November 30 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Mark Lewis had a difficult task as a Tiger.  It is ironic that his birthday is the day after Steve Rodriguez, who was the Tigers top second baseman prospect.  Mark had started his career in the majors as a Cleveland Indian and then a Cincinnati Red.  He played second base, shortstop and third base.  He was a .255 hitter for the Tribe without a lot of power and a below average glove.  In July of 1995 the Tigers made a trade with the Reds and sent David Wells to Cincy for CJ Nitkowski, Dave Tuttle and a player to be named later.  In November, the Tigers later named Mark Lewis.  Mark had the task of replacing the recently retired Lou Whitaker.  Lou had hit .293 with 14 homers his last season and drove in 33 runs in 249 at bats.  In his first year with the Tigers Mark hit .270  and had career highs of 11 homers and drove in 55 runs in 545 at bats.  In the off season Mark was traded to the Giants for Jesus Ibarra who never made it to the majors while Mark went on to play part of five more years in the majors.  His career stats are a .263 average with 48 homers and 306 RBI’s.

Dave Engle was a Tiger utility player.  He started his career as a Minnesota Twins outfielder in 1981.  He was moved to catcher in 1983 and was a back for them until he was traded to Detroit for Sparky’s great Chris Pittaro and Alejandro Sanchez.  With Detroit in 1986 Dave was a back up first baseman mainly but also spent time at DH, in the outfield and behind the plate.  He hit .256 with no homers and only 4 RBI’s in 86 at bats.  In August the Tigers released Dave.  He went on to play two years with the Expos and then one more year with the Brewers until his time in the majors was up in 1989.  Dave went on to manage in the minors and was managing as late as 2000 in the Mets organization.

Juan Berenguer was a starting pitcher for the Tigers in the early 1980’s.  He started his career with the Mets in 1978 appearing sparingly until he was sent to the Royals.  The Tigers picked him up a free agent in 1982 and he was the number 4 starter on the 1984 team going 11-10 with a 3.48 ERA.   Juan was the starter against the Blue Jays in 1984 facing the Blue Jays ace Dave Steib when Dave Bergman had his “at bat”.  He did not get the win but left that game after 7 with the game tied 3-3.  He did not get into the post season for the Tigers that year.  In 1985 he dropped to 5-6 with a 5.59 ERA and was dealt to the Giants in the trade that sent Juan, Bob Melvin and Scott Medvin to San Fran for Matt Nokes, Eric King and Dave LaPoint.  1987 found Juan in the post season but facing the Tigers as a Minnesota Twin and coming out of the bullpen.  He pitched six innings and struck out six against the Tigers giving up only one hit, a homer to Chet Lemon in game 5.  Juan finished his career as a Brave and a Royal in 1992.

Fred “Firpo” Marberry was with the Washington Senators for 10 years before coming to the Tigers with Carl Fischer for Earl Whitehill.  He had been a great closer before there was such a thing.  For five out of those ten seasons with the Senators he led the league is saves.  He was 117-69 with 96 saves when he joined the Tigers.  Detroit did not use him as a reliever as much but rather made him a starter.  In 1933, his first year in Detroit, he was 16-11 with only 2 saves and a 3.29 ERA.  In 1934 he saw his last effective season.  He was 15-5 with a 4.57 ERA and had only 3 saves.  He got into the World Series that year but was not effective going only 1.2 innings and giving up four runs on five hits and a walk.  In 1935 Fred was released by the Tigers half way thru the season.  He immediately started umpiring in the AL and spent the remainder of the season behind the catcher.  At the end of the season he quit umping and signed with the Giants.  While he pitched for two more seasons, he did not win nor save another game in his career in the majors.  He held the career saves total for 20 years from his playing days in 1926 until 1945 and the single season record from 1924 with 15 thru 1948 with his own improved record of 22 which he set in 1926.  However, the save was not an official stat until the 1960’s.  All Fred’s records were determined years after he had retired and the records had long been broken.

November 29 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Tony Giarratano played his major league career with the Tigers.  He was born in Queens, New York but attended college at Tulane in New Orleans before being drafted and signing with the Tigers in 2003.  In his major league debut in June of 2005, he went 2 for 3 with an RBI and run scored in a 6-4 victory over the Rangers.  He hit a game winning homer against the Dodgers managed to get into 15 games with the Tigers in 2005 as a shortstop but only got three other hits.  He had a .143 batting average at the end of the month and was sent back to the minors.  He never made it back to the show.

Francis Beltran was a reliever for the Tigers in 2008.  He had played a couple of seasons with the Cubs and part of one with the Expos before joining the Tigers as free agent.  He pitched in eleven games for the Tigers.  He came in to a game against the Twins early in April that year and pitched a scoreless 8^th with the Tigers trailing 5-9.  He gave up a double and a walk but no runs.  The Tigers came back in the bottom of the 8^th and scored six runs on six hits and Francis got his one and only win for the Tigers.  He played with Houston’s AAA Oklahoma City Red Hawks in 2011 and was 0-0 with a 19.89 ERA in five games.

Steve Rodriguez played less than a month for the Tigers.  He came out of Pepperdine University and where they won the College World Series.  He signed with the Boston Red Sox and quickly moved up the minor league ranks as a slick fielding infielder.   He made the parent club for the Sox in early 1995 and was in six games for the Sox where he went 1 for 8.  He then went down to the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox where he hit .242 and was waived by the Red Sox.  The Tigers picked him up on September 8 of 1995.  Two days later he was with the club on the road in Toronto.  He got the start against the Blue Jays hitting 9^th and playing second base.  He went 0-4 but got a walk.  He was perfect in the field.  The next day he got the start again and this time he got his first hit for the Tigers, a line drive double to left off of Paul Menhart in the second.  He scored when John Flaherty hit a single.  In the fourth he drew a lead off walk but was caught stealing, 2-4.  He came up the last time in the 9^th with the score tied 2-2.  Phil Nevin drew a lead off walk and Steve moved him along on a sacrifice bunt.  Phil did not score the Tiges did win the game 3-2 in part thanks to Steve.  The next day had the Tiges at home in Tiger Stadium against Milwaukee and Steve got the start at second for the third time.  In the second with Danny Bautista on first and one out, Steve hit perfect bunt down the third base line and beat it out to first.   Danny and Steve then pulled off a double steal and two batters later Chris Gomez hit a double and drove in Steve for what would be the game winning run in 5-1 Tigers win.  Steve continued to play second for the Tiges backing up Lou Whitaker at second.  He would get in 12 games and get 6 hits in 31 at bats for a .194 average.   He kept up the fielding but would not get into another game in the majors after those final 12 games for the Tigers.  At the end of the season Lou Whitaker retired.  The Tigers did not trust Steve at second and picked up Mark Lewis from the Cincinnati Reds to finish off the David Wells trade where the Tiges sent Wells to the Reds for a minor leaguer and C.J. Nitkowski and eventually Mark Lewis.  Mark would be the Tiges second baseman for 1996.  Steve went back to the minors and would be done in pro ball after 1998.  Today he is the coach of his alma mater, Pepperdine.

Bob Hamelin played one season as a Tiger.  He became a major leaguer in 1993 with the Kansas City Royals but did not qualify for rookie status as he only appeared in 16 games as a first baseman.  The next year he did qualify and won AL Rookie of the Year with a .282 average and a .388 OBP with 24 homers and 65 RBI’s.  But his numbers dropped after that.  In 4 seasons with the Royals he ended up hitting .241.  At the end of 1996 the Royals released him and Tiges signed him as free agent.  For 1997 he was the Tiges main DH hitting .270 with 18 homers and 52 RBI’s.  But the Tiges had a whole team hitting under 300 with three switch hitters and two lefties and 5 players with more homers than Bob.  At the end of the season Bob was granted free agency and signed with the Milwaukee Brewers.  He spent 1998 with the Brewers before his major league career was over. 

Howard Johnson was one of the third basemen of hte 1984 Tigers. He made Sparky nervous because he felt he was too unprediectable. Sparky thought his fielding was erratic and would get worse when he was in a slump. Sparky said he was perpetually at the waters edge but could not take that last step to be a succesful big leaguer. He got into one World Series game with the Tiges and did not get a hit. He was traded to the Mets for Walt Terrell and made it into the 1986 World Series for the Mets. In two games he did not get a hit.

Bill Freehan grew up in Royal Oak, went to college at the University of Michigan and played his entire career as a Tiger. He wanted to go to Norte Dame but they wanted him to choose between baseball and football. U of M let him play both. In football he played linebacker and end. As a catcher in college he was a solid batter hitting .585 his last year. That year he signed with the Tiges for $125,000. He was a solid catcher as a Tiger as well. He won five Gold Gloves, was selected to 11 All Star teams and retired with a .262 average. He hit 200 homers in his career, 100 at home and 100 on the road. He was the catcher for the 1968 World Champs and he was smart.  He is known for one of the most famous blocks of home plate when in game 5 of the 1968 World Series he stood up and tagged out Lou Brock who failed to slide.  The play would be the turning point in the series as the Tigers would come back forma 3 games to 1 deficit to win the series in 7 games.  He later wrote a book "Behind the Mask" and caught flack when he openly was critical of Denny McLain and his rule breaking. Bill James ranks him as the 12 best catcher all time.  Today Bill suffers from dementia and no longer does autograph appearances.  I suspect it has something to do with the collisions at the plate he must have taken and his time in football.

