The Daily – Page 37

The Sunday Fungo: Feb. 4

Happy Birthday, Stan Papi.

Today is Stan Papi‘s 73rd birthday, so let’s take a look back on his brief time in Detroit:

On May 29, 1980, the Tigers purchased Papi’s contract from the Phillies and the infielder made an immediate splash in Detroit.

The next day, Papi, wearing number 9, started at second base and batted ninth — behind the number-eight hitter, Kirk Gibson — against the Angels.

He struck out against Frank Tanana in the bottom of the second but in the fourth hit a two-run home run off Tanana to give the Tigers and Milt Wilcox a 4-1 lead.
He singled in his next at bat and then tripled in the sixth off Jim Barr. The Tigers won the game 12-1.

Papi finished the 1980 campaign with a .237 average, three homers and 17 RBI in 46 games. He hung around for 40 games in the strike-shortened 1981 season, hitting just .204.

His last appearance in a big-league game came on Oct. 1, against the Orioles at Tiger Stadium. Sparky inserted him as a pinch hitter for Rick Leach in the seventh; Papi struck out against Tippy Martinez to end the inning.

Other Birthdays

Doug Fister, Germany Schaefer, Joe Sparma, Rusty Kuntz and Chris Bando.

Today’s Grid

Immaculate Grid 308: 9/9 — Rarity: 37

Three former Tigers and one Detroit native today.

See you tomorrow.

The Saturday Fungo: Feb. 3

Happy Birthday, Trixie

Happy 89th Birthday to former Tigers infielder and long-time first base coach Dick Tracewski.

He was a player on the 1968 World Series champs, a coach on the ‘84 team and, officially, once an interim Tigers manager: filling in between the fired Les Moss and the hired Sparky Anderson in 1979.

Ten years later Sparky took a short leave of absence due to the abysmal ‘89 team’s losing and Tracewski took over for a few games, but Baseball-Reference only lists the ‘79 games in his official managerial record.

He was also a World Series winner with the 1963 and ’65 Dodgers.

Other birthdays: Fred Lynn, Joe Coleman and the late Wayne Comer.

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 307 8/9 — Rarity: 145

Two former Tigers in today’s grid.

I hope you’re having a great weekend.

See you tomorrow.

The Friday Fungo: Feb. 2

I found this recording of the Tigers and Orioles on WJR from September 1983.

I listened to this live after school that day and thought there was still a chance the Tigers could overtake the Orioles and win the A.L. East.

Final Score: Tigers 14 – Orioles 1

Enjoy this one.

Today’s Random Nuggets

Game of the Day: July 7, 1982. White Sox 7 – Tigers 0 W: Dennis Lamp L: Jerry Ujdur

Birthdays: Matthew Boyd, Adam Everett and Zeb Eaton. Zeb pitched for the Tigers in 1944 and ‘45.

Today’s Immaculate Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 306 8/9 — Rarity: 138

**Two former Tigers today. Can you name them?**

Have a great weekend. See you tomorrow.

The Thursday Fungo: Feb. 1

Last night I watched the Netflix documentary about the about the recording of “We Are the World.” What an amazing trip down memory lane. Go for the music, stay for the Al Jarreau situation.

Nelson Simmons

The Tigers’ second pick in the 1981 draft, Simmons wore number 37 and, after debuting on Sept. 4, 1984, hit 10 homers for the ’85 Tigers. He was a highly touted prospect and I was excited about him being part of the long-term mix. On April 29, 1986, Detroit released him.

A few weeks later he signed with the Orioles but he played in only 16 games for Baltimore during the ’87 season, then got traded to the Mariners in August of that year. He never played for Seattle.

Birthdays

Austin Jackson (still just a kid at 37!), Rich Becker, Ron Woods, Bob Smith, Dave Madison and Billy Sullivan, who appeared in one game as catcher for the 1916 Tigers, with no at bats.

Today’s Immaculate Grid

Two former Tigers today. Rarity: 136

See you tomorrow.

