Author: Mike McClary

Upbeat guy.

The Thursday Fungo: June 20

June 20, 1984: Tigers 9 – Yankees 6 (13)

W: Doug Bair (4-0) – L: José Rijo (1-7) | Boxscore

Record: 49-17 — 7.5 up on Toronto

Highlights

  • Chet went 4 for 5.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Dave Phillips, 1B – Jerry Neudecker, 2B – John Hirschbeck, 3B – Steve Palermo
  • Time of Game: 3:51
  • Attendance: 43,972

Jim Morrison – IF #9 and #17

The Tigers picked up Jim Morrison from the Pirates on Aug. 7, 1987 for a player to be named later* and Darnell Coles.

*Five days later, they sent Morris Madden to Pittsburgh to complete the trade.

Morrison was expected to be another veteran presence for a Tigers team that was, after a dreadful start, in the thick of the American League East race.

On Aug. 7 against the Yankees**, he made his Tigers debut (a game I attended) at third based and batting sixth. He led off the bottom of the sixth with a homer off New York starter Rick Rhoden.

**The Tigers won 8-0 and sat in third place, just a game behind second-place New York and a game and half behind Toronto.

When the Tigers got him, he was hitting .264 with the Pirates with nine home runs and a .726 OPS. Although Morrison became Sparky’s everyday third baseman for the rest of the year, that performance didn’t carry over to Detroit. He hit just .205 — which was still 20+ points higher than what Coles was hitting at the time of the trade.

After 24 games in 1988, the Tigers released him on June 6. In his final game with Detroit, on June 3, he pinch hit for Pat Sheridan and singled off future-Tiger Jeff Kaiser, driving in a run.

His final line with the Tigers: .209, 4 HR, 25 RBI and a .534 OPS.

Birthdays

Bobby Seay, Paul Bako, the late Charlie Grover, Jim Delahanty and Win Mercer

See you tomorrow.

The Wednesday Fungo: June 19

June 19, 1984: Tigers 7 – Yankees 6

W: Aurelio López (6-0) – L: Ron Guidry (5-5) – S: Willie Hernández (12) | Boxscore

Record: 48-17 — 61/2 up on Toronto

Highlights

  • Carl Willis made his first big-league start: 41/3 innings, nine hits, four earned runs.
  • The Tigers took it to Ron Guidry: a dozen hits and seven earned runs over 71/3.
  • Lance Parrish‘s first-inning two-run homer opened the scoring.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Steve Palermo, 1B – Dave Phillips, 2B – Jerry Neudecker, 3B – John Hirschbeck
  • Time of Game: 2:49
  • Attendance: 41,192

Doug Flynn – IF #20

The Tigers signed veteran infielder Doug Flynn as a free agent on June 20, 1985, nine days after he was released by the Expos. Here are four things to know about his brief time in Detroit:

  • He debuted on June 22 against the Yankees, starting at second base and batting ninth. He singled off Ron Guidry in his first at bat, one of just four hits Guidry allowed.
  • Flynn’s final line as a Tiger: 32 games, 55 plate appearances, .255 average, no home runs and two RBI.
  • The Tigers re-signed him in the offseason, but released him near the end of Spring Training 1986.

Birthdays

Willis Roberts*, Jim Slaton and the late Eddie Cicotte.

*Roberts appeared in one game for the 1999 Tigers: 1.1 IP, three hits, four runs, one HBP.

See you tomorrow.

The Tuesday Fungo: June 18

June 18, 1984: Yankees 2 – Tigers 1

W: Phil Niekro (10-3) – L: Milt Wilcox (7-5) – S: José Rijo (2) | Boxscore

Record: 47-17 — 51/2 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • A genuine pitchers’ duel in this one as the ageless Phil Niekro shut down the Tigers on three hits and six strikeouts in 82/3 innings.
  • Milt was almost as good; he went seven allowed seven hits and struck out seven.
  • Gibby had two of Detroit’s hits, including a solo homer in the first.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – John Hirschbeck, 1B – Steve Palermo, 2B – Dave Phillips, 3B – Jerry Neudecker
  • Time of Game: 2:54
  • Attendance: 40,315

Julio Gonzalez – IF #10

Shortstop Julio Gonzalez appeared in 12 games for the 1983 Tigers, who signed him as a free agent on March 15 that year.

