December 7 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Kevin Hooper

Brian Schmack

Alex Johnson

Dick Donovan

Tony Piet ended his career as a Tiger. 

Deacon White was a innovator of the game and the most recent Hall of Famer from Detroit.  His nickname of “Deacon” came about because he carried a bible with him and was thought to represent what a Deacon should be. He had started playing pro baseball in 1868, three years after the Civil War, and 1871 he joined the National Association when it debuted as the first professional league.  He was catcher for the Cleveland Forest City’s and the Boston Red Stockings.  Again, this was before the NL started so there was not really a race for the batting title but Deacon won it anyway in 1875 when he hit .367.  He had won the RBI title in 1873.  When the NL started in 1876 he was the catcher for the Chicago White Stockings and he again won the RBI title.  In 1877 he came close to winning the triple crown when he led the league in RBI’s with 49, average with a .387 mark and was third in homers with 2.  (The league leader hit 4 that season.)  But he did lead the league in triples with 11.  He was also He was an innovator in that he was the first catcher to move up underneath the batter.  It was the custom in the early days of baseball to stand 10 to 20 feet behind the batter and catcher the ball on the bounce.  He also created the first chest protector.  After his time in Chicago he moved on to Boston, Cincinnati and Buffalo in the National League before landing in Detroit with the Wolverines in 1886.  He joined Detroit in what was considered a huge deal at the time when he and Jack Rowe, Hardy Richardson and Sam Thompson were sold to Detroit for the sum of $7,000.  He had moved to third base by now and was the Wolverines starting third sacker for the next three years including the 1887season when the Wolverines won the NL flag and went on to beat the St. Louis Browns of the American Association.  The Wolverines won 10 games to 5.  Deacon was on the team with three other future Hall of Famers (all posthumously and all left handed) in Dan Brouthers at first and Sam Thompson and Ned Hanlon in the outfield.  Deacon hit .303 at the age of 39 that season as the oldest player in the majors.  He would continue to be the oldest player in the majors until his playing days ended three years later at the age of 42.  He also almost made a great contribution to baseball when he threatened to sue baseball in regards to the reserve clause after leaving the Wolverines in 1889.  He was under contract with the Pittsburgh Allegheny’s when he and teammate Jack Rowe bought the Buffalo team of the International League and were not allowed to play for their own team.  The reserve clause had them locked into only playing with the Pittsburgh club.  The two threatened o sue to break the reserve clause but did not and eventually played for Pittsburgh.  The following season Deacon jumped from the NL and bought a share of the Players League team in Buffalo.  The Players League was a league brought about by the players in an attempt to break the owners of their control of the players through the reserve clause and low pay and ability to sell the players contracts as had been done in 1886.  Unfortunately, the league collapsed after one season because the owners of the NL and American Association paid the stars huge salaries to keep them in their league.  With fans wanting to see the stars the league collapsed.  That would be Deacon’s last season as a professional ball player at the age of 42.  In his career Deacon played 8 seasons as a starting catcher and 9 years as a starting third baseman.  He also had a couple seasons in the outfield and at first as a starter.  He also recorded games at every position when he played second, short and pitched.  His brother Wil also played with him and with Detroit.  The year he died was 1939.  This was the year of the first Hall of Fame class.   He was disappointed when the first class was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and he was not among them, nor was he invited to the Baseball Centennial that was that year as well.  (He was 91, only 9 years younger than the anniversary they were celebrating.)  He was playing shortly after the Civil War and died two years before his birthday, December 7, would be recognized as the start of the US entry into World War II with the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

By the way, if you are wondering, only one major leaguer was born that fateful December 7 of 1941, but not in the US.  Rupe Toppin was born December 7, 1941 in Panama.  He played for the Kansas City Athletics in 1962.  His link to the Tigers is that of the two games he played his second and last was against the Tigers.  He came into the game in the 4th in relief and walked 2 the first inning he pitched against the Tigers.   In the next inning he loaded the bases with 3 straight walks to start the inning.  He was pulled just before Rocky Colavito hit a single to clear the bases and end his major league career.  

