Gary Knotts was one of two starters for the 2004 Tigers with
a winning record.
Chet Lemon played for the Tiges while wearing the same glove
from when he was 14 years old.
Pat Dobson was a pitcher on the 1968 Tigers.
Andy Harrington had a major league career of one at bat as a
pinch hitter for the 1925 Tigers managed by Ty Cobb. He faced Sherry Smith of the Cleveland
Indians and was out. He did not get to
play the field. It is kind of the
inverse of Moonlight Graham from the movie “Field of Dreams”. In the movie “Field of Dreams” (based on the
book “Shoeless Joe” by W. P. Kinsella) the character “Moonlight” Graham (who is
real, by the way) gets to play the outfield but never is given a chance to
bat. Andy Harrington is the inverse of
this. He got an at bat but never got to
play the field. He had played ball at
St. Mary’s College of California from 1922 thru 1924. In 1925 he was a pro player. It is tough to tell, but it almost looks like
he hit the epoch of his baseball career at the very beginning. He was with the Tigers as a major leaguer on
April 18 of 1925. In a game against the
Cleveland Indians Andy was called on to pinch hit. This was the 5th game of the
season. The minors often started after
the majors at the time. So the odds of
Andy being called up on day 5 of the MLB season are low. It would appear he was on the team at the
beginning of the season. The game was
5-3 in Cleveland’s favor and Andy was called on to pinch hit. It was the 9th with 2 outs when he
was called. He recorded the last out of
the game. I can not tell how he got
out. But he never appeared in a MLB game
again. He never got to play the
field. He did go on to play in the
minors as a second baseman/third baseman through 1942 with time off in 1936 and
1937 where I can not find what he was doing.
The Tigers seemed to have kept him through 1929 in their farm
system. He also seems to have been a
part of the Cleveland farm system in 1933.
The rest of the time in pro ball he seems to have been owned by what
ever minor league club owned him. As you
might have gathered, the careers and records of players in the 1920’s and
earlier is not always as exacting and detailed as the players of today.
Harry Arndt played 10 games for the 1902 Tigers.
Mike McGeary played for the Wolverines in 1882 at the end of
his 11 year pro career.
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