April 21 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Aquilino Lopez was a relief pitcher for the Tigers in 2007 and 2008 after playing bits of four seasons with the Blue Jays, Rockies and Phils.  He was a reliever who pitched well in Toledo but did not fair so well in Detroit.  He had a 5.19 ERA in 2007 with the Tigers.  In his first 7 appearances for the Mud Hens that year he did not allow a run.  Called up to the Tiges April 20, he made his first appearance the same day pitched 2 innings of scoreless ball.  In his next outing he gave up 2 runs in one inning.  He had one more outing a couple days later where he pitched 3.1 innings and walked three, gave up three hits and two runs.  The next day he was back in Toledo.  In 2008 he faired better and stayed around to appear in 48 games with the Tigers and had an ERA of 3.55.  He had a 4-1 record but did not record a save.  After 2008 he was done with baseball.

Les Lancaster was a late addition in April to the 1992 Tigers after being released by the Cubs in late March.  He had been a decent pitcher for the Cubs winning nine games each of his last two seasons.  But Les did not do so well with the Tiges.  He went 3-4 and his ERA jumped up to 6.33.  His ERA for five years with the Cubs had been 3.82.  The Tigers granted him free agency at the end of the 1992 season.  He signed with the Cardinals for 1993 and did better than in Detroit.  Les went on to be a pitcher manager in various independent minor leagues and last year was still managing for Sioux City in the American Association.

Bill Faul pitched for Detroit for one game in 1962.  Against the Twins he gave up 6 runs on four hits with 3 walks in 1.2 innings.  That gave him an ERA of 32.40.  One of the hits a homer to Harmon Killibrew.  Bill did not pitch for Detroit again that season.  In 1963 Bill faired better.  He went 5-6 with a 4.64 ERA.  He also pitched two victories that were complete game three hitters.  One against the Senators and one against the Red Sox.    In 1964 Bill made one appearance again and had an ERA of 10.80.  He never pitched for Detroit again.  In 1965 he was sold to the Cubs and was 7-10 in two seasons with the Cubs.  He was in the minors for the Reds, Indians and Royals organizations before make one more trip to the majors with the Giants in 1970. 

Hardy Richardson was one of the stars of the Detroit Wolverines from 1886 thru 1888.  He was purchased from the Buffalo Bisons before the 1886 season and it was a good move for the Detroiters.  He led the league in hits and homers in 1886 with 189 and 11.  Yes, 11 homers led the league.  He was also fifth in the league in batting that year with a .351 average.   1887, the year the Wolverines won the NL pennant and the World Series against the St. Louis Browns, found him in the outfield with two Hall of Famers in Sam Thompson and Ned Hanlon.  Hardy hit 94 RBI’s that season and was only 10 RBI’s from second place.  However, he was not close to his outfield mate Sam Thompson who drove in 166!  After the 1888 season Hardy was sold to the Boston Beaneaters.  In 1889 he jumped to the Boston Beaneaters of the National League.   But that did not last long.  He jumped to the Boston Reds of the Players league in 1890.  The Players League was an ill fated attempt by the players to create a league that was for the fun of the game.  It was run by players for players.  It lasted one year.  The owners of the NL and American Association killed it by signing the stars to large sums of money.  After the league folded, the stars pay was reduced and reserve clause which held players as property was kept on the books.  It would stay on the books until the 1970’s and free agency came about due to Curt Flood and Marvin Miller.  When the league folded the Boston Reds stuck around and joined the American Association.  George was on that Boston Reds team of 1891.  They would later become the Boston Red Sox.  Hardy finished his career in the majors with the Senators and the Giants. 

Below is a Gold Coin Chewing Tobacco card of Richardson from 1887 from my collection.