Esteban Yan pitched for one season for the Tigers. He started his major league career in 1996 as
a reliever in 1996. He only appeared in
4 games that first season and did not record a decision. His second year of 1997 was similar except he
made 2 starts in 3 appearances and recorded his first decision, a loss to the
Kansas City Royals where he gave up 8 runs on 11 hits and 3 walks in 4.1
innings. At the end of the season he was
drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the expansion draft. He was with the Devil Rays for 5 seasons as a
reliever except for 2000 when he started the season in the starting
rotation. He tied a major league record
that year when in his first major league at bat he hit a home run. But in July he was back in the bull pen. In his 5 seasons he was 26-30 with 42 saves
and a 5.01 ERA with his last two years serving as the Devil Rays closer. At the end of 2002 the Devil Rays gave
Esteban his free agency. He was the last
of the original Devil Rays to play for the team. He signed with the Texas Rangers. He lasted until May when the Ranger traded
him to the Cardinals for a minor leaguer.
He made it to August when the Cardinals released him. The Tigers signed him in January of 2004 for
$650,000. But he was cut before the
start of the season on March 31. However,
less than 2 weeks later the Tigers re-signed him and he was in the Tigers bull
pen. He appeared in 69 games for the
Tigers and was 3-6 with a 3.83 ERA. He
also had 7 saves. At the end of the
season the Tiges gave Esteban his free agency again and he signed with the Los
Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He was traded
in May of 2006 to the Cincinnati Reds who released him in July. He continued to bounce around with various
other teams minor league teams but never got back to the majors. He ended his career in 2012 after pitching with
Saltillo of the Mexican League where he
was 7-5 with a 4.64 ERA and the Venezuelan Winter League as a 37 year old
starter.
Jake Wood has had his number retired from the Tigers. He started his career as a rookie second
baseman for the 1961 Tigers. He was in
162 games as a rookie and hit .258. His
speed helped him lead the league in triples his rookie year with 14 and put him
third in the league with stolen bases at 30.
His eye helped him set a major league record in strike outs with 141. But his walks still brought up his OBP to
.320. All together he was a standout
rookie and finished 6th in Rookie of the Year voting. He was back as the starting second baseman in
1962 but his average dropped to .226.
His triples dropped to 5 and his stolen bases dropped also to 24. However, his games also dropped to 111. He did control his K’s and dropped them to
59. In 1963 he was the main second
baseman but only got in half the games.
The Tiges were trying out other second basemen like George Smith, Don
Wert and Dick McAuliffe. Dick was also
the starting shortstop and hit only 9 points below Jake while doubling his RBI
output. In 1964 Jake was no longer the
starting second baseman. The Tigers had
picked up Jerry Lumpe and Jerry hit .252 as compared to Jake’s .232. Jake was used a utility infielder and only
got in 65 games. His playing time
continued to dwindle in 1965 but he saw a boost in 1966 but still was only in
98 games as a back up second basemen to Dick McAuliffe. He lasted only 14 games for the Tiges in 1967
when in June he was sold to the Cincinnati Reds. He played 16 games with the Reds before his
career was over as a major leaguer. He
totals were 35 homers, 26 triples, 79 stolen bases and a .250 batting average. He continued to play in the minors and played
with Gene Lamont and Jim Leyland in Montgomery.
His brother also played in the NFL as a linebacker with the Jets and the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1975 through 1984.
And Jake’s number which was retired by the Tiges, well, he wore 2 as did
Charlie Gerhinger who was also second baseman for the Tiges. The number 2 was retired in 1983.
Walt Masterson ended his major league career with the
Tigers. He had started his career in
1939 as a fast ball pitcher with the Washington Senators as a reliever. He moved into the starting rotation in 1940
and remained a starter with Washington into 1949. He did take time off in World War II to serve
in the Navy but returned and would end up starting the 1948 All Star game. He went 3 innings and gave up 2 runs on 1
hit, a homer by Stan Musial. Tiger Hoot
Evers had also hit a homer off of Ralph Branca and another run in the 3rd
had created a tie through 3 so Walt did not get a decision in the game. In June of 1949 Walt was traded to the Boston
Red Sox for Mickey Harris and Sam Mele. He
stayed in Boston until 1952 when he was traded back to the Senators for Sid
Hudson. He pitched through 1953 with the
Senators and at that time had a career record of 77-99 with 20 saves. He was out of baseball for two years before
the Tiges signed him as a 36 year old free agent for 1956. He appeared in 35 games for the Tiges coming
out of the bull pen. He did get a win
for the Tigers in September when he came in to pitch the 8th and 9th
against the Red Sox of a game the Tiges trailed 4-2. The Tiges rallied for 3 runs with the final
run coming off of a Harvey Kuenn single to score Frank Bolling. That would be Walt’s last decision. He made his last appearance about a week
later. His final record with the Tigers
was 1-1 with a 4.17 ERA.
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