Dick McAuliffe was also known as "Mad Dog" as a Tiger. He was the second baseman for the 1968 Tigers and was also known for hitting in the bucket. he developed that stance in the minors. He was hitting everything to left as a leftie so the other teams loaded up the left side and he hit only .206. Then his coach, Wayne Blackburn taught him to open up and get his hip out of the way. He then was hitting to all fields and his average went up. Dick made his first All Star team in 1965. Bill Freehan was a catcher on the AL squad and was in the bull pen talking with one of the NL catchers when the NL catcher asked him, "how the hell does he hit with a stance like that?" At that exact moment Dick hit a homer over the bull pen and Freehan replied "just like that!" Dick was traded to the Red Sox in 1973 for Ben Oglive. He was a career .247 hitter with 197 homers and very rarely hit into double plays. He is ranked as the 22 all time second baseman by Bill James.

George Thomas played 6 of his 13 seasons with the Tigers. He was an outfielder who hit a career .255 and a nearly identical .253 for the Tigers.  He had a great arm and was a very interesting guy.  He was recalled into the service during the Berlin Wall crisis.  He served a year as the Tigers player rep.  After leaving Detroit he was with the Red Sox in 1967 and their “Impossible Dream” season when they won the pennant.   He was mainly on the bench and gave a great one liner when he said “this is the greatest pennant race I have ever watched.”  Before the World Series he gave a nice piece of advice to the Red Sox triple crown winner and MVP, Carl Yastrzemski when he told him “don’t get over confident.  Right now we have the same average in the World Series - .000.” 

Joe Orengo was a war time infielder for the Tigers. He 

November 28 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Nook Logan played one and a half seasons with the Tigers.  In 2004 he debuted with Detroit and got in 47 games mainly as a center fielder.  He was fast and stole 8 bases in 10 attempts.  He hit .278 and had 13 walks as well to bring his on base percentage to .346.  But he also struck out 24 times in 133 at bats.  In 2005 he was the Tiges starting centerfielder.  While he was fast and able to cover a lot of ground, he did not have a great glove and committed 6 errors.  His batting average dropped to .258 and spent 2006 in the Erie and Toledo while under contract to the Tiges. In September he was sent off to Washington.  He played there for 27 games and hit .300 but struck out 20 times in 90 at bats.  In 2007 he was again with Washington and his average dropped to .265 with 86 K’s in 325 at bats.  He was done in the majors after that and was done in pro ball after 2010.

Adam Bernero was a right handed starting pitcher for the Tigers.  He started his major league career in 2000 with the Tiges and went 0-1 in 12 games with 4 starts with a 4.19 ERA. His one loss was to Tim Hudson and the Oakland A’s.   In 2001 after going 6-11 in Toledo with a 5.13 ERA he was back in Detroit for another look see but in only five games and he did not get a start.  In 12.1 innings he was 0-0 with a 7.30 ERA.  In 2002 he was given a longer look see and was 4-7 with a 6.20 ERA with 11 starts on a very desperate Tiger team.   2003 found him again up with Detroit and as a starter.  But he was 1-12 with a 6.08 ERA.  The Tigers were done with Adam and sent him to Colorado for Ben Patrick.  Adam went on to play with the Braves, Phillies and Royals before his major league career was over after 2006.  He was done in baseball after 2008.

Jeff Datz played seven games for the Tigers in September of 1989.  He was a back up catcher and did not make an error behind the plate.  With a bat in his hands he made 12 plate appearances with one walk off of Bud Black in a game against Cleveland and one hit by pitch went 2 for 10 with singles off of Gregg Olson of the Orioles, and a single off of Lee Guetterman of the Yankees in his last at bat as a major leaguer.   He never did get beyond first base in career.  After his playing days were over he tried his hand at managing in the minors for the Cleveland Indians and led Cleveland’s A team, the Columbus Red Stixx to the South Atlantic League regular season title in 1995 and Cleveland’s AAA team, the Buffalo Bisons, to the North Division title in the International League in 1998.

Fritz Fisher attended the University of Michigan from 1961 thru 1963 when he signed with the Tigers.  He was 10-6 with a 2.97 ERA with the Knoxville Smokies in 1963 and in 1964 was brought up to start the season with the Tigers.  He came in to a game in the top of the 9^th against the Twins with the Tigers trailing 8-3.  He struck out Harmon Killebrew for his first batter faced.  It was all downhill from there.  He then walked Zoilo Versailes and Bernie Allen before giving up a single to Jerry Zimmerman and then a double to Camilo Pascual.  His final line score was four runs on two hits and two walks all in 1/3 of an inning pitched.  He never pitched in the majors again.   Today Fritz is known for being a very tough autographer.

Purnal Goldy attended Temple University from 1957 thru 1959 before joining the Tigers.  He was a .300 hitting minor leaguer for Tigers before getting the call in mid June 1962.  He made his debut as a pinch runner for Vic Wertz in the 9^th with the Tiges down 2-0 against the Yanks.  He was promptly erased off the base paths by a rare Dick McAuliffe double play ball. He went on to get into 19 more games and had 70 at bats.  He got 16 hits including 3 homers, 1 triple and a double for a .229 average.  The next season he was again up with the Tigers but for only 9 games.  He got 8 at bats in those 9 games and only 2 hits.  That was the end of his major league career. 

Frank O’Rourke was the starting second baseman for the Tigers until he got the measles.  He started his career with the Boston Braves in 1912 and moved on to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1917 and 1918.  In 1920 and 1921 he played with the Senators in Washington before heading to the Red Sox in 1922.  He was a decent second baseman for the Tigers from 1924 into 1926 when he got the measles.  The Tigers decided to give a hot rookie by the name of Charlie Gerhinger a chance at second.  Frank never played again for the Tigers and was sent to the St. Louis Browns at the end of the season.  Frank continued to play for the Browns until 1931.  At that point he took up managing in the minors and went on manage thru 1942.

November 27 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Jason Beverlin spent a good portion of his cup of coffee with the Tigers.  He went to high school at Dondero High School in Royal Oak, MI.  He started his career with the West Michigan White Caps in 1994, the teams first year of existence.  It was a Oakland Athletics class A club at the time.  He bounced around the minors and around various major league farm systems until 2002 when he made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians at a 28 year old rookie.  He was brought in to a game in the third inning as a reliever for Jaret Wright who was getting bombed by Jason’s original franchise, the Oakland Athletics.  Jason pitched 2.1 innings and gave up 1 run on 2 hits and 2 walks while K’ing 3.  Jason would get in 3 more games for the Indians and pitched 5 more innings but did not record a decision and posted a 7.36 ERA.  The Tiges picked up Jason who was waived by the Indians about two weeks after his debut.  Jason got in three games for the Tiges as a starter in all three.  He faced the Kansas City Royals in his first game and pitched 2.2 innings before getting pulled.  He had given up 6 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks and picked up the loss.  In his second game he faced the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium and went 4.2 innings giving up only 3 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks and picked up the loss.  His last game was the second to last game of the bad 2002 season and he faced the Toronto Blue Jays at Skydome.  He lasted 5 innings and gave up 6 runs on 8 hits but no walks.  He was tagged with the loss for this game as well.  The 2002 Tigers were 55-106 with a 4.92 ERA.  Jason was 0-3 with a 9.49 ERA as a Tiger.  At the end of the season he was released and picked up by the Indians again but would never pitch in the majors again.  He retired from baseball and the Indians in 2007 at the age of 33 having pitched 19.2 innings in 7 major league games.  As a fan who sponsors his web page on Baseball-Reference puts it, “at least he got a cup of coffee, I never got out of Little League.”   Jason has gone into coaching at the college level and today is the head coach for the Bethune-Cookman University team. 

Ivan Rodriguez

Bob Schultz ended his career in the majors as a Detroit Tiger.  He was in the Marines during World War II and upon getting out of the service in 1946 he started his career in pro ball as a lefty pitcher.  He started in the majors in 1951 as a 27 year old rookie.  He was with the Cubs for parts of three seasons and was 9-13 when he was traded for Ralph Kiner, Joe Garagiola, Howie Pollet and George Metkovich.  Ok, he was traded with Gene Hermanski, Toby Atwell, Preston Ward, Gene Freese, Tocy Atwell and $150,000.  But he can still say he was traded for Ralph Kiner.  He was 0-2 with the Pirates and back in their farm system when the Tigers purchased him in the winter of 1954.  He was with the Tiges in April in 1954 when he got he call form the bull pen for his debut as a Tiger.  The game was 4-2 in favor of the Cleveland Indians in the 7^th inning.  Bob started the inning and gave up a lead walk to Bobby Avila.  He then got Lary Doby to hit into a fielder choice.  Then a double to Al Rosen brought in Doby.  Ralph Kiner, now playing for the Indians, hit a fly ball to short for the second out and Vic Wertz ended the inning with a fly ball to second.  In the eighth Bob gave up a single to George Strickland and then moved him to second on a wild pitch.  He then gave up a walk to Hank Foiles before getting Herb Score to line out to first.  Bob was then pulled for Bud Black.  Stickland and Foiles would score on a triple giving Bob a final line score of 1.1 innings pitched with 3 earned runs on 2 hits and 2 walks for no decision and a 20.25 ERA.  That would be his final total as a Tiger as well.  He went to Buffalo for the rest of the season and never made it back to the majors.  He was done in pro ball in 1956.  He was in Nashville and worked as a house painter in 1979 when he was shot and killed in a bar argument at a VFW hall bar at the age of 55.  

