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.