Tag: Frank Catalanotto

The Saturday Fungo: April 27

April 27, 1984: Indians 8 – Tigers 4 (19)

W: Luis Aponte (1-0) – L: Glenn Abbott (1-1) | Boxscore

Record: 16-2

Highlights

  • Both teams scored in the 10th — which Sutcliffe started and quickly departed after allowing a leadoff double to Lou Whitaker, who went 3 for 7 on the night. (Poor Cleveland DH Andre Thornton went 0 for 9.)
  • After eight scoreless extra innings, the Indians broke through in the 19th, dropping four runs on Abbott — who was in his fifth inning of relief.
  • The Tigers made four errors in the game.
  • Had the game remained tied after the 19th, under American League rules, it would have been suspended.
  • This was also the night of the epic Pistons/Knicks Game 5 playoff game held at Joe Louis Arena due to the Silverdome’s collapsed roof. Isiah scored 16 points in 94 seconds in the fourth quarter to force OT … but the Pistons lost 127-123.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Rocky Roe, 1B – Larry Barnett, 2B – Dale Ford, 3B – Ken Kaiser
  • Time of Game: 5:44
  • Attendance: 34,112

Birthdays

Frank Catalanotto, Bob MacDonald and the late George Archie and George Winter 

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 391 9/9 – Rarity: 4

My best Grid ever.

See you tomorrow.

Dmitri Young in the Hall of Fame Classic. Come again … ?

This morning I received my Baseball Hall of Fame newsletter, Inside Pitch, and the lead story recapped yesterday’s Hall of Fame Classic in Cooperstown.

Before the game they held a parade that featured Hall of Famers Jim Rice, Ozzie Smith, Goose Gossage, Phil Niekro, Andre Dawson and Dick Williams.

Scanning through the article I could’ve sworn I saw Dmitri Young‘s name.

Dmitri Young? At the Hall of Fame Classic?

Lo and behold …

Soon enough the crowds headed to historic Doubleday Field for the day’s main event, which began with a Legends Hitting Contest won by two-time All-Star Dmitri Young in a finals showdown with Reggie Sanders.

“It felt great,” Young said minutes later. “It took a couple of swings but once you get in the swing of things and the mentality comes back with all the baseball players. I just started feeling comfortable up there.

“I was here in for the Hall of Fame Game in 2005 and came in second against Big Papi (David Ortiz). But now I’m the champ and have a watch to prove it.”

At this point I had to find out which players were a part of this game. The answer included several obscure former Tigers players including pitchers John Doherty, Jon Warden and Jack Lazorko, and infielder Frank Catalanotto.

You can see the box score here (be warned it’s not a web page — it fires up an Excel document) and you’ll see several well-known names — from Bill Lee to Dale Murphy to Dave Henderson.

And with names like that you can understand my curiosity about DY.

Classic, I suppose, but not in traditionally classic fashion.

Randy Smith’s Losing Bet

Nine years ago today the Tigers swung a blockbuster trade for the ages — one Tigers fans are trying to forget.

On Nov. 2, 1999, the Rangers sent outfielder Juan Gonzalez, pitcher Danny Patterson and catcher Gregg Zaun to the Tigers for pitchers Justin Thompson, Alan Webb and Francisco Cordero, outfielder Gabe Kapler, catcher Bill Haselman, and infielder Frank Catalanotto.

Sound like a ripoff? That’s not the half of it.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane and see how that worked out for both teams since the day of the trade:

Detroit

Gonzalez

  • 2000 (Detroit): 115 G, .289, 22 HR, 67 RBI
  • 2001-05 (CLE, TEX, KC): .302, 72 HR, 262 RBI

Zaun

He never played in Detroit. On March 7, 2000, the Tigers sent him to the Royals as part of a conditional deal. Think the Tigers could’ve used him behind the plate during those pre-Pudge seasons? Me too.

  • 2000-2008 (KC, HOU, COL, TOR): .254, 62 HR, 336 RBI

Patterson

  • 2000-04 (Detroit): 10-11, 6.17 ERA*, 5 saves (*Bloated by a 15.00 ERA in just three innings pitched in 2002. Without it, his Detroit ERA would be 3.97.)

Texas

Thompson

Poor J.T. He never could rebound from shoulder injuries that began to plague him in Detroit. He didn’t pitch in Texas until 2005 when he appeared in two games, surrendered four earned runs and two homers. He signed with the Brewers after that season and retired on June 20, 2006.

  • Career line: Five seasons, 36-43, 4.02 ERA, 428 K

Webb: According to Baseball-Reference.com, Webb never appeared in the majors.

Cordero: 2000-08 (TEX, MIL, CIN): 31-31, 211 saves, 4.00 ERA

Kapler: 2000-06, ’08 (TEX, COL, BOS, MIL) .279, 54 HR, 291 RBI

Haselman: By the time of this trade, Haselman was nearing the end of his 13-year career. He broke in with the Rangers in 1990, played three seasons (’92-’94) with the Mariners, three with Boston, a return engagement with the Rangers, one year in Detroit, back to Texas, and then his final season in 2003 with the Red Sox. 2000-03 (TEX, BOS): .265, 12 HR, 69 RBI

Catalanotto : 2000-08 (TEX, TOR): .295, 66 HR, 384 RBI

From the moment I saw this trade announced on ESPN’s crawl I knew it was not going to work out well. How could it?

First, the Tigers were giving up far too much youth for essentially one player: Gonzalez who, on his best day, was a moody enigma.

Second, as Ian reminded me, then-GM Randy Smith was allegedly shaping the Comerica Park Tigers to be a pitching-defense-and-speed club.

Acquiring a plodding slugger doesn’t fit into that scheme — particularly when CoPa was dubbed Comerica National Park for its expansive dimensions.

And third, everything in the universe had to align with unrealistic precision for Gonzalez to even half-consider signing with the Tigers after the 2000 season.

It’s painful to see how the kids Detroit traded away blossomed in the Texas heat. Personally, the one player that hurt the most was Catalanatto. If ever a hitter were designed for Comerica Park, it was Cat.

Kapler could’ve been a good role player throughout this decade, Cordero could’ve been they type of closer the Tigers now seek via trade or free agency.

Coulda, shoulda, woulda. Perhaps those are the three words that best sum up this trade.

What do you think?