May 24 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Brad Penny joined the Tigers last year.  At this time last year I wrote “He has been doing well so far.    His ERA is a little higher than I had hoped but he seems to be a good pick up. “   And he was 4-4.  He had beaten the White Sox giving up no runs and only 1 hit in 7 innings.   He beat CC Sabathia and the Yankees when he only gave up 1 run in 6 innings.  He beat the Blue Jays going 7.2 innings and only allowing 2 runs.  And he beat Kansas City pitching 8 innings of scoreless ball.  But then the mediocrity came through.  He went 11-11 for the season and his ERA stayed high at 5.30.  By the end of the season folks seemed to have had enough.  In the playoffs against the Rangers he gave up 5 runs on 7 hits in only 1.2 innings of work.  Brad was not given an extension.  He started the 2012 season with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in Japan.   He pitched one game and in 3.1 innings pitched he allowed 6 runs (4 earned).  But then he was hired by the San Francisco Giants.  In Rookie ball for the Giants he pitched one inning and gave up 3 runs on a BB and 2 hits for a 18.00 ERA.  So the Giants promoted him!  He went to high A and AAA and for the season with Japan and 3 minor league teams he was 1-2 with a 6.32 ERA.  So the Giants called him up to the big club and he appeared in 22 games out of the bull pen for the Giants and was 0-1 with a 6.11 ERA.  He became a free agent at the end of the 2012 season and nobody picked him up.  In 2014 he tried out for the Kansas City Royals but after a dismal outing were he gave up 4 runs on 8 hits in 2 innings he left the game and it was reported he punched a wall and was released.  At age 35 his baseball playing career was officially over.

Danny Bautista was a guy who never quite panned out for the Tigers or anyone else really.  He played 12 seasons in the majors but only one year, his last year in 2004 was a regular for one team.  For Detroit he played four years and hit.228 as an outfielder.  We wanted to use him as our centerfielder.  But in 1996 we traded him to the Braves for Anton French.  Anton never made it to the majors.  But Danny only hit .240 for the Braves in three years.  Danny moved on to Florida and Arizona where in his final year in the majors, Danny became a starter and hit .286.  For his career of 12 seasons Danny hit .272 with 62 homers and 319 RBI’s.   

Dave Machemer homered in his first bit league at bat for the Angels not the Tigers in 1978.  He played in 10 games for the Angels in 1978 and got 6 hits.  We picked him up in the rule 5 draft at the end of the season and in 1979 he played 19 games for the Tigers and in 26 at bats he had 5 hits for the Tiges.  He played mainly second base for the Tiges and never did hit another major league home run.  He was done playing baseball after a couple more years in AAA ball.  Later Dave became a minor league manager.  He is still managing in the minors today and is in his 22^nd season.  He is 21-24 this season with the Richmond Flying Squirrels of the Eastern League.    They are the San Francisco Giants AA team.  For his career as a manager he is 1,485 and 1,470.

Milt Jordan pitched 8 games for the Tigers in 1953.  He was in the Army Air Corps during World War II for almost three years.  When he came out he was working in the salt mines before becoming a minor leaguer in 1948.  He started the 1953 season with the Tigers.  In his major league debut he faced the Cleveland Indians coming into the game in the 9^th with the Tribe ahead 11-8.  He gave up a back to back singles to Al Rosen and Dale Mitchell before getting Mitchell of the bases in a double play.  This was followed by a K of Jim Hegan to end the inning and Milt’s debut.  About a week later Milt took the mound as the starter against the White Sox.  He lasted 7 innings and gave up 6 runs on 12 hits.  Three of the hits were homers by Sam Mele, Vern Stephens and Sherm Lollar.   Milt got into 6 more games for the Tiges but did not get another start nor a decision.  He was done pitching in the majors in less than a month.  His final record was 0-1 in the 8 games and an ERA of 5.82.  He did manage to hit .500 by going 1 for 2 at the plate.  In nine seasons in the minors he was 68-60 with a 3.55 ERA.  But he did make it to the majors for his cup of coffee.