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

November 30 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Mark Lewis had a difficult task as a Tiger.  It is ironic that his birthday is the day after Steve Rodriguez, who was the Tigers top second baseman prospect.  Mark had started his career in the majors as a Cleveland Indian and then a Cincinnati Red.  He played second base, shortstop and third base.  He was a .255 hitter for the Tribe without a lot of power and a below average glove.  In July of 1995 the Tigers made a trade with the Reds and sent David Wells to Cincy for CJ Nitkowski, Dave Tuttle and a player to be named later.  In November, the Tigers later named Mark Lewis.  Mark had the task of replacing the recently retired Lou Whitaker.  Lou had hit .293 with 14 homers his last season and drove in 33 runs in 249 at bats.  In his first year with the Tigers Mark hit .270  and had career highs of 11 homers and drove in 55 runs in 545 at bats.  In the off season Mark was traded to the Giants for Jesus Ibarra who never made it to the majors while Mark went on to play part of five more years in the majors.  His career stats are a .263 average with 48 homers and 306 RBI’s.

Dave Engle was a Tiger utility player.  He started his career as a Minnesota Twins outfielder in 1981.  He was moved to catcher in 1983 and was a back for them until he was traded to Detroit for Sparky’s great Chris Pittaro and Alejandro Sanchez.  With Detroit in 1986 Dave was a back up first baseman mainly but also spent time at DH, in the outfield and behind the plate.  He hit .256 with no homers and only 4 RBI’s in 86 at bats.  In August the Tigers released Dave.  He went on to play two years with the Expos and then one more year with the Brewers until his time in the majors was up in 1989.  Dave went on to manage in the minors and was managing as late as 2000 in the Mets organization.

Juan Berenguer was a starting pitcher for the Tigers in the early 1980’s.  He started his career with the Mets in 1978 appearing sparingly until he was sent to the Royals.  The Tigers picked him up a free agent in 1982 and he was the number 4 starter on the 1984 team going 11-10 with a 3.48 ERA.   Juan was the starter against the Blue Jays in 1984 facing the Blue Jays ace Dave Steib when Dave Bergman had his “at bat”.  He did not get the win but left that game after 7 with the game tied 3-3.  He did not get into the post season for the Tigers that year.  In 1985 he dropped to 5-6 with a 5.59 ERA and was dealt to the Giants in the trade that sent Juan, Bob Melvin and Scott Medvin to San Fran for Matt Nokes, Eric King and Dave LaPoint.  1987 found Juan in the post season but facing the Tigers as a Minnesota Twin and coming out of the bullpen.  He pitched six innings and struck out six against the Tigers giving up only one hit, a homer to Chet Lemon in game 5.  Juan finished his career as a Brave and a Royal in 1992.

Fred “Firpo” Marberry was with the Washington Senators for 10 years before coming to the Tigers with Carl Fischer for Earl Whitehill.  He had been a great closer before there was such a thing.  For five out of those ten seasons with the Senators he led the league is saves.  He was 117-69 with 96 saves when he joined the Tigers.  Detroit did not use him as a reliever as much but rather made him a starter.  In 1933, his first year in Detroit, he was 16-11 with only 2 saves and a 3.29 ERA.  In 1934 he saw his last effective season.  He was 15-5 with a 4.57 ERA and had only 3 saves.  He got into the World Series that year but was not effective going only 1.2 innings and giving up four runs on five hits and a walk.  In 1935 Fred was released by the Tigers half way thru the season.  He immediately started umpiring in the AL and spent the remainder of the season behind the catcher.  At the end of the season he quit umping and signed with the Giants.  While he pitched for two more seasons, he did not win nor save another game in his career in the majors.  He held the career saves total for 20 years from his playing days in 1926 until 1945 and the single season record from 1924 with 15 thru 1948 with his own improved record of 22 which he set in 1926.  However, the save was not an official stat until the 1960’s.  All Fred’s records were determined years after he had retired and the records had long been broken.