After hitting .299 at Evansville, he debuted with the Tigers, at age 30, on May 13 against the Yankees. He came in as a defensive replacement at third. His first start came a week later against the Rangers. Gonzalez was hitless in three at bats with three strikeouts.

On June 19 the veteran played in his final major-league game. He started and batted ninth against the Indians. He went one for two.

All told, he had three hits in 21 at bats and two RBI, and finished with a .143 average.

Defensively, he played six games at short, five at second and one at third. He had 27 chances at short and made three errors, and made one in 13 chances at second.

Birthdays

Matt Moore

See you tomorrow.

The Monday Fungo: June 17

June 17, 1984: Tigers 7 – Brewers 4

W: Dave Rozema (3-0) – L: Bob McClure (1-2) – S: Aurelio López (8) | Boxscore

Record: 47-16 — 6 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • The Tigers scored five in the fifth off McClure and Jack Lazorko.
  • Rozema pitched the first five innings, allowing just a run on four hits. Lopez went the rest of the way.

Miscellany

  • Venue: County Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Mark Johnson, 1B – Terry Cooney, 2B – Tim Welke, 3B – Bill Kunkel
  • Time of Game: 2:51
  • Attendance: 44,902

Mike Brumley – IF #12

Former Tigers infielder Mike Brumley died this weekend at age 61. He was only in Detroit for one season, the abysmal 1989 campaign.

The Tigers picked him up on March 23, 1989 from the Padres for Luis Salazar.

Brumley appeared in 92 games for the Tigers, playing second, short and third, along with center and left field, and batted .198.

On Jan. 10, 1990, the Tigers traded him to the Orioles for Larry Sheets. The O’s released him at the end of Spring Training and Brumley latched onto the Mariners for that season.

Birthdays

David Pauley, Matt Kinzer – who pitched for 1990 Tigers AND punted for ’87 Lions – and the late Claude Rossman

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 442 9/9: Rarity: 82

See you tomorrow.

The Sunday Fungo: June 16

June 16, 1984: Tigers 6 – Brewers 0

W: Juan Berenguer (4-4) – L: Don Sutton (3-7) | Boxscore

Record: 46-16: 6 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • Berenguer controls the Brewers with a complete-game five hitter — but with just one strikeout.
  • Sutton strikes out six in his five innings of work, but allows seven hits and six earned runs.

Miscellany

  • Venue: County Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Bill Kunkel, 1B – Mark Johnson, 2B – Terry Cooney, 3B – Tim Welke
  • Time of Game: 2:30
  • Attendance: 50,395

Bob “Fats” Fothergill – OF

On this Father’s Day, I’ll stretch the purview of this site, out of the 1977 – 1994 range and out of the proper spelling of father, to highlight a former Tigers player whose name is pretty close: the late Bob Fothergill. Here are three things to know about him:

  1. The right-handed hitting outfielder played parts of nine seasons with the Tigers.
  2. He hit over .300 in eight of his nine seasons — and he hit over .350 four times.
  3. In 802 games he hit .337, 26 home runs, 447 RBI and an OPS of .861.

Birthdays

Fernando Hernandez, Chris Gomez, Ron LeFlore and the late Jay Kirke, Kid Speer, Jack Rowan and Wish Egan

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 441 8/9: Rarity: 127

See you tomorrow.

The Saturday Fungo: June 15

June 15, 1984: Tigers 3 – Brewers 2

W: Dan Petry (10-3) – L: Jaime Cocanower (5-6) – Save: Willie Hernández (11) | Boxscore

Record: 45-16 — 6 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • The Tigers scored first on a Lance Parrish solo homer in the second.
  • Peaches went seven, allowing seven hits. Willie closed out the game with a two-inning appearance.

