Tim Corcoran was a talented player who started his career as
Tiger. He started as a Tiger in 1977 and
got in 55 games as a outfielder, pinch runner or pinch hitter. He hit .282 for the season and in 1978 became
the main starting right fielder replacing Ben Olglive who was traded to the
Brewers for the 1978 season. Tim hit
.265 that season. The drop in average
was due to his inability to hit lefties.
He was .277 against righties but only .200 against lefties. He spent most of 1979 in Evansville but did
get in 18 games but only hit .227. In
1980 he was the back up first baseman behind Richie Hebner. Tim hit .288 against Hebner’s .286. But Hebner was not troubled by lefties so he
got most of the starts. Tim was back in
the minors in 1981 until he was traded to the Minnesota Twins for Ron
Jackson. Tim played only 22 games as a
Twin in 1981. He was released by the
Twins in spring of 1982 and signed with the Phillies. He spent 2 years as the Phils back up first
baseman until being released by the Phils in 1985 and signing for one final
year with the Mets in 1986. For his
career Tim was a .270 hitter. For the
Tigers he was a .272 hitter with 7 homers and 66 RBI’s.
Gee Walker was a fan favorite in Detroit in the 1930’s. Gee was born Gerald Holmes Walker in
Mississippi. He went to Ole’ Miss and
started with the Tigers the same year as his brother, Hub, started with the Tigers,
1931. Hub actually played more games for
the Tigers than Gee in 1931 but Hub went to the minors in 1932 while Gee became
a starter. Gee had lots of talent. He could hit, throw and field very well. And he was exciting to watch and the fans
loved him for it. But there are plenty
of stories about Gee’s inability to stay focused on the game situation and
overestimate his ability to steal a base.
Gee led the Tigers in steals four
times. But he often got caught and often
it was not pretty. Several of his
teammates talked about how his recklessness on the base paths cost them
games. One time he was thrown out trying
to steal second while the batter was being given an intentional walk. One time Gee was picked off first and as
Eldon Auker recalled it cost the Tigers the game. Manager Mickey Cochrane was furious. Before the next game he called a meeting and
laid down the law. The next person to
get picked off first would be fined $50.
Much to Mickey’s chagrin, he was the next person picked off first. Another time, Gee’s roommate Marv Owen
recalled, in a game in 1934 Gee was on first and another runner was on
second. Marv was to bunt. The pitch was a high curve so naturally Marv
took the pitch. The catcher threw to
first and had Gee picked off. So the
runner on second took off to try and save Gee and instead got out while Gee
ended up on second. The next pitch Marv
hit to the shortstop and was out with Gee still on second. Before the next batter took a pitch the
pitcher threw to second and picked off Gee.
Two out of the three outs in the inning credited to reckless base
running by Gee. On the way out to the
outfield Goose Goslin said to Gee, “What the hell are you doingon the base
paths? You’re running like a goddamn
drunk or something.” Gee responded “You
big nosed son of a bitch, get off me!”
Cochrane heard this and said “That’s going to cost you $250.” Gee responded “I don’t care if it costs me
$350.” Cochrane replied “Well, we’ll
make it $450 and you’re suspended.”
Cochrane later called a team meeting minus Gee and told the team that
Gee didn’t care if they won the pennant or not.
He said he did not want Gee on the team but he would listen to the
players. They took a vote and Gee
stayed. But Gee’s playing time was less
in 1934 and 1935. In game 2 of the 1934
World Series Gee drove in the tying run and was on first. He started jawing with the Cardinal bench and
ended up being picked off first. The
Tiges won the game in the 12th but Gee was again a base running
goat. After the 1937 season Cochrane
finally got his wish and Gee was sent to Chicago after 7 seasons in Detroit
where he hit .317 with 132 stolen bases and 50 times caught stealing. After leaving Detroit Gee played 8 more years
with the White Sox, Senators, Indians and Reds.
1938 was the last time he hit above .300 and his steals also
dropped. Finally, after the 1945 season,
Gee was done in the majors. Gee went out
to the Pacific Coast League in 1946 but after 19 games was only hitting .188
and was done as a player. He went on to
manage in the minors for a bit in the 1950’s.
In 1981 he died in a Mississippi State Hospital. Word of his death took a week to reach
Detroit.
Tex Covington spent his entire time in the majors with the
Tigers. He came up in 1911 and went 7-1
in 17 games as a Tiger right handed pitcher.
His ERA was not remarkable at 4.09 and he walked more then he K’d. But it was close, 33 BB’s to 29 K’s. He returned to the Tigers in 1912 and was 3-4
with 4.12 ERA. BB’s to K’s was still in
favor of BB’s with 30 BB’s to 19 K’s.
After the season he was sold to the Kansas City Blues of the American
Association. His brother, Sam Covington
broke in to the majors as Tex went to pitch in the minors. Tex continued to pitch into 1919. He then went in to managing in the
minors. In 1931 he managed the McAllen
Palms of the Rio Grande Valley League.
After the season, Tex died at the age of 44 in Denison TX.
Billy Maharg got his start as a Tiger as one of the Ty Cobb
strike game replacement players. He went
0-1 in the game as a back up third baseman.
His real name was Billy Graham (Maharg backwards) and he was a boxer
from Philly. He did get in one more game
in the majors in 1916 with his home town Phillies. He was 0-1 for the Phils too. Those were his only two games in organized
ball. A couple years later he made
headlines when he teamed up with former Tiger Sleepy Bill Burns and conspired
to throw the 1919 World Series. He is in
the book and movie “Eight Men Out”. He
was a very loyal friend. During the
Black Sox trial he was told by American League President, Ban Johnson, that he
would not be indicted if he could find Bill Burns to testify. Billy ran to Texas, found Billy and brought
him back to Chicago.
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