November 29 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Tony Giarratano played his major league career with the Tigers.  He was born in Queens, New York but attended college at Tulane in New Orleans before being drafted and signing with the Tigers in 2003.  In his major league debut in June of 2005, he went 2 for 3 with an RBI and run scored in a 6-4 victory over the Rangers.  He hit a game winning homer against the Dodgers managed to get into 15 games with the Tigers in 2005 as a shortstop but only got three other hits.  He had a .143 batting average at the end of the month and was sent back to the minors.  He never made it back to the show.

Francis Beltran was a reliever for the Tigers in 2008.  He had played a couple of seasons with the Cubs and part of one with the Expos before joining the Tigers as free agent.  He pitched in eleven games for the Tigers.  He came in to a game against the Twins early in April that year and pitched a scoreless 8^th with the Tigers trailing 5-9.  He gave up a double and a walk but no runs.  The Tigers came back in the bottom of the 8^th and scored six runs on six hits and Francis got his one and only win for the Tigers.  He played with Houston’s AAA Oklahoma City Red Hawks in 2011 and was 0-0 with a 19.89 ERA in five games.

Steve Rodriguez played less than a month for the Tigers.  He came out of Pepperdine University and where they won the College World Series.  He signed with the Boston Red Sox and quickly moved up the minor league ranks as a slick fielding infielder.   He made the parent club for the Sox in early 1995 and was in six games for the Sox where he went 1 for 8.  He then went down to the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox where he hit .242 and was waived by the Red Sox.  The Tigers picked him up on September 8 of 1995.  Two days later he was with the club on the road in Toronto.  He got the start against the Blue Jays hitting 9^th and playing second base.  He went 0-4 but got a walk.  He was perfect in the field.  The next day he got the start again and this time he got his first hit for the Tigers, a line drive double to left off of Paul Menhart in the second.  He scored when John Flaherty hit a single.  In the fourth he drew a lead off walk but was caught stealing, 2-4.  He came up the last time in the 9^th with the score tied 2-2.  Phil Nevin drew a lead off walk and Steve moved him along on a sacrifice bunt.  Phil did not score the Tiges did win the game 3-2 in part thanks to Steve.  The next day had the Tiges at home in Tiger Stadium against Milwaukee and Steve got the start at second for the third time.  In the second with Danny Bautista on first and one out, Steve hit perfect bunt down the third base line and beat it out to first.   Danny and Steve then pulled off a double steal and two batters later Chris Gomez hit a double and drove in Steve for what would be the game winning run in 5-1 Tigers win.  Steve continued to play second for the Tiges backing up Lou Whitaker at second.  He would get in 12 games and get 6 hits in 31 at bats for a .194 average.   He kept up the fielding but would not get into another game in the majors after those final 12 games for the Tigers.  At the end of the season Lou Whitaker retired.  The Tigers did not trust Steve at second and picked up Mark Lewis from the Cincinnati Reds to finish off the David Wells trade where the Tiges sent Wells to the Reds for a minor leaguer and C.J. Nitkowski and eventually Mark Lewis.  Mark would be the Tiges second baseman for 1996.  Steve went back to the minors and would be done in pro ball after 1998.  Today he is the coach of his alma mater, Pepperdine.

Bob Hamelin played one season as a Tiger.  He became a major leaguer in 1993 with the Kansas City Royals but did not qualify for rookie status as he only appeared in 16 games as a first baseman.  The next year he did qualify and won AL Rookie of the Year with a .282 average and a .388 OBP with 24 homers and 65 RBI’s.  But his numbers dropped after that.  In 4 seasons with the Royals he ended up hitting .241.  At the end of 1996 the Royals released him and Tiges signed him as free agent.  For 1997 he was the Tiges main DH hitting .270 with 18 homers and 52 RBI’s.  But the Tiges had a whole team hitting under 300 with three switch hitters and two lefties and 5 players with more homers than Bob.  At the end of the season Bob was granted free agency and signed with the Milwaukee Brewers.  He spent 1998 with the Brewers before his major league career was over. 

