Rob Fick is known for hitting the last home run at Tiger
Stadium. Rob was drafted by the Tigers
and worked his way up the minors quickly making it to the Tigers in his third
year of pro ball, 1998, as a late season call up. He was only in 7 games that year but showed
good power hitting 3 homers in and double out of 8 hits in 22 at bats. In 1999 he was in only 15 games but one of
them was the final game at Tiger Stadium.
In the bottom of the 8th with the score 4-2 in favor of the
Tiges over the Royals, Dean Palmer opened with a double. Damion Easley singled to send Palmer to
third. Karim Garcia drew an intentional
walk to load the bases. Gabe Kapler then
reached first on a force out at home. On
the first pitch from Jeff Montgomery, Rob hit a bomb to right that hit the
right field roof of Tiger Stadium. It
was the last homer, last grand slam and last ball to leave the stadium. In 2000 Rob was the number 3 first baseman
behind Tony Clark and Hal Morris. He
became the starting catcher in 2001 and had his best season in the majors
hitting .272 with 19 homers. In 2002
Brandon Inge came in and took over at catcher moving Rob to right field. At the end of the season Rob was granted free
agency and signed with the Atlanta Braves.
In the 5 seasons he played with the Tigers he was an all star in 2002
and a .268 hitter with 45 homers and 163 RBI’s.
He lasted one season with the Braves before being released. He went on to play as a back up with the
Tampa Bay Devil Rays, San Diego Padres and finally the Washington Nationals
before he was done with the majors in 2007.
Sailor Stroud started his time in the majors with the
Tigers. Sailor was born Ralph Vivian
Stroud in 1885. He started in pro ball
in 1909 with the Williamsport Millionaires of the Tri-State League. He with fifth in the league with 20 wins
against 10 loses. The top winner was
Stan Coveleski with 23. The next season
Sailor was with the Tigers. He was the
fifth starter on the team and posted a record of 5-9 in 28 games with a 3.25
ERA. At the plate Sailor was 1 for 39
for a .026 ERA. After 1910 he was back
in the minors bouncing from Buffalo to Sacramento before joining the New York
Giants in 1915. He has his best year in
the majors in 1915 going 12-9 with a 2.79 ERA.
He was back the Giants in 1916 but was mainly a reliever going 3-2 in 10
games. He was done in the majors after
that but went back to the minors until 1928 when he was done with
baseball. His minor league record was
173 and 126.
George Disch played his entire time in the majors with the
Tigers. He started his time in pro ball
with Milwaukee of the American Association in 1902. By 1905 he was with Marshalltown of the Iowa
League of Professional Baseball Clubs. He
was 8 and 9 with the Marshalltown Grays when on August 6, the Tigers purchased
his contract. He was in his first game
in the majors two days later against the Boston Americans. He only got into 8 games as a Tiger and was
0-2 as a pitcher. But he had a decent
2.64 ERA for a last place club. But he
never returned to the majors. He was back pitching in the minors in
1906. In 1907 he converted to the
outfield and hit .310 with Freeport of the Wisconsin State League. After hitting .241 for Freeport in 1908 he
was done with baseball. His brother
Billy played and managed in the minors from 1902 to 1911. After his minor league career he was the
manager for the University of Texas and is in the College Baseball Hall of
Fame.
Doc Casey was the first Tiger third baseman in the
majors. He started his career in the
majors in 1898 with the Washington Senators and hit .277. By the end of the season he was the starting
third sacker. In 1899 he was again with
the Senators when he was traded to the Brooklyn Superbas who were an
outstanding club going 101-47 under the great Ned Hanlon. Doc was a switch hitting third baseman and
had an OBP of .313 which was worst on the team.
This is not so much reflection of Dc as it is a sign of how good the
team was. He played one game for the
Superbas in 1900 before jumping to Detroit which was in the American
Association and considered a minor league.
He hit .260 for the Tiges that season.
He was back in 1901 and the American League was now considered a major
league and Doc was the starting third baseman hitting .283. His 153 hits was third best on the team, 6
behind the leader and his 105 runs scored was second. Doc played one more season with the Tiges in
1902 hitting .273 before jumping again back to the National League and the
Chicago Cubs for the 1903 season. He
played three seasons with the Cubs before ending his major league career with
the Brooklyn Superbas (Dodgers) in 1906 and 1907. Doc was not born Doc, but was born James
Patrick Casey. He probably got his
nickname as he must have been smart at the time as he had attended college. He was the only Doc on that first Tiger team
that had a lot of nick names with three “Kid’s” in Gleason, Elberfeld and
Nance, one “Ducky” Holmes, one “Pop” Dillon, one “Fritz” Buelow and one “Sport”
McAllister. He also may have been called
“Doc” because he studied pharmacology and became a pharmacist after he retired
from baseball. He died in Detroit in
1936 and is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery.
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