December 6 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Larry Sheets was a reluctant Tiger.  He was actually a reluctant ball player.  He was a left handed power hitter who signed with the Baltimore Orioles out of high school in nearby Staunton, Virginia in 1978.   He played for a couple years in the minors before deciding to sit out the 1981 season.  He came back to the Orioles farm system in 1982 and hit .296 in class A Hagerstown ad hit 18 homers.  He continued to move up and was a late season addition in 1984 where he got a hit in his first major league at bat.  In 8 games that fall he was 7 for 16 for a .438 average and with a double and homer he had a .688 slugging.  In 1985 he was with the O’s for real and was a starting outfielder, a position he would hold for the next 5 years.  He continued to improve at the plate until he had his best year in 1987 when he hit.316 with 31 homers and 94 RBI’s.  This was followed by his worst year where he hit only .230 with 10 homers and 47 RBI’s.  In 1989 the O’s gave up on Larry who was hitting only .243 with only 7 homers and traded him after the season to the Tigers for Mike Brumley.  Larry got into 131 games for the Tiges and was the top utility player playing 47 games in left, 19 in right and 38 as DH.  But he only hit .261 with 10 homers and was granted free agency at the end of the season.  He signed with the California Angels as a free agent on October 14 1991 and about two weeks later the Angels released him with Larry ever playing a game for them!  Larry went over to Japan and played there before returning to the US and playing one more year in the majors in 1993.  He got in 11 games and was 2 for 17.  Today Larry owns and runs a sports complex in Maryland which you can find on line at www.larrysheetsplayers.com.

Gary Ward ended his career as a Tiger.  He was somewhat atypical as a power hitter in that he did have a low average but was able to steal a base when needed.  He started in the majors with the Minnesota Twins in 1979 but was not a starter until 1982.  He hit .289 that season while hitting 28 homers, 91 RBI’s and stealing 13 bases.  After that he hit .278 and the Twins traded him to the Rangers.  He played with the Rangers for 3 years hitting .293 and hitting 41 homers while stealing 45 bases.  All the time Gary was slightly above average as an outfielder.  After 1986 he signed as free agent with the Yankees but in 1988 he was a part timer and early in 1989 he was released by the Yankees.  The Tigers signed him and he was a back up in 1989 playing 35 games at left, 14 in right, 26 at first and 25 at DH.  In 1990 he was the Tigers starting left fielder where he hit .256 with 9 homers and 2 stolen bases.  After 1990 he was released by the Tigers and was done as a pro player.  As late as 2010 Gary was coaching in the minors.  His son Daryle Ward played in the majors from 1998 to 2008 with various teams in the NL.

December 5 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Gene Harris was a Tiger for part of one year.  He started his major league career in 1989 with the Expos and pitched in 11 games before being traded to the Mariners as part of the Randy Johnson trade where Randy went to the Mariners with Gene and Brian Holman for Mark Langston and Mike Campbell.  The Mariners kept Gene into 1992 when he was sent to the Padres.  He was 3-7 combined in his time with the Ex pos and Mariners with two saves as a reliever and spot starter.  For the Padres he was 7-9 when in foreshadowing the future, Randy Smith, then the Padres GM, traded him to the Tigers for Scott Livingstone and Jorge Velandia in 1994.  While with Detroit Gene was 0-0 in 11 games with a 7.15 ERA and one save when he came in to pitch the 9^th in a game against the A’s that David Wells started but Storm Davis would eventually get the win.  The Tigers released Gene at the end of the 1994 season and he signed with the Phillies for 1995 but finished the season with the Orioles.  For his career Gene was 12-18 with a 4.71 ERA and 26 saves over seven seasons in the majors.

Ed Summers played his whole time in the majors with the Tigers.  Ed played ball at Wabash College and in the minors at the same time before joining the Tigers in 1908.  In his first year he was the ace of the staff of himself, George Mullin, Bill Donavan, Ed Willett and Ed Killian.  Summers went 24-12 with a 1.64 ERA in 40 games with 23 complete games.  On September 25^th he pitched and won both complete games of a double header against the Philadelphia Athletics by scores of 7-2 and 1-0.  Unfortunately in the World Series against the Cubs he did not do as well.  He was 0-2 with a 4.30 ERA in two games and the Tigers dropped the series to the Cubs in the last series the Cubs ever won, 4 games to 1.  In 1909 Ed was again on the same strong staff but had dropped to the third man in the rotation.  He was 19-9 with a 2.24 ERA but again had a rough World Series this time against Honus Wagner and the Pirates.  Ed went 0-2 again with a 8.59 ERA.  Ed was 13-12 in 1910 and hit two homers in one game becoming the first pitcher ever to do so when he did it against the Athletics.  Ed was 11-11 in 1911 and was only 1-1 in 1912 when he was done playing baseball in June of 1912. 

