Will Brunson
Chuck Seelbach was a key member of the 1972 Tigers pennant
win. He was drafted by the Tigers out of Dartmouth where he helped
lead the Dartmouth nine to the College World Series. The Ivy Leaguer, sho was also a high school
All-American swimmer, by passed the low minors and started his pro career at
AAA Toledo. He was 1-4 that first year in 1970 with Toledo as both a
starter and a reliever. But his ERA was 2.75 leading all Mud Hens
who pitched in more than 5 games. In 1971 he started 18 games for
the Mud Hens and was 12-2 with a 3.59 ERA. The Tiges called him up in June
and on June 29th he made his major league debut against the
Baltimore Orioles in Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. The game was
already out of hand in the 5th with the O’s leading 10-0 with 2
outs and a runner on second. Chuck walked Brooks Robinson, then hit
Davey Johnson with a pitch. A passed ball to Mark Belanger allowed
the inherited runner to score and moved the other runners to second and
third. Chuck then walked Belanger to load the bases before getting Andy
Etchebarren to line out to Aurelio Rodriguez at third to get out of the jam and
end the inning. Chuck was taken out of the game after
that. Chuck got in 4 more games for the Tiges in 1971 and was 0-0
with a 13.50 ERA. But 1972 would be a different
year. 1972 started with Fred Scherman as the Tigers closer as he had
been in 1972. On May 9, Fred was brought in to close a game against
the White Sox with the Tiges up 2-0. Fred did fine in the 7th and
8th innings but in the 9th, with the Sox now
trailing 5-0 Fred got into a jam. The Sox led off the inning with a
leadoff error and then three straight singles off of Fred to load the bases and
make it a 5-1 game with the winning run at the plate. Chuck was
brought in to replace Fred. He gave up one run on a ground out to
short then struck out the next batter before getting slugger Richie Allen to
end the game on hit to short. Chuck got his first
save. From that point on Chuck was getting as many save chances as
Fred and the two were used equally as closers for the season with the rightie
Chuck getting 14 saves with a 2.89 ERA while leading the Tiger staff in games
with 61. And lefty Fred earned 12 saves with a 3.64 ERA in 57 games. Chuck
was also 9-8 for the season and was on the mound when the Tiges clinched the AL
East that season as he blanked the Red Sox in the 9th for the
save. In the playoffs Chuck got in only two games and pitched only
one inning without a decision or a save as the Tiges lost to the Oakland
Athletics 3 games to 2 in the ALCS. 1973 was a new story for Chuck
and not a good one. Like fellow Tiger pitcher Mark Fidrych four
years later, Chuck came on to the major league scene as such a surprise that he
did not have a baseball card his first year.
Chuck got his first baseball card in 1973. It would be the highlite of his season. Also like Fidrych, Chuck developed arm
problems in 1973 spring training. He was
in only 5 games when his season ended. Chuck would only appear in
four more games in 1974 and never save another game in the majors. He was out of baseball after May of
1974. His career total was a 10-8 record with 14 saves and a 3.38
ERA in 4 seasons as a Tiger. Today he is a high school history
teacher.
Vern Kennedy lost 20 games in a season more than 60 years prior to
Mike Maroth. Fortunately, Vern did not lose them all with the
Tigers. He went to college at Central Missouri Teachers College. He started his pro career in 1930 in the minors
and spent 5 seasons making his way up to the majors as a late season call up by
the Chicago White Sox in 1934. In 1935,
his first full season at the age of 28, he pitched a no hitter for the Sox and
went 11-11. This was followed by his
best season in 1936 when he was 21-9. He
was 14-13 in 1937 and at the end of the season was traded to the Tigers. The deal was third basemen Marv Owen, speedy
but erratic Gee Walker and Mike Tresh (father of Tom Tresh) for Tony Piet,
Dixie Walker (who 10 years later would attain notoriety for trying to start a
petition to keep Jackie Robinson off the Dodgers) and Vern. Vern jumped right to the top of the Tiger
rotation in 1938 and started more games than any other Tiger pitcher. He finished the season at 12-9 as a 31 year
old righty with 11 complete games and earning $12,500. He was selected to the All Star squad that
season but did not get in the game. The
following season, 1939, Vern appeared in 4 games for the Tigers but was 0-3. This included a game which he gave up only 2
runs to the Indians in 7 innings and a complete game loss to Bobo Newsom and
the St. Louis Browns on May 13. After
the game Vern was traded to the club across the field, the same St. Louis
Browns for the pitcher who had just beat him, Bobo Newsom with 9 other players
also changing teams including the two left fielders of the same game, Chet
Laabs of the Tigers and Beau Bell of the Browns. It is not easy to lose 20 games. It takes a combination of a good pitcher and
a terrible team. You have to be a good
pitcher to keep getting the starts for your team. But your team has to be terrible and provide
you no support. This was the case for
Mike Maroth in 2003 for the Tigers and for Vern in 1939. He started 27 games for the Browns after May
13. The Browns were a dismal 43-111 that
season and Vern went on to lose 17 games with the Browns. Add the 3 games he lost with the Tigers and
he dropped a league leading 20 games that season. He was 32.
For the rest of his career Vern would move around to the Washington
Senators, Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds. He would end his playing days in 1945 at the
age of 38. His career totals were 104
wins and 132 losses. For the Tigers he
was 12-12. Vern was also a very good
hitter as a pitcher and had a career batting average of .244. If you are wondering about Central Missouri
Teachers College it is now called the University of Central Missouri and boasts
a top notch women’s bowling team featuring a young Mary Wells. The football field at Central Missouri was
named after Vern Kennedy in 1954 as he was considered the schools all time
greatest athlete. Vern would die at the
age of 85 in Mendon, MO when the roof of a shed collapsed and killed him.
Patrick Joseph “Paddy” Greene
ended his career as a Tiger. He started
his career as a professional ball player in 1897 in the minors with the Derby
Angels of the Connecticut State League.
He was a shortstop who bounced around a bit before making it to the
majors with the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League in 1902. He played in 19 games for the Phils that year
as a back up third baseman and had a career high 11 hits, one of which was a
double, for a .169 batting average. The
next year, 1903 he was in New York with the Highlanders, who would become the
Yankees and in 4 games he got 4 hits including another double for a .308
batting average as a back up third baseman and shortstop. But he did not finish the season with the
Highlanders. On July 16 the Tigers were
in New York playing the Highlanders on the last day of a four game series. The Tigers made a deal and left a pitcher,
John Deering who was 3-4 for the Tiges with a 3.86 ERA, (The team ERA was a
2.75 at that time. ) in New York and took with them to Boston Paddy
Greene. Paddy played the next day in
Boston and was the starting third baseman for the Tigers. He made three trips to the plate for the
Tigers and did not reach base. In the
field he made three put outs and one error.
He never played for the Tigers or in the majors again. He went down to the minors and played until
1909 when he was done in baseball.
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