Tag: Joe Oliver

July 24, 1984: Tigers 9 – Indians 5

W: Milt Wilcox (10-6) – L: Steve Farr (1-7) | Boxscore

Record: 68-29 — 11.5 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • Doug Baker had a career day, going 4 for 5 with two runs scored, and Milt allowed six hits across 62/3 innings — plus four unearned runs.
  • Detroit won their sixth straight and 11th of their last 12.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Cleveland Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Ted Hendry, 1B – Drew Coble, 2B – Jim Evans, 3B – Greg Kosc
  • Time of Game: 3:21
  • Attendance: 15,578

Birthdays

Jason Smith, Joe Oliver and Jeff Kaiser

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 479 9/9 — Rarity: 23

See you tomorrow.

The Tuesday Fungo: April 16

April 16, 1984: Another Rainout in Boston

The Patriots’ Day game at Fenway was washed out, so the Tigers packed up and went home to begin a two-game set against the Royals on April 17.

Record: Still 8-0.

Bruce Taylor – #32

The Tigers selected right-hander Bruce Taylor from the Reds in the December 1975 Rule 5 draft. He spent the entire 1976 season at Evansville, which means the Tigers swung a deal with Cincinnati to keep him and not have him on the big-league roster. I guess?

Taylor made his major-league debut at 24 on Aug. 5, 1977, in relief of Steve Grilli. He got the final out of the eighth and pitched a clean ninth in a 6-0 loss to the Rangers.

He appeared in 19 games his rookie season, tossing 29.1 innings. He finished with 1-0 record, two saves and a 3.38 ERA.

In 1978, he appeared in just one game with the Tigers, pitching a single inning: on April 14 against the Blue Jays. He spent the rest of the season in Evansville.

The 1979 season was Taylor’s last with the Tigers and in the majors. He pitched in 10 games, the last on May 22 against the Yankees in which he tossed the last three innings of a 12-8 loss, and finished with a 1-2 record and a 4.82 ERA.

His final major league line: 2-2, 3.86 ERA and two saves.

Birthdays

Fernando Vina, Bruce Taylor, the late Dutch Leonard and Gene Ford

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 380 9/9 – Rarity: 17

By pure happenstance I slotted Fernando Vina into the grid before knowing it was his birthday. He’s one of four former Tigers in today’s offering.

See you tomorrow.