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.
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