November 26 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Mike Moore ended his career in the majors with the Detroit Tigers.  He started his major league career as a Seattle Mariner in 1982 as a starting pitcher.  By the mid 1980's he had become a solid starting pitcher.  He consistently struck out about twice as many batters as he walked and was throwing complete games in the double digits every season and becoming the ace of the Mariners staff.  He became a free agent after 1988 and signed with the Oakland Athletics.    There he joined Dave Stewart as a 1-2 punch that swept the San Francisco Giants in four games in the earthquake interrupted World Series.  Both he and Stewart won 2 games, with Mike pitching 2 complete games while Stewart pitched 1 complete game.  The Athletics granted Mike free agency after the 1992 season and Mike signed with the Tigers.  He was a Tiger workhorse starting a league leading 36 games and going 13-9.  But his ERA was higher than it had ever been since his rookie season at 5.22.  He continued to start for the Tigers over the next three seasons and continued to be a workhorse starting 25 games each over the next two seasons and was not adverse to complete games.  But his ERA continued to rise and his K's were now equal to his walks.  Finally after his third season as a Tiger in 1995 he was 5-15 with a 7.53 ERA and the Tigers granted him his release.  His final Tiger stats was a 29-34 record with a 5.90 ERA and 9 complete games compared to a career record of 161-176 with a 4.39 ERA and 79 complete games.

Richie Hebner spent 2 and a half seasons as  a Tiger.  He was a standout hockey player in high school in Massachusetts as well as a baseball player.  But a $40,000 signing bonus from the Pittsburgh Pirates convinced him to play pro baseball.  In the off seasons he would continue to work for his dad in a cemetery digging graves.  He stated he was very good at it as no one ever got back out of the graves he dug.  He only played two games with the Pirates in 1968 but in 1969 he became their starting third baseman, a position he would hold for 8 seasons.  He was an average fielder but twice in the first 8 seasons he hit .300 or better.  In 1977 he signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies.  But when the Phillies acquired Pete Rose, Richie was expendable.  He was sent to the Mets for the 1979 season but he was not happy in New York.  The Mets then traded him to the Tigers for Phil Mankowski and Jerry Morales.  In his first year in Detroit he played mainly first and hit .290 with 12 homers and a career high 82 RBI’s.  1981 was first base by committee for the Tigers.  Richie was the most frequen tly used but he only started 55 games at first.  The Tiges also used Ron Jackson, John Wockenfuss, Rick Leash and even Stan Papi for 1 game.  1982 found Enos Cabell as the starting first baseman for the Tiges and Richie was again expendable.  In August, the Pirates purchased Richie back from the Tiges.  In the 250 games Richie played in 2 and a half seasons he was a .267 hitter with 25 homers and 128 RBI’s.  Richie was never again a starter and spent 2 years back in Pittsburgh and finally ended his career in Chicago with the Cubs in Wrigley Field.  This was a good thing as he was not a fan of the new ball parks.  He once said there was more life in his dad’s cemetery than in Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers stadium and he said Olympic Stadium in Montreal looked like a giant toilet.  After his playing days he became a coach for his hometown Red Sox and the Phillies.  He also was a coach for the Durham Bulls and later the Birmingham Barons.  His number for the Tigers was retired, but not for him.  He wore 2 which was also Charlie Gerhinger’s number.

John Kerr started his major league career as a Detroit Tiger.  He was originally with the Omaha Buffaloes of the Western League for about a month when the Tigers got him in 1923.  They called for him in May of 1923.  He debuted for the Tigers in a game the Tiges trailed the Indians 5-4.  John came in as a pinch runner in the bottom of the ninth for a pinch hitter and scored the tying run as the Tiges went on to win 6-5.  John would get in 19 games over the next 39 days before the Tigers sent him back to Omaha.  14 of those games he was the starting shortstop.  While he showed great speed he also showed a bad glove.  He committed 9 errors in 73 chances.   In 1924 John started the season with the Tigers.  He did not get a single start but rather played as a pinch hitter, or pinch runner and a couple of games as replacement in the field.  This lasted until the Fourth of July when he was sent down to the minors.  In his two years he was a .226 hitter with 2 RBI’s.  He went out to the Pacific Coast League and played there for a few years before getting another shot at the bigs in 1928 when he was drafted by the Chicago White Sox.  He played second base for the Sox and by this time had turned his liable glove into an asset.  He was with the Sox for three years before being traded to the Washington Senators in 1931.  There he got in the 1933 World Series for the Senators as a defensive replacement and a coach.  A far cry from his time with Detroit.  It is also in 1933 the you can find that John Kerr has a baseball card.  A 1933 Goudey card has his likeness picturing him as an American League champion Washington Senator.  After his time with the Senators John went to Boston and became the Red Sox player/manager before ending his playing career all together and managing in the minors through 1941. 

November 25 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Octavio Dotel

Randy Veres

Don Leshnock had a sip of coffee with the Tigers in 1972.  He went to Youngstown State University where he pitched for the Penguins for 3 years and graduated in 1969.  He was drafted and signed by the Tigers in 1968, the same year he got married.  He moved up the ranks in the Tiger farm system and pitched a no-hitter in 1970 against the Peninsula Phillies who had a young Andre Thronton on their roster.  In 1971 Don had a son, Donnie.  In 1972 Don got a call to the Tigers.  On June 7^th, the Tigers were facing the Angels and Nolan Ryan in Tiger Stadium.   Ryan was hot that night as he K’d 5 and only gave up 1 run on 3 hits and 2 walks.  He threw a complete game while the Tigers used 4 pitchers in 8 innings and gave up 5 runs on 10 hits.  In the 9^th with the score 5-1 in favor of the Angels Tiger skipper Billy Martin brought in Don for his major league debut.  He got Leo Cardenas to ground out to second.  Don then K’d Nolan Ryan before giving up singles to Sandy Alomar and Mickey Rivers.  Finally Don K’d Vada Pinson to end the inning.  The Tiges went 1-2-3 in the 9^th and Ryan got his complete game victory.   Don never played in the majors again after that one inning.  His son Donnie grew up to be drafted by the New York Yankees and pitched in their minors for a few years in the mid 1990’s.  Don is a tough Tiger autograph.   In all my Tiger autographs I do not have a single Don Leshnock signature.  He died in 2012.    

Wayne Redmond was possibly the next Willie Mays according to the Media Guides from the Tigers.  Wayne was signed out of high school, Detroit Central, after graduation.  He went to the Tigers A level Jamestown to start 1965, and in 47 games hit 13 homers with a .277 average.  He was moved up that first pro season to AA Montgomery and continued to show his power hitting another 18 homers and stole 6 bases in 73 games.   The power impressed the Tigers enough that they brought him up to Detroit as a late season call up that very first year.  He made his debut against the Boston Red Sox when in a 3-3 game at Tiger Stadium, skipper Chuck Dressen called on Wayne.  With 2 outs in the 7^th catcher John Sullivan got a single of Bill Monbouquette.  Dressen put Wayne in as a pinch runner for Sullivan.  Ray Oyler followed and hit a double that drove in Wayne as the winning run.  Bill Freehan came in to replace Wayne behind the plate and his debut was over.  About 2 weeks later Wayne got another call.  This time the score was tied 4-4 in the 14^th at a game against the Cleveland Indians.  Wayne was called in as a defensive replacement for left fielder Gates Brown.  Wayne did not make a play as the Tribe scored the winning run on a bases loaded single that very inning.  A few days later Wayne was called on to pinch hit for Tiger pitcher Vern Holtgrave in the 6^th with the Tigers trailing 7-0 against the Cleveland Indians.  Wayne drew a walk but was promptly removed on a double play ball that was basically a bounce back to the pitcher.  Wayne was then removed from the game for a new pitcher.  On the last day of the season Wayne got his first major league start.  He went 0-4 at the plate but did catch three fly balls in the field, two were by weak hitting shortstop, Eddie Brinkman.  Wayne was back in the minors in 1966 through 1968.  It became apparent that Wayne was not the next Willie Mays but rather the next typical all or nothing power hitter.  He hit only .238 in 1966 and hit 13 homers.  But he K’d 130 times while walking only 32.  1967 and 1968 were more of the same.  In 1969 Wayne hit only .239 in AAA Toledo and K’d 94 times while walking 30 times and hit 14 homers.  He was benched at the end of the season by Toledo skipper Jack Tighe for lackadaisical play.  But he was still called up at the end of the season and got in 5 games.  In those 5 games he never made a start nor played the field.  He made only three plate appearances and recorded outs on all three times.  He never played in the majors again.  He bounced around the minors until his career ended in 1973.  His career totals were 9 major league games, 8 plate appearances, 0 hits, 1 BB, 1 run and 3 put outs in the field.

