Enos Cabell

The Wednesday Fungo

Champ Summers

Champ Summers was a fan favorite in Detroit and for good reason. He came to the Tigers as a career underachiever — at least at the major-league level — in an under-the-radar trade roughly a week before they hired Sparky Anderson in 1979. Summers_Champ

The Reds traded the 30-year-old Summers to the Tigers for a player to be named later on May 25, 1979. On Oct. 25, the Tigers sent Sheldon Burnside to the Reds to complete the trade.

The year before, John Junior Summers was the Minor League Player of the Year for the Reds’ top farm club, Indianapolis of the American Association. He led the AA with a .368 average, 34 homers and 124 RBI.

In 1979, Summers was hitting .200 with a single home run after 27 early-season games with the Reds, but after coming to Detroit, he had the best three seasons of his career.

That season he batted .313 with 20 home runs (14 solo) in 90 games and posted a .614 slugging percentage along with a 1.028 OPS. Anderson played Summers primarily in right field with a few DH assignments sprinkled in.

The Tigers rewarded him with a three-year contract near the end of the ’79 season.

Tigers fans loved Summers and he continued to provide punch to a young lineup. In 1980, his numbers slipped ever-so slightly but they were solid: .297/17/60 with an OPS of .897.

His production dropped further in the strike-shortened season of 1981 when, at age 35, his average fell to .255 and his power numbers plummeted, too. Summers hit only three home runs and eight doubles in 64 games in what would be his final season in Detroit.

In March 1982 the Tigers dealt him to the Giants for first baseman Enos Cabell. Summers would struggle in his two seasons in San Francisco, posting a .231 average and four home runs.

You can read the full post in the Archives.

Random Game: Aug. 7, 1987

Tigers 8 – Yankees 0

W: Jeff Robinson (8-5) – L: Rick Rhoden (14-7) | Boxscore

A classic midsummer showdown between A.L. East rivals, who were gridlocked atop the division heading into this game:

**AL East Division** **July 17,1987**
Tm	W	L	W-L%	GB
TOR	65	44	.596	—
NYY	65	45	.591	0.5
DET	62	44	.585	1.5
MIL	56	51	.523	8.0
BOS	51	57	.472	13.5
BAL	49	60	.450	16.0
CLE	40	69	.367	25.0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 3/13/2024.

I was there for this one with a big group of friends in our usual bleacher seats, upper deck, dead center.

Rookie Jeff Robinson was masterful, allowing just five hits and striking out nine while cruising to a complete-game shutout.
Dave Bergman drove in four runs, three of them on a homer off Rick Rhoden in the fourth.
Newcomer Jim Morrison, in his Tigers debut, went two for four with a solo homer.
Chet Lemon went three for three with a walk and an RBI.
Matt Nokes and Pat Sheridan also had two hits.

Miscellany

Umpires: HP – Mike Reilly, 1B – Tim Welke, 2B – Terry Cooney, 3B – Joe Brinkman
Time of Game: 2:31
Attendance: 48,262

Birthdays

Mike Aviles, the late Cliff Mapes, Eric Erickson and Mal Eason.

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 346 9/9 — Rarity: 22

See you tomorrow.

The Wednesday Fungo

Enos Cabell

The Tigers acquired Enos Cabell on March 4, 1982, in trade with the Giants for Champ Summers.

In 2011, Tom Gage wrote a piece in The Detroit News about Cabell (the original link to the article is here, but it’s not active for whatever reason) and I was interested to read why Cabell, who hit .311 for the 1983 Tigers, moved on after that season:

He wanted to stay a Tiger, and they weren’t averse to him staying.

“But they wouldn’t give me a raise,” Cabell said Saturday. “I hit .311, played with a knee brace the last two months of that year, and they wouldn’t give me a penny more.

“So I said bye-bye. I was pretty sure the Astros wanted me back, anyway.”

He filed for free agency on Nov. 7, 1983 and I couldn’t believe they let him walk away, especially after a solid ’83 campaign.

Six weeks later, on Dec. 17, 1983, the Tigers signed left-handed hitting Darrell Evans, a much-bigger power threat than the right-handed Cabell.

Then, of course, in March came the trade that defined the 1984 season: Willie Hernandez and Dave Bergman for Glenn Wilson and John Wockenfuss.

Who knows how that would have come about if they had re-signed Cabell? A few years later this news broke — and on this date in 1986 — and you have to wonder if this played into the Tigers thinking in the fall of ‘83.

Commissioner Peter Ueberroth gives seven players who were admitted drug users a choice of a year’s suspension without pay or heavy fines and career-long drug testing, along with 100 hours of drug-related community service. Joaquín Andújar, Dale Berra, Enos Cabell, Keith Hernandez, Jeffrey Leonard, Dave Parker, and Lonnie Smith will be fined ten percent of their annual salaries to drug abuse programs. The commissioner also doles out lesser penalties to 14 other players for their use of drugs.

Cabell’s career numbers in Detroit: .284 average, 7 homers, 83 RBI, .682 OPS.

Birthdays

Niko Goodrum, Chad Bell and the late Ron Samford and Lil Stoner

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 332 9/9 — Rarity: 9

I’m particularly proud of this one!

See you tomorrow.

The Mysterious Enos Cabell

I love “where-are-they-now” pieces as much — and probably more — than the next guy.

cabell_enos So, when I saw Tom Gage’s piece about Enos Cabell over the weekend, I was interested to read why Cabell, who hit .311 for the 1983 Tigers, moved on after that season.

He wanted to stay a Tiger, and they weren’t averse to him staying.

“But they wouldn’t give me a raise,” Cabell said Saturday. “I hit .311, played with a knee brace the last two months of that year, and they wouldn’t give me a penny more.

“So I said bye-bye. I was pretty sure the Astros wanted me back, anyway.”

As Rob Neyer might say, well, maybe. I remember there was talk about Cabell having a drug problem and that Sparky Anderson wanted none of that in his clubhouse. Then, in 1986:

Commissioner Peter Ueberroth gives seven players who were admitted drug users a choice of a year’s suspension without pay or heavy fines and career-long drug testing, along with 100 hours of drug-related community service. Joaquin Andújar, Dale Berra, Enos Cabell, Keith Hernandez, Jeffrey Leonard, Dave Parker, and Lonnie Smith will be fined 10 percent of their annual salaries to drug abuse programs. The commissioner also doles out lesser penalties to 14 other players for their use of drugs.

Somewhere in the middle is the truth, right?

Today’s Tiger: Jason Thompson

Jason Thompson

Born: July 6, 1954 in Hollywood, Calif.
Bats: Left Throws: Left
Height: 6′ 4″ Weight: 200 lb.
Acquired: Drafted by the Tigers in the fourth round of the 1975 amateur draft.
Seasons in Detroit: 5 (1976-80)
Uniform Number: 30
Stats: .256 avg., 98 HR, 354 RBI, .779 OPS
Awards: Three-time All Star (1977, ’78 and ’82)

On May 27, 1980, Tigers GM Jim Campbell traded my favorite player, first baseman Jason Thompson, to the California Angels for outfielder Al Cowens.

The Hollywood native joined the Tigers full time in 1976 and played 123 games that year, hitting .218, with 17 home runs and 54 RBI. Two of the homers cleared the rightfield roof at Tiger Stadium. It was in 1977, though, that he made his mark: .270, 31 homers and 105 RBI — and earned an All Star Game selection.

Continue reading “Today’s Tiger: Jason Thompson”