Tag: Keith Moreland

The Thursday Fungo: May 2

May 2, 1984: Red Sox 5 – Tigers 4

W: Mike Brown (1-2) – L: Juan Berenguer (1-1) – Save: Bob Stanley (4) | Boxscore

Record: 19-3

Highlights

  • A pair of two-run homers off Berenguer, one by Dwight Evans, the other by Jim Rice, gave the Red Sox a 4-0 lead in the third. Boston tacked on a run in the fifth to go up 5-0. 
  • The Tigers scratched back with a run in the sixth and eighth, and then two in the ninth off Stanley.
  • Kirk Gibson went 4 for 5 with a double, triple and an RBI.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Rocky Roe, 1B – Larry Barnett, 2B – Dale Ford, 3B – Ken Kaiser
  • Time of Game: 2:33
  • Attendance: 23,085

Darrell Evans #41

Before Pudge Rodriguez and Magglio Ordoñez, the Tigers’ big splash in the free agent market came on Dec. 17, 1983, when they signed 36-year-old* slugger Darrell Evans.

*He turned 37 in May 1984.

As most seasoned Tigers fans remember, the club’s leadership, or at least GM Jim Campbell — whose opinion was the only one that mattered — hated free agency. In fact, Campbell hated paying for his own free agent players and loved to trade them before their walk year. He certainly wasn’t going to spend on someone else’s players.

That changed in 1983 when Evans chose a Detroit offer which was, of course, lower than those of the Yankees, Giants and other clubs that tried to sign, or in the case of San Francisco, re-sign him. The allure of joining a team poised to win right away made Detroit the choice.

As we’ve covered, in his first game as a Tiger, April 3, 1984, Evans homered of the Twins’ Keith Comstock, a three-run jack, and Detroit was off to the races. A week later, on Opening Day in Detroit, he homered in his first Tiger Stadium at bat, an upper-deck blast off the Rangers’ Dave Stewart.

He’d hit only 14 more home runs in 1984, but quickly became a fan favorite. In 1985, he hit 40 homers, 29 in ’86 and then 34, at age 40!, in 1987. Even in 1988, his final year in Detroit, at age 41, he hit 22.

In five seasons with the Tigers, Evans hit 141 of his career 414 home runs. In 1989, he finished his career where it began: with the Atlanta Braves.

Birthdays

Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Neftali Feliz, Mark Johnson, Jim Walewander, Keith Moreland, Steve Grilli and the late Gates Brown 

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 396 8/9 – Rarity: 129

See you tomorrow.

The Tuesday Fungo: Feb. 20

The Chris Brown Experiment

Perhaps no other word best describes third baseman Chris Brown like enigmatic.

After a promising start to his career with the Giants in 1985, his .271 average and 16 homers earned him a fourth-place finish in the National League Rookie of the Year Award, and an All-Star Game appearance in ’86, Brown began frustrating his managers and his teammates with a string of questionable and bizarre injuries. In fact, he never appeared in more games than he did that rookie season (131).

The Tigers were in complete free fall when they traded Walt Terrell to the Padres for Brown and Keith Moreland, whose best years were behind him. Why Detroit thought Brown and his “Tin Man” reputation would be transformed under Sparky Anderson is mystifying.

Here’s a longer profile from the Fungo archives.


Birthdays

Buck Farmer, Justin Verlander, Kurt Knudsen, Bill Gullickson, Roy Face and the late Muddy Ruel and Suds Sutherland.


Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 324 9/9: Rarity: 20

See you tomorrow.

The Monday Fungo: Feb. 19

On Vinyl! “The Year of the Tiger ’68”

Last week I posted the Channel 4 review of the 1968 season, but this is the original as far as I’m concerned. My Dad bought this 33 rpm record for me in 1978 — we had to send away for it, as we said then — and I just about wore it out. I’m so thankful this stuff lives on in the depths of the Internet.

Start your week with the sounds of a young(er) Ernie Harwell.

Random Game: Aug. 10, 1981

Milt Wilcox versus Jim Clancy in the Tigers’ first game after the players strike. Tigers win 4-3 on a walkoff, bases-loaded single to left by Alan Trammell to score Kirk Gibson.

Monday, August 10, 1981

Birthdays

Jackie Moore and the late Chris Zachary and Russ Sullivan.

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 323 7/9: Rarity: 207

FYI: Kirk Gibson did not appear in center for the Royals, but I was able to slot three former Tigers in today’s edition.

See you tomorrow.

