The Sunday Fungo: May 19

May 19, 1984: Tigers 5 – A’s 4

W: Jack Morris (8-1) L: Steve McCatty (3-3) – Save: Aurelio López (5) | Boxscore

Record: 31-5

Highlights

  • One of Whitaker’s hits was his fourth homer of the year.
  • Morris 7.1 IP, eight hits, six walks and six strikeouts.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Dan Morrison, 1B – Marty Springstead, 2B – Jim McKean, 3B – Durwood Merrill
  • Time of Game: 3:00
  • Attendance: 42,906

Luis Salazar #12

The Tigers signed veteran utility man Luis Salazar as a free agent on Feb, 20, 1988. He has spent the previous season with the Padres, where he began his career in 1980.

  • Salazar spent the 1985 and ’86 season in Chicago and went back to San Diego as a free agent in 1989.
  • He had one year in Detroit and he was solid: appearing in 130 games and batting .270 with 12 homers.
  • Sparky plugged him in everywhere: all three outfield slots and all four infield positions.
  • At the end of spring training 1989, the Tigers sent him back to the Padres for Mike Brumley. He played his final four seasons with the Cubs.

Birthdays

Tim Corcoran, Brandon Inge, Alan Zinter and Luis Salazar

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 413 9/9: Rarity: 34

See you tomorrow.

The Thursday Fungo: April 18

Game 9: April 18, 1984

Tiger 4 – Royals 3, 10 innings

W: Willie Hernandez (1-0) L: Joe Beckwith (0-1) | Boxscore

Highlights

  • The Tigers took a 3-0 lead into the top of the eighth. With two out, Jorge Orta hit a three-run homer of Jack Morris to tie it.
  • Morris and Royals starter Bud Black both scattered nine hits, allowed three runs and struck out three. Morris did it in nine innings, Black in seven.
  • Parrish homered, part of a three for five night. Chet Lemon hit two doubles.
  • Record: 9-0

Miscellany

  • Umpires: HP – Nick Bremigan, 1B – Vic Voltaggio, 2B – Joe Brinkman, 3B – Larry McCoy
  • Time of Game: 3:02
  • Attendance: 12,310

6 Things to Know about Rico Brogna – #13

A left-handed hitting first baseman, Rico Brogna was, like Travis Fryman and Steve Searcy and Rich Rowland, a highly anticipated Tigers prospect in the early 1990s. 

Here are a few things to know about him:

  • He was the Tigers’ first-round pick in the 1988 draft.
  • Brogna made his Tigers debut against the Blue Jays, doubling in his first at bat, off Dave Stieb.
  • He finished the night one for four. On Aug. 11, he hit his first major-league homer, off Melido Perez, at Tiger Stadium.
  • He appeared in just nine games before being sent back to Toledo, where he’d spend the rest of the ’92 season and all of 1993.
  • On March 31, 1994, the Tigers dealt him to the Mets for catcher Alan Zinter.
  • Brogna went on to have a nice career with the Mets and even more so with the Phillies.

Birthday

Jake Rogers, Miguel Cabrera, Rico Brogna, Doug Flynn and the late Brian Dubois and Wahoo Sam Crawford

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 382 9/9 — Rarity: 15

See you tomorrow.