October 13 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Jerry Robertson was a right handed pitcher for the Tigers.  Jerry was working his way up in the Cardinals minor league system and had made it up to their AAA Tulsa Oilers in 1968.  At the end of the season the Expos drafted Jerry with their 38^th pick of the expansion draft.  He did not go to the minors but started right out with the Expos in 1969 as the number 2 starter.  He was 5-16 with a 3.96 ERA for a Montreal team that was 52-110.  At the end of the season the Expos traded Jerry to Detroit for Joe Sparma.  Jerry spent most of the 1970 season with Toledo and was 4-4 with a 4.82 ERA.  He was brought up to Detroit and got in 11 games.  He did not record a decision but had a decent 3.68 ERA.   Before the 1971 season started Jerry was traded to the Mets for Dean Chance and Bill Denehy.  He spent 1971 with the Tidewater Tides, the Mets AAA team.  Jerry was done with baseball after 1971. 

Jim Price was a catcher for the Tigers for those of you who have never heard him on the radio.  He signed his as a shortstop and pitcher.  But in his first year he played third and first.  This was in 1960 with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  In 1963 he started playing full time catcher.  In 1966 the Pirates took Jerry May as their third sting catcher.  Price told the Pirates he would not go back to Columbus, the Pirates AAA team.  So the Pirates sold Price to the Tigers for $50,000.  He was back up to Bill Freehan his whole career.  As he put it “Great to be in the big leagues, but behind an All-Star.”  In his major league debut he went 3 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI’s.  But he would never beat out Freehan.  He played from 1967 until 1971 and was a .214 career hitter for Detroit.  He was the Tiges player rep for the union when he was a player.  He voluntarily retired after 1971.  He was doing work in TV in PA where he was from.  He worked as a sales rep after retiring and when  Mike Illitch bought the Tiges he was hired as a community relations person.  The following year he was hired by PASS to broadcast games.  Today he is the color commentator for the Tigers radio broadcasts with Dan Dickerson.   I have to say I like Price. He calls it as he sees it.  When the Tigers bowed out early in 2014 he said it was a disappointing season and he was right.

Eddie Mathews was a Tiger for just under two seasons.  He earned his place in the Hall of Fame due to his playing of third base for the Braves.  He is the only player to have played for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta.  He hit over 500 home runs in his career and was a .271 hitter.  He came to Detroit in a trade with Houston for Fred Gladding.  One of the first things that happened when Eddie came to the Tigers was he found that someone had scrawled “lets win this in spite of Mayo” on the black board in the clubhouse.  Eddie erased it and then went and lectured the rest of the players about what it takes to be a winner and that writing that on the black board was bush league.  The Tigers responded and in 1968 won the World Series with Eddie Mathews as one of the clubhouse leaders. 

Eddie Yost was a third baseman for the Senators for 14 years before becoming a Tiger.  He had the nickname “the walking man” because he led the league in walks six times in his career including twice with the Tigers.  From 1950 thru 1960 he finished in the top three in the league for walks all but two years.  His walks took his career batting average of .254 to a .394 on base percentage.  He was also a good defensive third baseman leading the league in put outs 8 times as a third baseman.  He was traded to the Tigers after the 1958 season with Rocky Bridges and Neil Chrisley for Reno Bertioa, Jim Delsing and Ron Samford.  For Detroit he led the league in on base percentage with a .435 and a .414.  He also led the league in runs in 1959 with 115.  He was drafted by the Angels in the 1960 expansion draft but did not fare well with the Angels.  However, he is the answer to the trivia question, who was the first batter in Angles history.  Eddie was done as a player after 1962 but returned to Washington as a coach for the new expansion Senators under Mickey Vernon and then under Gil Hodges.  He went on the Mets when Gil went to manage them and was there when Gil died of a heart attack on the golf course in 1972.  He continued to coach for years with the Red Sox.

Fred McMullin was a Tiger for one at bat.  He struck out in a game against the Red Sox in 1914.  He was shortstop and in three chances made one put out, one assist and one error.  That was the extent of his Tiger career.  Fred is more famous or maybe infamous as a member of the White Sox.  He was a backup third baseman and was part of the Black Sox scandal when he threatened to turn in some of the conspirators unless he was let in on the deal.  He was let in on the deal and he became one of the Eight Men Out.  

Jack Onslow played with the Tigers with his brother Eddie.  Jack made his debut with the Tigers in May of 1912 and his younger brother Eddie joined him a few months later.  Jack played 36 games and had 69 at bats and posted a .159 average.  His brother Eddie also played 36 games but had 128 at bats and a .227 average.  Eddie returned to the Tigers in 1913 but Jack was done in Detroit.  He appeared with the New York Giants for nine games in 1917 but was done as a major league player.   Jack stayed in baseball as a minor leaguer and then as a player manager and finally as a manager for the White Sox in 1949 and 1950.

Bill Donovan was a Tiger great from the early 20^th century.  His best year was 1907 when he missed the first six weeks of the season yet still was 25-4 with a 2.19 ERA.  He helped clinch the Tigers first pennant when he pitched a 5-4 victory on the last Friday of September and then came back and pitched all 17 innings of a tie game against the White Sox that kept the Tiges in first.  In the World Series that year he pitched a complete game in game one for a 3-3 tie.  He then lost game four 6-1.  His final totals for Detroit were 140 wins to 96 losses with a 2.49 ERA.  In the three Tiger World Series that he appeared in he was 1-4 with a 2.88 ERA.  Bill died in a train accident when he was about to be named manager of the Washington Senators in 1923.

Below is a 1907 Dietsche postcard of Donovan from my collection.