January 27 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Rusty Meacham started his major league career as a Tiger.  He was brought up in the Tiger farm system and showed great promise.  He consistently had a K to BB ratio of about 3 or 4 to 1 and ERA’s around 3 or lower.  After only 3 and half years in the minors he got the call up to the show.  He made his debut as a starter for the Tiges against the Indians at Tiger Stadium on June 29, 1991.  He went 7 innings and gave up only 3 runs on 8 hits and won his debut in the majors.  Five days later, on the 4^th of July, he got his second start in the majors against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.  He went 5.1 innings and gave up 1 run on 5 hits.  He had picked up his second win in his second appearance as a major leaguer.  Rusty got in 8 more games with the Tiges in 1991but only had one more decision against the Kansas City Royals.  He did not pitch well against the Royals and was tagged with the loss.  He went only 2.2 innings and gave up 5 runs on 5 hits.  For the season he only gave up 16 earned runs.  Almost a third were in the Royals game.  The Tigers inexplicably waived him after the season and the Royals picked him up.  Rusty spent the next four years with the Royals and the side armer became a fan favorite in KC.  In the four years he was 19-12 with a 3.79 ERA.  But clearly his best year was the year after he was waived by Detroit when in 1992 he was 10-4 with a 2.74 ERA.  Rusty went on to play for the Mariners, Astros and Devil Rays before ending his major league career in 2001 and his minor league career in 2006.   Rusty stayed in baseball and coached in the Washington Nationals farm system for a couple of years before going to the Golden Baseball League.  The GBL is an independent league that started in 2005.  He was last seen pitching for the Tijuana Cimarrones in 2010.  He pitched one game and took that loss at age 42.  I am not sure where he is today.

Steve Demeter helped make the Tigers the World Champs of 1968.  He spent six years working his way up the Tigers farm system ladder until 1959 when he was called up and made his major league debut.  He was called in to pinch hit for shortstop Coot Veal in the 6^th with runners on first and third and one out of a game against the Orioles.   Steve faced Jerry Walker and hit a double to left center to score the runner on third.  That made the score Orioles 5, Detroit 1.  In the 9^th there were again runners on first and third with one out and Steve was up having stayed in the game at third as the Tigers juggled the infield.  He faced Milt Pappas and this time grounded into a double play to end the game.   On September 26 Steve got his first start as a major leaguer in a game against the White Sox.  Steve went 0 for 4.  ON the White Sox that day was young first baseman who replaced Ted Kluszewski in the 2^nd inning.  His name was Norm Cash.  Norm also did not get a hit that day.  The next day Steve made his second start in the majors again at third.  In the third Steve got a single to short to lead off the inning.  It was the second hit of his career.  He later scored on a Tom Morgan single to make the score White Sox 5, Tigers 1.  Steve never got another hit, run or RBI in his time in the majors.  A week before the 1960 season started the Tigers made a trade with the Cleveland Indians.   Steve went to the Indians for a recently acquired first baseman named Norm Cash.  Steve got in four game for the Indians but did not get on base.  He never played again in the majors.  His career totals were 2 hits and one run over 15 games.  Over the next 15 years Norm Cash went on to become an all star first baseman for the Tigers and was a major reason for the 1968 World Series championship.

Elijah Jones spent his entire time in the majors with the Tigers.  He was born in Oxford, Michigan in 1882.  His first known appearance in pro ball was 1906 with the Springfield Senators. In August of 1906 he was purchased by the Tigers but would not play until the next season.  In 1907 he made his major league debut pitching against the Indians in the second game of the season.  The Tigers lost.  Elijah would get in 3 more games with the Tigers that season and post a record of 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA.  The next season Elijah was with the Montreal Royals of the Eastern League and he had his best season of his career going 19-14 with the Royals.  With that record he was back with the Tigers in 1909.  In 1909 Elijah started a game early in the season and got his first major league win.  About a week later on April 24, he started his second game of the season and lost to the White Sox, 3-1.  Elijah never played another major league game.  He continued to play in the minors through 1912 before his career was over.  He died in Pontiac, MI in 1943 and is buried in the Oxford Cemetery.

Bill Burns ended his major league career with the Tigers in 1912 but ended several other careers seven years later.  His nickname came from his apparent lack of intensity on the mound.  He started his major league career in 1908 with the Washington Senators.  He was 6-11.  The Senators traded him at the beginning of the 1909 season to the White Sox for Nick Altrock, Gavvy Cravath and Jiggs Donahue.  The White Sox later sold him to the Cincinnati Reds for $4,000 in 1910.  The Reds traded him to the Phillies in 1911.  In April 1912 the Tigers purchased Bill from the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association.  Bill got into 6 games for the Tigers and posted a 1-4 record with a 5.35 ERA.  In May he was sold back to the Millers.  His major league career was over with record of 30-52 and a 2.72 ERA.  However, in 1919 Bill was again involved in major league baseball.  He approached several members of the Chicago White Sox and started negotiations to get the White Sox to throw the World Series.  He was witness for the prosecution in the trial of the White Sox turned Black whose careers were ended by the scandal.