But Cowens was an intriguing player to me because he was on those great Royals teams in the late-’70s.
Presumably the Tigers and Angels, at the time of the trade, thought a change of scenery would help both players — and it seemed to work.
Cowens was hitting .227 with the Angels with a homer, 17 RBI and a .597 OPS. As a Tiger, he hit .280 in 108 games, with five homers, 42 RBI and a .709 OPS. All told, his 1980 line was: .268, six homers, 59 RBI and a .684 OPS.
Thompson hit just .214 with four homers, 20 RBI and a .638 OPS, in Detroit, but warmed up quickly in Anaheim: .317, 17 home runs, 70 RBI and a .965 OPS. He finished the year at .288, 21 home runs, 90 RBI and .873 OPS.
Thompson went 1 for 4 with a single off Milt Wilcox.
*Thompson made his Angels debut on May 28 against the Rangers, pinch hitting for catcher Tom Donohue. He hit a bases-loaded double off Sparky Lyle, clearing the bases, and scored when Dickie Thon drove him home.
In 1981, Cowens appeared in 85 games for the Tigers, hitting .261 with one home run, 18 RBI and a .667 OPS … and that was it for his time in Detroit.
On March 28, 1982, the Mariners purchased his contract and he had a nice bounce-back year in Seattle, hitting .270 with 20 home runs, 78 RBI and an .800 OPS.
On Dec. 4, 1978, outfielder Jerry Morales was acquired, along with Aurelio Lopez, from the Cardinals for Bob Sykes and minor leaguer John Murphy. Not sure if Jim Campbell saw Señor Smoke as the key to the trade but he certainly made the deal worthwhile.
Morales, wearing #27, played in 129 games in 1979, most of them in right field. His hefty combo of a .211 average and .260 OBP helped make his stay in Detroit a short one.
On Oct. 31, 1979, he was traded with Phil Mankowski to the New York Mets for offseason grave digger Richie Hebner.
Milt matched Louisiana Lightnin’ — 6 hits, 3 walks, and a complete-game performance — and only surrendered Graig Nettles’ sac fly for the Yankees’, and the game’s, lone run.
Monday, May 19, 1980 Start Time: 8:00 p.m. Local Attendance: 27,715 Venue: Tiger Stadium Game Duration: 2:29
Today is Stan Papi‘s 73rd birthday, so let’s take a look back on his brief time in Detroit:
On May 29, 1980, the Tigers purchased Papi’s contract from the Phillies and the infielder made an immediate splash in Detroit.
The next day, Papi, wearing number 9, started at second base and batted ninth — behind the number-eight hitter, Kirk Gibson — against the Angels.
He struck out against Frank Tanana in the bottom of the second but in the fourth hit a two-run home run off Tanana to give the Tigers and Milt Wilcox a 4-1 lead.
Papi finished the 1980 campaign with a .237 average, three homers and 17 RBI in 46 games. He hung around for 40 games in the strike-shortened 1981 season, hitting just .204.
His last appearance in a big-league game came on Oct. 1, against the Orioles at Tiger Stadium. Sparky inserted him as a pinch hitter for Rick Leach in the seventh; Papi struck out against Tippy Martinez to end the inning.
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