Tag: Jack Lazorko

The Monday Fungo: June 17

June 17, 1984: Tigers 7 – Brewers 4

W: Dave Rozema (3-0) – L: Bob McClure (1-2) – S: Aurelio López (8) | Boxscore

Record: 47-16 — 6 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • The Tigers scored five in the fifth off McClure and Jack Lazorko.
  • 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 Brumley died 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, the Tigers 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.

Birthdays

David Pauley, Matt Kinzer – who pitched for 1990 Tigers AND punted for ’87 Lions – and the late Claude Rossman

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 442 9/9: Rarity: 82

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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

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.

See you tomorrow.

The Saturday Fungo

Larry Sheets – #9

After the misery of the 1989 season, Bill Lajoie got to work in the offseason adding hitters to a lousy roster.

Cecil Fielder, Tony Phillips and Lloyd Moseby were the headliners, but an under-the-radar guy was lefthanded-hitting outfielder Larry Sheets.

After six years in Baltimore, Sheets was dealt to Detroit for infielder Mike Brumley.

Here are five things to know about Sheets’ time with the Tigers:

  • Final line: 131 games, .261 average, 10 HR, 52 RBI, .710 OPS
  • All of his home runs came off right handers, and all but one of his RBI came of righties.
  • Bonus item: He’s the father of White Sox outfielder/first baseman Gavin Sheets.

Birthdays

Jack Lazorko and the late Ed Gremminger

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 363 9/9 — Rarity: 7

An all-Tiger, lowest-rarity Grid today!

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.