Tag: Pat Underwood

The Friday Fungo: May 31

May 31, 1984: An Off Day in Detroit

The 37-9 Tigers await the defending World Series champ for a weekend series at Tiger Stadium. Baltimore comes to town with a 28-21 record.

Record: 37-9

May 31, 1979: The Underwoods Face Off

Tigers 1 – Blue Jays 0

W: Pat Underwood (1-0) – L: Tom Underwood (0-7)– Save: John Hiller (4) | Boxscore

Pat Underwood shut out the Blue Jays for eight-and-a-third innings at Exhibition Stadium, earning his first major-league win as the Tigers beat Toronto, and his brother Tom, 1-0 thanks to Jerry Morales‘ eighth-inning solo home run.

How great is this? Underwood picked off Blue Jays second baseman Danny Ainge at second base.

Mark Salas – #10 and #27

Here are five things to know about catcher Mark Salas:

  1. The Tigers signed him as a free agent on April 8, 1990.
  2. The left-handed hitting Salas made his debut on April 14 against the Orioles. He pinch hit for Mike Heath in the seventh and struck out.
  3. He appeared in 74 games for the Tigers that season — wearing number 10 — hitting .232 with nine home runs, 24 RBI and a .737 OPS.
  4. He appeared in just 33 games, now wearing number 27, for the 1991 Tigers. He hit .088 with a homer and seven RBI.
  5. Salas’s final big-league game was Oct. 5, 1991, like his first, against the Orioles. In the bottom of the sixth, he replaced pinch hitter Rich Rowland, playing first and batting ninth. His career came to an end when he led off the ninth by grounding out to pitcher Mark Williamson.

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, whom the Tigers drafted in 1994 and traded in 1998 to Indians for Geronimo Berroa.

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 425 7/9: Rarity 246

Have a great weekend. See you tomorrow.

The Monday Fungo: April 29

April 29, 1984: Tigers 6 – Indians 1

W: Dan Petry (3-1) – L: Dan Spillner (0-1) | Boxscore

Record: 18-2

Highlights

  • Dan Petry took a no-hitter into the eighth inning before allowing a two-out double to George Vukovich. He retired the next batter.
  • Petry: 8 IP, 1 hit, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Dale Ford, 1B – Ken Kaiser, 2B – Rocky Roe, 3B – Larry Barnett
  • Time of Game: 2:20
  • Attendance: 24,853

Bruce Robbins #48 and #44

The Tigers drafted Bruce Robbins in the 14th round of the 1977 amateur draft, and it was a rapid rise for the lefty out of Blackford High School in Hartford City, Ind.

Robbins spent 1978 in the low minors, Lakeland and Bristol. In 1979, he started in Lakeland, and then after going 7-1 with a 2.97 ERA with Double-A Montgomery, he got the call to Detroit.

He made his major-league debut, at age 19, on July 28, 1979 against the Blue Jays. He took the loss, but what a terrific debut: six innings, two runs, four hits, no walks, three strikeouts.

He made his final appearance in the majors on Sept. 23, 1980 also against the Blue Jays. Robbins pitched a third of an inning in relief of Milt Wilcox. The Tigers lost 9-7.

In between, he finished his career with a 7-5 record and a 5.34 ERA in 25 games.

I remember hearing that Robbins had decided to retire at age 21-ish and trying, at my own young age, to comprehend why someone so new to the big leagues would retire. I don’t know that we ever found out.

The Tigers seemed to have so much young pitching on the farm — Robbins, Mike Chris, Pat Underwood, Kip Young — that it bummed out this young Tigers fan that one was calling it quits.

Birthdays

Omir Santos and the late Mickey McDermott

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 393 9/9 – Rarity 24

Challenged by my friend Doug to slot all former Tigers — and I did! But still was not enough to best his 16 Rarity.

See you tomorrow.

The Wednesday Fungo

Wayne Krenchicki – #15

The summer of 1983 gave Tigers fans a glimpse of what was to come a year later: a young core of star players ready to move to the next level in the American League East. Detroit was in the race until September when the eventual World Series champion Orioles pulled away for good.

