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:
After taking two of three from the Angels, the Tigers hit the road for three games in Seattle, looking to settle a score from May’s sweep at the hands of the Mariners.
Here are a few things to know about the left-handed hitting outfielder:
Greene is the first player from Northwood Institute (now Northwood University) to appear in the majors. He signed with the Tigers as an amateur free agent on Nov. 10, 1976.
In 1978, he hit .263 with 32 homers, 84 RBI and an .885 OPS with Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Evansville.
In 70 plate appearances, he had eight hits — three of them solo homers — six RBI and a .136 average. His final appearance came on Sept. 30, 1979 at Tiger Stadium against the Red Sox. He batted seventh as the Tigers’ DH and went 0 for 4.
On June 2, 1980, the Tigers traded him and John Martin to the Cardinals for Jim Lentine. He passed away in Detroit on Feb. 18, 2014 at 59.
The Tigers had a Monday off day at home before the Indians came to town for a three-game set. Let’s look back on a game played on this date 45 years ago …
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.
Classic Darrell Evans: one for one with three walks.
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.
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.
Ruppert Jones doubled and walked in his Tigers debut.
Miscellany
Venue: Tiger Stadium
Umpires: HP – Derryl Cousins, 1B – Bill Kunkel, 2B – Terry Cooney, 3B – Richard Shulock
Time of Game: 2:36
Attendance: 38,167
Ed Glynn #48
Here are a few things to know about lefty Ed Glynn.
The Tigers signed him as an amateur free agent on Sept. 25, 1971.
Glynn debuted on Sept. 19, 1975 against the Red Sox. Tigers starter Ray Bare didn’t record an out, so Glynn and Lerrin LaGrow picked up the slack. He entered in the fourth, and pitched two and two thirds, allowing three hits and two runs.
In parts of four seasons with Detroit, he appeared in 26 games — 10 being the high-water mark, in 1978 — and had a final record of 3-6 and a 4.93 ERA.
Along the way, he made eight starts and on Sept. 12, 1976, he pitched a complete game against the Yankees but took the loss in the 3-1 New York win.
Pat Underwood shut out the Blue Jays for eight-and-a-third innings at Exhibition Stadium, earning his first major-league win as the Tigers beat Toronto, and his brother Tom, 1-0 thanks to Jerry Morales‘ eighth-inning solo home run.
How great is this? Underwood picked off Blue Jays second baseman Danny Ainge at second base.
Mark Salas – #10 and #27
Here are five things to know about catcher Mark Salas:
The Tigers signed him as a free agent on April 8, 1990.
The left-handed hitting Salas made his debut on April 14 against the Orioles. He pinch hit for Mike Heath in the seventh and struck out.
He appeared in 74 games for the Tigers that season — wearing number 10 — hitting .232 with nine home runs, 24 RBI and a .737 OPS.
He appeared in just 33 games, now wearing number 27, for the 1991 Tigers. He hit .088 with a homer and seven RBI.
Salas’s final big-league game was Oct. 5, 1991, like his first, against the Orioles. In the bottom of the sixth, he replaced pinch hitter Rich Rowland, playing first and batting ninth. His career came to an end when he led off the ninth by grounding out to pitcher Mark Williamson.
Birthdays
Happy Birthday to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, whom the Tigers drafted in 1994 and traded in 1998 to Indians for Geronimo Berroa.
Umpires: HP – Richard Shulock, 1B – Derryl Cousins, 2B – Bill Kunkel, 3B – Terry Cooney
Time of Game: 2:52
Attendance: 22,001
Dave Machemer #9
Here are a few things to know about infielder Dave Machemer. But first, a nugget from his profile in the 1979 Tigers Yearbook:
Born in St. Joseph, on the west side of Michigan, Dave and his wife still live in neighboring Benton Harbor. The 27-year-old infielder has another Michigan tie, being a 1973 graduate of Central Michigan University at Mt. Pleasant.
Machemer homered in his first major league at bat, on June 21, 1978, when he debuted with the California Angels. He led off the game by homering off Twins starter Geoff Zahn. Spoiler: It would be his only career homer.
After a 10-game stint with the ’78 Angels, the Tigers drafted Machemer in the Rule 5 pick that December.
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