The Saturday Fungo: May 4

May 4, 1984: Tigers 9 – Indians 2

W: Dan Petry (4-1) – L: Dan Spillner (0-2) – Save: Willie Hernández (3) | Boxscore

Record: 20-4

Highlights

The Tigers had 13 hits, three for Lou Whitaker and four for Larry Herndon.

Howard Johnson homered, his second.

Petry: 5 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs 6 walks, 5 strikeouts

A four-inning save for Willie.

Miscellany

Venue: Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Umpires: HP – Dan Morrison, 1B – Marty Springstead, 2B – Jim McKean, 3B – Durwood Merrill
Time of Game: 3:06
Attendance: 8,497

Rick Leach #7

Here are seven things to know about Rick Leach, who went from start Michigan quarterback to Tigers first baseman.

He was drafted by the Tigers in the first round (13th) of the 1979 MLB June Amateur Draft from University of Michigan. He was previously drafted by the Phillies twice: in the 11th round of the 1975 draft from Flint Southwestern High, and in the 24th round of the 1978 draft from Michigan.

He made his major-league debut on April 30, 1981, as a ninth-inning defensive replacement for Rich Hebner at first base. And he did it again the next game.

Leach’s first plate appearance came on May 2, as ninth-inning pinch hitter for Lynn Jones. Leading off the top of the ninth, facing Dick Drago, he lined out to second baseman Julio Cruz.

On May 6 in Oakland, Leach got his first big-league start: batting seventh and place first. He finished 0 for 1 that night, but with three walks. The following day, he got his first major-league hit, a single to left off Matt Keough that drove in Champ Summers.

Leach saw his playing time increase between 1981 and 1983, appearing 54, 82 and 99 games respectively. His best year was 1983: .248, three home runs and 28 RBI.

With Dave Bergman, Bárbaro Garbey and Darrell Evans all slated for playing time at first, the Tigers released Leach on March 24, 1984 — the same day of The Trade that brought Bergman and Willie Hernandez to Detroit. And he signed, with of all teams, the Blue Jays. (He appeared in only two games against the Tigers.)

Leach had his best years in Toronto. In five seasons, he batted .283, eight home runs and 95 RBI.

Birthdays

Rick Leach, Brian Maxcy and the late Howie Koplitz, John Tsitouris and Charlie Hickman

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 398 8/9: Rarity: 134

See you tomorrow.

The Thursday Fungo: May 2

May 2, 1984: Red Sox 5 – Tigers 4

W: Mike Brown (1-2) – L: Juan Berenguer (1-1) – Save: Bob Stanley (4) | Boxscore

Record: 19-3

Highlights

A pair of two-run homers off Berenguer, one by Dwight Evans, the other by Jim Rice, gave the Red Sox a 4-0 lead in the third. Boston tacked on a run in the fifth to go up 5-0.

The Tigers scratched back with a run in the sixth and eighth, and then two in the ninth off Stanley.

Kirk Gibson went 4 for 5 with a double, triple and an RBI.

Dave Bergman had a 3 for 4 day and drive in a run.

Miscellany

Venue: Tiger Stadium
Umpires: HP – Rocky Roe, 1B – Larry Barnett, 2B – Dale Ford, 3B – Ken Kaiser
Time of Game: 2:33
Attendance: 23,085

Darrell Evans #41

Before Pudge Rodriguez and Magglio Ordoñez, the Tigers’ big splash in the free agent market came on Dec. 17, 1983, when they signed 36-year-old* slugger Darrell Evans.

*He turned 37 in May 1984.

As most seasoned Tigers fans remember, the club’s leadership, or at least GM Jim Campbell — whose opinion was the only one that mattered — hated free agency. In fact, Campbell hated paying for his own free agent players and loved to trade them before their walk year. He certainly wasn’t going to spend on someone else’s players.

That changed in 1983 when Evans chose a Detroit offer which was, of course, lower than those of the Yankees, Giants and other clubs that tried to sign, or in the case of San Francisco, re-sign him. The allure of joining a team poised to win right away made Detroit the choice.

As we’ve covered, in his first game as a Tiger, April 3, 1984, Evans homered of the Twins’ Keith Comstock, a three-run jack, and Detroit was off to the races. A week later, on Opening Day in Detroit, he homered in his first Tiger Stadium at bat, an upper-deck blast off the Rangers’ Dave Stewart.

He’d hit only 14 more home runs in 1984, but quickly became a fan favorite. In 1985, he hit 40 homers, 29 in ’86 and then 34, at age 40!, in 1987. Even in 1988, his final year in Detroit, at age 41, he hit 22.

In five seasons with the Tigers, Evans hit 141 of his career 414 home runs. In 1989, he finished his career where it began: with the Atlanta Braves.

Birthdays

Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Neftali Feliz, Mark Johnson, Jim Walewander, Keith Moreland, Steve Grilli and the late Gates Brown

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 396 8/9 – Rarity: 129

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.

Willie Hernandez set K.C. down in order in the top of the 10th.

Alan Trammell led off the 10th with a single, then Dave Bergman bunted him to second. Lance Parrish grounded out, moving Tram to third.

Larry Herndon reached on an error by second baseman Frank White and Tram came home with the winning run.

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.

The Saturday Fungo: April 13

Game 8: April 13, 1984

Tigers 13 – Red Sox 9

W: Doug Bair (0-1) L: Bruce Hurst (1-2) | Boxscore

Highlights

Talk about the tale of two games. The Tigers ambushed Bruce Hurst for seven runs in an eight-run first. Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell walked, Barbaro Garbey reached on an error.