Miscellany

  • Venue: County Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Tim Welke, 1B – Bill Kunkel, 2B – Mark Johnson, 3B – Terry Cooney
  • Time of Game: 2:42
  • Attendance: 32,074

Birthdays

Mike Fiers, Tony Clark, Chris Wakeland, Lance Parrish and the late Champ Summers, Ben Flowers, Lou North and Henry Beckendorf. Lance (212), Champ (40) and Clark (156) combined for 408 homers for Tigers.

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 440 7/9: Rarity: 213

See you tomorrow.

The Friday Fungo: June 14

June 14, 1984: Off Day

After losing two of three to the Blue Jays, the Tigers travel to visit another A.L. East rival, the Brewers, for a three-game weekend set at County Stadium.

Record: 44-16 — 6 games up on Toronto

So here’s another June 14 game. This one from 1978:

June 14, 1978: Royals 7 – Tigers 1

W: Paul Splittorff (8-5) – L: Jack Billingham (5-4) | Boxscore

Record: 31-27 — Fifth place, 91/2 games back of Boston

Highlights

  • The Tigers scratched out just four hits off of Splittorf who threw a complete-game gem.
  • Billingham was roughed up for eight hits and four walks in six innings, and allowed five earned runs.

Miscellany

  • Venue:  Royals Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Dave Phillips, 1B – Larry McCoy, 2B – Steve Palermo, 3B – Don Denkinger
  • Time of Game: 2:05
  • Attendance:  21,025

Mike Laga – 1B #4

The first paragraph of the 1984 Tigers Yearbook profile on Mike Laga pretty much summed it up:

“Mike Laga has been called the Tiger first baseman of the future. And despite the presence of a veteran star like Darrell Evans, it seems clear the Tigers still have high hopes for Laga.”

I’d go so far as to say we still have high hopes for Laga.

We heard so much about the left-handed hitting slugger but he didn’t capitalize on his brief visits to Detroit from 1982 through 1986 — and as I recall, injuries were a problem.

1982: Laga made his debut on Sept. 1, 1982 against the Angels and faced Ken Forsch, flying out to left. Two days later he hit his first homer, a two-run shot, off the A’s Rick Langford. He played in 27 games for ’82 Tigers, essentially the starting first baseman in September.

1983: The bulk of his season was spent in Evansville with a dozen games in Detroit: 21 at bats, no homers, .190 average.

1984: Laga again was a September call up but appeared just nine games: but he hit .545 — six for 11.

1985: Another nine-game stint. Thirty six at bats, two home runs, .167 average.

1986: Laga made the Opening Day roster and appeared in 33 games before being sent to Nashville. The Tigers traded him to the Cardinals, as a player to be named later, along with Ken Hill for catcher Mike Heath.

His final numbers with Detroit: 72 games, .239 avg., eight home runs, 28 RBI and a .691 OPS.

Birthdays

Michael Hollimon, Mike Laga, Bill Fahey and the late Hal Manders

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 439 9/9: Rarity: 12

See you tomorrow.

The Thursday Fungo: June 13

June 13, 1984: Blue Jays 7 – Tigers 3

W: Dave Stieb (8-2) – L: Milt Wilcox (7-4) | Boxscore

Record: 44-16 — 6 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • The Tigers were down 7-0 heading to the eighth. Wilcox, five innings, four runs, and Doug Bair, two innings, three runs, took the brunt of the damage.
  • Stieb shut down Detroit over seven innings, allowing just three hits.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Exhibition Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – John Hirschbeck, 1B – Steve Palermo, 2B – Dave Phillips, 3B – Jerry Neudecker
  • Time of Game: 2:28
  • Attendance: 34,122

Steve Baker – RHP #31

Steve Baker‘s major-league debut was a good one. On May 25, 1978, he started against the Orioles and went 61/3 and allowed just one run on eight hits and six strikeouts. Baltimore scored off of John Hiller in the eighth to take a 2-1 lead, and that was the final score.

