Jacob Turner was the up and coming pitching stud
for the Tigers. He was in spring training 2011 when I sent an
autograph request on a blank 3x5 card. He returned it stating they were
not allowed to sign blank cards. Oh well. I hope he enjoys his time
in pro ball. It likely will be short as most players careers
are. In 2011 he did get called up in July and debuted against
the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He lasted 5.1 innings and gave up 2
runs on 3 hits and 3 walks and struck out 6. But he got tagged with the
loss. The next days game was the Justin Verlander duel with Jered Weaver
that everyone remembers. Jacob got in two more games for the Tiges that
year but did not get another decision. In 2012 he had some control
problems in spring training and some tendinitis. He had split just six
games that season by the time his birthday came around between Lakeland
and Toledo. He was 1-2 in Lakeland and has no decisions in 2 starts at
Toledo with a 4.76 ERA. He did get called up to the Tigers
and started 3 games. In those three games he was 1-1 with a 8.03
ERA. In July of 2012 Jacob was traded with Rob Brantley and Brian Flynn
for Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez. In that time Jacob is 4-14 with a
4.07 ERA and 123 K's. Sanchez is 19-16 with a 2.91 ERA and 286
K's. Brantley and Flynn are in the minors.
Andrew Miller started his major league career as a
Tiger. He made h is debut in 2006
Bryce Florie
Bob Molinaro
Earl Averill almost ended his Hall of Fame career as a
Tiger. He was born on the west coast in
Washington so naturally he was in the Pacific Coast League when the majors
found him. He was 26 when the majors
finally found him and he was purchased by the Cleveland Indians for $50,000
from the San Francisco Seals for the 1929 season. In his first at bat he hit a homer of Tiger
pitcher Earl Whitehill in the first inning of a game at Cleveland’s League
Park. The Tribe won the game 5-4. Earl hit .332 that rookie season and played
the next 10 and a half years with the Tribe.
He hit .318 in that time and 226 homers while driving in 1038
RBI’s. He was on the first six all star
teams and twice was in the top 5 for MVP voting. By 1939, however, he was hampered by a back
injury and the Tribe traded him to the Tigers for lefty relief pitcher Harry
Eisenstat and cash. Earl became the
Tigers starting left fielder replacing Beau Bell whom the Tigers had just
recently acquired from the St. Louis Browns.
Earl hit .262 that season. In
1940 Earl was not even the number four outfielder for the Tiges. “Soupy” Campbell was the number four and
Earl only appeared in 64 games with 124 at bats. He did hit .280 and made the World Series
roster for 1940. But he was 0-3 in his
only post season of his career. Before
the 1941 season Earl was released by the Tigers. He was signed by the Boston Braves and lasted
less than a month before he was released.
He also played briefly with his home state Seattle Rainiers. In his major league career Earl was paid less
than $150,000 but was elected to the Hall of Fame. He has had his number 3 retired by the
Cleveland Indians.
Below is Earl in 1940 with the D on his cap.
Doc Ayers
Fred Dunlap
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