Gary Thurman made a career out of being a pinch runner and
an outfielder and spent one year as a Tiger.
He first made it to the majors in 1987 with the Kansas City Royals at
the age of 22. He had his best year of
hitting by having a .296 batting average in 27 games. He also stole 7 bases. His problem was he had a penchant for
K’s. In 81 at bats that season he K’s 20
times. Over the next five years with the
Royals, Gary had similar years except his batting average normally was
lower. After six years with the Royals
Gary had a .243 batting average and 65 stolen bases. He also had 154 K’s in 678 at bats. Or rather he struck out about every 4 at
bats. He also started about 2 out of
every three games he played. So the rest
where normally where he came in as a pinch runner. In March of 1993 the Royals waived Gary and
the Tigers claimed him. He had a very
similar year with the Tigers. He started
only 25 out of 75 games he appeared in.
In those 75 games he only had 102 plate appearances. He K’d 30 times in those 102 plate
appearances and stole 7 bases. At the
end of the season the Tigers granted him free agency. He would get to the majors only two more
seasons in1995 with Seattle Mariners and in 1997 with the New York Mets. Since his playing days Gary has stayed in the
game as a coach and manager in the minors and majors. In 2012 he was the first base coach for the
Miami Marlins.
Herm Merritt played his entire career as a Tiger. He made his professional debut in August of
1921 as shortstop but was 0 for 1 at the plate and taken out of the game after
that one plate appearance. Herm got in
19 more games for the Tiges that season and hit .370 with a double and
triple. But his fielding was below
average. He made 6 errors and had a .882
fielding percentage compared to league average of .941. At the end of the season the Tiges sent him
to Augusta in the minors. On the way
there he was involved in a car accident and was paralyzed. He died a few years later in 1927 at the age
of 26.
Red McDermott spent his entire time in the majors as a
Tiger. Red was born Frank A. McDermott
in 1888 in Philadelphia, PA. He started
his career in pro ball in 1908 as a 19 year old with Fort Wayne of the class B
Central League. He played 3 years there
before moving to Providence which was up a level at Class A in the Eastern
League. The next year Providence moved
up to AA level and Red moved up as well.
According to the records, on August 6 of that year Red was in the Tigers
line up against the New York Highlanders.
The Tiges won the game 6-2. The
next day the Tiges played the Highlanders again and won 7-0. On August 8 Red played his last game this
time against the Red Sox and the Tiges lost 5-0. However, the records state that Red played in
five games. So there is in error in his
career record. He supposedly played all
5 or 3 games in the outfield without an error and hit .267 with a double and a
stolen base. He played in the minors
after his appearance with the Tiges and went on to manage in the minors as
well. His last known time in the pro
ball was 1934 when at the age of 45 he was playing for Dayton of the Mid
Atlantic League and hit .304 at the Class C level club. I will let you know what I find on the error
in his record.
Moonlight Graham never played for the Tigers. The movie “Field of Dreams” or rather, the
book “Shoeless Joe” by W. P. Kinsella is correct. He only had played in one game and never had
an at bat. He did later become a doctor.
Ed Killian was the first lefty ace for the Tigers. He started his time in the majors with the
Cleveland Naps (soon to be called the Indians) in 1903. He was 3-4 for the Naps but before the 1904
season Ed was traded with Jesse Stovall for Billy Lush. For Detroit Ed went on to win 100 games in 7
seasons. He was the lefty in the
rotation for the Tiges when they dominated the American League winning three
pennants in a row in 1907, 1908 and 1909.
He won 48 games in those three seasons but did not record a decision in
the three World Series. In 1909 he
pitched both games in a double header in taking a no hitter into the 8th
and won the game 5-0. He then went back
to the mound for the second half of the double header and won that game 8-3 and
thus the Tiges won the pennant. But the
over use of his arm stopped him from pitching in the World Series. In fact he was out of the rotation in 1910
and out of baseball in 1911. In the 7
seasons he played in Detroit he started 205 games and completed 142 of
them. His record was 100 and 74 with a
2.38 ERA for the Tigers. He retired to
Detroit and worked for Ford Motor Company as a mechanic and died in 1928 at
that age of 51 of cancer and is buried in Detroit’s Woodlawn Cemetery.
Below is a T-206 card of Killian from my collection.
Below is a T-206 card of Killian from my collection.
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