Category: Fungoes

Ruppert Jones, Part 2

I think we take for granted, if we think about it at all, how MLB.com and ESPN can use Photoshop to instantly change a traded player’s uniform from old team to new.

This certainly was not the case in the 1980s.

If you need proof, here is Ruppert Jones’s entry in the 1984 Tigers Yearbook.

I don’t remember ever seeing a player wearing a different team’s uniform in a yearbook — and much less not even his most-recent team!

Here is Jones in a Mariners uniform, though his previous team had been the Padres.

February Leftovers

Sometimes I don’t clear out the cut-and-paste document I have going with scattered goodies and other potential Fungo nonsense.

Case in point, a few items from February 11:

Ben Oglivie

Ben Oglivie was born on Feb. 11, 1949. After the Tigers inexplicably traded him for Jim Slaton and Rich Folkers, he went on to hit 176 home runs for the Brewers over nine years — including 21 he hit against the Tigers in 119 games.

He retired after the 1986 season with a lifetime average of .273 and 235 career homers.

Tom Veryzer

The late Tom Veryzer was born on Feb. 11, 1953. He played five years in Detroit (1973-77) before being dealt to Cleveland for Charlie Spikes.

His last year in the bigs was 1984 when he was a bench rider for the Cubs. Had Leon Durham fielded a grounder more cleanly in the NLCS that year, perhaps Veryzer could’ve ended his career where it started, at Tiger Stadium.

His final career numbers: .241 average, 14 homers, 231 RBI, .966 fielding percentage.

Other Feb. 11 Birthdays

Gregory Soto, Trey Beamon, Willie Smith, George Alusik

On to March …