Ron Samford got his first major league hit as a Tiger. Ron started his time in the bigs with the New
York Giants in their championship year of 1954.
He was with them at the beginning of the season and got in 12 games with
the Giants but was used mainly in defensive situations or as a pinch runner. So he only has 5 at bats and never reached
base yet scored two runs. He spent the
balance of the year at Oakland of the Pacific Coast League. He was waived by the Giants at the beginning
of the 1955 season and the Tigers claimed him.
On April 26th, the Tigers were playing the Orioles in Detroit. Erv Palica was on the mound with for the
O’s. In the fifth Harvey Kuenn was taken
out of the game and Ron came in to play short in his place. No balls were hit to him. In the Tigers half of the inning with the
score was tied 2-2 with two outs and Ron came up to the plate and struck
out. That was the extent of his 1955
season in the majors. He was still
without a hit in the majors. Ron was
with the Charleston Senators in 1956, the Tigers AAA team. He hit .271 as a shortstop second
baseman. In 1957 he was back up with
the Tigers. April 28, found the Tiges in
Cleveland facing the Indians and Mike Garcia.
In the second inning the Tiges had runners on first and third. Ron came up and grounded out to second but
Bill Tuttle, the runner on third scored to give Ron his first RBI. On April 30, he started at short against the
Yankees and Duke Maas. In the bottom of
the fifth he was facing Johnny Kucks and he got his first major league hit, a
single to center. Ron would get in 54
games and make 99 plate appearances and get 19 more hits and 4 more RBI’s. He spent 1958 back in the minors and at the
end of the season he was sent to Washington with Reno Bertoia and Jimmy Delsing
for Rocky Bridges, Neil Chrisley and Eddie Yost. Ron played one more season in the majors in
1959 as the back up shortstop to Billy Consolo.
Ron got 53 hits for the Senators for a career total of 73.
Lil Stoner started his career in the majors as a
Tiger. He was born Ulysses Simpson Grant Stoner but was called Lil by his
little brother, Theodore Roosevelt Stoner could not pronounce Ulysses and
called him Lil instead. When Lil was about 3 he walked up to his bigger
brother and asked him shop of his finger. His brother took a whack at it
and he almost lost it completely. The doctor wrapped it and hoped to see
it reattach itself. It did but it was crooked. This helped him when
he was on the mound. He was brought up to the Tigers in 1922 and was 4-4
with a 7.04 ERA. Manager Ty Cobb had Lil in the minors in 1923 but
brought him back up to Detroit in 1924. He was the number three starter
in 1924 behind Earl Whitehill and Rip Collins. Lil was 11-11 with a 4.72
ERA. That was the most wins he would get in the majors. He was
still the number three or four starter in 1925, 1926 and 1927. In 1926
Lil had never given up a homer to Babe Ruth when he faced him in Navin Field in
Detroit. In the fifth inning he was behind 3-0 to Ruth and threw a
strike. Estimates where that the ball went 600 to 626 feet for Ruth’s
longest homer in his career. Starting in 1928 Lil was used more in
relief. In 1930 Lil found himself in Pittsburgh. He was in five
games and did not record a decision. However, in the minors Lil pitched a
no-hitter. He was a puzzle to managers that he could perform in the minors
but not in the majors. He was given one more chance in 1931. He
was in Philadelphia with the Phillies and was in seven games without a decision
for 1931 but had a 6.59 ERA. He would never pitch in the majors again.
For his major league career Lil was 50-58 with a 4.76 ERA.
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