Milt Wilcox celebrated his 34th birthday with a solid outing: eight innings, eight hits, three walks three strikeouts and just two runs: a second-inning, two-run homer to Ron Kittle.
Floyd Bannister was just as good for the White Sox: 6.1 innings, eight hits and two earned runs.
Umpires: HP – Joe Brinkman, 1B – Larry McCoy, 2B – Nick Bremigan, 3B – Vic Voltaggio
Time of Game: 2:36
Attendance: 33,554
5 Things to Know About Tim Tolman – #38
The Tigers signed the right-handed hitting outfielder/first baseman Tim Tolman* as free agent on Feb. 10, 1986.
After hitting .298 with 11 home runs and 71 RBI (.812 OPS) at Triple A Nashville, Tolman was a September call-up in 1986. He played almost every day — appearing in 16 games from Sept. 7 to Oct. 4 — and batted .186 with six hits in 34 plate appearances.
In 1987, Tolman started the season at Triple A Toledo and hit .314 / 14 homers / 30 doubles and a .919 OPS. He was called up in July and played in nine games, hitting .083 — one hit in 21 plate appearances.
Fifteen days after making his major-league debut, the 20-year-old Saberhagen handed the Tigers their first loss of the year. He went six innings, allowing just one run on six hits, two walks and four strikeouts.
Petry gave up eight hits in as many innings, five runs (four earned), two walks and four strikeouts.
Frank White hit a two-out, two-run homer off Petry in the eighth that turned a 3-1 game into a 5-1 game.
Kirk Gibson homered off Quisenberry (who pitched three innings of relief!) with one out in the bottom of the ninth to draw the Tigers to 5-2.
Umpires: HP – Vic Voltaggio, 1B – Joe Brinkman, 2B – Larry McCoy, 3B – Nick Bremigan
Time of Game: 2:27
Attendance: 12,100
Kip Young – #37 and #44
Right-handed pitcher Kip Young was drafted by the Tigers in the 23rd round of the 1976 amateur draft from Bowling Green State University — a proud MAC school!
He made his Tigers debut on July 21, 1978 against the Angels at Tiger Stadium. Young took the loss in the 11-inning, 4-2 game, pitching the 10th and 11th.
Young pitched in 14 games in ’78, finishing 6-7 with 2.81 ERA over 105.2 innings.
As I remember it, after a few appearances there was some excitement around Young joining Jack Morris, Dan Petry and Milt Wilcox in the rotation — and don’t get me started on Bruce Robbins and Mike Chris.
It appears he made the 1979 club out of Spring Training, making starts in mid-April and early May. In fact, he pitched for the Tigers in every month except August. He spent time in Evansville, too, presumably late July and August.
His final appearance came on Sept. 26, 1979 against the Orioles. Young entered in the bottom of third, relieving starter Mike Chris with two on and nobody out.
On Nov. 21, 1979 his contract was purchased by the Mariners. Young spent time at Triple A with the Mariners, Reds and Twins, but he didn’t appear in the majors again.
Kip Young’s final major-league line: 8-9, 3.86 ERA, seven complete games, all with the Tigers.
The rain seemed to follow the Tigers home from Boston, as they were rained out for the third-consecutive game.
Record: STILL 8-0
Pedro Garcia – #3
He didn’t play for the Tigers for very long, just 77 games, but he certainly arrived at the right time: The Year of the Bird.
Here are a few things to know about second baseman Pedro Garcia:
The Tigers got him on June 10, 1976from the Brewers for Gary Sutherland.
Garcia finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1973. He hit .245 with 15 homers and a league-leading 32 doubles. Those were the career high-water marks for him offensively.
He was hitting .217 in 44 games with the Brewers when he was dealt to Detroit.
For the Tigers, he hit .198 with three homers and 20 RBI. In 245 plate appearances, he struck out 40 times with nine walks.
The Tigers released him on Dec. 16, 1976.
In 1977, he played on the inaugural Toronto Blue Jays team, hitting .208 in 42 games before being released.
The Patriots’ Day game at Fenway was washed out, so the Tigers packed up and went home to begin a two-game set against the Royals on April 17.
Record: Still 8-0.
Bruce Taylor – #32
The Tigers selected right-hander Bruce Taylor from the Reds in the December 1975 Rule 5 draft. He spent the entire 1976 season at Evansville, which means the Tigers swung a deal with Cincinnati to keep him and not have him on the big-league roster. I guess?
Taylor made his major-league debut at 24 on Aug. 5, 1977, in relief of Steve Grilli. He got the final out of the eighth and pitched a clean ninth in a 6-0 loss to the Rangers.
He appeared in 19 games his rookie season, tossing 29.1 innings. He finished with 1-0 record, two saves and a 3.38 ERA.
In 1978, he appeared in just one game with the Tigers, pitching a single inning: on April 14 against the Blue Jays. He spent the rest of the season in Evansville.
The 1979 season was Taylor’s last with the Tigers and in the majors. He pitched in 10 games, the last on May 22 against the Yankees in which he tossed the last three innings of a 12-8 loss, and finished with a 1-2 record and a 4.82 ERA.
His final major league line: 2-2, 3.86 ERA and two saves.
Rained out. It was a scheduled off day in Boston, odd for a Saturday, but it was there in case of a Fenway Park rainout on the Red Sox’s Opening Day.
But, the next two games were washed out and added to a brutal August return to Boston.
The Tigers won’t play again until April 18. The final two games in Boston were washed out, and the first game of the next series, against the Royals in Detroit, was postponed.
Whitaker reached on an error by Jerry Remy, scoring Kuntz and Brookens. (8-0)
Trammell doubled.
Dave Bergman, pinch-hit for Garbey — how often does that happen in the first inning? — and walks.
Parrish grounds into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Milt Wilcox takes the mound with an 8-0 lead … and allows the first seven hitters to reach. He gets one more out than Hurst, but after yielding five runs, gives way to Doug Bair.
Boston scores again in the second, to make it 8-6, and the Tigers in the fourth, on a Parrish solo shot.
The Tigers tack on four more in the eighth off Bob Stanley and give Willie Hernandez a 13-6 lead to protect.
Instead, the Red Sox tag him with three runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Mercifully, the ninth is scoreless, but not exactly clean, and Tigers hold on.
Record: 8-0
Miscellany
Umpires: HP – Drew Coble, 1B – Jim Evans, 2B – Greg Kosc, 3B – Ted Hendry
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