March 26 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Hernan Perez played a key role in the 2014 pennant race of the Tigers.  He had been in only 6 games and was not even in the game in question.  It was the last series between the Royals and Tigers as they battled for Central Division title.  The game was tied 1-1, 1 out, with the Royals batting and runners on second and third.  Former .250 hitting Omar Infante hit a line drive to Ian Kinsler at second.  Kinsler caught it and saw a chance to double up Eric Hosmer at second as he scrambled to get back to the bag.  But Tiger shortstop Eugenio Suarez was slower than Hosmer and did not get to the bag to cover the throw and the ball sailed away.  The Royals Salvador Perez was the runner on third and continued to home.  But he had not tagged up after Kinsler’s catch.  Hernan said afterwards, "I was at the end of the dugout, so I could see the third baseman and second base.  I was looking at the play at second and when I saw that Suarez missed the ball, I saw Perez, he didn't go back to the base. When that happened, I ran to [first-base coach] Omar Vizquel and told him to appeal at third base."  Skipper Ausmus made the appeal but the play was not challengeable.  But the umps reviewed the play amongst themselves and reversed the call and said the run did not count.  The Tigers would win the game by a score of 3-2 on their way to a sweep of the Royals in KC and their fourth Central Division title.  I hope Hernan can help us in 2015 as he did last year.  He is a career .205 hitter and an average defensive utility infielder.  But reports out of spring training this year say he had punched his ticket for Detroit. So maybe we see more of this young man in an Old English “D”.

Shawn Hare played at Central Michigan University before becoming a Tiger.  He was never drafted but signed as an amateur free agent with the Tigers in 1988.  He worked his way up the Tigers farm system until making his major league debut in 1991 as a late season call up.  He came in to a game against the Oakland Athletics in the bottom of the 6^th as a pinch hitter for DH Pete Incaviglia with the Tigers ahead 6-0.  He faced Kevin Campbell and walked on 5 pitches.  He moved over to second on a Milt Cuyler ground out before being stranded at second.  In the bottom of the 8^th he came up again.  This time he popped up to third in foul territory.  The next day he started at DH and drew a walk in the 4^th and again was stranded at second.  After several more games against the Brewers and Orioles, Shawn faced Dave Johnson in the second and hit a double for his first major league hit.  He did not advance beyond second.  In 1992 he was again up for a short period of time with the Tiges.  He got in 15 games but this time made three hits and two walks.  He did not score a run in those 5 times on base but he did drive in 5 runs.  In 1993 he was back in Toledo and hit .264 primarily as a right fielder.  He was waived at the beginning of 1994 and was picked up by the Mets.  He got in 22 games for the Mets and his 9 hits gave him a .225 batting average while with New York.  The Mets released him at the end of the season and he signed with the Rangers.  He got in 18 games there and hit .250.  His final career stats were a .174 average in 109 at bats with 19 hits, 4 doubles and 1 triple.  After a couple more years in the minors he went to Korea and joined the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization) and played for the Haitai Tigers.  Before the season he questioned if in the smaller ball park that a homer needs to clear the fence or maybe it should have to clear the ball park instead.  He then proceeded to follow his major league precedence and not hit a homer for the Tigers in 29 games.    

Joe Burns ended his major league career hitting almost .400 for the Tigers.  He started his career in 1910 with a single game with the Reds.  He got a single and stole second in a game against the Cubs.  He then disappeared and did not show up again in professional ball until 1913 when he was with the Lowell Grays of the New England League.  Later that season he was brought to the Tigers and appeared in four games.  In those four games he played the outfield and hit 5 singles in 13 at bats.  He also had two walks and was hit by a pitch for a .500 on base percentage.  He also drove in one run.  In the field he perfect converting all 7 chances in the outfield into outs for a 1.000 fielding percentage.  He was done playing with the Tiges before the season was over and back playing for Lowell to end the season.  A Massachusetts native, Joe stay on the east coast for the rest of his career in pro ball with the exception of three seasons he played with Buffalo in the International League.  In 12 seasons in the minors he was a .285 hitter.