In the 5-4 Tigers loss to the Rangers, Jones started in centerfield, batting eighth, and went two for three with a walk, a run scored and a stolen base.
All told, he appeared in 95 games in his rookie year, batting .296 with four home runs.
Jones was a role player for Sparky’s earliest Detroit teams, seeing time mostly in the outfield and as a pinch-hitter, and posting a .347 on-base percentage in his first three seasons.
The 1982 and 1983 seasons, though, saw his production slip and his playing time was limited to 64 at bats in ’83. That offseason the Tigers made him a free agent and he promptly signed with the Royals.
In 1984, Jones hit a career-high .301 in a similar role to what he played in Detroit. He faced his former team in the American League Championship Series, going just 1 for 5.
The next season Jones appeared in 110 games for Dick Howser’s Royals — a career high — but saw his average plummet 90 points. It wasn’t a total downer though, he won a World Series ring that year and had two extra-base hits in the Series against the Cardinals.
1986 was the final big-league season of his eight-year career. He made his final appearance on the last game of the season: Oct. 4 against the A’s. Jones replaced Rudy Law in left field in the bottom of the ninth and the first batter, Terry Steinbach, hit the ball to him for an out.
Jones hit .128 in 67 games with a single RBI and after that season he became a free agent but didn’t sign with another team.
His final numbers: .252 average, seven HR, 91 RBI and 13 stolen bases.
In 1991 and 1992, Jones was the Royals’ first base coach before managing in the Marlins system. In 2001, he was the Marlins’ first-base coach. He earned his second World Series ring in 2004 as a member of Terry Francona’s coaching staff in Boston.
The wheelhouse of The Daily Fungo is the Ralph Houk, Les Moss and Sparky Anderson years. So, through that narrow lens in the Tigers’ much broader history, let’s look at how the teams from 1977 through 1994 opened their respective seasons.
The first batter he faced was Beau Allred, who flied out to right. He tossed an inning and a third, allowing only a double to Félix Fermín.
Dalton’s longest outing was on June 9 against the Angels, a two and two thirds innings appearance in relief of Dan Gakeler, allowing six hits, two runs, two homers, and striking out two.
On June 15 he made his final appearance, against the Mariners in Seattle: Two and a third innings pitched, six hits, two walks and a strikeout.
The final batter he faced in the majors was Mariners catcher Dave Valle, a strikeout to end the eighth inning.
His final line: eight innings pitched, 12 hits, four strikeouts, two walks and a 3.38 ERA.
Dalton became a free agent after the 1991 season and signed with the Pirates. He spent 1992 and ’93, his final pro seasons, at Triple-A Buffalo.
Shawn Hare was one of the more highly anticipated Tigers prospects in the late 1980s and early ‘9os.
We fans waited for the next group of young talent to take over for the aging crew from the mid ’70s* and Hare, a first baseman and outfielder, was in the mix — and he went to Rochester Adams High and Central Michigan, so local interest was high.
*This is a recording.
The Tigers signed him as an amateur free agent in the summer of 1988, and he spent the 1989 season at Lakeland, hitting .324 with an .838 OPS. That performance earned him a big jump to Triple-A Toledo for 1990.
Pinch-hitting for Pete Incaviglia in the bottom of the sixth, Hare drew a walk off A’s reliever Kevin Campbell. Then, in the bottom of the eighth and the Tigers up 11-2, Hare popped out to third, in foul territory.
He appeared in nine games the rest of the way, and got his first major-league hit in the second-to-last game of the year, Oct. 5, 1991, a double to left off Orioles starter Dave Johnson. That double was his only hit in 19 at bats. He finished the year with a .093 average.
Hare’s 1992 season began in Toledo before being called up in May for his final stint in Detroit. He appeared in 15 games, batting .115, with his final hit came on July 29, a single of the White Sox’s Donn Pall. His final game as a Tiger came on Aug. 2, 1992, against Cleveland.
He spent 1993 and part of ’94 in Toledo, and was selected of waivers by the Mets and appeared in 22 games in New York. In January 1995, Hare signed with the Rangers, appearing in 18 games.
His final major-league appearance was June 17, 1995. From 1995 to ’97, Hare bounced around Triple-A with the Rangers, Cardinals, Tigers (again) and Yankees. In 1998, he concluded his pro career playing for the Haitai Tigers of the Korean Professional Baseball league.
When Brookens started the game at third, chances are he didn’t expect to finish it as part of the Tigers’ battery.
A routine Saturday evening game at Tiger Stadium, with Jack Morris pitching a typical eight and two thirds, and Willie Hernandez entering in relief of a 3-3 tie in the ninth got interesting in the top of the 11th when, given limited bench flexibility, to say the least, Sparky was forced to move Tom Brookens from third base to catcher … where he stayed for five innings.
Here’s how it happened:
In the bottom of the eighth, and the Tigers down 2-1, Alejandro Sánchez pinch hit for Bob Melvin with one out and pinch runner Dave Bergman on first — and homers! A two-run shot to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead.
Then, in the top of the ninth, Marty Castillo replaced Sánchez in the lineup at catcher.
Morris allowed the tying run in the top of the ninth and the Tigers failed to score in the bottom half.
Bottom of the 10th: Johnny Grubb pinch hits for Castillo.
Bottom of the 11th: Aurelio López replaces Hernández pitching, and Brookens moves from third to catcher, and Doug Flynn replaces Grubb playing third batting ninth.
So, Brookens caught three innings for Señor Smoke and two for lefty Bill Scherrer — talk about two different type of pitchers — and was flawless. No passed balls and no errors.
The teams traded runs in 10th and 13th, and the Tigers scored in the bottom of the 15th to win it.
Alan Trammell singled and went to second on an error by Rangers left fielder (and future Tiger) Gary Ward. The next hitter, Barbaro Garbey, singled Tram home.
A great win, but the story of the game was Brookens. His 1 for 6 night is a mere footnote in what was undoubtedly one of the most memorable games of his career.
Miscellany
Umpires: HP – Ken Kaiser, 1B – Rocky Roe, 2B – Larry McCoy, 3B – Larry Barnett.
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