Ray Narleski

November 24 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Jim Northrup was one of the hero’s of the 1968 Tigers.  He was born and raised in MI and attended Alma College form 1958 thru 1960.  After college he signed a contract with the Tiges and was moving up to the point the Tiges gave him a late season call up in 1964 and never went back to the minors.  He played mainly in right but also spent a lot of time in center and left.  In 1968 he hit a walk off grand slam in May against Washington.  It was his first of 4 grand slams for the regular season.  In the World Series he hit another in game 6 to break the game wide open and send the series to a deciding game 7.  In game 7 he hit a triple in the 7^th inning of a scoreless tie and drove in two runs as the Tigers won the game 4-1 and the series 4-3.  In 1974 the Tigers started to rebuild as they had aged from their 1968 days. Jim was one of the older Tigers at 34 and was going to complete his 10^th season in the majors.  If he did than he could negate any trade the Tigers made with him.  So he was sold to Montreal in August.  He spent only about a month in Montreal before being sold to Baltimore.  He ended his career in 1975 with the O’s.  In the mid 1980’s Jim joined PASS and was the Tigers color commentator for 9 years on cable.   He died in 2011 at the age of 71.  He is buried in Breckenridge Cemetery where he was born. 

Walter Wilson pitched his entire major league career as a Tiger.  It was a brief major league career.  He started his pro baseball career in the minors in 1939 at the age of 25.  He was 7-10.  Did get better and was moving up and had made Class B in 1941.  He was still in Class B in the first year of the war in 1942 and was drafted in 1943.  In 1944 he turned 30 and was released from the Army.  He went to AA Buffalo under contract to Detroit and was 18-14.  He made his major league debut on April 17, 1945 at the age of 31.  It was opening day and the Tigers were just trying to get the game over with as they were already down 7-1 in the 9^th to the defending AL Champions, the St. Louis Browns.  Walter came in to pitch the ninth and allowed only one hit to get the Tigers into the clubhouse.  His best game was on May 26 when he faced the Philadelphia Athletics and went the distance allowing only 4 runs on 11 hits and a walk.  The Tiges won 5-4 to give Walter his first and only major league victory.  Walter stayed with the Tigers for the season but did not get into the World Series.  He ended his time it the majors with a 1-3 record and 4.61 ERA.  He died on the 49^th anniversary of his major league debut. 

Billy Rogell was a member of the Battalion of Death for the Tigers.  The Battalion of Death was the catchy name given to the Tiges infield of the early 1930’s.  It was a Battalion of Death to opposing pitchers.  In 1934 the infield of first base Hank Greenberg, second base Charlie Gerhinger, third base Marv Owen and shortstop Billy Rogell each had over 100 RBI’s except Marv Owen who had only 96.  In 1935 Owen and Rogell slipped to only 71 RBI’s each.  Many consider it one of if not the most potent infield ever to play the game.  Rogell came to Detroit in 1930 after a few years in Boston and in the minors with Minneapolis.    He replaced Mark Koenig at short starting in 1931 and was the Tigers starting shortstop until the end of the 1939 season when he was traded to the Cubs for Dick Bartell.  In that time he showed that not only was he a good at the plate but he was also the top fielding shortstop in the AL in 1935, 1936 and 1937.  In spite of his skill, he was never on an all star squad.  Joe Cronin was the AL starting shortstop and played every inning from 1933 thru 1939 with the exception of one year when Luke Appling broke up his streak.  Billy performed very well in both the 1934 and 1935 World Series hitting .283 combined for all 13 games.  In the 1934 World Series he was responsible for knocking out Dizzy Dean.  Dean was running from first to second with his head down on a double play ball.  Billy fielded, stepped on second and rifled the ball to first.  However, it hit Dean on the head and he had to carried off the field.  The next day the newspapers carried the headline “X-Rays of Dean’s head revealed nothing”.  After his time in baseball Billy served on the Detroit City Council for 36 years ending in 1980.  He died in 2003 and is buried at the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield. 

Ralph Comstock

Sam McMackin ended his career as a Tiger.  He started playing pro ball in Sandusky , OH in 1893.  He played for 21 teams in the minors from 1893 until 1902 and was an average righty pitcher.  His best year was 1896 when he was 25-16 with a 2.83 ERA.  But the following year he played on three teams and had a combined 7-23 record.  He was called to the Chicago White Sox in September of 1902 and got into a double header with the Boston Red Sox.  He pitched 3 innings and allowed only 1 hit and K’d two while not allowing an earned run.  But he was done with the Sox after that day.  Less than 3 weeks later he got in his final pro ball game.  It was another double header between the Sox and the Tigers.  The Sox swept the Tiges that day.  The Tigers were in last place in the AL.  My assumption is that somehow the Tiges needed a pitcher to get thru the double header as it was their 4^th double header in a week and they had just played one the day before.  Regardless, Sam pitched 8.1 innings of ball against his former mates and lost the first game of the double header, 5-4.   Less than a week later the season was over and Sam never played ball again.  He died the following February of pneumonia at the age of 30 in Columbus, OH.  

November 23 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Casper Wells

Dan Whitmer

Chief Zimmer

November 22 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Dick Bartell was the Tiger shortstop for the 1940 pennant winning team.  He started his career in the majors in 1927 with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He played in one game for them as a shortstop.  Needless to say, he did not make the World Series roster for the Pirates that year as they lost to the great Yankee team of 1927.  However, he stuck with the Pirates through 1930.  At that time he was sent to the lowly Phils. He was the Phils shortstop through 1934.  Then he was off to the Giants.  Every stop Dick, or “Rowdy Richard” was .280 to .300 hitter and a good fielder.  He was the starting shortstop for the National League in the first All Star game in 1933 for the Phils.  He returned to the game in 1937 with the Giants.  The Giants send Dick to the Cubs after the 1938 season.  The Cubs kept Dick one year before they traded the 32 year old Bartell to the Tigers for 35 year old shortstop Billy Rogell.   Not a great trade for the Cubs.  Rogell played 33 games and hit .136 for the Cubs before his career was over.  Dick hit .233 with 76 walks for a .335 on base percentage and hit 7 homers with 53 RBI’s and went to the World Series with the Tiges where he hit .269 with 3 walks for a .345 OBP and drove in 3 runs.  He started the 1941 season with the Tigers.  But the Tigers were using 26 year old Frank Croucher at short.   So Dick was expendable and was cut after five games into the season.  He signed with the Giants and stayed there for the rest of his career as a player/coach with a few years off due to military service during the war.  He came back after the war and played briefly in 1946 with the Giants before his playing days were over.  Dick did manage in the minors for a few years in the late 1940 and the 1950’s. 

Harry Rice played as a Tiger outfielder in the late 1920’s and 1930..  He started with the St. Louis Browns in 1923 and stayed there until he was traded to the Tiges with Elam Van Gilder and later Chick Galloway for Lu Blue and Heinie Manush.  For Detroit he was the starting centerfielder with Fats Fothergill and Harry Heilmann.  Harry stayed with Detroit into the 1930 season when he was traded to the Yanks with Ownie Carroll and Yats Wuestling for Waite Hoyt and Mark Koenig.  In his three years with Detroit Harry hit .303 with 14 homers and 174 RBI’s.  After his playing days, Harry managed in the minors into the 1940’s.  

November 21 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Quintin Berry had a brief career with the Tigers.  He was a lefty drafted out of high school by the Atlanta Braves but chose to go to college instead at San Diego State.  He was then drafted by the Phillies and signed with them in 2006.  He was waived by the Phillies in 2010 and picked up by his home town San Diego Padres.  He was unprotected by the Padres and selected by the Mets in the rule 5 draft.  The Mets released him in April of 2011 and the Reds signed him.  At the end of the season the Reds granted him free agency and the Tigers signed him a week later in November of 2011.  Up until that time with 4 organizations he had only progressed to AAA for 4 games with the Reds.  He had spent most of the time in A or AA ball.  As a AA hitter for three seasons he was a .258 hitter with good speed but a penchant for K’s.  He was called up to the Tiges from Toledo in may of 2012 when Austin Jackson was injured.  For Detroit he was an identical .258 hitter with good speed (21 steals in 21 attempts) and a penchant for K’s in 94 games.  He had 80 K’s in 291 AB’s with 25 walks.  So his K’s to BB ratio is not very strong.  He was the odd men out in 2013 with an outfield of Dirks, Jackson, Hunter, Garcia, Kelly and the like.  He was in Toledo in 2013 and struggled badly hitting only .168 in 49 games.  The Tigers waived him and he was picked up by Kansas City.  He was with KC's AAA team in Omaha for 48 games and hit .222 when he had a stroke of luck at the end of August as he was traded to the Boston Red sox for Clayton Mortensen.  In Boston he got in 13 games and made a total of 9 plate appearances.  In those 9 he went 5 for 8 with a walk for a .667 OBP.  He made the post season roster and was used as a pinch runner in the ALDS, ALCS and World Series and stole a base each time.  Because of those 13 games and the three stolen bases Quintin earned a World Series ring before the rest of his 2012 Tiger teammates.  As soon as the World Series ended Quintin was granted free agency by the Red Sox and signed by the Baltimore Orioles.  He hit .285 for the O’s AAA team and got a September call up.  He got in 10 games but had only 2 plate appearances where he did not reach base.  We will see where he ends up in 2015.

