Month: February 2024

February Leftovers

Sometimes I don’t clear out the cut-and-paste document I have going with scattered goodies and other potential Fungo nonsense.

Case in point, a few items from February 11:

Ben Oglivie

Ben Oglivie was born on Feb. 11, 1949. After the Tigers inexplicably traded him for Jim Slaton and Rich Folkers, he went on to hit 176 home runs for the Brewers over nine years — including 21 he hit against the Tigers in 119 games.

He retired after the 1986 season with a lifetime average of .273 and 235 career homers.

Tom Veryzer

The late Tom Veryzer was born on Feb. 11, 1953. He played five years in Detroit (1973-77) before being dealt to Cleveland for Charlie Spikes.

His last year in the bigs was 1984 when he was a bench rider for the Cubs. Had Leon Durham fielded a grounder more cleanly in the NLCS that year, perhaps Veryzer could’ve ended his career where it started, at Tiger Stadium.

His final career numbers: .241 average, 14 homers, 231 RBI, .966 fielding percentage.

Other Feb. 11 Birthdays

Gregory Soto, Trey Beamon, Willie Smith, George Alusik

On to March …

The Thursday Fungo

On this Date in 2000

Sparky Anderson and Detroit Stars slugger Norman (Turkey) Stearnes were elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.

Random Game: April 6, 1992

Blue Jays 4 – Tigers 2

Jack Morris starting an Opening Day at Tiger Stadium for the visiting team was certainly different.  As usual, he went the distance, giving up ninth-inning homers to Cecil Fielder and Rob Deer.

W: Jack Morris — L: Bill Gullickson | Boxscore

  • Monday, April 6, 1992
  • Attendance: 51,068
  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Game Duration: 2:46

    • Recap

    • Dave Winfield had three hits for the Jays.
    • Travis Fryman had a pair of hits.
    • Speaking of Rob Deer, this was the quintessential Deer performance: 1 for 4, three strikeouts to go with the homer.
    • Recently acquired Les Lancaster made his Tigers debut with a scoreless ninth.

    Birthdays

    He hasn’t made the Tigers yet, but Bligh Madris has a Leap Day® birthday.

    Today’s Grid

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 333 6/9 — Rarity: 427

    Abysmal. But! A nice Hail Mary in the bottom right corner.

    See you tomorrow.

The Wednesday Fungo

Enos Cabell

The Tigers acquired Enos Cabell on March 4, 1982, in trade with the Giants for Champ Summers.

In 2011, Tom Gage wrote a piece in The Detroit News about Cabell (the original link to the article is here, but it’s not active for whatever reason) and I was interested to read why Cabell, who hit .311 for the 1983 Tigers, moved on after that season:

He wanted to stay a Tiger, and they weren’t averse to him staying.

“But they wouldn’t give me a raise,” Cabell said Saturday. “I hit .311, played with a knee brace the last two months of that year, and they wouldn’t give me a penny more.

“So I said bye-bye. I was pretty sure the Astros wanted me back, anyway.”

He filed for free agency on Nov. 7, 1983 and I couldn’t believe they let him walk away, especially after a solid ’83 campaign.

Six weeks later, on Dec. 17, 1983, the Tigers signed left-handed hitting Darrell Evans, a much-bigger power threat than the right-handed Cabell.

Then, of course, in March came the trade that defined the 1984 season: Willie Hernandez and Dave Bergman for Glenn Wilson and John Wockenfuss.

Who knows how that would have come about if they had re-signed Cabell? A few years later this news broke — and on this date in 1986 — and you have to wonder if this played into the Tigers thinking in the fall of ‘83.

Commissioner Peter Ueberroth gives seven players who were admitted drug users a choice of a year’s suspension without pay or heavy fines and career-long drug testing, along with 100 hours of drug-related community service. Joaquín Andújar, Dale Berra, Enos Cabell, Keith Hernandez, Jeffrey Leonard, Dave Parker, and Lonnie Smith will be fined ten percent of their annual salaries to drug abuse programs. The commissioner also doles out lesser penalties to 14 other players for their use of drugs.

Cabell’s career numbers in Detroit: .284 average, 7 homers, 83 RBI, .682 OPS.

Birthdays

Niko Goodrum, Chad Bell and the late Ron Samford and Lil Stoner

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 332 9/9 — Rarity: 9

I’m particularly proud of this one!

See you tomorrow.

The Tuesday Fungo

Ray Knight?

On this date in 1988, the Orioles traded third baseman Ray Knight to the Tigers for lefty Mark Thurmond.

I remember hearing about this move and thinking it was a brilliant way to further the ’84 team’s last-gasp effort to be a force in the American League East. 😐 

  • Knight appeared in 105 games in his ‘88, and hit .217 with 3 home runs and 33 RBI.
  • According to Baseball-Reference, he wore numbers 9 and 22 in Detroit.
  • He one-third of his season HR total on Oct. 2, the final game of the season and of his career: a two-run shot off Yankees starter Pat Clement, scoring Chet Lemon.
  • Knight also made two errors in the game.
  • His final career at bat was a ground out to third baseman Luis Aguayo.

Remembering Johnny B.

Today would have been John Wockenfuss’s 75th birthday.

