Hal Morris
Mike Brumley
Nate
Colbert was a stop gap measure for the Tigers. He
started his career in the majors in 1966 with the Houston Astros but was
drafted by expansion Padres for 1969. He had been an all star first baseman
for the San Diego Padres since their beginnings in 1969 and into the early
1970’s. He had shown very good power by hitting 163 career homers for the
Padres which is still a franchise record today. He hit 5
in one day in a double header while driving in 13 runs in a double header in
1973. In 1974 Nate had some back problems and his production dropped off
considerably. He went from a .270 hitter with 22 homers and 80 RBI’s to a .207
hitter with 14 homers and 54 RBI’s. For the Tigers 1974 saw the end of Norm
Cash as their first baseman. Bill Freehan was playing most at first
while Jerry Moses replaced Freehan behind the plate. But Jerry
hit .237 so the Tiges wanted to put Freehan back behind the plate and get a new
outfielder. So the Tiges traded 32 year old shortstop Eddie Brinkman who had
hit only .221 and reserve outfielder Dick Sharon who hit .217 and pitcher Bob
Strampe who had not played in the majors since his cup of coffee in 1972 for
Nate and the hope that his back would be better. Nate got
in 45 games for the Tigers in the first half of 1972 and his back was not
better. He hit .147 with only 4 h omers and 18 RBI’s. The Tiges
continued to struggle at first and everywhere else in 1975. They were
an abysmal 57-102 for the season. First base was by committee with Jack
Pierce, Dan Meyer and Nate all playing about the same number of games. Jack hit
.235, Dan hit .236 and Nate was hitting .147 when on June 2, he was sold to the
Montreal Expos. He would never again be a starter and never again hit above
.200. He hit only 6 more homers in his career and was out of baseball
after a brief stint with the Oakland Athletics in 1976.
Guy Cantrell
Vic Sorrell
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