Rick Peters started his major league career with the Tigers.  He was drafted by the Tigers in 1977 out of Arizona State University.  He hit .306 his first year as a pro at AA level Montgomery in 1977.  1978 found him up at AAA Evansville and hitting .276 with 25 stolen bases.  1979 he was still at Evansville and hitting .320 with 30 steals.  The Tigers brought him up at the end of the season and he hit .263 in 12 games playing third, second, DH and the outfield.  At the end of the 1979 season the Tigers traded Ron LeFlore to the Expos for Dan Schatzader so center field was open.  Rick filled in at center field in and had a great year as a rookie hitting .291 and tying for the team lead in stolen bases with Tom Brookens at 13.  He finished 6^th in balloting for Rookie of the Year.  But 1981 was not a good year for Rick.  He had had surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow at the end of the 1980 season and in May of 1981 he collided with the outfield wall and hurt his elbow again as well as his ribs.  He still hit .256 but the Tigers released him after the season.  He missed the entire 1982 season.  But was picked up by the Athletics and played parts of two seasons up in Oakland in 1983 and 1986.  He was done as a pro player after 1986 but did manage in the minors in 1990 for the Auburn Astros of the New York Penn League.

Daryl Patterson made his major league debut as a Tiger.  He was a member of the 1967 Toledo Mud Hens that won the Governors Cup.  But bigger than that, he made his major league debut as a member of the 1968 Tigers.  Daryl was used as a reliever and went 2-3 with 7 saves and a 2.12 ERA.  He was on the roster for the World Series and got in two games pitching three innings and giving up only one hit to Julian Javier.  But he erased Javier by picking him off first base.  Daryl went on to pitch for the Tigers into 1971 when he was traded to the Athletics for John Donaldson.  In his career with Detroit Daryl was 9-7 with 9 saves and a 3.55 ERA.  He finished 1971 not with Oakland but with St. Louis and then played 1974 with the Pirates before his major league career was over.

Paul Richards was a catcher for the Tigers in the 1940’s, mainly during the war years.   He had started his major league career with the Dodgers in 1932 and then went to the Giants and later the Athletics.  He was in the minors with Atlanta of the Southern Association from 1936 through 1942 as a player manager.  But with the war on and most younger players in the service, the 34 year old was brought up to Detroit as a catcher.  He was the Tigers starter in 1943 and 1944 and was credited for teaching Hal Newhouser a great deal about pitching.  In 1945 he split time as catcher during the regular season with Bob Swift.   But Paul was the starter for the World Series as the Tigers wanted a more experienced catcher for the series.  After one more season as a part time catcher in 1946 but full time teacher of young Tiger pitchers, Paul as done as a major league player.  From 1947 through 1949 Paul was a player / manager for the Buffalo Bisons, the Tigers AAA farm team.  But 1950 found him managing the Pacific Coast League’s Seattle Rainiers.  By 1951 Paul was managing in the majors where he would manage for the next ten years with the White Sox and Orioles.  He managed one more season in 1976 with the White Sox before his managing days were done. 

Bill Morrisette pitched in 8 games for the Tigers in 1920.  That was the majority of his three years he played in the majors.  He started with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1915 and was there again in 1916.  He was a combined 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA.  He was back in the minors in 1917 and appears to have been in the service in 1918.  1919 found him back in baseball and 1920 found him in Hamilton with the Hamilton Tigers of the Michigan Ontario League.  He was 20-6 with the Tigers of Hamilton with a 1.00 ERA.  He joined the Detroit Tigers at the end of the 1920 season and was 1-1 with a complete game victory over the Philadelphia Athletics at Navin Field by the score of 5-2.  His loss was at the hands of the St. Louis Browns as he went 2 innings and gave up six runs but only two were earned.  He was 1-1 with a 4.33 ERA for the Tigers in 1920.  Bill bounced around the minors until 1924 having never got back into the majors. 

Gus Hetling was Tiger in his second year as a pro ball player.  He played with the Springfield Midgets in 1904 and hit .310.  In 1906 he was again with the Midgets before getting a call to Detroit.  He was 20 years old when he played both games of a double header against the St. Louis Browns in St. Louis after the Tigers had already long been eliminated from the pennant race.  Gus played third and went 1 for 7 with 4 K’s.  He made three put outs and two assists in the field.  He would never play in the majors again.    He continued to play in the minors through 1917 and was a career .273 hitter in the minors.

Charlie Bennett was a Detroit icon for years.  He started his major league career with the Milwaukee Grays in 1878.  1880 found him in Worcester with the Ruby Legs.  But 1881 found Charlie in his new home of Detroit where he was the catcher for the Wolverines for the next eight years including the World Series Championship season of 1887.  As a sign of his popularity, he was one of 8 base ball players that would be put on Allen and Ginters Tobacco cards of 1887 even though he was only the back up that year.  When the Wolverines dropped out of the National League, Charlie moved on to the Boston Beaneaters for the rest of his playing days.  His playing days came to an abrupt end in 1894 when he tried to run and catch a train and he lost his grip of the handles.  He fell under the train and lost both his legs.  He returned to Detroit and opened a tobacco store and the folks of Detroit would go out of their way to patronize his store.  He was given a day in Detroit and the fans gave him a wheel barrow filled with silver dollars.  The new Detroit Tigers of the American League  played their home games at a park named after Charlie, Bennett Park.  It was renamed Navin Field and later Briggs Stadium and finally Tiger Stadium.  Charlie was the ceremonial “catcher” in Detroit for years.  He would come out and catch the ceremonial first pitch for opening day for years.  He has been declared the best catcher of the 1800’s who is not in the Hall of Fame by the Society of American Baseball Research. 

Below is a 1887 Allen & Ginter's card of Charlie from my collection.

November 20 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Lino Urdaneta spent over half his time in the majors with the Tigers.  It is understandable if you have not heard of Lino.  Lino is from Venezuela.  He started in pro ball at the age of 19 in 1999 with the Dodgers A+ minor leage team in Vero Beach.  He got up to AA in 2003 when he was granted free agency by the Dodgers.  He signed with the Cleveland Indians in November of 2003 but was picked up by the Tigers about a month later in the Rule 5 draft.   He started the season in on the 15 day DL with elbow inflammation.   At the end of April he was sent to Toledo for injury rehab.  He was 0-2 in 9 games with one start and a 9.69 ERA.  About two weeks after he was assigned to Toledo he was placed on the 60 day DL.  In the beginning of August he was sent to A level Lakeland for injury rehab again.  In a week at Lakeland he made two starts for Lakeland and was 0-2 with an 11.57 ERA.   Then he was called up to Detroit in September of 2004 with a stopover in Toledo.  On September 9, Lino made his major league debut.  It was against Zack Greinke and the Royals.  In the third inning the score was 8-2 Royals with 1 out and the bases loaded when Lino was called in from the pen by manager Alan Trammell to replace Jason Johnson.  Lino walked David DeJesus.  Then it got ugly.  He gave up singles to Angel Berroa, Abraham Nunez, Matt Stairs, Joe Randa and finally Calvin Pickering.  After Pickering Lino was taken out of the game.  He had a final line score of no innings pitched, 6 batters faced, 5 hits, 1 BB and an infinite ERA.  The bases were still loaded when he left the game.  Four days later the Tigers outrighted him to Toledo.  A month later he was granted free agency.  He would sign with the Mets for 2007 and would appear in 2 games and pitch a total of 1 inning and face only 5 batters for the Mets.  That is one less batter than he faced for the Tigers.  He had an ERA of 9.00 for the Mets.  His career ERA was 63.00 in one inning pitched over three games and two seasons in the majors with no decisions.

Ron Cash spent his entire time in the majors with the Tigers.  He was drafted by the Tigers in 1971 out of Florida State University where he played with John Grubb.  He quickly worked his way up the minors hitting .300 everywhere he went with the exception of one stop in AA Montgomery.  The Tigers gave him a call up in September of 1973 and he did not disappoint.  He hit .410 in 14 games as a Tiger outfielder and third baseman.  He was back in the minors in 1974 and hitting .246 for the Evansville Triplets when he got another September call up for the Tigers.   This time he got in 20 games and hit .226 as first baseman third baseman.  The hope was that he might replace the aging Norm Cash (no relation) but it was actually Bill Freehan who spent most of the season at first.  Ron would never get back to the majors again and was out of baseball after 1976 having spent the entire time in the Tigers organization.  He died in 2009 at the age of 59.

Lou Berberet ended his major league career as a catcher for the Tigers.  He was drafted by the Yankees in 1950 out of college but went in to the military during the Korean War for 1951 and 1952.  He came out and got a couple of “look see’s” with the Yankees in 1954 and 1955.  In 7 games over those two years he hit .400.  But he was not about to replace Yogi Berra or Elston Howard for the Yankees and was thus trade bait.  He was sent to the Washington Senators prior to the 1956 season.  At Washington Lou showed he had a bit of a clown in him.  He once tried to catch a foul pop with his mitt.  But he missed it entirely.  Another time he had a chaw in his mouth and got in a collision at the plate and swallowed it.  He had to be replaced for the rest of the game.  But he also showed his defensive skills.  In 1957 he led all catchers with a 1.00% fielding percentage.  He also caught a league leading 57% of all would be base stealers as the Senators starting catcher in 1956.  He repeated as the league leader in 1959 at 55% when he was with the Tigers.  He had come to the Tigers by way of the Boston Red Sox in a trade for Herb Moford after the 1958 season.  He was the Tiger starting catcher in both 1959 and 1960.  While his defensive skills were very impressive, his offensive skills were a little lacking.  In the two seasons as the Tiger starting catcher he hit only .207 but did show power with 13 homers in 1959.  That was almost half of his career total of 31.   At the end of the 1960 season the Tiges traded for Dick Brown as a catcher.  He would start behind the plate in 1961 and while he did not quite have Lou’s defensive skills, (Dick would throw out 56% of base stealers in 1961 but had a .990 fielding percentage) Dick did hit .266.  With that, Lou’s baseball career was over at the age of 30. 

