December 20 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Aubrey Huff played 40 games for the Tigers in 2009.  He started his career in 2000 with Tampa Bay as a third baseman and was there through most of 2006 but had been converted to outfield/first baseman.  At that time he was traded to the Astros in the Ben Zobrist deal.  At the end of the season he became a free agent and signed with the Orioles.  The Orioles traded him to the Tigers in August of 2009 for minor leaguer Brett Jacobson.   He was strictly a pinch hitter and DH for the Tigers and hit .189 with 2 homers and 13 RBI’s.  At the end of the season he was granted free agency and signed with the Giants. He finished 7^th in MVP voting after leaving Detroit by hitting .290 with 26 homers and 86 RBI’s for the World Champion Giants in 2010 and then won a second World Series ring in 2012 when the Giants beat his old team, the Tigers.  He was released at the end of the 2012 season and was not picked up by any other team for 2013.

Snooks Dowd started his major league career as a Tiger in 1919.  He came into a game in Detroit against the White Sox as a pinch runner for catcher Oscar Stanage.  He did not steal a base nor score and did not come back to play the field or bat again.  The attendance for the game was 24.  They were the only fans to see Snooks take the field as Tiger as he never played again for the Tigers.  The Tigers sold him to the Philadelphia Athletics where he played 13 games and got 3 hits.  This was the majority of his career in terms of games and the only hits of his career. He ended up in Brooklyn in 1926 for 2 more games without a hit and was done in the majors after that. 

Deacon Jones pitched for the Tigers over three seasons from 1916 into 1918.  He was 0-0 in his first season with a 2.57 ERA in one game against the Washington Senators in Detroit as a late season call up.   He was back in Detroit in 1917 and was 4-4 in 24 games with a 2.92 ERA being used mainly in relief.  In 1918 he was back for his last year with the Tigers and was 3-2 with a 3.09 ERA.  He spent 1920 in the Pacific Coast League before he was done with baseball.

Paddy Baumann started his major league career as a Tiger in 1911 as a second baseman.  He was not born in Ireland but rather Indianapolis and was named Charles John Bauman, not Patrick.  He hit .255 in 26 games and drove in 11 runs.  He had his best season as a Tiger in 1913 when hit .298 in 50 games with 22 RBI’s.   He went to the Yankees in 1915 and was there through 1917 as a backup utility player.  For the Tigers he was a .272 hitter with 40 RBI’s and 1 homer.  For his career he was a .274 hitter with 101 RBI’s and 4 homers.   He managed in the minors in 1924 for the Galveston Sand Crabs. 

Below is a 1914 Blanket of Baumann from my collection.