April 15 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Dick Sharon started his major league career as a Tiger.  He was originally signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates but was traded as a minor leaguer for Jim Foor and Norm McRae to the Tigers after the 1972 season.  He was with the Tiges in 1973 as the Tiges were starting their rebuilding after the failed 1972 bid for a championship.   Dick was the back up right fielder behind 33 year old Jim Northrup.  Northrup hit .307 to Sharon’s .242.  But Dick was 10 years younger and had shown promise in the minors hitting .268 in AAA with some good power.  In 1974 Dick was still a back up but now backing up both Northrup in right and aging Willie Horton in left.  But Dick did worse than he did in 1973 by hitting only .217 and not much power with only 2 homers in 145 at bats.  He was deemed expendable and at the end of the season was traded to the San Diego Padres with Eddie Brinkman and Bob Strampe for Nate Colbert.  Dick did even worse for the Padres hitting only .194 in 1975.  His major league career was over.  He was traded by the Padres for Willie Davis at the end of the year and was in the Cardinals, Angels and Red Sox organizations in 1976 but not back in the majors.  After 1976 his baseball career was over.

Ray Bare was in the starting rotation of the Tigers.  He started his career as a St. Louis Cardinal in 1972. He was a mid season call up who went to the bull pen.  He was in the minors in 1973 but back up with the Cardinals in 1974 where he was 1-2.   But in April 1975 the Cards waived him and he was signed by the Tigers.  He was in the bull pen until June when he got his first start and remained in the rotation.  In August of that year he faced the Angels when the Tigers had a 19 game losing streak on the line.  He blanked the Angels in 8 innings on two hits and ended the losing streak.  He would always dominate the Angels.  By 1977 he was 5-1 against the Halo’s with a 3.66 ERA against them.  This was not a mastery he shared over the Yankees.  By 1977 he as 0-4 against the Yanks with a 13.50 ERA against them.  In 1975 he posted his highest wins in a season with an 8-13 record for the Tigers.  This was followed by a 7-8 record in 1976.   But 1977 found the end of his major league career.  He was 0-2 with a 12.56 ERA in early May and was sent down to the minors.  By the end of the season in the minors he was 6-8 with a 5.43 ERA but the Tiges did not call him back.  They had a couple of new starters in Dave Rozema and Milt Wilcox and Dave was not needed in the rotation.  He was in the Orioles organization in 1978 and was 7-13 with a 4.05 ERA in AAA.  But the O’s never called him up either and his career in baseball was over.  His overall for the Tigers was a 15-23 record and a 4.04 ERA over 3 seasons.  He died at age 44 in 1994 of leukemia.  At our house we had a stuffed bear that was a puppet as well, when the kids where young.  We named it Ray Bear.  Charlie and Kristen loved it.  We still have it in the house somewhere. 

Joe Hoover was the Tigers shortstop in 1943 and 1944.  In 1945 he split time at short with Skeeter Webb.  Joe was .240 hitter and Skeeter was a better fielder.  Eddie Mayo put it this way, “with the bases loaded and the last ground ball coming to the shortstop in the World Series, I’d want Skeeter out there.”  Joe went 1 for 3 in his part of the 1945 World Series.  Skeeter hit .185.  After the 1945 Series Joe played one more season in baseball with the San Francisco Seals of the PCL.

Eddie Mayo was picked up by the Tigers in the rule 5 draft in 1943 after the Red Sox tried to send him to Louisville.  Eddie had played for the New York Giants, the Boston Bees’ and the Philadelphia Athletics prior to joining the Tigers.  In one game Eddie had a runner caught in a run down when the ball caromed of a runners head and hit him in the eye.  He played his entire time in Detroit with a blind spot in his left eye.  He was not a flashy player and did not have great stats but was a leader for the team and very solid fielder.  In fact, The Sporting News named him their MVP in 1945 instead of Hal Newhouser who the League picked as MVP.  In the 1945 World Series Eddie anchored the infield at second base and hit .250.  Eddie was asked to join some players at card shows and was told he could make a fortune.  Eddie refuses saying he got about 5-8 requests a week for autographs and was tickled to sign.  Eddie died in 2006, after the Tigers World Series.

Sy Sutcliffe started his professional baseball career with the Chicago White Stockings of the National League in 1884 as a back up catcher.  He stayed with the White Stockings into 1885 but finished the season with the St. Louis Maroons.  1886 found him in the minors in Savannah but 1887 found him in Detroit with the Wolverines.  He played one game with the Wolverines that season yet managed to get into the World Series against the St. Louis Browns where he went 1-11 and scored one run.  In 1888 he returned to Detroit and hit .257 as a left handed hitting catcher.  1889 found him playing with the Cleveland Spiders.  1890 found him playing as the starting catcher in Cleveland but with the Cleveland Infants of the short lived Players League.  Another league used Sy in 1891 when he played with the Washington Statesmen of the American Association.  In 1892 Sy was playing with the Baltimore Orioles of the NL where he was now a starting first baseman.   1893 found Sy suffering from Brights disease.  It is a today it is a group of different kidney infections.  Sy died before the season started in February of 1893, at the age of 30.  Sy played in a World Series and with hall of Famers Cap Anson, King Kelly, Dan Brouthers, Ned Hanlon, Sam Thompson, Ed Delahanty, Wil Robinson, John McGraw, Ned Hanlon, Joe Kelley and one who should be in the Hall, Jack Glasscock.