The Wednesday Fungo: Jan. 31

The Colt Keith extension got me wondering if 45 years ago, and these early extensions were a thing, the Tigers would have considered signing Kirk Gibson to a long-term extension.

It’s hard to take this notion even half seriously given that Jim Campbell was the Tigers’ GM back then.

But still.

Today’s Random Nuggets

On this date in 1952, Harry Heilmann was elected to the Hall of Fame.

Today’s birthdays: Hank Aguirre and Ted Power.

Today’s Immaculate Grid

Four Tigers in today’s grid:

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 304 — 9/9: Rarity: 17

One Last Thing

I cannot wait to watch the new Netflix documentary, “The Greatest Night in Pop”, about the recording, in 1985, of “We Are the World” — perhaps the song of my junior year.

And here’s the video:

See you tomorrow.

The Tuesday Fungo: Jan. 30

Happy 70th Birthday, Dave Stegman.

A University of Arizona alum, Dave Stegman was drafted by Detroit in the first round — second pick overall — of the 1976 amateur draft.

He played in eight games in 1978, all in the outfield, and batted .286 in 14 at bats.
In ’79 he played in only 12 games and batted .194 — but with one homer!
The 1980 season was his last with the Tigers: he appeared in 65 games and hit .177 in 130 at bats.
The Tigers shipped him to the San Diego Padres for Dennis Kinney in December 1980.

Learn more about Stegman in the Fungo Archives.

Also born on this date: The late Sandy Amoros and Walt Dropo.

Today’s Nugget

Did you know that long-time Cubs catcher Jody Davis signed with the Tigers in 1990 but never appeared in a game for them? Me neither until last week.

Signed on May 28, Davis spent his time in Toledo, appearing in just three games for the Mud Hens, going 1 for 8, with one run scored. He was released on Sept. 30.

When you consider what’s available on YouTube, it’s a shame there’s no clip of Harry Caray singing “Jody, Jody Davis … king of Wrigley Field” as he did so often in 1984 after a Davis homer.

Today’s Immaculate Grid

One former Tiger today.

See you tomorrow.

The Monday Fungo: Jan. 29

Hey, and welcome back to The Daily Fungo. It’s been a while.

If you’re new here, thanks for visiting. This blog launched in March 2006, which was about as good as it gets in terms of the Tigers’ renaissance converging with blogs becoming a viable thing. The blog kept chugging along, with varying degrees of posting and general TLC, until 2014? Or was it 2017?

For a few years there was a podcast too. Yes. In 2006.

Along the way I discovered that as much as I enjoy following the current Tigers, my heart and interest will always be with those clubs from my youth — from 1977, when I attended my first game at Tiger Stadium, to 1994-ish.

That’s the sweet spot for this new incarnation of The Daily Fungo: 1970s and ’80s, with some ’90s and other dark times too. Oh, and with a few exceptions (like this one), I’ll also keep each day’s post short, like 250-words short.

One more thing: I will be restructuring the archives and other stuff over the next few weeks, so apologies if you click on something and it’s not there.

Go Tigers.

New Hall of Famers vs. the Tigers

I was living in Colorado when Todd Helton replaced Andres Galarraga at first base for the Rockies. I didn’t want to see them move on from The Big Cat, but it didn’t take long for me to see Helton had a future.

Adrián Beltré hit only .222 against the Tigers in the 2011 ALCS, but those six games were the only time he wasn’t killing them. Joe Mauer, of course, along with Justin Morneau seemed to own the Tigers … and they did.

This year’s Hall of Famers’ career numbers against the Tigers:

	Games	Average	Hits	HR	OPS
Adrian Beltre	99	.334	127	16	.990
Todd Helton	22	.317	26	2	.900
Joe Mauer	216	.305	246	18	.816

Today’s Random Nugget

Twenty-five years ago last month, the Tigers traded Luis Gonzalez to the Diamondbacks for Karim Garcia. Sigh.

Here’s a nice piece about Gonzalez’s impact on the Diamondbacks and their 2001 World Series run.

Today’s Immaculate Grid

Just one Tiger in this one.

See you tomorrow.