Tag: Lance Parrish

The Thursday Fungo: April 11

April 11, 1984: Off Day in Detroit

Note: I had mistakenly posted today a game recap for April 12 — forgetting that the Tigers had an off day on April 11 for the usual Opening Day rainout makeup date. Check back tomorrow for that recap.

5 Things to Know About Sid Monge #42

The Tigers purchased his contract from the Padres on June 10, 1984.

He debuted with the Tigers on June 11 against the Blue Jays. He faced one batter, Willie Upshaw, who singled to center.

Monge’s longest outing with the Tigers came on Aug. 7 against the Red Sox, in the first game of a doubleheader. Boston chased Jack Morris after an inning and a third, surrendering nine runs. Sid came in for four and two thirds, allowing six hits and three earned runs.

His final appearance with the Tigers came on the last day of the season: a one-inning stint against the Yankees: one inning, two hits, two earned runs.

Sid wasn’t on the Tigers postseason roster. His final line: 19 appearances, 1-0 and a 4.25 ERA.

Birthdays

Pete Kozma, Charlie Furbush, Sean Bergman, John Martin, Sid Monge and Mike Kilkenny and the late Barney McCosky

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 375 8/9 — Rarity: 161

See you tomorrow.

The Wednesday Fungo: April 10

Game 6: April 10, 1984

Tigers 5 – Rangers 1

W: Dan Petry (2-0) L: Dave Stewart (0-2) | Boxscore

Highlights

The Rangers got off to a fast start in the first, greeting Petry with a couple of singles — one by Buddy Bell and, after a groundout, another by Larry Parrish — and jumping out to a 1-0 lead.

It didn’t last.

  • In the bottom half, Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell walked, leading to Darrell Evans‘ first Tiger Stadium at bat. Evans blasted Dave Stewart‘s 1-0 pitch deep into the upper deck in right and, I think I can speak for most of us, we could hardly contain ourselves.
  • Petry threw a four-hit complete game, walking three and striking out seven.
  • With one out in the third, Herndon doubled and the next man up, Dave Bergman, drove him in for the Tigers’ final run.
  • Record: 6-0

*Somehow, Howard Johnson did not make it on my Top-5 Tigers list Honorable Mentions. I’m correcting that now. I was not happy when he was traded to the Mets after the ’84 season.

Miscellany

  • Umpires: HP – Marty Springstead, 1B – Jim McKean, 2B – Durwood Merrill, 3B – Tim McClelland
  • Time of Game: 2:32
  • Attendance: 51,238
  • Start Time Weather: 62° F, Sunny, No Precipitation

Birthdays

Eric King and the late Frank Lary, Cliff Bolton and Rudy Kneisch 

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 374 8/9 – Rarity: 170

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 Thursday Fungo – April 4

April 4, 1984: Off Day in Minneapolis

The Tigers and Twins had an off day between Opening Day and the final two games of the series.

It makes as little sense now as it did back then — why a day off when the Twins played indoors?

Today’s Random Game: Aug. 16, 1981

Tigers 5 – Yankees 4

W: Aurelio Lopez – L: Ron Davis | Boxscore

Highlights

  • Then with one out in the bottom of the ninth …

Miscellany

  • Umpires: HP – Ken Kaiser, 1B – Mark Johnson, 2B – Bill Haller, 3B – Dan Morrison
  • Time of Game: 2:54
  • Attendance: 21,077
  • Start Time Weather: 68° F, Cloudy, No Precipitation

Birthdays

Cameron Maybin and Louis Coleman

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 368 9/9 – Rarity: 15

See you tomorrow.

🐇 The Sunday Fungo

The Tigers on Easter Sunday

Happy Easter! Here’s a rundown of the Tigers’ performance on Easter Sunday in games from 1977 through ’94. They appeared in nine games, winning three:

April 10, 1977: Royals 5 – Tigers 0 | W: Colborn – L: Ruhle – Save: Gura
April 15, 1979: Tigers 11 – Rangers 6 | W: Burnside – L: Lyle
April 19, 1981: Blue Jays 9 – Tigers 1 | W: Bomback – L: Morris
April 11, 1982: Tigers 2 – Royals 1 | W: Rozema – L: Blue – Save: Saucier
April 22, 1984: Tigers 9 – White Sox 1 | W: Berenguer – L: Brennan
April 19, 1987: White Sox 7 – Tigers 1 | W: Bannister – L: Petry
April 15, 1990: Orioles 6 – Tigers 0 | W: Milacki – L: Robinson
April 19, 1992: Orioles 3 – Tigers 2 | W: Milacki – L: Terrell – Save: Olson
April 11, 1993: Angels 7 – Tigers 6 | W: Crim – L: Krueger – Save: Grahe

Birthdays

Tracy Jones, Bill Denehy and the late Marv Grissom and Johnny Couch.

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 364 9/9 – Rarity: 3

I don’t think I can do better than this. It checks all boxes except for the all-Tigers box.

See you tomorrow.

The Saturday Fungo

My Top-5 Tigers

Lately I’ve been giving a lot of thought to who my all-time favorite Tigers are and who would make a tidy list.

Putting together my top 10 would be easy. Narrowing it to just five would be tough but I wanted to give it a shot.

What’s the criteria for this list?

I decided that this was my purely subjective list based on players I enjoyed watching play for the Tigers.

For example, Mark Fidrych doesn’t make the list simply because I never saw him play live — and I decided ESPN Classic and MLB Network reruns don’t count.

The legend of The Bird and his place in Tigers lore is secure for me.

Here’s my list* — not in order of favorite-ness, but in order of how they came to mind — which has been revised right up to the moment I clicked “Publish” on this post.

Honorable Mentions

*Always subject to revision.

Birthdays

None!

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 356 9/9 – Rarity: 11

See you tomorrow.

The Sunday Fungo

Chuck Cary – #43

There was a lot of anticipation for what was being sold to Tigers fans as the next wave of homegrown talent behind Jack Morris, Dan Petry, Lance Parrish, Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell. One player that held promise was lefty Chuck Cary, along with Roger Mason, Randy O’Neal, et al.

Cary debuted on Aug. 22, 1985 against the A’s in Oakland, in a 13-inning game, earning a save with a sparkling line: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 0 ER. (The Tigers won 5-3 in a game that featured a pair of soft-tossing lefties: Frank Tanana versus Tommy John.)

Later in his career, Cary was a starter but in Detroit, he worked out of the bullpen. He finished ’85 with 16 appearances, a 0-1 record, two saves, and a 3.42 ERA. The following year he was one of several left-handers on the Tigers staff including Tanana, newly acquired Dave LaPoint, Willie Hernandez, and Mark Thurmond

He appeared in 22 games in 1986, finished 1-2 with a 3.41 ERA. In his 33.2 innings pitched, he allowed 18 runs and 15 walks. The next offseason he was dealt to the Braves, along with O’Neal, for minor leaguer Freddy Tiburcio and Terry Harper.

After two seasons in Atlanta, he signed with the Yankees and pitched in the Bronx from 1989-91. Cary didn’t pitch in the majors in 1992, but in ‘93 appeared in 16 games for the White Sox. His last appearance came on Oct. 2, 1993 against the Indians.

Birthdays

Brent Dlugach, Matt Treanor, A.J. Sager, Chuck Cary, Skeeter Barnes and the late Stephen “Bud” Souchock.

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 336 9/9 — Rarity: 28

See you tomorrow.