Billy Shindle started his major league career as a Detroit Wolverine in 1886.  He got in 7 games and went 7 for 26 as a back up shortstop.  He returned to the Wolverines in 1887 but was moved over to third as a back up to Deacon White.  He was 24 for 84 with 12 RBI’s and scored 17 runs for the Wolverines who won the National League title and the World Series against the St. Louis Browns 10 games to 5.  Unfortunately for Billy, Deacon White played all 15 games so Billy did not get into the series.  Billy left Detroit in 1888 and became a starting third baseman for the Baltimore Orioles of the American Association and later joined the Philadelphia Quakers of the Player League, Philadelphia Athletics of the National League, Baltimore Orioles now of the National League and finally the Brooklyn Bridegrooms of the National league before ending his career in 1898.  He was a career .269 hitter with 759 RBI’s and 993 runs scored.  

December 4 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Pat Sheridan played most of his games in the majors with the Tigers.  He was born in Ann Arbor and went to Wayne High School before going to college at Eastern Michigan University.  He was drafted by the Kansas City Royals and debuted with the Royals in 1981 as a late season call up.  He got in three games that season and then spent 1982 in the minors before three seasons as a Royals outfielder.  He was a .251 hitter for the Royals as an above average fielder.  Before the 1986 season the Royals brought up Mike Kingery, a speedy minor leaguer who would make Pat unneeded by the Royals and the lefty hitting Sheridan was released.  The Tigers signed Pat as a free agent for $150,000 for the 1986 season.  Pat was the number 2 right fielder behind Kirk Gibson and the number 2 center fielder behind Chet Lemon and hit only .237.  But in 1987 the Tigers were back on top of the AL East and Pat was the starting right fielder.  He hit .259 and got some big hits for the Tiges including a 7^th inning homer against the Red Sox in Fenway to win the game for the Tiges and hitting a homer off of Bret Saberhagen to beat the Royals at Tiger Stadium.  Pat also hit an 8^th inning two run shot off of Jeff Reardon to give the Tigers their lone win in the ALCS against the damned Minnesota Twinkies.  (It’s been 25 years, I’m almost over it.) Pat was back with the Tigers in 1988 but was in left field.  Kirk Gibson was gone and Gary Pettis took over center moving Chet Lemon to right.  Pat had a similar year hitting .254 with 11 homers.  But 1989 saw a changing of the Tigers and a whole new crop of outfielders came to town in Fred Lynn and Ken Williams as well as others.  Pat became expendable as was traded to the San Francisco Giants for outfielder Tracy Jones in June.  After finishing the season at San Fran Pat would get one more crack at the majors with the New York Yankees in 1991.  Pat ended his 9 year career as a .252 hitter but was in the playoffs four times and in the World Series twice winning once with the Royals in 1985 and losing the series with the San Francisco Giants in 1989.

Barbaro Garbey picked the perfect season to be a rookie for the Tigers.  Barbaro was born and raised in Cuba and played on the Cuban Olympic team in 1976 that won the gold medal.  He was banned from playing in Cuba for gambling and left Cuba as part of the 1980 Cuban flotilla that brought 125,000 people from Cuba to the US.  The Tigers signed him and he quickly moved up the Tigers farm system hitting .321 in AAA Evansville by 1983.  In 1984 he made the Tigers squad and was one of the Tigers utility players playing every position except short, catcher and pitcher in 110 games for the World Champs.  He hit .287 but only had 5 homers.  In the playoffs he was DH and went 3 for 9.  In the World Series he struggled going 0 for 12 as a DH.  He returned to the Tiges in 1985 but his hitting dropped to .257 in 86 games.  At the end of the season he was traded to the Oakland Athletics for Dave Collins.  Before spring training was over in 1986 the Athletics released Barbaro.  He went to play in Mexico but came back to the US and the majors in 1988 with the Texas Rangers.  He hit only .194 and wound up his career back in Mexico in 1994.  After his playing days Barbaro has spent his time coaching in the minors with the Tigers and Cubs organizations. 