Today’s Tiger: Chris Brown

Chris Brown

  • Born: Aug. 15, 1961 in Jackson, Miss.
  • Died: Dec. 26, 2006 in Houston
  • Acquired: Traded by the Padres with Keith Moreland to the Tigers for Walt Terrell on Oct. 28, 1988.
  • Seasons in Detroit: 1 (1989)
  • Bats: Right Throws: Right
  • Height: 6′ Weight: 185 lb.
  • Uniform Number: 35
  • Stats: .193 avg., 0 HR, 4 RBI, .449 OPS

Perhaps no other word best describes third baseman Chris Brown like enigmatic.

After a promising start to his career with the Giants in 1985, his .271 average and 16 homers earned him a fourth-place finish in the National League Rookie of the Year Award, and an All-Star Game appearance in ’86, Brown began frustrating his managers and his teammates with a string of questionable and bizarre injuries. In fact, he never appeared in more games than he did that rookie season (131).Chris Brown 1989 Tigers 3

By the middle of the 1987 season Brown was shipped to the Padres with Keith Comstock, Mark Davis and Mark Grant for Dave Dravecky, Craig Lefferts and Kevin Mitchell.

He didn’t fare well in San Diego either, hitting .232 in 44 games. In 1988 he hit just .235 in 80 games.The Tigers were in complete freefall when they traded Walt Terrell to the Padres for Brown and Keith Moreland, whose best years were behind him.

Why Detroit thought Brown and his “Tin Man” reputation would be transformed under Sparky Anderson is mystifying. His reputation for injuries — real or imagined — ranged from shoulder tenderness, a bad tooth and a sore eyelid. At least those are the more legendary ones and who knows if any were true.

In Detroit, the Chris Brown Experiment — such as it was — got off to a poor start when he arrived to spring training overweight. It ended after just 17 games, 11 hits and a .193 average. Worse yet, if possible, was a .909 fielding percentage in that time. On May 19, he was released.

A few weeks later he was signed by the Pirates but never appeared in a big-league game for them.

Brown died in a mysterious Houston house fire on Dec. 26, 2006, at the age of 45. According to this MLB.com story:

Brown was employed by Halliburton Co. in Iraq, driving and repairing 18-wheel fuel trucks, and in a 2004 interview with The Associated Press, he said, “It’s a place I would’ve never thought 20 years ago that I’d be.”

His final career line: .269 average, 38 home runs, 184 RBI and a .725 OPS.

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)

JasonThompson.jpg
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”

Today’s Tiger: Chris Brown

Chris Brown

  • Born: Aug. 15, 1961 in Jackson, Miss.
  • Died: Dec. 26, 2006 in Houston
  • Acquired: Traded by the Padres with Keith Moreland to the Tigers for Walt Terrell on Oct. 28, 1988.
  • Seasons in Detroit: 1 (1989)
  • Bats: Right Throws: Right
  • Height: 6′ Weight: 185 lb.
  • Uniform Number: 35
  • Stats: .193 avg., 0 HR, 4 RBI, .449 OPS

Perhaps no other word best describes third baseman Chris Brown like enigmatic.

After a promising start to his career with the Giants in 1985, his .271 average and 16 homers earned him a fourth-place finish in the National League Rookie of the Year Award, and an All-Star Game appearance in ’86, Brown began frustrating his managers and his teammates with a string of questionable and bizarre injuries. In fact, he never appeared in more games than he did that rookie season (131).

By the middle of the 1987 season Brown was shipped to the Padres with Keith Comstock, Mark Davis and Mark Grant for Dave Dravecky, Craig Lefferts and Kevin Mitchell. He didn’t fare well in San Diego either, hitting .232 in 44 games. In 1988 he hit just .235 in 80 games.

The Tigers were in complete freefall when they traded Walt Terrell to the Padres for Brown and Keith Moreland, whose best years were behind him. Why Detroit thought Brown and his “Tin Man” reputation would be transformed under Sparky Anderson is mystifying. His reputation for injuries — real or imagined — ranged from shoulder tenderness, a bad tooth and a sore eyelid. At least those are the more legendary ones — who knows if they were true.

In Detroit, the Chris Brown Experiment — such as it was — got off to a poor start when he arrived to spring training overweight. It ended after just 17 games, 11 hits and a .193 average. Worse yet, if possible, was a .909 fielding percentage in that time. On May 19, he was released. A few weeks later he was signed by the Pirates but never appeared in a big-league game for them.

He died in a mysterious Houston house fire on Dec. 26, 2006, at the age of 45. According to this MLB.com story:

Brown was employed by Halliburton Co. in Iraq, driving and repairing 18-wheel fuel trucks, and in a 2004 interview with The Associated Press, he said, “It’s a place I would’ve never thought 20 years ago that I’d be.”

His final career line: .269 average, 38 home runs, 184 RBI and a .725 OPS.