The Thursday Fungo

Charlie Spikes – #34

Charlie Spikes has always been a mystery to me. I have a baseball card with him in a Tigers uniform, and he appears in the 1978 Tigers Yearbook. Yet, I have zero recollection of him in a game.

I did a little research and found out why. He appeared in only 10 games for the ’78 Tigers.

Here are a few things to know about Charlie Spikes:

The Tigers acquired him from the Indians on Dec. 9, 1977 for Tom Veryzer.

He made his Tigers debut on April 8, 1978 against the Blue Jays, starting in right field and batting sixth. In the bottom of the sixth, he got his first hit, a single to center off Jerry Garvin.
According to this profile of Spikes:

Spikes injured his knee and was sent down to Triple-A Evansville after just ten games. He played in only 16 games at Evansville, and then had knee surgery. He was released by Detroit on September 25, 1978.
From the Charlie Spikes bio, by Joseph Wancho, as part of SABR’s Bio Project

And here is the totality of Spikes’ Tigers career:

Date	Opp	Rslt	PA	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	BA	OPS
Apr 8	TOR	L,2-5	4	0	1	0	0	0	.250	.500
Apr 9	TOR	W,8-4	5	1	2	0	1	0	.333	.667
Apr 12	TEX	W,3-2	4	0	1	0	0	0	.308	.615
Apr 15	TOR	W,6-3	4	0	0	0	0	1	.250	.544
Apr 17	CHW	W,10-9	4	0	0	0	0	0	.200	.438
Apr 23 (1)	TEX	W,9-6	2	0	0	0	0	0	.200	.504
Apr 23 (2)	TEX	L,1-2	1	0	0	0	0	1	.200	.533
Apr 24	CHW	W,4-1	2	0	0	0	0	0	.182	.490
Apr 26	CHW	L,2-7	4	0	1	0	0	0	.192	.492
Apr 28	SEA	W,5-4	2	0	2	1	1	0	.250	.629
		Totals	32	1	7	1	2	2	.250	.629