Ike Brookens pitched for the Tigers in 1975. He is four years older than his cousin Tom
Brookens. Both went to high school in
Chambersburg, PA. Ike was drafted by the
Senators in 1967 out of high school.
While in the minors, he went to the Royals in the 1969 expansion
draft. Still in the minors he was traded
to the Cardinals for Tom Hilgendorf in 1970.
In 1974 The Tiges got Ike in a trade for John Young. In June of 1975 he finally made his major
league debut against the Red Sox in Tiger Stadium. He pitched 3.1 innings in relief and gave up
2 runs on 5 hits and a walk. He also
struck out 5 including Rico Petrocelli and Jim Rice twice! Two days later he faced the Yankees at Tiger
Stadium and went 2.1 innings in relief and again gave up 2 runs but on 3 hits
and 1 walk. He struck out Walt “no neck”
Williams. On June 25 he faced the
Brewers in County Stadium and in relief went 4.2 innings and again gave up 2
runs on 3 hits and 3 walks. He also
struck out Hank Aaron and Don Money. The
two runs were homers to George Scott. Ike
was done in the majors after that game and done in the minors two years later.
John Sullivan was a late season call up for the Tigers in
1963, 1964 and 1965. He got in a total
of 39 games for the Tigers in that time and hit .245. At the beginning of the 1965 season John had
appeared in 5 games over the previous two seasons. On opening day for 1965 John was the starting
catcher in place of Bill Freehan batting 7th and facing Moe
Drabowsky of the Kansas City Athletics in KC.
He was hit by a pitch in the second inning. He then grounded out in the 4th. But in the 8th Wes Stock replaced Moe and
after giving upa single to Don Demeter, John hit a ball over the KC fence and
gave the Tiges a 5-2 lead for his first major league hit. He would add to the lead with another RBI in
the 9th. He was a backup
catcher in the majors with a good glove and a good arm. He was drafted by the Mets in the rule 5
draft in 1966 and got one season in with the Mets in 1967 before ending his
major league career with the Phillies in 1968.
After his playing days, John became a successful minor league manager
before becoming a major league coach with the Royals, Braves and Blue
Jays. He was done as a major league
coach after the 1993 season, his 11th with the Blue Jays.
Charlie Harding made his major league debut as a Tiger in
1913 against the Senators in Washington.
He had spent most of the 1913 season with the Winston-Salem Twins going
12-6 before joining the Tigers late in the season. On September 185h, he came into a game
trailing in the sixth. He pitched the
last two innings and gave up one run on three hits and a walk. He did not strike any one out. The final score was 5-1, Washington. Two day later he was sold the Chattanooga
Lookouts of the Southern Association.
He never played in the majors again but would play in the minors through
1917 when he made his final appearance as a professional ball player with the
Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association.
Barney Gilligan ended his career as a Detroit Wolverine of
the National League in 1888. He had
played 9 seasons in the majors before that with the Cleveland Blues, Providence
Grays and Chicago White Stockings before joining the Wolverines. In 1881 he made $875 as the Grays back up
catcher. He was a solid defensive back
stop and was a starter most of his career until he finally lost his starting
role to Connie Mack in 1887 with the White Stockings. In 1888 he played one game for the Wolverines
and went 1-5 against the Indianapolis Hoosiers in a 16-7 loss early in the
season. The Wolverines dropped to 1-5
after that game and Barney was done in the majors. He went home to Massachusetts and played a
couple more seasons in the New England League with the Manchester Maroons and
Lynn Shoemakers before ending his playing career in 1889.
No comments:
Post a Comment