Monday, December 15, 2014

December 16 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Jason Wood had a career that spanned ten years but was less than a seasons worth of games and only a few were with the Tigers. He started his career in the majors in 1998 with Oakland . He did not get much of a look see as he played only three games with only one plate appearance for the A’s before they sent him to Detroit for Bip Roberts. With Detroit Jason got in 10 games as a first baseman, shortstop and DH with 26 plate appearances. He got 8 hits and 3 walks for a .423 on base percentage. He returned to the Tiges in 1999 and got in 27 games. This time he played first, second, third, short and DH. While he gained more positions he had fewer hits with more at bats. His batting average dropped to .159 with a .196 on base percentage. At the end of the season he became a free agent. He resurfaced in the majors in 2006 with the Marlins. He stayed there through 2008. While with the Marlins he played the outfield and pitched as well. He played in 5 seasons over 10 years and only appeared in 153 games.

Billy Ripken was known for being Cal ’s brother long before he became a Tiger. He had played 7 years with the Orioles as a starting second baseman and had some good seasons. In 1990 he led the O’s with a .290 average. In 1993 he signed with the Rangers as a free agent. He stayed there fo two years before joining the Indians for a season. Then he went back to Baltimore . Once more he went to the Rangers in 1997 and finally in 1998 he signed with the Tigers. He was mainly a shortstop for the Tigers in 1998 but also played a couple games at first, second and third. He hit .270 with the Tigers in 27 games and was released in July. He was done as a major leaguer after that.


Neil Chrisley spent most of his career as a Tiger. He started his career the Senators in 1957 and 1958 as a back up outfielder. He hit .204 for the Senators with five homers and 29 RBI’s in 131 games. He was traded to Detroit after the 1958 season with Rocky Bridges and Eddie Yost for Reno Bertoia, Jim Delsing and Ron Samford. In 1959 and 1960 Neil hit .215 for the Tiges as a back up outfielder. At the end of the season he was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the expansion draft and ignominiously returned to the Tigers that very same day. He was then sent to the Milwaukee Braves to finish an earlier trade of Dick Brown, Chuck Cottier and Terry Fox for Frank Bolling and a player to be named in Neil. He was purchased by the Mets in October of 1961 but again, before the season started, the expansion Mets returned Neil to the Braves. For his career Neil was a .210 hitter over five seasons.

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