Tag: Larry Herndon

The Wednesday Fungo: June 19

June 19, 1984: Tigers 7 – Yankees 6

W: Aurelio López (6-0) – L: Ron Guidry (5-5) – S: Willie Hernández (12) | Boxscore

Record: 48-17 — 61/2 up on Toronto

Highlights

  • Carl Willis made his first big-league start: 41/3 innings, nine hits, four earned runs.
  • The Tigers took it to Ron Guidry: a dozen hits and seven earned runs over 71/3.
  • Lance Parrish‘s first-inning two-run homer opened the scoring.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Steve Palermo, 1B – Dave Phillips, 2B – Jerry Neudecker, 3B – John Hirschbeck
  • Time of Game: 2:49
  • Attendance: 41,192

Doug Flynn – IF #20

The Tigers signed veteran infielder Doug Flynn as a free agent on June 20, 1985, nine days after he was released by the Expos. Here are four things to know about his brief time in Detroit:

  • He debuted on June 22 against the Yankees, starting at second base and batting ninth. He singled off Ron Guidry in his first at bat, one of just four hits Guidry allowed.
  • Flynn’s final line as a Tiger: 32 games, 55 plate appearances, .255 average, no home runs and two RBI.
  • The Tigers re-signed him in the offseason, but released him near the end of Spring Training 1986.

Birthdays

Willis Roberts*, Jim Slaton and the late Eddie Cicotte.

*Roberts appeared in one game for the 1999 Tigers: 1.1 IP, three hits, four runs, one HBP.

See you tomorrow.

The Saturday Fungo: June 15

June 15, 1984: Tigers 3 – Brewers 2

W: Dan Petry (10-3) – L: Jaime Cocanower (5-6) – Save: Willie Hernández (11) | Boxscore

Record: 45-16 — 6 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • The Tigers scored first on a Lance Parrish solo homer in the second.
  • Peaches went seven, allowing seven hits. Willie closed out the game with a two-inning appearance.

Miscellany

  • Venue: County Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Tim Welke, 1B – Bill Kunkel, 2B – Mark Johnson, 3B – Terry Cooney
  • Time of Game: 2:42
  • Attendance: 32,074

Birthdays

Mike Fiers, Tony Clark, Chris Wakeland, Lance Parrish and the late Champ Summers, Ben Flowers, Lou North and Henry Beckendorf. Lance (212), Champ (40) and Clark (156) combined for 408 homers for Tigers.

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 440 7/9: Rarity: 213

See you tomorrow.

The Saturday Fungo: June 1

June 1, 1984: Tigers 14 – Orioles 2

W: Dan Petry (8-2) – L: Scott McGregor (6-4) – Save: Doug Bair (3) | Boxscore

Record: 38-9

Highlights

  • This was a blast from the get-go. My friends and I sat in the upper-deck bleachers, taunting Orioles catcher Rick Dempsey during batting practice with a “Dempsey sucks” chant. He was a good sport, egging us on and even turning to face the bleachers and act as a conductor while we rained vitriol upon him. 
  • As for the game, it was nothing short of bedlam. The Tiger scored six in the second highlighted by an Alan Trammell homer, and then three in the third and again in the fourth.
  • Tram had a three-hit game, and Lance, Chet and Larry Herndon each had two hits.
  • Petry threw six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Al Clark, 1B – Don Denkinger, 2B – Rich Garcia, 3B – Mike Reilly
  • Time of Game: 2:28
  • Attendance: 47,252

Game Highlights

Birthdays

The late Dean Chance, Jo-Jo White and Herm Malloy

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 426 9/9: Rarity: 4

An all-Tigers Grid today — and a new Rarity record for me.

See you tomorrow.

The Sunday Fungo: May 26

May 26, 1984: Mariners 9 – Tigers 5

W: Mike Moore – L: Juan Berenguer | Boxscore

Record: 35-7

Highlights

  • Kirk Gibson hit a first-inning homer to put the Tigers up 1-0 … and then the Mariners took control, scoring four off Berenguer in the home half.
  • Berenguer retired only one batter: Seattle’s leadoff hitter, Jack Perconte. The following hitters walked, singled, singled, singled, then a wild pitch, and two more singles. Mariners 4, Tigers 1.
  • The Tigers scored three in the ninth and out-hit the Mariners, 13 to 11.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Seattle Kingdome
  • Umpires: HP – Mike Reilly, 1B – Al Clark, 2B – Don Denkinger, 3B – Rich Garcia
  • Time of Game: 2:51
  • Attendance: 41,342

Bob Sykes #27

The Tigers drafted lefty Bob Sykes in the 19th round of the 1974 MLB June Amateur Draft from Miami Dade College.

