January 2011 – Page 2

Today’s Tiger: Jason Thompson

Jason Thompson

Born: July 6, 1954 in Hollywood, Calif.
Bats: Left Throws: Left
Height: 6′ 4″ Weight: 200 lb.
Acquired: Drafted by the Tigers in the fourth round of the 1975 amateur draft.
Seasons in Detroit: 5 (1976-80)
Uniform Number: 30
Stats: .256 avg., 98 HR, 354 RBI, .779 OPS
Awards: Three-time All Star (1977, ’78 and ’82)

On May 27, 1980, Tigers GM Jim Campbell traded my favorite player, first baseman Jason Thompson, to the California Angels for outfielder Al Cowens.

The Hollywood native joined the Tigers full time in 1976 and played 123 games that year, hitting .218, with 17 home runs and 54 RBI. Two of the homers cleared the rightfield roof at Tiger Stadium. It was in 1977, though, that he made his mark: .270, 31 homers and 105 RBI — and earned an All Star Game selection.

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Today’s Tiger: George Cappuzello

George Cappuzello

Born: Jan. 15, 1954, in Youngstown, Ohio
Bats: Right Throws: Left
Height: 6′ 0″ Weight: 175 lb.
Acquired: Signed as a free agent on April 28, 1980.
Seasons in Detroit: 1 (1981)
Uniform Number: 41
Stats: 1-1, 3.48 ERA, 1 save

George Cappuzello, the man who allegedly was on an ice cream and doughnut diet during Spring Training in 1981, appeared in just 18 games that year for the Tigers.

Originally, Cappuzello was drafted by the Tigers in the 27th round of the 1972 amateur draft. He spent six seasons in the Tigers’ system before being traded with minor leaguer John Valle (minors) to the Reds for Jack Billingham on March 6, 1978. He returned to Detroit after being released by the Reds in April 1980.

After his March 1982 release from the Tigers, he appeared in 17 games for Astros, pitching in his final game on Aug. 5, 1982.

By the way, he turns 57 today.

Today’s Tiger: Morris Madden

Morris Madden

Born: Aug. 31, 1960 in Laurens, S.C.
Bats: Left Throws: Left
Height: 6′ 0″ Weight: 155 lb.
Acquired: Signed as a free agent on Nov. 23, 1985.
Seasons in Detroit: 1 (1987)
Uniform Number: 42
Stats: 0-0, 16.20 ERA, 1.2 IP

Don’t feel bad if you don’t remember Morris Madden‘s mini-career with the Tigers. He pitched just twice for Detroit during the 1987 season and one look at his stats tells you why.

On June 11 versus Milwaukee at Tiger Stadium, he came in during the sixth inning to relieve Eric King (who had relieved starter Jeff Robinson) with the bases loaded and promptly walked Brewers second baseman Jim Gantner. In his one inning of work, he allowed two earned runs and three walks. The Tigers lost the game 8-5.

Robinson’s next start, five days later at Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium, the lefty Madden came in to start the fifth inning. The first hitter he faced, Fred McGriff doubled to center, then Garth Iorg grounded out to Alan Trammell, advancing McGriff to third. Tony Fernandez singled, Lloyd Moseby flied out to center, then Jesse Barfield got an infield single. And that was the end of Morris Madden’s Tigers career.

Less than a month later, on Aug. 12, 1987, Madden was sent by the Tigers to the Pirates to complete the Aug. 7, 1987 trade of Darnell Coles for Jim Morrison.

If you’re wondering how he fared with Jim Leyland‘s Pirates, well it depends on the year. In 1988, he appeared in five games, allowed five hits and seven walks in five innings (!) but didn’t allow a run. In ’89, Madden pitched 14 innings across nine games — including three starts — he allowed a stunning 13 walks, 17 hits, 14 runs, 11 earned. Final ERA: 7.07.

On Nov. 21, 1989, he was released by the Pirates and while he pitched for the AAA Albuquerque Dukes in 1990, his major-league career was over.

Hall of Fame Leftovers

So after all the Hall of Fame ballots were counted, Tigers fans could only take solace in that Jack Morris saw his percentage of votes jump to 53.5 percent. That could bode well for the future but probably not next year.

Anyway, all the debates about whether Morris or Alan Trammell belong in Cooperstown got me wondering who the most-similar players are two these Tigers greats.

Thanks to the invaluable Baseball-Reference.com, we can get a quick look at how a player’s stats compare to others in baseball history.

