Umpires: HP – Dave Phillips, 1B – Jerry Neudecker, 2B – John Hirschbeck, 3B – Steve Palermo
Time of Game: 3:51
Attendance: 43,972
Jim Morrison – IF #9 and #17
The Tigers picked up Jim Morrison from the Pirates on Aug. 7, 1987 for a player to be named later* and Darnell Coles.
*Five days later, they sent Morris Madden to Pittsburgh to complete the trade.
Morrison was expected to be another veteran presence for a Tigers team that was, after a dreadful start, in the thick of the American League East race.
On Aug. 7 against the Yankees**, he made his Tigers debut (a game I attended) at third based and batting sixth. He led off the bottom of the sixth with a homer off New York starter Rick Rhoden.
**The Tigers won 8-0 and sat in third place, just a game behind second-place New York and a game and half behind Toronto.
When the Tigers got him, he was hitting .264 with the Pirates with nine home runs and a .726 OPS. Although Morrison became Sparky’s everyday third baseman for the rest of the year, that performance didn’t carry over to Detroit. He hit just .205 — which was still 20+ points higher than what Coles was hitting at the time of the trade.
Umpires: HP – Steve Palermo, 1B – Dave Phillips, 2B – Jerry Neudecker, 3B – John Hirschbeck
Time of Game: 2:49
Attendance: 41,192
Doug Flynn – IF #20
The Tigers signed veteran infielder Doug Flynn as a free agent on June 20, 1985,nine days after he was released by the Expos. Here are four things to know about his brief time in Detroit:
He debuted on June 22 against the Yankees, starting at second base and batting ninth. He singled off Ron Guidry in his first at bat, one of just four hits Guidry allowed.
The Tigers scored five in the fifth off McClure and Jack Lazorko.
Chet Lemon went three for five and drove in two runs. Tom Brookens had two hits and two RBI.
Rozema pitched the first five innings, allowing just a run on four hits. Lopez went the rest of the way.
Miscellany
Venue: County Stadium
Umpires: HP – Mark Johnson, 1B – Terry Cooney, 2B – Tim Welke, 3B – Bill Kunkel
Time of Game: 2:51
Attendance: 44,902
Mike Brumley – IF #12
Former Tigers infielder Mike Brumleydied this weekend at age 61. He was only in Detroit for one season, the abysmal 1989 campaign.
The Tigers picked him up on March 23, 1989 from the Padres for Luis Salazar.
Brumley appeared in 92 games for the Tigers, playing second, short and third, along with center and left field, and batted .198.
On Jan. 10, 1990, theTigers traded him to the Orioles for Larry Sheets. The O’s released him at the end of Spring Training and Brumley latched onto the Mariners for that season.
Carl Willis made his major-league debut, pitching the final 21/3, giving up just one hit and a walk.
Miscellany
Venue: Memorial Stadium
Umpires: HP – Drew Coble, 1B – Jim Evans, 2B – Greg Kosc, 3B – Ted Hendry Time of Game: 2:41 Attendance: 44,404
John Pacella #27 and #43
Here are a few things to know about John Pacella, who spent part of the year with the 1986 Tigers:
The Brooklyn-born right-hander made his major-league debut on Sept. 15, 1977, his 21st birthday, for the Mets against the Phillies.
Fast forward to Dec. 28, 1984 when the Tigers signed Pacella. He spent the ’85 season with the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate in Nashville posting a 7-7 mark with a 3.23 ERA. In 1986, he started the year with the Sounds notching a 7-6 record and 2.90 ERA before getting called up to Detroit.
His first Tigers appearance came on June 16 at Baltimore. He pitched 11/3 scoreless innings and earned the save. Pacella pitched four more times for the Tigers that year; his longest outing was 52/3 innings against the Yankees in which he allowed seven walks.
His final major-league appearance was on July 12, 1986, at Kansas City. He faced Greg Pryor in the bottom of the seventh and gave up an RBI single. The Tigers lost, 7-4.
Pacella started the 1987 season with Detroit’s new Triple-A club, the Toledo Mud Hens. On June 30, 1987, the Yokohama Bay Stars purchased his contract from Detroit. In 1988 he was back in the States pitching at the Triple-A level for the Brewers, Orioles and then, hey now, the Tigers.
After 19 professional seasons, six major league, 13 minor league, Pacella finished with a mark of 4-10, 5.73 ERA in the majors, 71-86, 3.94 in the minors.
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