  • After three seasons in the minors, he made his debut on April 9, 1977, at age 22, pitching four-and-two-thirds in a Royals 16-2 rout — but he managed to blank K.C., allowing just two hits and a walk.
  • Sykes appeared in 32 games that season, 20 of them starts, and finished with a record of 5-7 and a 4.41 ERA.
  • In 1978, appeared in 22 games, starting 10 and throwing a pair of shutouts. His record was 6-6 with a 3.94 ERA; he also earned two saves.
  • That offseason, Dec. 4, 1978, he was traded to the Cardinals, with minor leaguer John Murphy, in a deal that worked out well for the Tigers, who received Aurelio López and Jerry Morales in return.
  • Sykes’ final numbers in Detroit: 11-13, 4.22 ERA and two saves. He pitched three seasons in St. Louis before being traded to the Yankees for a young outfielder named Willie McGee.

Birthdays

Darrell Evans and the late Jack Cronin

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 420 8/9: Rarity: 154

See you tomorrow.

The Monday Fungo: May 20

May 20, 1984: Tigers 4 – A’s 3

W: Milt Wilcox (6-0) – L: Lary Sorensen (1-6) – Save: Willie Hernández (6)  | Boxscore

Record: 32-5

Highlights

  • Milt scattered just three hits and allowed two runs.
  • Willie notched a three-inning save.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Marty Springstead, 1B – Jim McKean, 2B – Durwood Merrill, 3B – Dan Morrison
  • Time of Game: 2:22
  • Attendance: 27,073

Birthdays

Luis Garcia, David Wells, the late Tom Morgan, Earl Rapp – whose Tigers career spanned one plate appearance in 1949 – and Hal Newhouser

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 414 8/9: Rarity: 153

I’m embarrassed to report that I did not know that Al Kaline‘s career average was under .300.

See you tomorrow.

The Saturday Fungo: May 18

May 18, 1984: Tigers 8 – A’s 4

W: Dan Petry (6-1) – L: Bill Krueger (1-1) | Boxscore

Record: 30-5

Highlights

  • The Tigers scored five first-inning runs and built up a 6-1 lead.
  • After a rain delay, the game was called with one out in the top of the sixth inning.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Durwood Merrill, 1B – Dan Morrison, 2B – Marty Springstead, 3B – Jim McKean
  • Time of Game: 2:08
  • Attendance: 41,136

On this Date in 1982 …

Larry Herndon hit three home runs in an 11-9 win over Oakland, and became the 14th player in major league history to hit home runs in four consecutive plate appearances. On May 16, he homered in his final at-bat to give the Tigers a 7-6 victory over the Twins. — Courtesy of Baseball Reference, of course.

Birthdays

Joakim Soria, the late Don Lund and Rufe Gentry

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 412 9/9: Rarity: 99

See you tomorrow.

The Tuesday Fungo: May 14

May 14, 1984: Tigers 7 – Mariners 5

W: Aurelio López (4-0) – L: Ed Vande Berg (2-2) | Boxscore

Record: 27-5

Highlights

  • Homers for Tram, his fourth, off Ed Vande Berg, in the first inning; and Rusty, his first, also off Vande Berg, in the fourth.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Bill Kunkel, 1B – Terry Cooney, 2B – Richard Shulock, 3B – Derryl Cousins
  • Time of Game: 3:05
  • Attendance: 18,830

Les Moss #28

In 1979, John Lester Moss took over for the retired Ralph Houk as Tigers manager. The Tigers finished Houk’s final season at 86-76, and the club seemed ready to make a move in an albeit stacked* American League East.

*Six of the seven teams finished over .500, and three had 90+ wins.

Moss had been in the Tigers farm system managing the Triple-A Evansville Triplets in the American Association and presumably his familiarity with the Tigers’ young core made him a logical choice.

Moss managed the Tigers for just 53 games in ’79. Detroit sat at a 27-26, on the morning of June 14 and before the day over, he was out of a job and Sparky Anderson was the Tigers’ new manager.

As a player, Moss had a 13-year career as a catcher, making his debut in 1946 as a 21-year-old with the St. Louis Browns. He played in just a dozen games that year but finished a .371 average.

Though he didn’t hang around Detroit for very long, Les Moss is another player in the Tigers’ rich history.

Birthdays

Efren Navarro and the late Les Moss

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 408 8/9: Rarity: 124

See you tomorrow.