Harvey Kuenn spent most of his time in the majors as a Tiger.  Kuenn (Pronounced Keen.) began his major league career in 1952 with the Tigers when at the age of 21 he played 19 games as a Tiger shortstop hitting .325 as a late season call up.  He picked up where he left off in 1953 when he hit .308 as the Tigers starting shortstop and leading the league in hits with 209 while on his way to winning Rookie of the Year honors.  That was also the first year of 8 years in a row that Harvey was an all star.  Harvey stayed at short until 1957 when he moved to the outfield for the Tiges.  In 1959 Harvey won the batting title hitting .353 for the Tiges.  He was rewarded with a trade for Rocky Colavito from Cleveland who had just won the home run title for Cleveland.  It was considered a huge block buster trade with the exchange of the league batting champ for the home run champ.  But Harvey’s skills started to diminish.  He hit .308 for the Indians before they traded him to the Giants for the 1961 season.  He would hit .300 only one more time in 1962 and would done playing after 1966.  But Harvey was not finished with baseball.  He became a manager for the Milwaukee Brewers who were known as “Harvey’s Wallbangers” due to their home run hitting and led them to their first World Series in 1982 when they lost in 7 games to the St. Louis Cardinals.  But Harvey was not doing well with his health.  As a player he was known to always have a cheek full of tobacco.  In 1980, before he took over the Brewers as skipper, he had his right leg amputated.  In 1988 Harvey died at the age of 57.

Allen Conkwright played one season in the majors as a right handed pitcher for the Tigers.  He came out of Utah State University and played a couple of non descript seasons in the minors before going 24-7 with the Bloomington Bloomers of the Three I League in 1920.  The Tigers signed him and he debuted as a reliever as a late season call up.  He came in to face the Red Sox at Detroit’s Navin Field in the 5^th inning of a game the tigers were trailing 5 to 3.  He pitched the next six innings and gave up 1 run on 4 hits and 3 walks.  The Tigers came back and scored 3 in the 8^th and 1 more in the 10^th to win the game and give Allen his first career victory.  Allen got in 4 more games for the Tigers and went 2-1 for the season with a 6.98 ERA.  He went back to the minors and never returned to the majors and was done in baseball after 1924 at the age of 27.

December 3 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Andrew Oliver was still with the Tigers as late as 2012.  He came out of Oklahoma State University after a stellar high school career in Vermillion, OH.  He was signed by the Tigers and began his career in the Tigers farm system in 2010 with Erie as a left handed starter.  He was supposed to be in the 2010 All Star Futures Game but was brought up to the Tigers before the game took place so was no longer qualified.  In his debut with the Tiges he started against the Atlanta Braves on June 25 and took the loss going 6 innings and only allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and 1 walk while K’ing 4.  He made 4 more starts for the Tiges in 2010 and finished his time in the majors less than a month later when he was assigned to Toledo for the remainder of the season.  His final record for the Tiges was 0-4 with a 7.36 ERA.  But he was still considered the Tiges number three prospect.  In 2011 he got 2 starts for the Tigers.  The first was May 29 against the Red Sox at Comerica Park.  He went 6 innings and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and a walk with 3 K’s but did not get a decision.  He also gave up two homers to Dustin Pedroia and Mike Cameron.  His second game was June 3, when he took the loss against the White Sox in Chicago.  He went 3.2 innings and game up 4 runs on 6 hits and 5 walks.  He did not pitch in Detroit after that.  in 2012 he spent the year in Toledo going 5-9 with a 4.88 ERA.  After the season he was traded to the Pirates for minor league catching prospect Ramon Cabrera.

