Jon Warden spent his entire career as a Tiger. The lefty was drafted out of high school in
Ohio in 1966 by the Tigers. Jon and
other young pitchers Les Cain and Daryl Patterson looked very good in spring
training in 1968. This prompted the
Tiges to trade Hank Aguirre which opened up a spot on the roster for the trip
north. Jon got it. In the second game of the season Jon was
called in from the bull pen of a 3-3 tie with the Red Sox at Tiger
Stadium. He loaded the bases in the 8th
but did not allow a run. He then put the
Red Sox down 1-2-3 in the 9th ending it with a K of Carl
Yastrzemski. In the Tiger half of the 9th
Gates Brown pinch hit for Jon and hit a homerun to win the game for Jon. It was the Tigers first win of the 1968
season. Less than a week later he came
in to pitch against the Indians and Sam McDowell in the top of the tenth with 1
out of a 3-2 game with the Tigers behind.
Jose Cardenal was caught stealing and then Jon got Jose Vidal to fly out
to center to end the inning. In the
Tiger half of the 10th Willie Horton hit a walk off homerun with Al
Kaline on first to give Jon his second win.
Four days later in Chicago Jon was called in to pitch in the bottom of
the 9th with 1 out and the bases loaded but the Tiges led 1-0. Jon walked Wayne Causey to score a run and
tie the game at 1-1. He then got Ken
Boyer to hit into a double play to end the inning. In the Tigers top of the 10th they
scored 2 runs on RBI’s by Dick McAuliffe and Norm Cash. Jon had been pinch hit for so was out of the
game. But the Tiges held on and won the
game. Only 8 games into the season Jon
already led the league with 3 wins! Jon
was replaced in the roster in July when he was called by Uncle Sam to serve in
the Army Reserve. He was a clarinet
player in the unit’s band. He finished
the season with a 4-1 record and a 3.62 ERA and 3 saves. He made the Tigers World Series roster but
did not pitch in any of the games. He
had not pitched since August. This was a
calculated move by GM Jim Campbell. MLB
was expanding in 1969 and Campbell hoped that Jon sitting on the bench might
make the expansion teams of the Seattle Pilots and Kansas City Royals. But it did not work. Jon was drafted by the Royals. Due to injuries and other circumstances, he
would never pitch in the majors again.
Today Jon is a regular at the Detroit Tiger Fantasy camps where he is a
camper favorite especially as the kangaroo court judge.
Hal Naragon started his career in the majors against the
Tigers. He was a late call
up in 1951 with the Cleveland Indians and got a single in his first at bat as a
pinch hitter in the 9th off
of the Tigers Virgil Trucks. He
replaced Lou Brissie. Hal
would get in two more games before the season ended he went into the Marine
Corps for the Korean War. Hal
continued as a catcher with Cleveland after returning from the Marines and
played with the Indians, Senators and Twins before his playing days were over
in 1962. His career stats
were a .266 batting average with 6 homers and 87 RBI’s in 424 games. When he stopped he playing he started
coaching and was named bull pen coach for the Twins. In 1965 he started working with Johnny
Sain (famed for his time with the Boston Braves when the cry was “Spahn and
Sain and pray for rain”.) who was the pitching coach. The two were there when the Twins went
to the World Series in 1965 and the two signed with the Tigers as coaches when
they both were fired after the Twins 1966 season. The firing was called “the Great
Mistake” by Twins pitcher Jim Kaat. Hal
and Sain helped the Tigers create the pitching staff they had in 1968 when the
won the World Series. Mickey
Lolich and other Tiger pitchers always spoke highly of the pair. At the end of the 1969 season the
Tiges were not quite as successful as they had been in 1968 and Hal retired
from baseball.
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