I decided to look at how Baseball Reference compares Morris, Trammell and the BBWA-voter-shafted Lou Whitaker.

Continue reading “Hall of Fame Leftovers”

Today’s Tiger: Steve Kemp

Steve Kemp

Born: Aug. 7, 1954 in San Angelo, Texas
Bats: Left Throws: Left
Height: 6′ 0″ Weight: 195 lb.
Acquired: Drafted by the Tigers as the first overall pick of the 1976 amateur draft.
Seasons in Detroit: 5 (1977-81)
Uniform Number: 43, 33
Stats: .284 avg., 89 HR, 422 RBI, .826 OPS
Awards: All-Star 1979

When the Tigers traded left fielder Steve Kemp to the White Sox for Chet Lemon, it was the quintessential Jim Campbell Winter Meetings trade.

Kemp made too much money and former GM Campbell didn’t like players who held out (Rusty Staub) or won in arbitration (Kemp, again). Campbell also liked to trade players who, like Kemp and Ron LeFlore in 1979, were entering their walk year.

Steve Kemp was terrific during his five years patrolling left field at Tiger Stadium.

He produced a .284 average, 89 home runs (lowered a bit with his nine homers in the strike-shortened 1981 season), and averaged 84 RBI and 23 doubles. He also displayed a keen eye at the plate averaging 75 walks — including 97 in 1978.

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Today’s Tiger: Warren Morris

Warren Morris

Born: Jan. 11, 1974 in Alexandria, La.
Bats: Left Throws: Right
Height: 5′ 11″ Weight: 190 lb.
Acquired: Signed as a free agent by the Tigers Dec. 19, 2002.
Seasons in Detroit: 1 (97 games in 2003)
Uniform Number: 24
Stats: .272 avg., 6 home runs, 37 RBI, .689 OPS

If you keep trying to remove the memory of 2003 only to be reminded by, well, us, we’re about to hurt your effort a bit further. Today we’re looking back on infielder Warren Morris.

He played second base for the ’03 Tigers, hitting .272 in 97 games for that record-setting club. Four seasons earlier Morris finished third in the National League Rookie of the Year Award, hitting .288 with 15 homers, 73 RBI and a .787 OPS for the Pirates.

Three seasons before that, in 1996, Morris hit a ninth-inning College World Series Championship-winning home run against Miami. From Wikipedia:

LSU reached the championship game of the College World Series in 1996, and was trailing Miami 8–7 in the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Morris came up to the plate with one runner on base, and hit Miami relief pitcher Robbie Morrison’s first pitch just inches over the right field fence. The walk-off home run won the game for the Tigers 9–8. It was his only home run of the season, and is the only walk-off championship-winning home run in College World Series history.

(Watch it here.)

Continue reading “Today’s Tiger: Warren Morris”

Today’s Tiger: Wayne Krenchicki

Wayne Krenchicki

Born: Sept. 17, 1954 in Trenton, N.J.
Bats: Left Throws: Right
Height: 6′ 1″ Weight: 180 lb.
Acquired: Traded by the Reds to the Tigers for Pat Underwood on June 30, 1983.
Seasons in Detroit: 1 (59 games in 1983)
Uniform Number: 15
Stats: .278 avg., 1 home run, 16 RBI

The summer of 1983 gave Tigers fans a glimpse of what was to come a year later: a young core of star players ready to move to the next level in the American League East. Detroit was in the race until September when the eventual World Series champion Orioles pulled away for good.

Krenchicki Wayne. That season also introduced fans — ever-so briefly — to a role player with one of the best names in baseball history: Wayne Krenchicki.

He came to the Tigers in a late-June trade with the Reds for once-promising lefty Pat Underwood. With Alan Trammell nursing injuries, the club needed some infield help.

As he always did with newly acquired players, manager Sparky Anderson put Krenchicki right to work, inserting him in the starting lineup against the Orioles and rookie Storm Davis.

On July 1, batting eighth in the lineup, Krenchicki went hitless in three at bats against Davis and the Tigers lost 9-5. He got his first Tigers hit two days later, a third-inning double off Tim Stoddard, in a 10-1 Tigers win.

In all, Krenchicki appeared in 59 games for the Tigers in 1983, seeing time at every infield position but played primarily at third. His time in Detroit was brief; in November that year, the Reds purchased his contract from the Tigers.

He finished his eight-year big-league career with the Reds and Expos, and retired after the 1986 season.