Howard Johnson was one of the third basemen of hte 1984 Tigers. He made Sparky nervous because he felt he was too unprediectable. Sparky thought his fielding was erratic and would get worse when he was in a slump. Sparky said he was perpetually at the waters edge but could not take that last step to be a succesful big leaguer. He got into one World Series game with the Tiges and did not get a hit. He was traded to the Mets for Walt Terrell and made it into the 1986 World Series for the Mets. In two games he did not get a hit.

Bill Freehan grew up in Royal Oak, went to college at the University of Michigan and played his entire career as a Tiger. He wanted to go to Norte Dame but they wanted him to choose between baseball and football. U of M let him play both. In football he played linebacker and end. As a catcher in college he was a solid batter hitting .585 his last year. That year he signed with the Tiges for $125,000. He was a solid catcher as a Tiger as well. He won five Gold Gloves, was selected to 11 All Star teams and retired with a .262 average. He hit 200 homers in his career, 100 at home and 100 on the road. He was the catcher for the 1968 World Champs and he was smart.  He is known for one of the most famous blocks of home plate when in game 5 of the 1968 World Series he stood up and tagged out Lou Brock who failed to slide.  The play would be the turning point in the series as the Tigers would come back forma 3 games to 1 deficit to win the series in 7 games.  He later wrote a book "Behind the Mask" and caught flack when he openly was critical of Denny McLain and his rule breaking. Bill James ranks him as the 12 best catcher all time.  Today Bill suffers from dementia and no longer does autograph appearances.  I suspect it has something to do with the collisions at the plate he must have taken and his time in football.

Dick McAuliffe was also known as "Mad Dog" as a Tiger. He was the second baseman for the 1968 Tigers and was also known for hitting in the bucket. he developed that stance in the minors. He was hitting everything to left as a leftie so the other teams loaded up the left side and he hit only .206. Then his coach, Wayne Blackburn taught him to open up and get his hip out of the way. He then was hitting to all fields and his average went up. Dick made his first All Star team in 1965. Bill Freehan was a catcher on the AL squad and was in the bull pen talking with one of the NL catchers when the NL catcher asked him, "how the hell does he hit with a stance like that?" At that exact moment Dick hit a homer over the bull pen and Freehan replied "just like that!" Dick was traded to the Red Sox in 1973 for Ben Oglive. He was a career .247 hitter with 197 homers and very rarely hit into double plays. He is ranked as the 22 all time second baseman by Bill James.

George Thomas played 6 of his 13 seasons with the Tigers. He was an outfielder who hit a career .255 and a nearly identical .253 for the Tigers.  He had a great arm and was a very interesting guy.  He was recalled into the service during the Berlin Wall crisis.  He served a year as the Tigers player rep.  After leaving Detroit he was with the Red Sox in 1967 and their “Impossible Dream” season when they won the pennant.   He was mainly on the bench and gave a great one liner when he said “this is the greatest pennant race I have ever watched.”  Before the World Series he gave a nice piece of advice to the Red Sox triple crown winner and MVP, Carl Yastrzemski when he told him “don’t get over confident.  Right now we have the same average in the World Series - .000.” 

Joe Orengo was a war time infielder for the Tigers. He 

November 28 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Nook Logan played one and a half seasons with the Tigers.  In 2004 he debuted with Detroit and got in 47 games mainly as a center fielder.  He was fast and stole 8 bases in 10 attempts.  He hit .278 and had 13 walks as well to bring his on base percentage to .346.  But he also struck out 24 times in 133 at bats.  In 2005 he was the Tiges starting centerfielder.  While he was fast and able to cover a lot of ground, he did not have a great glove and committed 6 errors.  His batting average dropped to .258 and spent 2006 in the Erie and Toledo while under contract to the Tiges. In September he was sent off to Washington.  He played there for 27 games and hit .300 but struck out 20 times in 90 at bats.  In 2007 he was again with Washington and his average dropped to .265 with 86 K’s in 325 at bats.  He was done in the majors after that and was done in pro ball after 2010.

