Fred Lynn played a season and a half as a Tiger left
fielder. He started his career with a
bang when as a rookie in 1975 he was a Gold Glove winner, All Star, Rookie of
the Year and league MVP with the AL Champion Boston Red Sox. He made $38,000 that year. That was his first of 9 All Star titles in a
row and his first of four Gold Glove awards.
He left Boston to the California Angles in 1981 in a deal that sent Fred
and Steve Renko west for Jim Dorsey, Joe
Rudi and Frank Tanana. After 1984 Fred
signed with the Baltimore Orioles as a free agent. He stayed there for three and half years but
his skills were diminishing. While in
Boston he was a .308 hitter over seven years.
But with California he was .271hitter and with Baltimore he hit
.265. Detroit acquired Fred part way
through the 1988 season for Chris Hoiles and two minor leaguers to
Baltimore. For Detroit Fred played left
field with Chet Lemon In right and Gary Pettis in center. The left handed Fred hit .237 with Detroit
and was granted free agency after the 1989 season. He signed with the Padres in 1990 for one
final year. Fred’s career totals were a
.283 batting average with 306 homers, 1111 RBI’s and a .484 slugging
percentage. He is in the top 200 for
career total bases, doubles, homers, RBI’s, walks, intentional walks, as well
as 33rd for career assists as a centerfielder.
Joe Coleman Jr. played for the Tigers just like his
Dad. Joe Jr. started his career in 1965
with the Washington Senators as a right handed starting pitcher. He was with the Senators through 1970 winning
43 games over six years. At the end of
the 1970 season the Tigers made one of there greatest trades ever when they
traded Denny McLain, Norm McRae, Don Wert and Elliot Maddox for Eddie Brinkman,
Aurelio Rodriguez, Jim Hannan and Joe.
In Joe’s first year as a Tiger he won 20 games while losing only 9 and
posting a 3.15 ERA. He followed that up
with a 19 win season for AL East Champions of 1972. In the playoffs against the Oakland A’s Joe
was phenomenal. He pitched a complete
game shut out in game three to give the Tigers their first win. He allowed only 7 hits and 3 walks while
striking out 14. In 1973 he was again a
20 game winner when he was 23-15 and a 3.53 ERA. He was finally sold to the Cubs in 1976 when
the Tigers were a struggling team. His
totals with Detroit were 88 wins against 73 losses with a 3.82 ERA over five
and a half seasons. Joe continued to
pitch through 1979 with the A’s, Blue Jays, Giants and Pirates. Last year he was the pitching coach for the
Lakeland Tigers but this year that spot has been taken over by Mike
Maroth. Joe’s son is the third
generation Coleman in the majors as he now pitches for the Chicago Cubs.
Wayne Comer was a minor league all star before making his
major league debut as a Tiger. Was an
International League All Star in 1967 with the Toledo Mud Hens and got a late
season call up that year. In his first
at bat he came in as a pinch hitter and hit a single in the 7th off
of Frank Bertania and the Senators. He
made it into 4 games for the Tigers that year but did not get another hit. In 1968 he was again with the Tigers but this
time as a reserve outfielder when Al Kaline was injured. He had 48 at bats in 48 games and 6 hits with
one being a homer. He made the World
Series roster and in game three made his only post season appearance when he
hit a pinch hit single. At the end of
the season he was drafted by the Seattle Pilots in the 1969 expansion
draft. He was the Pilots starting center
fielder and hit .245. He moved with the
Pilots to Milwaukee in 1970 when they became the Brewers but was traded early
in the season to the Washington Senators for Hank Allen and Ron Theobald. He finished the season with the Senators
hitting .233 and then was sold back to the Tigers. He was on the 1972 team and was used mainly
as a defensive replacement in the outfield.
He was in 27 games but only had 9 at bats and got only one hit. He was done in the majors after 1972 and done
in pro ball after 1975.
Dick Tracewski won four World Series rings in his career,
two with the Tigers. He started his
career as a Dodger when a Brooklyn scout got lost and wound up watching him
play in a VFW league game. Dick got his
nickname Trixie from his Dodger teammates when at a pool party he kept doing
back flips, front flips and other “tricks”.
While never a strong hitter Dick was a solid fielder and played short,
second and third all well. He won World
Series rings with the Dodgers in 1963 and 1965 as their second baseman. After the 1965 season Dick was traded to the
Tigers for Phil Regan. He was a Tiger
utility infielder for the rest of his career.
In 1968 this proved valuable as he would make the World Series roster
and get into the series in two games without a hit but still earning a
ring. He continued to play with the
Tiges in the 1969 season before his major league playing career was over. For his time with the Tigers as a player he
hit.188 over four seasons. In 1970 he
became manager of the Lakeland Tigers.
He moved up in 1971 to Montgomery and led them to a third place
finish. In 1972 he became a Tiger coach
and would stay in Detroit for the next 24 years. He even was the Tiges manager at one point
and was undefeated as their skipper. It
was for two games when he was the interim skipper between Les Moss and Sparky
Anderson. While a coach for the Tigers
in 1984 he won his fourth World Series ring.
Harry Byrd ended his career as Tiger. He started his career in 1950 with the
Philadelphia Athletics as a right handed relief pitcher. He got in 6 games that year but did not
record a decision. He did record a 16.88
ERA and did not appear in the majors again until 1952 when he again played for
the lowly Athletics and had a record of 15-15 with a 3.31 ERA and won the AL
Rookie of the Year. Three of those wins
were complete game shutouts. In 1953 he
had the dubious honor of leading the league while with the Athletics when he
lost 20 games. He also led the league in
hit batsman that season. But the Yankees
saw promise in him with his 122 K’s, 6th best in the league in 1952
and acquired him in one of their usual trades with the Athletics where they
treated the Athletics as their AAA farm team.
He played only one season in New York before heading to the Baltimore in
1955 in a trade that sent Don Larson to the Yankees. Waived by the Orioles that same year, Harry
was claimed by the White Sox where he finished the season. He won only 16 games in the three seasons
since he had left Philly. Early in the
1956 season Harry was traded to Detroit with Jim Brideweser and Bob Kennedy for
Jim Delsing and Fred Hatfield. He spent
the rest of the season with the Tigers AAA team the Charlestown Senators but
made it to the Tigers in 1957. He was no
longer a starter while with Detroit but in 37 games as a middle reliever he was
4-3 with 5 saves and a 3.36 ERA. He only
pitched 59 innings but still managed to hit two batters.
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