Dane Sardinha was a Tiger backup catcher. He is somewhat unique in that he was born in
Hawaii. The only other Tigers to be born
in Hawaii are Johnnie Williams, Prince Oana, Milt Wilcox and Brandon
Villafuerte. Dane started his career in
pro ball after being drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in 2000. He played one game for the Reds in both 2003
and 2005. The Tigers signed him as a
free agent when the Reds granted him free agency after the 2006 season. He was
the starting catcher for the Mud Hens in 2007.
He was granted free agency after the season but resigned with the Tigers
for 2008. In 2008 he caught 17 games for
the Tigers and hit .159. His four walks
brought his OBP up to .229. He was again
granted free agency after 2008 and again resigned with the Tigers for
2009. In 2009 he caught 12 games and hit
.097. He did not get a walk so his OBP
was below .100. He was released one last
time by the Tigers after 2009 and signed with the Phillies. In 2010 and 2011 he split time as their third
string catcher and also the catcher for Lehigh Valley, the Phils AAA club. He was done in baseball after 2011.
Timo Perez played 29 games with the Tigers in 2007 as a left
fielder. He put up some good numbers
hitting .389 with a .533 slugging. 9 of
his 35 hits were doubles. But his
career average is .269 with a .382 slugging.
Timo was a starting outfielder for the Mets in 2002 and 2003 and then in
2004 was a starter with the White Sox.
In 2010 he split time in the Phils and Dodgers minor leagues. Then in 2011 he signed with the Tigers again
as free agent. He spent the season as
the Mud Hens starting left fielder.
However, at the end of the season he was released again by the Tigers
without playing a game in Detroit. In
2012 he was playing in the independent Atlantic League for Long Island Ducks as
a backup outfielder.
John Hiller played his entire 15 year major league career
with the Tigers. He started in 1965 and
in five games posted no decisions with a 0.00 ERA. In 1966 his ERA ballooned to 9.00 in his one
appearance with Detroit. He was actually
a starter until he had his heart attack in January 1971. He came back and made the team again in 1972. In the 1972 ALCS against the A’s he pitched
3.1 innings earning a win in game four and forcing a game five and posting a
0.00 ERA. This made up for his poor
showing in the 1968 World Series when he pitched 2 innings and has a 13.5
ERA. In 1973 he led the league in saves
with 38 and was the Tigers closer form most of the 1970’s. In 1976 he shared a locker with Mark
Fidrych. Today Hiller lives in the UP.
Charlie “Paw Paw” Maxwell got his nickname from his home
town of Paw Paw, MI. He started his
major league career in 1950 with the Red Sox but did not see much time. In 1955 he was with Baltimore for four games
before the Tigers purchased him. In 1956
he became the Tigers starting left fielder and held that role through
1960. On May 3, 1959, Charlie had a
record setting day. In the first inning
of a double header against the Yankees in Briggs Stadium, Charlie hit a single
off of Bob Turley to drive in Eddie Yost and give the Tigers the lead 1-0. In the seventh inning he added an insurance
run when he hit a homer off of Don Larsen.
Pitcher Frank Lary, the “Yankee Killer”, went the distance and the Tiges
won the first game 4-2. In the first
inning of the second game Charlie hit a homer off of Duke Maas and drove in
Eddie Yost ahead of himself. Johnny
Kucks walked Charlie in the second. In
the fourth inning Charlie hit a homer off of Kucks and drove in 2 runs ahead of
himself. In the seventh, with the Tigers
ahead 7-2 and Charlie accounting for 5 of the 7 runs, he hit a solo shot off of
Zach Monroe. That was 4 homers in 4
consecutive at bats. That tied a major
league record. This was the start of
Charlie’s “Sunday Specials”. In 1959 he
hit 12 of his 31 homers on Sundays. For
his career Charlie hit 40 of his 148 homers on Sundays. He was also a standout defensive outfielder
at a time before Gold Glove Awards Charlie led the league 4 times in fielding
percentage and is 18th all time for career fielding for left
fielders at a time when the players did not have peach baskets for gloves. I point this out because seven of the 17
players ahead of him all time are playing today. I personally have a hard time believing we
are living in the golden age of fielding outfielders. The lefty Maxwell played 8 seasons as a
Tiger. He was a career .268 hitter for
the Tigers and hit 133 of his career 148 homers and was an all star twice. In June of 1962 Charlie was traded to the
Chicago White Sox for Bob Farley.
Charlie would be released by the Sox in 1964 ending his major league
career. In 1997 he was inducted into the
Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.
Bob Mavis had a major league career of one game. He did not get an at bat. He is not recorded as playing the field
either. I have looked at the box score
and am unsure what took place. I think he
may have been brought in as a pinch hitter for pitcher but then was taken out
himself when the Yankees switched pitchers.
It is also possible the he was brought in as a defensive replacement in
the last inning of the game but did not get in on play. He spent most of his professional baseball
career in the Tigers farm system as a second baseman.
Lady Baldwin was mainly a pitcher but also played a few
games in the outfield for the Detroit Wolverines of the National League from
1885 thru 1888. This was in an era when
you had a very short bench and your team may only carry 4 pitchers. So it was not unusual to play the field and
pitch. Lady started his major league
career with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1884 going 1-1. In 1885 he was in Detroit. In1886 Lady had his best season. He pitched in 56 games. He started all 56 and finished 55 while
winning 42 games for Detroit and losing only 13. Seven of those were shutouts. His WHIP was .967. In the 1887 World Series against the St.
Louis Browns, one of the greatest World Series of all time, Lady pitched 5
complete games. He won 4 and lost 1 as
Detroit beat the Browns 10 games to 5.
In 1888 Lady played his last season with the Wolverines and went
3-3. Lady played only one more season in
the major leagues after his time in Detroit.
In 1890 he played for the Brooklyn Bride Grooms and the Buffalo Bisons
of the ill fated Players League.
George Radbourn played one week of one season in the majors
in 1883 with the Detroit Wolverines. He
went 1-2 in three appearances. He lost
his first game to the New York Gothams 4-8.
He also lost his last game to the Philadelphia Quakers 4-20. In between those games he beat either the
Quakers or the Gothams. He is not known
to have ever played organized ball before or after. He died New Years Day in 1904. Two weeks after the Wright Brothers first
flew their Flyer in Kitty Hawk.
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