Never a superstar, he was a Super Sub before the phrase existed. He played key roles for the Tigers and helped the club bridge the gap between emerging contender and World Series Champion.

‘Fuss was drafted by the Washington Senators in the 42nd round of the 1967 amateur draft. His road to Detroit wound through Arlington, Texas, after the Senators relocated following the 1971 season.

On June 6, 1973 he was traded by the Rangers with Mike Nagy to the Cardinals for Jim Bibby. Less than six months later – on Dec. 3 – St. Louis sent him to the Tigers for minor-leaguer Larry Elliott.

During the lean years of the mid-1970s, Johnny B. – wearing first #45 and then, from 1976 on, #14 – steadily gained playing time, primarily behind the plate for manager Ralph Houk. When Sparky Anderson was hired in 1979, ‘Fuss became more of a first baseman/outfielder/DH hybrid.

For the next four seasons, Wockenfuss had a .265 average. His best year at the plate for Detroit was in 1982 when hit batted .301 in 79 games.

Read the full appreciation in the Archives.

Birthdays

Anibal Sanchez, Craig Monroe, Matt Stairs, Greg Cadaret, and the late Johnny Pesky and Cy Perkins.

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 331 9/9 — Rarity: 38

See you tomorrow.

The Monday Fungo

Dennis Kinney

The Tigers picked up southpaw Dennis Kinney from the Padres on Dec. 12, 1980 for Dave Stegman.

After spending most of the ’81 campaign in Triple-A Evansville, Kinney appeared in six late-season games for the Tigers, debuting against the Red Sox in Detroit on Sept. 9, a 6-5 loss.

His final appearance came at County Stadium on Oct. 2 against the Brewers, entering with two out in the fifth in relief of Dan Petry. The Tigers lost, 8-2.

His Tigers career by the numbers:

  • 3.2 innings pitched
  • 4 walks
  • 3 hits
  • 4 runs, all earned
  • 9.82 ERA.

Kinney was released almost a year to the day he was acquired: Dec. 14, 1981. On Feb. 7, 1982, he signed with the A’s.

His final big-league appearance came on May 20, 1982 at Tiger Stadium in a 11-3 Tigers win. Kinney’s line: 3.0 IP, 7 H, 0 SO, 1 BB, 3 ER.

Random Game: May 9, 1981

Angels 15 – Tigers 1

The Tigers scored first on a Kirk Gibson RBI single to plate Al Cowens. And that was it.

Here’s your boxscore.

Details

  • Saturday, May 9, 1981
  • Attendance: 32,040
  • Venue: Anaheim Stadium
  • Game Duration: 2:42
  • Night Game, on grass

Birthdays

Dennis Kinney, Don Lee and the late Rip Collins

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 330 9/9 — Rarity: 74
Screenshot 2024-02-26
One former Tiger today.

See you tomorrow.

The Weekend Fungo

From the Archives: Jason Thompson

On May 27, 1980, Sparky traded my favorite Tigers player — my first favorite Tiger — first baseman Jason Thompson, to the California Angels for outfielder Al Cowens. (For more on Cowens, check out this post from the archives.)

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 an All Star Game selection.

In 1980, Thompson got off to a slow start: .214/4/20 in 36 games, and Sparky invoked his My Way or the Highway clause and sent his first baseman to Orange County.

As I’ve said before, Thompson’s replacement, Richie Hebner, was a favorite of mine too. But, who were the Tigers kidding? Hebner over Jason Thompson?

You can read the full post in the Archives.

Random Game: May 8, 1988

Tigers 9 – Mariners 3

  • Sunday, May 8, 1988
  • Start Time: 1:35 p.m. Local
  • Attendance: 12,695
  • Venue: Kingdome
  • Game Duration: 2:50
  • Day Game, on turf
  • Boxscore

    Birthdays

    Feb. 24: Bryan Kelly and the late Bubba Phillips, Pinky Pittinger, Lynn Nelson, Wilbur Cooper, Bugs Raymond, Monte Beville

    Feb. 25: Rich Rowland and Ken Szotkiewicz

    Weekend Grids

    Yesterday  

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 328 7/9 — Rarity: 239
    Today  

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 329 9/9 — Rarity: 12

    Enjoy the rest of your weekend. See you tomorrow.

    The Friday Fungo

    Tigers 23s

    On this 23rd of February, let’s look back at the players who wore #23 for the Tigers during the period of 1977 through 1994:

    • Willie Horton – 1964-1977, number retired.
    • Kirk Gibson – 1979-87, 1993-95
    • Torey Lovullo – 1988-89
    • Mark Leiter – 1991-1992
    • Dan Petry – 1990. When Peaches returned to the Tigers after his time with the Angels, his original number 46 was being worn by Mike Schwabe. Presumably, he went with 23 because it is half of 46. In 1991, Petry was back in his original 46 for the 17 games he appeared in before being dealt to the Braves for Víctor Rosario.

    If you’re wondering, the last players to wear 23 before it was retired were Gabe Kapler (1999) and Hideo Nomo (2000).

    Birthdays

    Rondell White, John Shelby and the late Roy Johnson.

    Today’s Grid

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 327 9/9 — Rarity: 44

    Two former Tigers, including one of my all-time favorites, and one guy who I always wanted the Tigers to get.

    See you tomorrow.