Adam Bernero was a right handed starting pitcher for the Tigers.  He started his major league career in 2000 with the Tiges and went 0-1 in 12 games with 4 starts with a 4.19 ERA. His one loss was to Tim Hudson and the Oakland A’s.   In 2001 after going 6-11 in Toledo with a 5.13 ERA he was back in Detroit for another look see but in only five games and he did not get a start.  In 12.1 innings he was 0-0 with a 7.30 ERA.  In 2002 he was given a longer look see and was 4-7 with a 6.20 ERA with 11 starts on a very desperate Tiger team.   2003 found him again up with Detroit and as a starter.  But he was 1-12 with a 6.08 ERA.  The Tigers were done with Adam and sent him to Colorado for Ben Patrick.  Adam went on to play with the Braves, Phillies and Royals before his major league career was over after 2006.  He was done in baseball after 2008.

Jeff Datz played seven games for the Tigers in September of 1989.  He was a back up catcher and did not make an error behind the plate.  With a bat in his hands he made 12 plate appearances with one walk off of Bud Black in a game against Cleveland and one hit by pitch went 2 for 10 with singles off of Gregg Olson of the Orioles, and a single off of Lee Guetterman of the Yankees in his last at bat as a major leaguer.   He never did get beyond first base in career.  After his playing days were over he tried his hand at managing in the minors for the Cleveland Indians and led Cleveland’s A team, the Columbus Red Stixx to the South Atlantic League regular season title in 1995 and Cleveland’s AAA team, the Buffalo Bisons, to the North Division title in the International League in 1998.

Fritz Fisher attended the University of Michigan from 1961 thru 1963 when he signed with the Tigers.  He was 10-6 with a 2.97 ERA with the Knoxville Smokies in 1963 and in 1964 was brought up to start the season with the Tigers.  He came in to a game in the top of the 9^th against the Twins with the Tigers trailing 8-3.  He struck out Harmon Killebrew for his first batter faced.  It was all downhill from there.  He then walked Zoilo Versailes and Bernie Allen before giving up a single to Jerry Zimmerman and then a double to Camilo Pascual.  His final line score was four runs on two hits and two walks all in 1/3 of an inning pitched.  He never pitched in the majors again.   Today Fritz is known for being a very tough autographer.

Purnal Goldy attended Temple University from 1957 thru 1959 before joining the Tigers.  He was a .300 hitting minor leaguer for Tigers before getting the call in mid June 1962.  He made his debut as a pinch runner for Vic Wertz in the 9^th with the Tiges down 2-0 against the Yanks.  He was promptly erased off the base paths by a rare Dick McAuliffe double play ball. He went on to get into 19 more games and had 70 at bats.  He got 16 hits including 3 homers, 1 triple and a double for a .229 average.  The next season he was again up with the Tigers but for only 9 games.  He got 8 at bats in those 9 games and only 2 hits.  That was the end of his major league career. 

Frank O’Rourke was the starting second baseman for the Tigers until he got the measles.  He started his career with the Boston Braves in 1912 and moved on to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1917 and 1918.  In 1920 and 1921 he played with the Senators in Washington before heading to the Red Sox in 1922.  He was a decent second baseman for the Tigers from 1924 into 1926 when he got the measles.  The Tigers decided to give a hot rookie by the name of Charlie Gerhinger a chance at second.  Frank never played again for the Tigers and was sent to the St. Louis Browns at the end of the season.  Frank continued to play for the Browns until 1931.  At that point he took up managing in the minors and went on manage thru 1942.

