Lima Time is 36 today.
Perhaps he’s enjoying the free sopapilla he used to recommend as a pitchman for Houston restaurant chain Casa Olé. (As a former Houston resident, I got to see those commercials as often as FSN Detroit viewers see Belle Tire and Cornerstone Schools ads.)
For the record, here’s his, uh, record as a Tiger: 17-32, 7.56 ERA.
Feliz cumpleaños, Jose.
In two-and-a-half years with the Tigers (1991 through mid ’93), Rob Deer, #45 in your scorecard, hit 71 home runs and drove in 167 runs. He also struck out 426 times — that’s 37 percent of his 1,164 at bats.
Still, it was fun to watch him swing the bat with all his might every time up. And, oh, when he made contact…
Let’s wish Rob Deer a Happy 48th Birthday.
He was rising star for the Tigers in the late 1990s and earlier this decade. He nearly lost his life due to ulcerative colitis and shortly after making a few appearances for the 2001 Tigers was out of baseball.
Well, Pettyjohn is back in the bigs with Cincinnati. He made his first appearance with the Reds right here in Phoenix on Sunday: 1 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 1 strikeout.
Check out this article by Rany Jazayerli on BaseballProspectus.com.
It’s a feel-good piece to be sure.
I’ll admit that while I remember John Pacella‘s cup of coffee with the Tigers in 1986 (11 innings pitched), I didn’t know much about him. But today I learned a lot about him, including:
Pacella entered the game in the bottom of the seventh, relieving Rick Baldwin, and got the first hitter, Greg Luzinski, to line out to center. Next, Richie Hebner popped out to third. Garry Maddox doubled to right before Bob Boone popped out to Mets catcher John Stearns.
In his two innings of work, Pacella allowed a pair each of hits, walks and unearned runs. The loss went to Mets starter Craig Swan who allowed five walks in one inning of work.
All told, he pitched just four innings in 1977, didn’t pitch for the Mets in ’78, but returned in ’79 for 16 innings. In 1980, Pacella appeared in 32 games, 15 of them starts, and earned a 3-4 record.
Continue reading “Happy Birthday, John Pacella”
On April 2, 1990, the Kansas City Royals traded Jerry Don Gleaton to the Detroit Tigers for minor leaguer Greg Everson.
Gleaton pitched for the Tigers in 1990 and ’91 as a lefty specialist and based on his workload (as I remember it and according to Baseball-Reference.com), he was one of Sparky’s go-to relievers. He appeared in 104 games for Detroit and notched a 4-5 record and 15 saves.
After the 1991 season he became a free agent and eventually signed with the Royals, but was released in April ’92. His last big-league job was with the ’92 Pirates where he was anything but spectacular: 1-0, 4.26, 34 hits in 31 innings.
Jerry Don Gleaton, another in our collection of obscure Tigers, turns 51 today.
dailyfungo.com 