March 3 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

AJ Sager was pitcher for the Tiges in the lean late 1990’s.  He came to Detroit in 1996.  Prior to Detroit he had played with the Rockies and the Padres as did most anyone that Randy Smith traded for in the 1990’s.  He went 4-5 with a 5.01 ERA that first year with Detroit.  That ERA was his best to date.  In 1997 he got better yet and went 3-4 with a 4.18 ERA and also had 3 saves.  1998 was his last season in Detroit and the majors.  He went 4-2 but his ERA ballooned to 6.52. 

Chuck Cary was with Detroit at the beginning of his career.  He was drafted by the Tiges in 1981.  He came up to Detroit in 1985 and went 0-1 with 2 saves pitching entirely in relief.  In 1986 he got his first big league win when he went 1-2 with Detroit.  Before the 1987 season started he was sent to Atlanta with Randy O’Neil for Freddy Tiburcio and Terry Harper.  Chuck was released by the Braves and then picked up by the Yankees where he was among  the league leaders in losses and wild pitches when he threw 11 wild pitches in 1990 on his way to a 6-12 record.  He was released by the yanks and spent a year out of baseball entirely before signing for a year with the White Sox in 1993

Skeeter Barnes was 34 years old when he came to the Tigers in 1991.  He had spent years in the minors and had a few brief cups of coffee with the Reds, Expos and Cardinals having played in only 75 games in five seasons with those teams.  In 1991 with Detroit he played in 75 games.  He hit .289 as a utility infielder and a backup outfielder.  It was a role he would have to get used to as he became the ultimate utility player having played every position with Detroit other then pitcher and catcher.  By position for his career he played 92 games at third, 76 at first, 76 in the outfield, 24 at second, and 2 at short and was never  a liability at any position.  At the plate he was a .282 hitter for the Tigers over his four seasons.  For his career with his time in the National League he was a .259 hitter.  He was also a favorite of mine.  I have his bp jersey at home.  After the 1994 season he retired at the age of 37.  He then went to work coaching and managing in the minors until 2011.  He coached or managed at Toledo, West Michigan and Lakeland for the Tigers and was last active for the Rays as a minor league outfield and base running coordinator. 

Stephen “Bud” Souchock played five years with the Tigers in the early 50’s as a back up outfielder and utility infielder.  He was a career .265 hitter with the Tigers.  He started his career in baseball in the Yankees farm system in 1939.  He spent several years in the military during WWII and came back and played a couple years with the Yanks in 1946 and 1948.  He was sent to the White Sox for Jimmie Delsing and then drafted by the Tigers form the Sox in the Rule 5 draft.  Bud died in 2002 and is buried in Westland, MI.

Other notables today are Wee Willie Keeler who coined the saying “hit ‘em where they aint’” and it was his 44 game hitting streak that Joe Dimaggio broke in 1941.  Keeler played on the old Baltimore Orioles of he 1890’s which was loaded with hall of famers like John McGraw, Hughie Jennings (Detroit manager in 1907, 08 and 09 when they went to the World Series each year.), Wil Robinson (no, not “Danger Wil Robinson” but rather uncle Robbie.), Joe Kelley and managed by hall of famer Ned Hanlon who was a player on the Wolverines of the NL in the 1880’s when they won the NL championship and had a fan favorite of a catcher by the name of Charlie Bennett which is was the first name of Tiger Stadium, Bennett Park.

The last notable is John Montgomery Ward.  Yes, the founder of the store chain.  He was one of the top players of the 1880’s having played on the Providence Grays and later the New York Giants.  In 1890 he went to The Players League, an ill-fated attempt by the players to get control of professional baseball.  The owners had been paying the players nothing and finally they revolted and formed their own league.  It might have made it except the owners were smarter than the players and hired the major stars away from the league and the fans stopped coming and the league collapsed.  The players went back to the NL and American Association where they were given less money than before the Players League.  Ward was manger of the Brooklyn club and finished in second place.