November 27 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Jason Beverlin spent a good portion of his cup of coffee with the Tigers.  He went to high school at Dondero High School in Royal Oak, MI.  He started his career with the West Michigan White Caps in 1994, the teams first year of existence.  It was a Oakland Athletics class A club at the time.  He bounced around the minors and around various major league farm systems until 2002 when he made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians at a 28 year old rookie.  He was brought in to a game in the third inning as a reliever for Jaret Wright who was getting bombed by Jason’s original franchise, the Oakland Athletics.  Jason pitched 2.1 innings and gave up 1 run on 2 hits and 2 walks while K’ing 3.  Jason would get in 3 more games for the Indians and pitched 5 more innings but did not record a decision and posted a 7.36 ERA.  The Tiges picked up Jason who was waived by the Indians about two weeks after his debut.  Jason got in three games for the Tiges as a starter in all three.  He faced the Kansas City Royals in his first game and pitched 2.2 innings before getting pulled.  He had given up 6 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks and picked up the loss.  In his second game he faced the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium and went 4.2 innings giving up only 3 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks and picked up the loss.  His last game was the second to last game of the bad 2002 season and he faced the Toronto Blue Jays at Skydome.  He lasted 5 innings and gave up 6 runs on 8 hits but no walks.  He was tagged with the loss for this game as well.  The 2002 Tigers were 55-106 with a 4.92 ERA.  Jason was 0-3 with a 9.49 ERA as a Tiger.  At the end of the season he was released and picked up by the Indians again but would never pitch in the majors again.  He retired from baseball and the Indians in 2007 at the age of 33 having pitched 19.2 innings in 7 major league games.  As a fan who sponsors his web page on Baseball-Reference puts it, “at least he got a cup of coffee, I never got out of Little League.”   Jason has gone into coaching at the college level and today is the head coach for the Bethune-Cookman University team. 

Ivan Rodriguez

Bob Schultz ended his career in the majors as a Detroit Tiger.  He was in the Marines during World War II and upon getting out of the service in 1946 he started his career in pro ball as a lefty pitcher.  He started in the majors in 1951 as a 27 year old rookie.  He was with the Cubs for parts of three seasons and was 9-13 when he was traded for Ralph Kiner, Joe Garagiola, Howie Pollet and George Metkovich.  Ok, he was traded with Gene Hermanski, Toby Atwell, Preston Ward, Gene Freese, Tocy Atwell and $150,000.  But he can still say he was traded for Ralph Kiner.  He was 0-2 with the Pirates and back in their farm system when the Tigers purchased him in the winter of 1954.  He was with the Tiges in April in 1954 when he got he call form the bull pen for his debut as a Tiger.  The game was 4-2 in favor of the Cleveland Indians in the 7^th inning.  Bob started the inning and gave up a lead walk to Bobby Avila.  He then got Lary Doby to hit into a fielder choice.  Then a double to Al Rosen brought in Doby.  Ralph Kiner, now playing for the Indians, hit a fly ball to short for the second out and Vic Wertz ended the inning with a fly ball to second.  In the eighth Bob gave up a single to George Strickland and then moved him to second on a wild pitch.  He then gave up a walk to Hank Foiles before getting Herb Score to line out to first.  Bob was then pulled for Bud Black.  Stickland and Foiles would score on a triple giving Bob a final line score of 1.1 innings pitched with 3 earned runs on 2 hits and 2 walks for no decision and a 20.25 ERA.  That would be his final total as a Tiger as well.  He went to Buffalo for the rest of the season and never made it back to the majors.  He was done in pro ball in 1956.  He was in Nashville and worked as a house painter in 1979 when he was shot and killed in a bar argument at a VFW hall bar at the age of 55.  

November 26 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

Mike Moore ended his career in the majors with the Detroit Tigers.  He started his major league career as a Seattle Mariner in 1982 as a starting pitcher.  By the mid 1980's he had become a solid starting pitcher.  He consistently struck out about twice as many batters as he walked and was throwing complete games in the double digits every season and becoming the ace of the Mariners staff.  He became a free agent after 1988 and signed with the Oakland Athletics.    There he joined Dave Stewart as a 1-2 punch that swept the San Francisco Giants in four games in the earthquake interrupted World Series.  Both he and Stewart won 2 games, with Mike pitching 2 complete games while Stewart pitched 1 complete game.  The Athletics granted Mike free agency after the 1992 season and Mike signed with the Tigers.  He was a Tiger workhorse starting a league leading 36 games and going 13-9.  But his ERA was higher than it had ever been since his rookie season at 5.22.  He continued to start for the Tigers over the next three seasons and continued to be a workhorse starting 25 games each over the next two seasons and was not adverse to complete games.  But his ERA continued to rise and his K's were now equal to his walks.  Finally after his third season as a Tiger in 1995 he was 5-15 with a 7.53 ERA and the Tigers granted him his release.  His final Tiger stats was a 29-34 record with a 5.90 ERA and 9 complete games compared to a career record of 161-176 with a 4.39 ERA and 79 complete games.

