Brandon Inge has played 11 seasons as a Tiger and wore the
number 12 his first year in Detroit. He
started in 2001 and played in 79 games as a catcher. He did not start playing third for the Tigers
until 2004 when he split time as a third sacker, catcher and outfielder. His first year as a full time third baseman
was 2005. He is a career .236 hitter who
had his best years to date in 2004, 05 and 06.
In fact those are the only years he has hit above .250. But he did very well in the 2006 post
season. He struggled in the ALDS against
the Yanks going 2 for 15. But then went
4-12 against the A’s and 6 for 17 against the Cards in the World Series. In fact, the only tiger to hit better than
Brandon in the World Series was Sean Casey who went an astounding 9 for
17. Brandon was never a strong hitter
and by 2011 Brandon was hitting only .197.
He started 2012 with the Tiges but was hitting only .100. The Tigers were using Miguel Cabrera at third
to allow Prince Fielder to play at first and Brandon was not likely to get in
the line up ahead of either of them. So
in April he was released. He was signed
by the Oakland A’s and hit .226 playing third for the A’s. If you ever questioned Brandon’s toughness it
should have been dispelled while he was with the A’s. In a
game against the White Sox he dislocated his shoulder, puts it back in place
himself, and ends up driving in the game winning run. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ck3JcxyEmM
Here is the link to the video on Youtube to see his play. But again, it was not enough to keep him in
Oakland and at the end of the season he was released. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates for
2013 but was released at the beginning of August after hitting only .181. That was the last time Brandon played pro
ball.
Luis Salazar played against the Tigers in the 1984 World
Series, when he was with the Padres, and then with the Tigers in 1988 he wore
number 12. Luis was born and raised in
Venezuela and was signed by the Royals in 1973.
He was making his way to the majors through trades an leagues when in
1980 he was traded to the Padres in a deal that sent Kurt Bevaqua to the
Pirates. The irony is that Kurt would
later play with Luis in the 1984 World Series against the Tigers and lead the
Padres in the losing cause of their end of the World Series. Bevaqua led the team in average, homers and
RBI’s in the series. While Luis hit .333
in the series he did hit a homer nor drive in a run for the series. Luis was the Padres starting third baseman
until the beginning of the 1984 season when the Pads got Graig Nettles. Luis was then the backup third baseman for
1984 and shortly after the 1984 World Series was traded to the White Sox with
future Sox manager Ozzie Guilllen and others.
He lasted only 2 years before going back to the Padres for 1987 where he
was again the back up third baseman to Kevin Mitchell. At the end of the season the Padres let Luis
become a free agent and he signed with the Tigers. Luis was 32 and was probably happy to still
be playing in the majors as he was a .250 hitter and a back up third
baseman. He signed for what was a fairly
low $150,000 for the Tiges and below what he was making in his early
career. Luis was truly a utility player
for the Tigers as he played 37 games at short, 31 games at third, 5 games at
second, 4 games at first and 68 games in the various outfield spots. The only thing he did not do was pitch or
catch. He had one of his best seasons
while Tiger hitting .270. But it was not
enough to keep him in Detroit. At the
end of the 1988 season he was traded back to the Padres for his third tour of
duty with them for Mike Brumley. For
1989 he was again the Padres starting third baseman after a 5 year break. While he was hitting .268 and the starting
third sacker it was not enough and the Padres traded him to the Cubs. He stayed with the Cubs and in the majors
into 1992. He went into coaching and
today is a manger in the Braves farm system.
In 2011 while with the Braves organization he was hit in the face by a
foul ball while standing in the dugout.
He lost his eye but survived which was more than many people
expected. He is the manager of the
Advanced A level Lynchburg Hillcats who are in a three way tie for second in
the North Division of the Carolina League with a 18-21 record.
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