Birthdays
Tim Byrdak, Matt Nokes and the late Jim Donohue and Ed Fisher
Today’s Grid
⚾️ Immaculate Grid 578: 7/9 — Rarity: 209
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See you tomorrow.
Tag: Matt Nokes
The Wednesday Fungo
Champ Summers
Champ Summers was a fan favorite in Detroit and for good reason. He came to the Tigers as a career underachiever — at least at the major-league level — in an under-the-radar trade roughly a week before they hired Sparky Anderson in 1979.
The Reds traded the 30-year-old Summers to the Tigers for a player to be named later on May 25, 1979. On Oct. 25, the Tigers sent Sheldon Burnside to the Reds to complete the trade.
The year before, John Junior Summers was the Minor League Player of the Year for the Reds’ top farm club, Indianapolis of the American Association. He led the AA with a .368 average, 34 homers and 124 RBI.
In 1979, Summers was hitting .200 with a single home run after 27 early-season games with the Reds, but after coming to Detroit, he had the best three seasons of his career.
That season he batted .313 with 20 home runs (14 solo) in 90 games and posted a .614 slugging percentage along with a 1.028 OPS. Anderson played Summers primarily in right field with a few DH assignments sprinkled in.
The Tigers rewarded him with a three-year contract near the end of the ’79 season.
Tigers fans loved Summers and he continued to provide punch to a young lineup. In 1980, his numbers slipped ever-so slightly but they were solid: .297/17/60 with an OPS of .897.
His production dropped further in the strike-shortened season of 1981 when, at age 35, his average fell to .255 and his power numbers plummeted, too. Summers hit only three home runs and eight doubles in 64 games in what would be his final season in Detroit.
In March 1982 the Tigers dealt him to the Giants for first baseman Enos Cabell. Summers would struggle in his two seasons in San Francisco, posting a .231 average and four home runs.
You can read the full post in the Archives.
Random Game: Aug. 7, 1987
Tigers 8 – Yankees 0
W: Jeff Robinson (8-5) – L: Rick Rhoden (14-7) | Boxscore
A classic midsummer showdown between A.L. East rivals, who were gridlocked atop the division heading into this game:
| Tm | W | L | W-L% | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOR | 65 | 44 | .596 | — |
| NYY | 65 | 45 | .591 | 0.5 |
| DET | 62 | 44 | .585 | 1.5 |
| MIL | 56 | 51 | .523 | 8.0 |
| BOS | 51 | 57 | .472 | 13.5 |
| BAL | 49 | 60 | .450 | 16.0 |
| CLE | 40 | 69 | .367 | 25.0 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 3/13/2024.
I was there for this one with a big group of friends in our usual bleacher seats, upper deck, dead center.
- Rookie Jeff Robinson was masterful, allowing just five hits and striking out nine while cruising to a complete-game shutout.
- Dave Bergman drove in four runs, three of them on a homer off Rick Rhoden in the fourth.
- Newcomer Jim Morrison, in his Tigers debut, went two for four with a solo homer.
- Chet Lemon went three for three with a walk and an RBI.
- Matt Nokes and Pat Sheridan also had two hits.
Miscellany
- Umpires: HP – Mike Reilly, 1B – Tim Welke, 2B – Terry Cooney, 3B – Joe Brinkman
- Time of Game: 2:31
- Attendance: 48,262
Birthdays
Mike Aviles, the late Cliff Mapes, Eric Erickson and Mal Eason.
Today’s Grid
⚾️ Immaculate Grid 346 9/9 — Rarity: 22
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See you tomorrow.
October Surprise Part 7: Doyle Foils Jays to Knot Division Lead
The final weekend of the 2009 season is here and the Tigers are in position for the American League Central title. Twenty-two years ago tonight the Tigers started the final season with the A.L. East in their sights. Here’s part seven of our series.
American League East Standings: October 2, 1987
| Team | Record | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | 96-63 | .604 | – |
| Detroit | 95-64 | .597 | 1 |
Of all the scenarios facing the Tigers for the final weekend, one was the most cut and dried: sweep the Blue Jays, win the division.
Game one of the decisive series took place on a cold Friday night. A crowd of 45,167 witnessed a rematch of the previous Sunday, Doyle Alexander and Jim Clancy.
The Jays scored first in the top of the second on Manny Lee’s three-run homer to right-center. In the bottom of that same inning the Tigers scored two runs of their own on a Chet Lemon single and a home run by rookie outfielder Scott Lusader.
Continue reading “October Surprise Part 7: Doyle Foils Jays to Knot Division Lead”
October Surprise Part 4: Bullpen Collapses in Game 3
As the Tigers and Twins square off for the biggest series of the year with the division title hanging in the balance, we continue our look back on the last great race in Tigers history: 1987 and the seven games against the Toronto Blue Jays in the season’s final 10 days. Today: Game 3.
- Part 1 – Tigers and Jays Battle for ’87 Division Title
- Part 2 – Showdown in Toronto, Game 1
- Part 3 – Game 2 Skips Away
American League East Standings: September 26, 1987
| Team | Record | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | 95-59 | .617 | – |
| Detroit | 92-61 | .601 | 2.5 |
If the Tigers suffered any ill effects from the previous two games, they certainly didn’t show it in the third game of the series.
Detroit pummeled Toronto’s ace Dave Steib, tagging the right-hander for six runs on four hits in just 2.1 innings. Matt Nokes drove in six runs in his first two at bats: a first-inning two-run homer and a grand slam in the third.
The Blue Jays were having nearly as much fun with Detroit starter Walt Terrell. In his 2.1 innings, the Blue Jays came up with four runs on seven hits. The Tigers attacked five additional Toronto hurlers for a 9-4 lead in the fifth inning. Toronto wouldn’t go away quietly, tacking on three more runs. Heading into the bottom half of the ninth Detroit clung to a 9-7 lead.
Continue reading “October Surprise Part 4: Bullpen Collapses in Game 3”
October Surprise: Tigers and Jays Battle for ’87 Division Title
Over the next week, we’ll watch the Tigers and Twins play head-to-head to decide the American League Central.
While this plays out, let’s look back at the final two weekends of the 1987 season when the Tigers and Blue Jays squared off for seven heart-pounding, one-run games that would ultimately decide the American League East title.
Today, Part 1.
“I’m telling you, everything is going to come down to our seven games with Toronto.” — Tigers Manager Sparky Anderson, Sept. 21, 1987
Entering the 1987 season, little was expected of the Detroit Tigers. Just three seasons removed from a wire-to-wire championship season, the Tigers were considered mere also-rans in a division filled with potent lineups, solid pitching and the defending League Champions, the Red Sox.
Adding to an already challenging divisional landscape, the Tigers faced life without their All Star catcher and cleanup hitter, Lance Parrish. The Big Wheel rejected the Tigers’ two-year, $2.4 million contract offer and instead signed a one-year $800,000 deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.
That’s why in the first weeks of the 1987 season the story in baseball was not the Detroit Tigers. Hardly. The Milwaukee Brewers’ 13-0 start captivated the baseball world. After 13 games the Tigers had a less-imposing 6-7 record. Twenty games into the season Milwaukee had stormed to 18-2, four games ahead of New York, followed by Toronto (12-8), Baltimore (9-11), Detroit (8-12) and Cleveland (6-14).
Continue reading “October Surprise: Tigers and Jays Battle for ’87 Division Title”
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