Richie Hebner spent 2 and a half seasons as  a Tiger.  He was a standout hockey player in high school in Massachusetts as well as a baseball player.  But a $40,000 signing bonus from the Pittsburgh Pirates convinced him to play pro baseball.  In the off seasons he would continue to work for his dad in a cemetery digging graves.  He stated he was very good at it as no one ever got back out of the graves he dug.  He only played two games with the Pirates in 1968 but in 1969 he became their starting third baseman, a position he would hold for 8 seasons.  He was an average fielder but twice in the first 8 seasons he hit .300 or better.  In 1977 he signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies.  But when the Phillies acquired Pete Rose, Richie was expendable.  He was sent to the Mets for the 1979 season but he was not happy in New York.  The Mets then traded him to the Tigers for Phil Mankowski and Jerry Morales.  In his first year in Detroit he played mainly first and hit .290 with 12 homers and a career high 82 RBI’s.  1981 was first base by committee for the Tigers.  Richie was the most frequen tly used but he only started 55 games at first.  The Tiges also used Ron Jackson, John Wockenfuss, Rick Leash and even Stan Papi for 1 game.  1982 found Enos Cabell as the starting first baseman for the Tiges and Richie was again expendable.  In August, the Pirates purchased Richie back from the Tiges.  In the 250 games Richie played in 2 and a half seasons he was a .267 hitter with 25 homers and 128 RBI’s.  Richie was never again a starter and spent 2 years back in Pittsburgh and finally ended his career in Chicago with the Cubs in Wrigley Field.  This was a good thing as he was not a fan of the new ball parks.  He once said there was more life in his dad’s cemetery than in Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers stadium and he said Olympic Stadium in Montreal looked like a giant toilet.  After his playing days he became a coach for his hometown Red Sox and the Phillies.  He also was a coach for the Durham Bulls and later the Birmingham Barons.  His number for the Tigers was retired, but not for him.  He wore 2 which was also Charlie Gerhinger’s number.

John Kerr started his major league career as a Detroit Tiger.  He was originally with the Omaha Buffaloes of the Western League for about a month when the Tigers got him in 1923.  They called for him in May of 1923.  He debuted for the Tigers in a game the Tiges trailed the Indians 5-4.  John came in as a pinch runner in the bottom of the ninth for a pinch hitter and scored the tying run as the Tiges went on to win 6-5.  John would get in 19 games over the next 39 days before the Tigers sent him back to Omaha.  14 of those games he was the starting shortstop.  While he showed great speed he also showed a bad glove.  He committed 9 errors in 73 chances.   In 1924 John started the season with the Tigers.  He did not get a single start but rather played as a pinch hitter, or pinch runner and a couple of games as replacement in the field.  This lasted until the Fourth of July when he was sent down to the minors.  In his two years he was a .226 hitter with 2 RBI’s.  He went out to the Pacific Coast League and played there for a few years before getting another shot at the bigs in 1928 when he was drafted by the Chicago White Sox.  He played second base for the Sox and by this time had turned his liable glove into an asset.  He was with the Sox for three years before being traded to the Washington Senators in 1931.  There he got in the 1933 World Series for the Senators as a defensive replacement and a coach.  A far cry from his time with Detroit.  It is also in 1933 the you can find that John Kerr has a baseball card.  A 1933 Goudey card has his likeness picturing him as an American League champion Washington Senator.  After his time with the Senators John went to Boston and became the Red Sox player/manager before ending his playing career all together and managing in the minors through 1941.