in 2003.  In 2004 John made his Detroit debut.  He got into 12 games for the Tiges and pitched a total of 16 innings.  He gave up 16 runs on 20 hits and 5 walks.  With one of the runs unearned he posted an 8.44 ERA.  He did not record a decision but did make one save against the White Sox.  The Tigers granted him free agency and then resigned him for 2005.  But he did not get up to the big club in 2005.  Instead he spent the year in Toledo.  In 2006 he was again in the minors for Detroit after the Cubs signed him and released him in less than a month in the spring of 2006.  Finally at the end of 2006 the Phils signed him and he spent three games of 2007 with the Phils and pitched 7.2 innings.  Again he did not record a decision but did get one save for the Phils.

Louis Pineda was a late season call up for the Tigers in 2001.  He came up and pitched 18.1 innings over 16 games for the Tigers.  He lost one game against the Twins when he came in to pitch the last two innings of the 8^th and the 9^th inning and gave up a single to Matt LeCroy that scored Torii Hunter to give the Twins a 3-2 win.  He posted a 4.91 ERA for the Tiges in his 18.1 innings.  At the end of the season he was traded with Juan Encarnacion for Dmitri Young.  He pitched in 26 games for the Reds in 2002 and was 1-3 with a 4.18 ERA.

Bob Christian made his major league debut as a Tiger in 1968.  He was a pinch hitter for Joe Sparma and popped up to Danny Cater of the Athletics in a 4-3 Tigers win.  His second game he was a defensive replacement for Norm Cash at first against the Senators in Washington.  He was moved to right field when Gates Brown came in as part of a double switch and stayed in the game as a first baseman.  In the ninth Bob got a double off of Camilo Pascual.  But was stranded there as the Tigers lost 0-6. Bob got into one more game for the Tigers against the Senators.  It was the last game of the season and at home in Tiger Stadium.  In the bottom of the eighth he was brought in as a pinch runner for Bill Freehan after Bill led off the inning with a walk.  He got as far as third base before the inning ended.  The Tigers lost the game 2-3.  The next day Bob was sold to the White Sox.  Bob played two seasons with the Sox in 1969 and 1970.  He went on to play in Japan but in 1974 Bob died of leukemia at the age of 28. He was married with two children when he died.

Johnny Klippstein was a 39 year old veteran when he came to Detroit in 1967.  He had been pitching in the majors since 1950.  He was 101-118 with the Cubs, Reds, Dodgers, Phils, Twins and Senators.  The Tigers picked him up after the Twins released him after the 1966 season.  He got into five games for the Tigers and pitched only 6.2 innings as a Tiger.  He did not record a decision nor make a save and was released in June of 1967.  He did not play again at any level after that.

Red Rolfe was the Tigers manager from 1949 into 1952.  He was a player for the Yankees in the 1930’s and 1940’s hitting .289 as an all star third baseman.  Afdter his playing days he was Athletic Director at his alma mater, Dartmouth.  He left that after 1946 and went to coach baseball and basketball at Yale.  He was a coach for the Yankees when the Tigers hired him as farm director.  But in 1949 he replaced Steve O’Neil as manager.  He took the Tigers as high as a second place finish in 1950 but by 1952 was in last place and was replaced as manager by Fred Hutchinson.  That was the first year the Tigers ever lost 100 games in a season.  He returned to Dartmouth as Athletic Director and stayed there until 1967.  He died two years later in 1969 at the age of 60. 

Pop Dillon was the Tigers first baseman when they were first a major league team in the American League in 1901.  He was purchased by the Tigers from Pittsburgh in January of 1901.  He hit .288 and drove in 42 RBI’s for the Tiges that season.  He came back to Tigers in 1902 but his batting average dropped drastically to .206.  He was sold to the Baltimore Orioles in July of 1902.  The Orioles would become the Yankees in 1903 but Pop was in Los Angeles playing in the Pacific Coast League.  He played briefly for the Brooklyn Superbas in 1904 before returning to Los Angeles where he would manage and play through 1915. 

Count Campau made his major league start the year the Detroit Wolverines ended their time as a major league team.  He was born in Detroit in 1863 and named Charles Columbus Campau.  In 1888 he was one of the starting outfielders for the Wolverines.  His .203 batting average was the lowest on the team as were his 18 RBI’s and 1 home run.  After the season he continued to play for the Wolverines but they were part of the minor league International Association.  After his days in Detroit he went on to play and manage for St. Louis Browns in 1890 and played for the Washington Senators of the National League in 1894.  Along the way he played in the minors for the London Cockneys, New Orleans Pelicans, Kansas City Blues, Troy Trojans, Columbus Reds, Wilkes Barre Coal Barons, :Milwaukee Brewers, Grand Rapids Bob-O-Links, Seattle Yannigans/Rainmakers Minneapolis Millers, St. Paul Apostles/Saints, Rochester Bronchos and Binghamton Bingoes.  He still made stops back in Detroit in 1894 with the Detroit Creams and in 1895 with the Tiges now in the Western League. 

Dan Stearns played three games for the Detroit Wolverines in 1881 as the youngest player in the league at the age of 19.  He had played the year before with the Buffalo Bisons of the National League where he hit .183.  For the Wolverines he was a shortstop who had 14 fielding chances.  He made 1 put out, 9 assists and 4 errors for a .714 fielding percentage.  At the plate he fared worse getting only one hit in 11 at bats.  Dan was done in Detroit after 1881 but played in the majors for the Cincinnati Red Stockings, Baltimore Orioles, Buffalo Bisons and Kansas City Cowboys thru 1889 and stayed in the minors until 1899 with the Binghamton Crickets, Des Moines Hawkeyes, Des Moines Prohibitionists, Kansas City Blues, Wilkes Barre Coal Barons, and Scranton Coal Heavers.