The Tuesday Fungo: May 14

May 14, 1984: Tigers 7 – Mariners 5

W: Aurelio López (4-0) – L: Ed Vande Berg (2-2) | Boxscore

Record: 27-5

Highlights

• 15 hits for the Tigers: Three each for Alan Trammell and Rusty Kuntz; two each for Bárbaro Garbey, Lance Parrish and Larry Herndon.

• Homers for Tram, his fourth, off Ed Vande Berg, in the first inning; and Rusty, his first, also off Vande Berg, in the fourth.

Miscellany

• Venue: Tiger Stadium
• Umpires: HP – Bill Kunkel, 1B – Terry Cooney, 2B – Richard Shulock, 3B – Derryl Cousins
• Time of Game: 3:05
• Attendance: 18,830

Les Moss #28

In 1979, John Lester Moss took over for the retired Ralph Houk as Tigers manager. The Tigers finished Houk’s final season at 86-76, and the club seemed ready to make a move in an albeit stacked* American League East.

*Six of the seven teams finished over .500, and three had 90+ wins.

Moss had been in the Tigers farm system managing the Triple-A Evansville Triplets in the American Association and presumably his familiarity with the Tigers’ young core made him a logical choice.

Moss managed the Tigers for just 53 games in ’79. Detroit sat at a 27-26, on the morning of June 14 and before the day over, he was out of a job and Sparky Anderson was the Tigers’ new manager.

As a player, Moss had a 13-year career as a catcher, making his debut in 1946 as a 21-year-old with the St. Louis Browns. He played in just a dozen games that year but finished a .371 average.

Though he didn’t hang around Detroit for very long, Les Moss is another player in the Tigers’ rich history.

Birthdays

Efren Navarro and the late Les Moss

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 408 8/9: Rarity: 124

See you tomorrow.