Fifty years ago this June, the Tigers signed Tim Corcoran as an amateur free agent, and he started hitting as soon as he got to Lakeland (.270) and Bristol (.370).
In 1975, Corcoran was promoted to Double-A Montgomery and hit .245 with a .666 OPS, but in ’76 he hit 64 points higher with a solid OPS: .309 / .811.
Corcoran made his Tigers debut on May 18, 1977, against Gaylord Perry and the Rangers. As Ralph Houk’s DH, he walked in his first big-league at bat and scored, but went 0 for 3 in a 6-3 loss.
The left-handed hitter played parts of four seasons with the Tigers as an outfielder/DH/first baseman combo.
From 1977-80, Corcoran appeared in 273 games for Detroit, with a final line of:
Average
Hits
Home Runs
RBI
OPS
.272
164
7
66
.690
Corcoran appeared in his final game as a Tiger on Oct. 5, 1980, against the Yankees, as a pinch hitter for Duffy Dyer. He lined into a game- and season-ending double play. The Tigers lost, 2-1.
He spent most of the 1981 season in Evansville where all he did was hit: .298 average, an .826 OPS and 100 hits in 106 games. Still, it wasn’t enough to last in Detroit.
On Sept. 4, 1981, the Tigers sent him to the Twins as the player to be named later in the Aug. 23 trade for Ron Jackson.
After spending time with the Twins and getting decent playing time with the Phillies from 1983-85, Corcoran’s final major-league appearance came on June 6, 1986 with the Mets. In ’87 and ’88, he played for the Triple-A Maine Phillies.
It took all of the second day in Cooperstown to make it through the balance of the Museum – and it did not disappoint. There’s so much I could write about but I think the photos I posted on TigersHistory.com tell the tale more vividly. Yet, one dimension in particular stands out and deserves a few words: the detail of the Museum.
Here I am in the exhibit recognizing the Tigers clubs from the 1980s. Though he’s not represented in the Hall of Fame, I was delighted to see my man Jack Morris in the Museum. Same for Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker and the rest of the ’84 champs.
The Museum is rooted in the minutiae of baseball and the memories these otherwise mundane objects evoke. You’d expect to see artifacts from Hank Aaron’s chase for the Babe, Nolan Ryan’s seven no-hitters and Rickey Henderson’s stolen base exploits. But it’s the other stuff that held me rapt. For example:
The cornerstone from Ebbets Field
The wall panel from Tiger Stadium’s deepest reaches – the 440-foot mark
A deep-blue leather jacket from the Philadelphia Athletics
The rotating thingy that sat atop the centerfield scoreboard at old Comiskey Park
A scorebook from a Tigers/Indians game from the early 1970s
The shoes worn by Hall of Fame National League umpire Doug Harvey in his final game in 1992
And so much more. Of course, there was lot of Tigers miscellany, some curious of not outright dubious.
For example, in the Tigers locker, part of the Today’s Game exhibit, you’ll find the hat worn by Luis Pujols when he managed against the Royals’ Tony Pena in June 2002. It marked the first time managers from the Dominican Republic faced each other. The fact someone has that on their radar and thinks to make contact ahead of time with the Royals and Tigers is astounding and impressive.
Also in the Museum is the hat worn by Octavio Dotel on April 7 when he appeared in a game for his record-setting 13th different club.
In a way it’s cool that these items are in Cooperstown, but these two names representing the Tigers with Ty Cobb, Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer, Hal Newhouser, Mickey Cochrane, George
Kell and Al Kaline? Kind of a joke, I thought. But the more I considered it, the more I appreciated that the seemingly minor and mostly forgotten stories of people like Pujols and Dotel shape the narrative and history of baseball.
I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s true.
As we departed for the grueling drive back to Detroit I wondered when I’d get back to Cooperstown. Chances are it won’t be soon.
Until that time, I’ll be keeping a more watchful eye on the historical aspects as they happen and cherish a trip of a lifetime with my Dad, brother and brothers in law.
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