Augie Prudhomme reached the peak of his baseball career as a Tiger.   He started playing professionally in 1926 in the Class B New England League town of Lawrence for the Lawrence Merry Macks.  Not much is known of this team.  It existed for only 2 seasons and there are no stats for Augie or most of the players.  But it appears that Augie played with future Tiger 1968 coach, Tony Cuccinello while with the Merry Macks.   There is some doubt as to the two playing together as Augie moved on to Rochester at some point during the season where he appeared in 7 games going 1-1.  Augie continued playing in the minors and in 1928 had his best statistical season going 19-15 with a 3.02 ERA for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League.  This impressed the Tigers enough that they brought him to Detroit for the 1929 season.  Augie made his major league debut in the fourth game of the 1929 season.  He was called into a tie game between the Tigers and Indians in Cleveland’s League Park.  The score was 4-4 in the bottom of the 8^th.  Unfortunately Augie gave up 3 runs, 2 earned, on 4 hits and the Tigers lost the game 7-4.  A couple of weeks later Augie had the game of his career.  He got the start against the Boston Red Sox in Navin Field.  He gave up a run in the first but then shut the Sox down until they got a second run in the 9^th.  The second run was meaningless as the Tigers had already scored 10.   Augie had his first major league win in a complete game.  It had taken only 2 hours and 13 minutes and he gave up the 2 runs on 8 hits and 7 walks.  But Augie still had his “W”.  It would be the only “W” of his career.  Augie would get in 34 games that season and was 1-6 and recorded a save.  His ERA was 6.22 and he went back to minors after the 1929 season never to make it back to the majors. 

Ray Powell

Dan Casey

November 19 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Bryan Holaday, until 2014, had spent his cup of coffee so far with the Tigers.  He was drafted by the Tigers out of Texas Christian University after the 2010 College World Series.  He is a catcher and in 2010 he was a .220 hitter in 44 games at Lakeland.  In 2011 he was moved up to Erie and hit .242.  Last year he spent most of the time in Toledo where he was a .240 hitter with 2 homers in 75 games.  He caught 34% of the runners but is about average for his fielding percentage.  Last year he also got into 6 games for the Tigers.  His degut was against Cleveland on June 6^th.  He was the starting catcher and went 1 for 4.  His hit came in the 5^th against Jeanmar Gomez.  He hit a single to left to advance Johnny Peralta to third.  Bryan scored after moving to third on a Quentin Berry double and then Ramon Santiago’s ground out.  In his six games he was 3 for 12 with a sacrifice and scoring 3 runs.  With Gerald Laird gone to the Braves It was thought that Bryan would get more play in 2013 with the Tiges.  He did.  He went from 6 games in 2012 to 16 games in 2013.   He got 8 hits in those 16 games.  He was the Toledo Mud Hens starter for the 2013 season.  The Tigers have let Bryan Pena go before 2014 so Bryan Holaday was the Tigers back up behind Alex Avila.   He had his biggest year to date in 2014 getting in 62 games with a .266 OBP and defensively he was a .981 fielding percentage with 30% of base runners caught by Bryan.  Our starter, Alex Avilla, has a .327 OBP and a .995 fielding percentage and 34% of base runners are caught by Alex.  Bryan’s challenge for 2015 will be James McCann.  James is a 24 year old backstop who played at AAA Toledo last year and had a .343 OBP with a .993 fielding percentage and 42% of the would be base stealers caught by James.  There will be a drop all around for James in the majors but that might put him right in the range of Bryan.

Dickie Noles played fewer games for the Tigers than Bryan Holaday has.   Dickie was a pitcher for 11 years in the majors.  His career started in 1979 with the Philadelphia Phillies where he went 3 and 4 as a starter.  He spent three years with Phillies and was part of the World Series Championship for the Phils in 1980.  He was traded to the Cubs in 1981.  He had his most wins in 1981 when he was 10-13 with a 4.42 ERA.  He was with the Cubs until being traded in mid 1984 to the Rangers where he stayed thru 1985.  He was splitting time between a starter and the bull pen by now.  After spending 1986 in Cleveland and half of 1987 back with the Cubs he was “loaned” to the Tigers in September 1987.  He got into 4 games and recorded 2 saves in the 4 games with a total of 2 innings pitched.  In October, the Tigers returned Dickie to the Cubs.  The Cubs granted him free agency and he signed with the Baltimore Orioles for 1988 and would end his career in 1990 with back with the Phillies.  His career record was 36-53 with a 4.56 ERA and 11 saves.  Today he councils Phillie players about drug and alcohol abuse.

November 18 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Phil Stidham pitched for the Tigers after coming out of the University of Arkansas.  He signed as a draftee on June 4, 1991.  Three years to the day he made his major league debut as a Tiger against the Twins at Tiger Stadium.  The Twins were already ahead 7-0 when with a runner on first when Phil was brought in to pitch with one out in the second.  Phil ended the inning on one pitch getting Dave McCarty to ground into a double play.  Phil came in to pitcht the third and gave up two singles before getting the next two batters out on a fly ball and a strike out.   But then back to back singles followed by back to back homers scored six runs on six hits against Phil before he got the last out of the inning as a strike out.  A few days later he came in in the eighth with the Tigers already trailing 4-1 to face the Red Sox and gave up a lead off homer to Ron Tinsley and a single to Otis Nixon before getting the side out.  The next day it was the same story.  Tigers trailing 14-3 and Phil pitched the 8^th.  He gave up one run on two hits.  A few days later with the Tigers trailing 6-2 to the Angels Phil got the nod and got Rod Correia to pop up to Tigers catcher John Flaherty to end the inning.  Phil was done for the day.  Phil was called in one more time a few days later against the Brewers.  Yes, the Tigers were trailing.  Phil gave up three walks and a pair of doubles but did get Jody Reed out on a sac fly.  That was the end of Phils major league career.  He was 0-0 with a 24.92 ERA having never pitched with a lead.  Phil was done in the Tiger organization but continued to play pro ball in the Mets, Twins, Rockies and Reds organizations until 1998. 

Gary Sheffield played two of his 22 major league seasons as a Tiger.  He started his career with the Brewers in 1988.  He continued on with the Padres, Marlins, Dodgers, Braves and Yankees before the Tigers made a deal to bring him to Detroit for Anthony Claggett, Humberto Sanchez and Kevin Whelan after the 2006 season.  I heard all kinds of rave reviews of him as a great club house guy just before coming to the Tigers.  I hope it was true as he hit only .247 as a Tiger with 44 homers and 132 RBI’s over the two years as a DH.  His last season he hit only .225.  He made $10.9M his first year with the Tigers and $13.3 his second year.  Before the 2009 season started the Tigers released Gary.  Gary signed a $14M contract with the Mets and hit homers 500-509 of his career and he was done in baseball.   His last year in Detroit the Tigers were 74-88.  The next year the Tigers were 86-77.

Charlie Fuchs made his major league debut as a Tiger during the war year of 1942.  He had been playing in the minors since 1937 and was 49-50 before joining the Tigers at the start of the 1942 season.  He debuted against the Browns and pitched 1.1 innings and gave up two hits and a walk but no runs.  He ended up getting into 9 games for the Tigers before being sent to Beaumont.  He pitched a complete game four hit shut out of the Browns and beat the Browns once more pitching 7 innings before Hal Newhouser relieved him.  Charlie also beat the Athletics going 8.2 innings and giving up 4 runs on 9 hits before Newhouser came in again and recorded the final out.  He also lost to the Red Sox giving up five runs in three innings and the Indians, giving up 4 runs in 1.1 innings.  His final loss was to the White Sox when he gave up 7 runs in 2.1 innings.  The Athletics claimed Charlie off waivers before the 1943 season started.  His final record with Detroit was 3-3 with a 6.63 ERA.  For his career he was 6-10 with a 4.89 ERA with the Tigers, Athletics, Browns and Dodgers with his final year being 1944.

Jack Coombs pitched two games as a Tiger in a comeback attempt in 1920.  Jack had played 13 seasons in the majors before his time in Detroit.  With the Athletics in Philadelphia he led the league with 31 wins in 1910 and 28 in 1911.  13 of the wins in 1910 were shut outs.  He also went on to win 3 games in the World Series that year.  He followed that up with a 21 victory season in 1912.   After two dismal seasons in 1913 and 1914 where Jack was 0-1, Jack was released by the Athletics before the 1915 season and signed to pitch for the Brooklyn Robins.  For Brooklyn he was again a double digit winner going 15-10 and then 13-8 for the Robins.  He went back to the city of Philadelphia in 1919 but as a manager for the Phils.  He was 18-44 as a manager.  He then joined the Tigers on a comeback and played in two games.  He pitched the last five innings of a game the Tigers lost to the White Sox.  Jack relieved Ernie Alten, who relieved the starter and Dutch Leonard who gave up 7 runs in 3 innings to the Black Sox squad.  Jack only gave up 2 runs in his 5 innings pitched.   In Jacks last game he faced the Senators in relief and gave up 3 runs in 1.1 innings.  Al Schacht, the original Clown Prince of Baseball, won the game for the Senators 10-3.  Jack went on to coach the Duke University baseball team for 23 years and their field is named after him.  He also became a writer and historian.