Lance Parrish struck out and then the next eight batters reached:

Larry Herndon: walk (1-0)

Chet Lemon: single (3-0)

Rod Allen: single (4-0)

Rusty Kuntz: single (5-0), and that was it for Hurst.

Mike Brown took over and was greeted by a Tom Brookens double. (6-0)

Whitaker reached on an error by Jerry Remy, scoring Kuntz and Brookens. (8-0)

Trammell doubled.

Dave Bergman, pinch-hit for Garbey — how often does that happen in the first inning? — and walks.

Parrish grounds into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Milt Wilcox takes the mound with an 8-0 lead … and allows the first seven hitters to reach. He gets one more out than Hurst, but after yielding five runs, gives way to Doug Bair.

Boston scores again in the second, to make it 8-6, and the Tigers in the fourth, on a Parrish solo shot.

The Tigers tack on four more in the eighth off Bob Stanley and give Willie Hernandez a 13-6 lead to protect.

Instead, the Red Sox tag him with three runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Mercifully, the ninth is scoreless, but not exactly clean, and Tigers hold on.

Record: 8-0

Miscellany

Umpires: HP – Drew Coble, 1B – Jim Evans, 2B – Greg Kosc, 3B – Ted Hendry
Time of Game: 3:11
Attendance: 35,179

Birthdays

Doug Strange, Mark Leiter and the late Ike Brown, Jake Mooty, Roxie Lawson, Ken Jones, Rufe Clarke, Al Platte, Red Killefer, Kid Elberfeld, Herman Long

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 377 8/9 – Rarity: 159

Have a great weekend. See you tomorrow.

The Wednesday Fungo: April 10

Game 6: April 10, 1984

Tigers 5 – Rangers 1

W: Dan Petry (2-0) L: Dave Stewart (0-2) | Boxscore

Highlights

The Rangers got off to a fast start in the first, greeting Petry with a couple of singles — one by Buddy Bell and, after a groundout, another by Larry Parrish — and jumping out to a 1-0 lead.

It didn’t last.

In the bottom half, Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell walked, leading to Darrell Evans‘ first Tiger Stadium at bat. Evans blasted Dave Stewart‘s 1-0 pitch deep into the upper deck in right and, I think I can speak for most of us, we could hardly contain ourselves.

Lance Parrish popped out, Kirk Gibson singled, and walks to Larry Herndon and Chet Lemon loaded the bases for Howard Johnson* — and he walked, giving the Tigers a 4-1 lead and ending Stewart’s day at two-thirds of an inning.

Petry threw a four-hit complete game, walking three and striking out seven.

With one out in the third, Herndon doubled and the next man up, Dave Bergman, drove him in for the Tigers’ final run.

Record: 6-0

*Somehow, Howard Johnson did not make it on my Top-5 Tigers list Honorable Mentions. I’m correcting that now. I was not happy when he was traded to the Mets after the ’84 season.

Miscellany

Umpires: HP – Marty Springstead, 1B – Jim McKean, 2B – Durwood Merrill, 3B – Tim McClelland
Time of Game: 2:32
Attendance: 51,238
Start Time Weather: 62° F, Sunny, No Precipitation

Birthdays

Eric King and the late Frank Lary, Cliff Bolton and Rudy Kneisch

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 374 8/9 – Rarity: 170

See you tomorrow.

The Sunday Fungo: April 7

Game 4: April 7, 1984

Tigers 4 – White Sox 0

W: Jack Morris (2-0) – L: Floyd Bannister (0-2) | Boxscore

So much to say about this game.

A hot start, a Game of the Week appearance and a win would have been enough to satisfy me at an age, but at 16, well, adding a no-hitter by my favorite Tiger … come on.

As no-hitters go, it wasn’t clean — Morris walked six — but who cared? He struck out eight, facing 32 batters.

A huge play came in the bottom of the fourth, with nobody out. After walking Rudy Law, Carlton Fisk and Harold Baines, Morris fielded Greg Luzinski to hit a check-swing, ground ball double play: Morris to Lance Parrish to Bárbaro Garbey.

Then, with Fisk on third and Baines on second, Morris struck out Ron Kittle to end the inning.

Chet Lemon hit a two-run homer in the second, and the Tigers scored a pair in the fifth to make it 4-0.

In the bottom of the eighth, Dave Bergman made this play on leadoff hitter Jerry Hairston — karma for his breaking up Milt Wilcox‘s perfect game 358 days earlier.

Record: 4-0

Miscellany

Umpires: HP – Durwood Merrill, 1B – Tim McClelland, 2B – Marty Springstead, 3B – Jim McKean
Time of Game: 2:44
Attendance: 24,616
Start Time Weather: 50° F, Wind 8mph in from Centerfield, Sunny, No Precipitation

5 Things to Know About Jack Lazorko – #36

No Tigers baseball card for Lazorko, it seems.

Jack Lazorko signed as a free agent with the Tigers on Feb, 7, 1986.

He spent most of the season in Triple-A Nashville, where he made 29 starts, finishing with an 8-6 record and 3.20 ERA — and one save.

The right-hander appeared in three games over the course of six days with the ’86 Tigers, his first on Aug. 9 against the Red Sox in Detroit: 1.2 IP, 3 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks and a strikeout.

Up next was two innings of work on Aug. 14 against the White Sox.

His final outing was a solid one, against Red Sox at Fenway on Aug. 15: 3 IP, one hit, one walk and two strikeouts.

Birthdays

Ben Petrick and the late Ed Lafitte

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 371 8/9 – Rarity: 171

Three former Tigers today, and my blank square was a guess for George Kell. He didn’t hit .300 for the Orioles, but got close. In his final big-league season, at age 34, he hit .297 for Baltimore.