Chad Durbin spent two seasons with the Tigers.  The right hander began his career in 1999 with the Kansas City Royals and he pitched for them through 2002.  He was a combined 11-22 with a 6.01 ERA for KC before going to Cleveland as a free agent.  In Cleveland he was 7-9 with a 6.10 ERA.  In 2004 he was waived by Cleveland and picked up by the Arizona Diamondbacks.  He was 1-1 with an 8.68 ERA.  At the end of the 2005 season the Tigers picked him up as a free agent.  He got to the Tiges for 3 games for the Tiges coming out of the bull pen and pitched 6 innings.  But he looked good with a 1.50 ERA.  In Toledo that year he was 11-8 with a 3.11 ERA and was looking very strong as a future Tiger prospect.  In 2007 he was with the Tigers for the entire season.  He was 8-7 with a save splitting time as a starter, making 19 starts and 17 appearances from the bull pen.  He had a decent ERA at 4.87 but at the end of the season he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies and was used as a reliever only.  He was 5-4 but had a very nice 2.87 ERA.  He spent two more years as a reliever and in three years was 11-7 with 3 saves and a 3.62 ERA.  After spending 2011 in Cleveland he spent 2012 with Atlanta where he was 4-1 with a 3.10 ERA coming out of the pen.   In 2013 he was in Philly and was 1-0 with no saves and a 9.00 ERA in only 16 games.  The Phillies released him on May 31 of the 2013 season and no one picked him up.  He retired from baseball the Wednesday before Thanksgiving in 2013 at the age of 35.

Gary Glover spent his last time in the majors with the Tigers.  He began his time in pro ball with the Toronto Blue Jays Rookie club at the age of 17 in 1994.  He worked his way up the Jays farm system until he made his major league debut in 1999.  He pitched one inning of one game for the Jays and after giving a lead off walk got the next batter ona pop fly before getting the last batter to hit into a double play.  He did not play in the majors again until 2001 this time with the Chicago White Sox where he has pitched the most innings and also was used as a starter as well as a reliever.  He was 13-13 in Chicago with a 5.02 ERA while spending about half his time as a starter and half coming out of the bull pen.  He then made stops in Anaheim, Milwaukee and Tampa Bay before signing with the Tigers as a free agent in August 2008.  For Detroit he got in 18 games as reliever and was 1-1 with a 4.43 ERA.  He was granted free agency at the end of the season by the Tiges.  Since then he has spent his entire time in the minors with the Nationals and Marlin’s franchises.  He was granted free agency a month ago by the Marlins and is in search of a team at this time.

Delos Drake spent his time in the majors with St .Louis and the Tigers.  He started pro ball in 1906 at the age of 19 and worked his way up to the Detroit in 1911 when he played the entire season with the Tigers as a back up outfielder to Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford and Davy Jones.  In 95 games he actually out hit Davy Jones .279 to 273.  In fact he was only in 3 less games than Jones for the season as the two split time in left field.  Jones had a slight edge in fielding .950 to .942.  Delos showed good speed hitting 9 triples and a homer and also stealing 20 bases.  But in Delos was back in the minors in 1912 and 1913 before he got one more shot at the majors in St. Louis.  It was not with the Cardinals, nor the Browns.  It was with the new Federal League St. Louis Terriers.  The Federal League was a new upstart major league that put fear in the American and National League owners.  They put teams in cities that would rival major league teams as well as in new cities.  One of the most famous remnants of the Federal League is in Chicago where the Chicago Whales owner Charlie Weeghman built Weeghman Park for his team.  Delos Drake played in the outfield for the St. Louis team and would have played at Weegham Park.  He In his two years with the Terriers Delos played the outfield for the Terriers and hit .257 over two years.  His second year the Terriers won the League title.  But that would be the last Federal League pennant.  At the end of his first year the Federal League brought an antitrust law suit against the National League.  The judge, one Kennesaw Mountain Landis, did not rule and let he suit languish until finally in 1922 the US Supreme Court ruled baseball was not a business but a form of entertainment and not interstate commerce and therefore not subject to antitrust laws.  By the time the ruling came the Federal League had collapsed.  Delos was out of baseball and the Chicago Cubs were playing in Weeghman Park which was later called Wrigley Field.   

December 2 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Bob "Ducky" Jones played his entire major league career as a Tiger. After playing in the PCL and other western leagues starting 1912, Bob made his appearance with the Tigers in 1917 as a back up third baseman to Ossie Vitt. Before the 1919 season Ossie was traded to the Red Sox and Bob became the starting third baseman. He stayed with the club thru 1925. At that point he was 35 and the Tigers wanted a younger third baseman and went with a 29 year old Fred Haney. Bob was Fred's back up for the season. After that Bob returned to PCL to play. He stayed in the minors until he was 40 in 1930. His stats for his time in Detroit were a .265 batting average, 7 homers, 316 RBI's and 399 runs scored but was more known for his defense.