Deacon McGuire started his time in Detroit as a member of the 1885 Detroit Wolverines.  He hit .190 as a back up catcher.  He left Detroit and played for the Philadelphia Quakers before coming back to Detroit in 1888 He played three games for the Wolverines but did not get a hit as a catcher again.  Deacon continued to play pro ball with Cleveland Blues, Rochester Broncos, Washington Senators and Brooklyn Superbas before coming back to Detroit with the Tigers in 1902.  He hit .227 as a the starting catcher in 1902 for the Tigers and followed that in 1903 as the starting catcher again but this time hitting .250 at the age of 39.  He was the second oldest player in the league at that time as a catcher!  Deacon continued to play part time and also managed some with the Boston Americans/Red Sox and the Cleveland Naps.  He was done managing in the majors after the 1911 season.  For the 1912 season Deacon returned to Detroit to play for the Tigers one more time.  While a coach for the Tigers, on May 18, 1912, he came back to catch in the Ty Cobb strike game and went 1 for 2 at the age of 48.  That was his last game in the majors as a player.  He continued ot coach for the Tigers through 1917.  His record of 1612 games as a catcher stood until 1925.  He played for 11 different teams.  A record held until Matt Stairs played for his 12^th team in 2010.  He recorded more assists as a catcher than anyone else ever has.  His record is 1860 assists as a catcher.  This record is not likely to be broken as Pudge Rodriguez is closest among active catchers with 1227 followed by Jorge Posada at 696.  His caught steals record of 1459 base runners is also not likely to ever be broken.  Pudge is again closest at 661 among active catchers.   Deacon went on to coach the Albion College team.  He is buried at Riverside Cemetery in Albion.

November 17 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Billy McMillon in the dark days was a Tiger.  Billy played ball in college at Clemson before signing with the Marlins in their inaugural season of 1993.  He almost made the majors in 1995.  That was the year of the lockout/strike.  Billy crossed the line and was willing to play.  But an agreement was reached and he did not make the majors.  Instead he went to the minors and the Portland Seadogs where he hit .313 with 14 homers and 93 RBI’s.  This was rough on the minor league players willing to cross the line like Billy.   When he finally made it to the majors in 1996 for the Marlins as a back up outfielder he faced a hostile locker room.  He was there for a year and a half before going to the Phillies to end 1997.  He was in the Phillies farm system before they granted him free agency in 1999.  The Tigers signed him and he played DH and outfield in 2000 for the Tiges.    He hit .301 and probably had the game of his career in New York against the Yankees that season.  He got the start as DH against Roger Clemons and with the Tigers trailing 5-3 in the 5^th he hit a grand slam to give the Tigers the lead.  The lefty was back with the Tiges in 2001 but was hitting .088 in 20 games.  He was waived and the Oakland Athletics claimed him.  He ended his major league career in 2004 with Oakland having never been a starter.  However, the MLB Players Association did allow him to join the union.  After his major league days he went into coaching.  He became a minor league manager in 2010 and in 2014 he was named manager of the year of the Eastern League for the same Portland Seadogs that he played for in 1995. 

Brad Havens

Orlando Pena

Dick Weik

Davey Claire should not be confused with his brother Danny who was never a Tiger.  Both were born in Ludington.  Davey was older having been born in 1895 while Danny was born in 1897.  Danny was an umpire in the minors.  He died in a fire in 1929 in Battle Creek.  Davey for years had his stats attributed to Danny.  Davey started playing for Ludington of the Central League in 1920.  He hit .284 and that was enough to catch the eye of the Tigers who called him to Detroit in September.  In his debut Davey was called in to replace Donnie Bush at shortstop.  He got a single in his one plate appearance but was still pulled later in the game after making an error.  The next day he got the start at short and went 1 for 4 with a HBP.  The third day he got one more start and was 0-2 with 2 errors.  Hughie Jennings pulled him from the game and Davey never got in another major league game.  Davey went on to play for a few more seasons with Ionia, Grand Rapids and Toledo before his career was over in 1923.

Willie Jensen

George Stallings was the manager when the American League began and we had the Detroit Tigers.  He had a brief career as a player in the majors in the 1890’s.  It consisted of 7 games, 4 games in 1890 with the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, 2 games in 1897 with the Philadelphia Phillies and 1 more game in 1898 with the Phillies.  However, his real talent was as a manager.  He started his managing before his playing days were even barely started.  He was a player manager in 1893 in the minors.  He first came to Detroit in 1896 when the Tiges were part of the Western League which was a minor league.  He was called to manage the Phillies of the National League in 1897 and 1898 where he had his last few games as a player.  But he was back in Detroit before the end of the 1898 season.  George was known as a fastidious dresser and managed in a suit.  He was a bit of a nervous type always sliding up and down the bench so much that he would wear out his pants.  He was still the skipper when the Western League renamed itself the American League and a major league in 1900.  He took them to 4^th place with a 71-67-1 record.  He improved the Tiges to 3^rd and 74-62 in 1901 when everyone else considered the American League a major league.  According to the baseball Pythagorean theory they should have won only 72 games.  But George got into a battle with the American League President, Ban Johnson.  Ban claimed that George was trying to sabotage the league by selling the Tigers to NL parties.  This was when the American and National Leagues were fierce, cut throat, rivals.  However, George pointed out that Ban owned 51% of the Tigers so it was not likely to happen.  But Ban won the argument and George left the league and Detroit and went to manage in the minors for a few years before returning to the league eight years later taking over the helm of the New York Highlanders, soon to be the Yankees.  He managed there for the 1909 season and most of 1910 when Ban Johnson finally convinced the Highlanders owner to fire George and install Hal Chase as the New York player manager.  George had the Highlanders in second place at 78-59 in 1910.  Hal finished the season at 10-4 in the last 14 games of 1910.  But the following season the Highlanders dropped to 6^th place under Chase.  Chase would be found to be one the most notorious baseball players ever to play the game and is a character by himself.  He was adept at throwing games to win bets.  His biography is called “Hal Chase, the Black Prince of Baseball”.  But George had moved on and eventually became the manager of the Boston Braves of the National League.  He took the Braves to the World Series in 1914 where they swept the heavily favored American League’s Philadelphia Athletics.  They are now forever known as “the Miracle Braves” as they came from last place on July 15 to win it all.  George was done managing in the majors after 1920.  He would continue to manage in the minors and was hired to manage the Montreal Royals in 1928.  But it was when he lay dying that he may have made his most lasting moment in baseball.  In 1929 he was struggling with heart problems that would take his life.  While struggling to cling to life his doctor asked him if he knew what was troubling him.  George knew exactly what had always caused him the most pain.  It was the same thing the troubles all managers.  He replied “Bases on balls, you son of a bitch!  Bases on Balls!”  And then he died.

November 16 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Harry Chiti was the only player ever to be traded for himself.

Frank Bolling played with his brother Milt as a Tiger.

Paul Foytack

Ben Guiney was a Wolverine.

Joe Quest was a Wolverine.

Mike McGreary was a Wolverine.

November 15 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Duane Below is one of the more recent Tigers.  He was born and raised in Britton, MI.  He goes to college at Lake Michigan Community College in the off season.   He was drafted by the Tigers in 2006 and in 2007 was the Tigers Minor League Pitcher of the Year.  He has continued to move up in the Tigers farm system and in 2011 was 9-4 with a 3.13 ERA for the Toledo Mud Hens when he was called up to replace Adam Wilk.  Duane made his major league debut as a starter against the Oakland Athletics.  He perfect in the first two innings but then got in trouble in the third.  David DeJesus reached on an error by Carlos Guillen.  Then Landon Powell hit single and Eric Sogard followed with a ground out that scored DeJesus.  Duane gave up another unearned run to get out of the inning with no earned runs but three hits.  Duane gave up only one more hit in the next two innings but was pulled in the 6^th when he gave up Hideki Matsui’s 500^th career home run (Remember, Matsui played 10 years in Japan before coming to the US.)  The tiers would get the los that day but Duane would get a no decision in his major league debut.  Duane got in 13 more games for the Tiges in 2011 with one more start and posted an 0-2 record with a 4.34 ERA.  He was back with the Tiges this past season and at one point led the league in wins.  He won the Tigers second and third games of the season.  He came into the second game of the season wen Doug Fister was pulled in the 4^th inning and Duane came in and became the pitcher of record as the Tiges pounded the Red Sox 10-0.  The next day Duane came in to end the top of the 11 inning.  The Red Sox had just scored 2 runs to take a 12-10 lead in the 11^th.  Things looked bad for the Tiges and Duane was broght in to relive Joaquin Benoit.  Duane faced one batter, Adrian Gonzalez, and got him to K.  But the Tiges came back and scored three runs and won the game 13-12 on a walk off homer by Alex Avilla and Duane had his second win in two days and in only the third game of the season.  He finished the season  2-1 in 27 games with one start and an ERA of 3.88.     

Ryan Jackson

Todd Steverson

Bob Farley

Babe Ellison

Hap Ward played in the Ty Cobb strike game of 1912 when he was 24. In 1912 Ty Cobb was suspended for going into the stands and beating up a fan. He was suspended by the league. But his teammates felt he was justified and so on May 18, the rest of the Tigers refused to take the field in a game in Philadelphia against the Athletics. The Tigers hastily put a squad together of amateurs and sand lotters. Hap was one of those players and joined the Tigers at the age of 26.  Hap had two plate appearances in that game and K’d both times. However, he did reach on a dropped third strike.  But he was erased from the base paths when he was caught stealing.  He played the outfield as a replacement and made two put outs.  The team lost the contest 24-2.  After the game the regular Tigers reported back as Ty had asked them to.   All of the players from the 24-2 game disappeared from professional baseball when the regulars returned.

