According to Baseball Reference, 54 players have worn the number 12 in Tigers franchise history. Casey Mize currently wears it. Let’s look at a few Tigers that wore number 12 during the Fungo’s focus, 1977 through 1994:
There are many candidates for this distinction, but I think Mike Moore was the quintessential Dave Duncan reclamation project in the late 1980s.
He went from a so-so starter in Seattle to a 19-game winner in Oakland.
By the time he signed a three-year, $10 million contract with the Tigers in 1993, most of that Duncan magic had vanished … much like the benefit of the spacious foul territory in the Oakland-Alameda County Stadium.
But we wouldn’t find out right away. Soon, but not right away.
As it seems to often happen in baseball, if not all sports, Moore made his Tigers debut on Opening Day 1993, April 5, against his former team in Oakland. It was a start to forget and a sign of things to come — again, we didn’t know it yet! — 42/3 innings, six hits, three walks and four earned runs. The Tigers lost 9-4.
Four days later, he started against the Angels in Anaheim and got only four outs. In 11/3 innings, he gave up six hits and five runs.
To recap: In his first two Tigers starts, he pitched six innings and allowed nine runs on 12 hits.
Although Moore’s ERA dipped below five once all year — 4.99, after his two-hit shutout of the White Sox on Sept. 10 — he did have a couple of incredible starts:
Moore was certainly durable* in his first season in Detroit: 36 starts and 223 innings. His final line: 13-9, 5.91 ERA, with three shutouts.
*In nine of his 14 seasons, he finished with more than 200 innings pitched — and in 1990 he threw 1991/3.
Well, 1994 and 1995 went about as well for Moore as it did for his Tigers teams. Still, the man did take the ball every fifth day (maybe fourth day back then?), pitching 25 starts both years.
In 1994, he could’ve reached 30+ starts again if not for the player’s strike, but anyway …
The third and final year of his Tigers contract, 1995, was a disaster: 25 starts, 5-15 and a 7.53 ERA.
Looking back 30 years, it wasn’t fair to expect Mike Moore, at 33, to be a top-of-the-rotation starter. After the mirage of 1993, the Tigers were not good in 1994 and ’95, so it wasn’t going to make a difference whether Moore was the staff’s ace, the fifth starter or a long reliever.
Oh and just looping back to the benefits of pitching home games in Oakland versus Detroit: Tiger Stadium’s cozy dimensions not only hurt him in the no-foul-territory fashion but also in surrendering the long ball: He made 86 starts and gave up 86 homers. Not all of them at The Corner, of course, but enough of them.
I asked my Dad if I could skip the afternoon portion of that junior-year school day. It was a hard no.
I was on the yearbook staff and we decided it the 1984-85 edition of Spectus would not be complete without some on-the-ground photos and coverage of the Tigers World Series Parade.
So, yeah, I went.
My Dad seemed to be — at best — okay with my going downtown during a school day in the service of my, ahem, studies.
It was a blast for me and about a half dozen of my friends, some of whom were on the school newspaper staff and, yes, they needed fresh copy too.
The only person I think that did not enjoy themselves was the poor soul who parked their brown Chevy Nova-like car on Michigan Avenue. So many people — maybe us too? — stood or sat on it that the roof was caved in.
The 1996 season is two years beyond the usual scope of The Daily Fungo, but what they hay; let’s take a look at Eddie Williams‘ career in Detroit.
The Tigers signed Williams to a one-year contract on Jan. 2, 1996, one of the first of many Padres-related transactions made by new Tigers GM Randy Smith, formerly of the Padres.
Two homers by Gibby, who drove in five, and a solo shot by Lance Parrish, a sacrifice fly/pop out by Rusty Kuntz. What more to say?
I was going to write about Game 5, but why waste your time when you can relive it down here 👇🏻. If you want the short version from Ernie, try this one.
Poor Dan Petry finished the postseason with a 0-1 record and an ERA of 6.00!
Miscellany
Venue: Tiger Stadium
Umpires: HP – Paul Runge, 1B – Mike Reilly, 2B – Doug Harvey, 3B – Larry Barnett, LF – Bruce Froemming, RF – Rich Garcia
Time of Game: 2:55
Attendance: 51,901
Postscript
Was there a downside to the Tigers winning this game? For me, yes.
Weeks before the postseason began, I was asked to be on clean-up duty at a small wedding reception for the aunt of my then-girlfriend. I didn’t even think to look at the postseason calendar — I was 16! As luck would have it, I missed the entire game.
Using a phone on the wall at the reception hall, I was left to listen to Ernie and Paul through a phone my sister placed next to the radio at home.
So, the next World Series the Tigers win, will be the first one I ever see.
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