Dan McGarvey played in the Ty Cobb strike game of 1912 when he was 24. In 1912 Ty Cobb was suspended for going into the stands and beating up a fan. He was suspended by the league. But his teammates felt he was justified and so on May 18, the rest of the Tigers refused to take the field in a game in Philadelphia against the Athletics. The Tigers hastily put a squad together of amateurs. The team lost the contest 24-2. Dan had five plate appearances in that game and three at bats. He got hit by a pitch and was walked once. He did not get a hit. He was in left field with Bill Leinhauser in center and Hap Ward in right for that game. They replaced Davey Jones, Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford. Dan and had three chances in the field. He made one assist, one put out and one error. After the game the regular Tigers reported back as Ty had asked them to. All of the players from the 24-2 game disappeared from professional baseball when the regulars returned.

Tom Doran played over half his time in the majors with Detroit. He first appeared in the majors in 1904 with the Boston Americans. He appeared in 12 games and as a back stop posted a .125 batting average in 32 at bats. That computes to 4 hits. He caught three more games for the Americans in 1905 before he was waived and the Tiges picked him up. He was in 34 games for the Tigers and posted a career high .160 batting average. 1906 found "Long Tom" back with Boston for 2 more games before his major league experience was over. His major league average was .144. Some 60 points higher than his minor league average of .208. Tom played in the minors into 1908. Two years later in 1910, he died in New York City at the age of 29.

Roscoe Miller was the Tigers first 20 game winner. In the first year the Tigers were in the American League in 1901, Roscoe was the Ace of the staff. He was 24 and finished fourth in the league in wins with 23 against 13 losses. He finished behind three Hall of Famers in Cy Young, Joe McGinnity and Clark Griffith. His ERA of 2.95 was 8th. The leader was again, Cy Young. He did not rank in the top ten for K's. That category was lead by Cy Young. Had they had one, I am sure Cy Young would have won the Cy Young award. But Roscoe was third in complete games with 35 and posted 3 shutouts. He started 1902 with the Tigers but was not as effective, going 6-12 with a 3.69 ERA when in June he jumped leagues and went to play for the New York Giants. This was a time when the leagues would raid each other and Roscoe was raided. But Roscoe never did regain his form of 1901 in the National League. He stuck around into 1904 with the Pirates but a carriage accident injured him. 14 Pirates players were riding in the carriage when they were spooked by the back axle collapsing and they dragged the carriage on its side and Roscoe hurt his wrist. He never played in the majors after 1904. He only won 10 games after leaving Detroit. He went to the minors and played until 1909. In 1913 Roscoe died of an unknown illness at the age of 36.

December 1 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Dan Schatzeder

Jim Ray

George Lerchen I was saddened to see that George Lerchen died on March 26, 2014.  George signed an 8x10 for me through the mail in October of 2013.  I am saddened because I did not do my homework before sending out the request.  George was what Tom Brokaw called “The Greatest Generation”.  And he was the epitome of it.  He was born in Detroit in 1922 and signed by the great Tigers scout Wish Egan.  He started his pro career in 1942 at the age of 19.  He was in class D with Jamestown and hit .312.  But he following year and the next three he served in the Navy during WWII.  He came back and went back to his dream of being a major league ball player.  He played in the minors.  The Tiger organization bounced George around from D to AAA to A to AAA before givng him a chance in the majors in 1952 at the age of 29.  He made four appearances as a pinch hitter before finally getting a start on May 6.  He made it count.  He got his first major league hit, a homer, and went 1 for 3 with a walk.  The next day he went 2 for 4 with a triple.  But in a month and a half he was 5 for 32 for a .156 average.  But that was a time when OBP was not considered as highly as it is today for he also had 7 walks for a .308 OBP.  However, the Tigers sent him back to the minors never to return to Tiger Stadium as a player.  Somehow, in an unknown transaction George was sent to the Reds for 1953.  He did even better in Cincy hitting .294 with a .455 OBP.  But he was only given 3 starts.  That was the end of the road for George as a major leaguer.  He bounced around in the minors until calling it quits in 1956.  His first hit was the only homer of his career.  I did not ask him about it.  I should have.  What George did 99% of American youth dream about doing.  I missed it.  His wife responded with a nice note saying the George was having trouble writing but he was happy that he could manage his signature.  She stated that this was too bad because he always had beautiful penmanship.  He was 91. I hope I have nice penmanship at 91. 

Pete Wojey

Ernie Alten

Willie Mitchell