Will Foley was briefly a Detroit Wolverine. He started playing professional ball at the age of 19 with the Chicago White Stockings of the National Association in 1875. The National Association was the first professional league in 1871. So this was just the fifth year of a professional league in baseball history. Will was from Chicago so it only made sense that he join his home team and make some money. He played in 3 games as a third baseman. He went 3 for 12 and hit a double and drove in a run. In the field he made three errors in three games. Before you think badly of his fielding remember this was a time of no gloves. His fielding percentage was .813 compared to the league average of .764. Not bad for a rookie! At the end of the season the National Association collapsed as several teams jumped to form the National League in 1876. Will left Chicago and joined the Cincinnati Reds. He was the Reds starting third baseman for the next two seasons on teams that were not very good. The Reds were 9-56 that first season for 8^th place in an 8 team league. In 1877 they moved up to 6^th place in the league. But that was because the New York Mutuals and the Philadelphia Athletics dropped from the league. Will was a .209 hitter for Cincy. But the league average was about .265. In 1878 Will went to the Milwaukee Grays where he was their starting third baseman hitting .271 for the Grays before heading back to Cincy in 1879. Will was moved to the outfield in 1879 as the starting third sacker for Cincy was now Hall of Famer King Kelly. Will hit .211 for 1879 and then disappeared for the 1880 season. He was back in the majors in 1881 with the Detroit Wolverines but only briefly. He got in 5 games for the Wolverines and went 2 for 15 as a third baseman. Will dissapeared again from pro ball until 1884 when he was playing with the St. Paul Apostles of the Northwestern League and then joined the Chicago team in the Union Association. The Chicago team moved to Pittsburgh during the season before collapsing with the league following shortly thereafter. That would be the last Will played in the majors. In 1886 Will was playing pro ball still with the Lincoln Tree Planters of the Western League and then the Minneapolis Millers of the Northwestern League to end his pro career. Will died three days short of his 61^st birthday in 1916 in Chicago.

November 14 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Clete Thomas was a Tiger hopeful for a couple of years.  He was named after his Dad’s favorite player, Clete Boyer.  He got his start for the Tiges on opening day 2008.  Curtis Granderson was on the DL and Clete made the roster.  He got a hit in 11^th inning of opening day and was hot for the next couple of games.  He was sent back down to Toledo when Granderson came back to the line up at the end of April 2008.  He was brought back up in July and in 40 games hit .284.  However, he was not a great fielder.  He has a career .973 fielding percentage to a league average .987.  In 2009 he was with the Tiges most of the season but hit .240.  He did have the highlight of his career that year when he came into a game as a pinch runner against the Angels and wound up hitting a grand slam homer in the 8^th.  He was in the minors in 2010 and 2011 hitting .183 and .251 but was brought up briefly in 2012.  However, at 28 years old with a dropping average and not a great glove he was expendable.   He was waived in April and claimed by the Twins.  He spent most of 2012 in the Twins AAA team in Rochester where he hit .232 with a .983 fielding percentage.

Fu-Te Ni

Willie Hernandez

Johnnie Seale spent his entire time in the majors with the Tigers.  The lefty pitcher started in pro ball in 1958 for the Washington Senators and bounced around in the minors for various organizations as a reliever until 1964 when the Tigers called him up as late September call up.  He debuted against the Cleveland Indians and pitched 1.2 innings of perfect ball getting 4 out of his 5 outs to hit fly balls with two not even getting out of the infield.  Two days later he was called in to face the Orioles and relieve Phil Regan who did not record an out to start the game but rather had given up 3 hits and a walk to start the game and put the Tigers down 2-0.  Johnnie came in and pitched the first four innings and allowed only one run.  While he was doing that on the mound, his Tiger teammates came back and scored 4 runs.  Johnnie was taken out of the game after the fourth but recorded his first win as Tiger.  It would also be his only win as a Tiger.  Johnnie would get into 2 more games before the season ended and also got into 4 more games for the Tiges in early 1965 but he did not record another decision.  In total he was 1-0 with a 5.54 ERA in 13 innings pitched in the major leagues. 

Fred Carisch came out of retirement to be Tiger player.  Fred had started his major league career in 1903 with the Pittsburgh Pirates when he got into 5 games for the Pirates and hit .333 as a back up catcher.  He played the next three seasons as a back up before going down to the minors.  He returned to the majors in 1912 at the age of 30 as a back up catcher for the Cleveland Naps for three more years as a .226 hitter.  He then went back to the minors and would get into coaching and even managing before becoming a coach for the Tigers in the early 1920’s.  In 1923 on the Fourth of July at Cleveland, Fred came out of retirement as a player.  In the 10^th inning of a game tied 7-7 the Tiger catcher, Larry Woodall, was called out at second on force out.  Larry argued with the umps, Billy Evans and Pants Rowland and was ejected.  The half inning ended and the Tigers had a problem.  The problem was Larry had replaced starting catcher Johnny Bassler and the Tiges third catcher, Clyde Manion, had been used as pinch hitter earlier in the game.  So the Tigers had no catcher.  Manager Ty Cobb asked to use either Manion or Bassler.  Cleveland skipper, Tris Speaker, refused to allow either to come back in the game.   So Fred was called into action at the age of 41.   The last time he had played catcher was in 1914 with Speaker’s Indians.    Speaker objected stating that Fred was not on the active list and played the rest of the game under protest.  But Glenn Myatt hit a three run homer that ended the game and gave the Indians the win.  Fred never played in the majors again.

November 13 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Gerald Laird

Vic Darensbourg

Dan Petry

Steve Bilko  Cult baseball players

Jim Delsing was the center fielder when Al Kaline became a Tiger.  Jim came to the Tiges from the St. Louis Browns in 1952 and became our centerfielder.  He was always known as being fleet of foot and a mediocre bat.  He moved over to left for the Tigers in 1954 for Bill Tuttle.  In five seasons with the Tiges he was a .260 hitter who hit 30 homers and 175 RBI’s in 417 games.  But Jim’s SABR bio by Jim Sargent has some great sections on the life of a baseball wife in the 1950’s.  Here is a direct lift from Sargent’s bio from an interview with Jim’s wife Roseanne.  “"I didn't go to all of Jim's games, once we had the children. Before we had kids I would go every night. But Jim would leave for the ballpark about 3:00 or 3:30 for a night game. If we had another player living near, then the guys would ride together, and the wives would get together and come later. In those days, nobody had two cars. Given my druthers of being a baseball wife then or now, I loved the way it was in the 1950s. I think there are just so many memories that we both have of baseball, of rough times and good times. But those memories are very, very important to us, and we still cherish them. Would I do it again? Oh, absolutely. Patty Boone and I were real good friends in Detroit. Louise Kaline and I would throw our kids in the car and go to the park and spend a day. There was one time in Detroit when it was Patty Boone, Jeanette Gromek, four or five of us wives. The guys were going to be gone for three weeks -- the road trips, you know, were longer then. So we rented a place up on Saginaw Bay, and took all of our kids up there, and spent a couple of weeks on Lake Huron. It was just great! The camaraderie at that time was just unbelievable.

"A couple of years ago we went to a Tiger Alumni get-together. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see more of the people. We did see the Gromeks. We didn't see the Houttemans or the Grays. Jim did get to see a lot of the guys, but maybe some of the wives just didn't come. Yes, I would do it over again. I don't know if they have the camaraderie today that we did. But who knows? Times have changed. Everything is different now, life is different, and you don't want it to stay the way it used to be. But, for example, when [pro golfer son] Jay was playing in the Bob Hope Tournament in Palm Springs in February of this year, someone came up to him and introduced himself. And it was Jim McDaniel, a pitcher that Jim had played with in the Dominican Republic, forty-some years ago. He wanted to know how our oldest daughter Kim had injured her leg down there. She broke a femur and had a lot of problems. Jim McDaniel told Jay to tell us hi, and to ask how Kimmie's leg was. Well, ‘Kimmie' is 42 now! Later that day, when Jay went to Mass, Jim and Mary Bunning came up to Jay and introduced themselves, and said to be sure and tell us hi. There are just so many good memories that go back 30 and 40 years ago, and I hope the modern-day players will be able to have the same recall, and the same good memories, and the good friends, and the pleasure in hearing from them."

Roseanne said they always liked Detroit: "I enjoyed knowing Van Patrick, the broadcaster, who used to have parties and invite us over after the games. "One of the main reasons I liked being in Detroit was that [Tigers executive] Spike Briggs was such a neat person. It was always funny, because he and his wife had four boys. While we were in Detroit, our second daughter was born. Spike would catch me, and say, ‘Let's make a trade, I'll give you four boys for one girl!' They never had any daughters, and they really wanted a little girl. But the day games were so nice. Jim would leave home at 10:00 or so, and be home at 5:30 or 6:00. That was fun. It was different, after a full diet of night games and doubleheaders on Sunday. People don't remember that they played a lot of Sunday doubleheaders. But we were always the happiest in Detroit. I loved Michigan at that time. It was just wonderful."