According to his profile in the 1979 Tigers Yearbook, managers in the American Association, to which Triple-A Evansville belonged, in 1978 picked Baker as “the best prospect and pitcher with the best curve.”

He pitched in 15 games for the ’78 Tigers, 10 of them starts, finishing with a 2-4 record and a 4.55 ERA.

In 1979, Baker’s career with the Tigers nosedived in a hurry.

On April 26, he started against the Brewers and in his 52/3 innings gave up four runs on seven hits and five walks. He won his next start, 5-2 against the White Sox.

May wasn’t kind to Baker, June and July were worse — and, well, August just piled on.

  • June: Three starts, 121/3 innings, 13 earned runs.
  • July: Four starts, 271/3 innings, 16 earned runs
  • August: One appearance, 4 innings, six hits, four earned runs

When the dust settled, Baker had just one scoreless appearance all year, and finished 1-7 with a 6.64 ERA and one save.

He began the 1980 season in Evansville before the Blue Jays purchased his contract on June 6. Baker’s final Tigers line: 3-11, 5.74 ERA and that one save.

Birthdays

James McCann, Drew Smyly, Justin Miller, Bob Strampe, the late Gene Desautels and Marty Kavanagh

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 438 9/9: Rarity: 14

See you tomorrow.

The Wednesday Fungo: June 12

June 12, 1984: Blue Jays 12 –Tigers 3

W: Jim Clancy (5-6) – L: Jack Morris (11-3) | Boxscore

Record: 44-15 — 7 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • All the highlights in this one belonged to the Blue Jays. They took it to all three Tigers pitchers.
  • Morris: Three innings, eight hits, six runs.
  • Sid Monge: Four innings, six hits, three runs.
  • Oh, here’s one Tigers highlight: Lou Whitaker went three for four with a single, double and triple

Miscellany

  • Venue: Exhibition Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Jerry Neudecker, 1B – John Hirschbeck, 2B – Steve Palermo, 3B – Dave Phillips
  • Time of Game: 2:43
  • Attendance: 40,437

Elias Sosa #36

Here are five things to know about right-hander Elias Sosa, who spent one year in Detroit:

  1. Sosa was sent to the Tigers by the Expos on March 30, 1982 as part of a conditional deal. I have no idea what that means.
  2. He made his Tigers debut on April 12, 1982, pitching the ninth inning in a 9-5 Tigers loss.
  3. Of his 38 appearances, 23 were multiple innings, and he averaged 12/3 innings of work.
  4. Sosa’s longest outing was a five-inning stint on July 12 against the White Sox.
  5. His final line: 3-3 record, 4.43 ERA and four saves. The Padres purchased his contract from the Tigers on Oct. 7, 1982.

Birthdays

Avisaíl García, Scott Aldred and the late Matty McIntyre

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 437 9/9: Rarity: 14

See you tomorrow.

The Tuesday Fungo: June 11

June 11, 1984: Tigers 5 – Blue Jays 4

W: Dave Rozema (2-0) – L: Luis Leal (6-1) – S: Willie Hernández (10) | Boxscore

Record: 44-14 — 8 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • Detroit knocked around Leal with nine hits in six innings: three doubles, a triple and a Kirk Gibson home run.
  • Rozema went five, allowing three runs on four hits. Newcomer Sid Monge was immediately pressed into duty; he faced one batter, threw two pitches and gave up a single.
  • Willy pitched 21/3 scoreless, yielding a hit and striking out three.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Exhibition Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Dave Phillips, 1B – Jerry Neudecker, 2B – John Hirschbeck, 3B – Steve Palermo
  • Time of Game: 3:04
  • Attendance: 35,062
  • Start Time Weather: 75° F / 24° C

Birthdays

Ezequiel Carrera, Adam Pettyjohn, John Doherty and the late Archie Yelle

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 436 9/9: Rarity: 30

See you tomorrow.