Cliff
Mapes ended his career as a Tiger. He started it in 1940 in the Cleveland farm
system. He was an outfielder and had a good arm. He convinced his manager to
let him pitch one day and late in the season he got a start out on the mound.
He gave up four homers to the first four batters. Before the next batter,
manager Jack Knight came out to the mound to talk to his “ace”. He asked Cliff,
do you think you can hold this next guy to a single?” The next batter then
homered as well. It is thought to be a minor league record by starting the game
with 5 straight homers. Cliff was never allowed to pitch again. Cliff served in
the military for two years during WWII. When he came out he was drafted by the
Yankees in the rule 5 draft. In 1948 he made his major league debut as a backup
Yankee outfielder. He tied another record in 1948 when he hit more doubled than
singles for the season. He had 22 hits that year, consisting of 12 doubles, 9
singles, 1 triple and 1 homer. In 1950 Cliff was the guy chosen by Casey
Stengel to replace Joe DiMaggio who was benched for the only time in his
career. He stayed with the Yankees into 1951 when he was sold to the St. Louis
Browns. When he left another Yankee took his number 7, a guy by the name of
Mickey Mantle. Cliff lasted that half of a season with the Browns hitting a
career high .274 with 7 homers and 30 RBI’s. Before the 1952 season started he
was traded to the Tigers with Matt Batts, Dick Littlefield and Ben Taylor for
Gene Bearden, Bob Cain and Dick Kryhoski. Cliff played mainly right field as
the third outfielder for the Tigers. He hit .197 in 86 games. At the end of the
season he was traded back to the Browns with Neil Berry and cash of $25,000 for
Jake Crawford. Cliff did not play again in the majors but spent the next two
years in the minors as the property of the Yankees, Reds and White Sox before
his professional career was over at the age of 32.
Eric Erickson is the only Tiger born in Sweden. He was born in Vargarda in 1892. He started playing professional baseball in
1914 and made it to the New York Giants that year. He got the start for John McGraw’s Giants on
the last game of a double header on the last day of the season. He faced the Philadelphia Phillies and went 5
innings giving up 7 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks.
However, none of the runs were earned.
He was tagged with the loss and did not appear in the majors again until
he was with the Tigers in 1916. He
appeared in 4 games for the Tigers all in relief and did not record a
decision. He was back in the minors in
1917 and was playing for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast
League. He led the league in wins with
31-15 record and led the league in ERA for starters with a 1.93 ERA with the
Seals. He was back with the Tigers in
1918 but did not win 31 games. He won
4. His record was 4-5 with a team
leading ERA of 2.48 (pitchers with 50 or more innings pitched). He returned to the Tigers in 1919 and
started two games against the White Sox both home and away. He lost both.
Both times he went 7 innings and gave up 8 runs. In the first game only 3 runs were
earned. Eric did not start another game
for the Tiges and instead was traded to the Senators in July for Doc
Ayers. He was in the Senators starting
rotation through 1922 and posted a 30-49 record with a 4.03 ERA. He never pitched in the majors again and was
last known in the minors in 1925 with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Mal Eason pitched for the Tigers in the days when you were
expected to throw a complete game. He
started in the minors in 1899 with the Auburn Maroons and Troy Haymakers of the
Ney York State League and went 12-9. He
also hit .252 playing some third, first and outfield. In 1900 he played with the Cortland
Wagonmakers, Elimra, and the Syracuse Stars before making his major league
debut with the Chicago Orphans (Cubs).
He pitched one game and beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 in a complete
game victory. He stayed with the Orphans
into 1902 and posted a 10-18 record for with a 3.31 ERA and 26 complete
games. He was sold to the Boston
Beaneaters in April of 1902 and was 9-12 with a 2.91 ERA and 20 complete
games. In 1903 Mal jumped leagues and
signed with the Tigers. He went 2-5 for
the Tiges with a 3.36 ERA and 6 complete games.
He was back in the minors in 1904 going 26-11 with the Jersey City
Skeeters. This was enough to get him
back to the majors in 1905 and 1906 with the Brooklyn Superbas (Dodgers). With Brooklyn he was 15 and 38 and in 1906
he pitched a no hitter against the Cardinals, the same team he beat for his
first major league victory. He was done
in the majors as a player after 1906. In
his 114 games he started he completed 90.
He was a player manager in the minors in 1908 and 1909. In 1910 he returned to the majors as an
umpire. He umped in the National League
for 6 years and later umped in the Pacific Coast League.
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