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 7th 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 9th 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.
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