That season also introduced fans — ever-so briefly — to a role player with one of the best names in baseball history: Wayne Krenchicki.

He came to the Tigers in a late-June trade with the Reds for once-promising-lefty Pat Underwood. With Alan Trammell nursing injuries, the club needed some infield help.

As he always did with newly acquired players, manager Sparky put Krenchicki right to work, inserting him in the starting lineup against the Orioles and rookie Storm Davis.

On July 1, batting eighth in the lineup, Krenchicki went hitless in three at bats against Davis and the Tigers lost 9-5. He got his first Tigers hit two days later, a third-inning double off Tim Stoddard, in a 10-1 Tigers win.

In all, Krenchicki appeared in 59 games for the Tigers in 1983, seeing time at every infield position but played primarily at third. His time in Detroit was brief; in November that year, the Reds purchased his contract from the Tigers.

He finished his eight-year big-league career with the Reds and Expos, and retired after the 1986 season.

Birthdays

Leonys Martin, Marcus Thames, Gabe Alvarez, Roberto Duran, Joe Hall, Karl Best*, Ed Mierkowicz and the late Joe Orrell and Bob Swift.

*Best was traded by the Mariners to the Tigers for Bryan Kelly on June 22, 1987, but never appeared in a game. On March 28, 1988, the Tigers dealt him to the Twins for Don Schulze … who also never appeared in a game for the Tigers.

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 339 9/9 — Rarity: 21

Four former Tigers and one Tigers nemesis.

See you tomorrow.

The Friday Fungo: Feb. 9

On TV: Pat Underwood’s Debut, May 31, 1979

Today is Pat Underwood‘s 67th birthday. He was one of my favorite players during the early years of my Tigers fandom. Here’s a rebroadcast of his major-league debut, against his brother Tom, on May 31, 1979.

Check out this excellent bio of Underwood written by Todd McDorman as part of the SABR Bio Project.

Birthdays

John Young, Vic Wertz, Don Hankins

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 313 9/9: Rarity: 13

I also almost went with Lance Parrish instead of Scott Rolen but I wasn’t 100% confident Lance appeared in a game for the Jays. So, after completing the one below, I started a new grid and swapped out Lance for Rolen — 5% for Rolen v.s. 0.4% for Lance. I put in all the other picks from below and it dropped my Rarity from 13 to 9! Should have gone with my instincts.

Screenshot

Have a great weekend. See you tomorrow.

Today’s Tiger: Wayne Krenchicki

Wayne Krenchicki

  • Born: Sept. 17, 1954 in Trenton, N.J.
  • Bats: Left Throws: Right
  • Height: 6′ 1″ Weight: 180 lb.
  • Acquired: Traded by the Reds to the Tigers for Pat Underwood on June 30, 1983.
  • Seasons in Detroit: 1 (59 games in 1983)
  • Uniform Number: 15
  • Stats: .278 avg., 1 home run, 16 RBI

The summer of 1983 gave Tigers fans a glimpse of what was to come a year later: a young core of star players ready to move to the next level in the American League East. Detroit was in the race until September when the eventual World Series champion Orioles pulled away for good.

Krenchicki Wayne.That season also introduced fans — ever-so briefly — to a role player with one of the best names in baseball history: Wayne Krenchicki.

He came to the Tigers in a late-June trade with the Reds for once-promising lefty Pat Underwood. With Alan Trammell nursing injuries, the club needed some infield help.

As he always did with newly acquired players, manager Sparky Anderson put Krenchicki right to work, inserting him in the starting lineup against the Orioles and rookie Storm Davis.

On July 1, batting eighth in the lineup, Krenchicki went hitless in three at bats against Davis and the Tigers lost 9-5. He got his first Tigers hit two days later, a third-inning double off Tim Stoddard, in a 10-1 Tigers win.

In all, Krenchicki appeared in 59 games for the Tigers in 1983, seeing time at every infield position but played primarily at third. His time in Detroit was brief; in November that year, the Reds purchased his contract from the Tigers.

He finished his eight-year big-league career with the Reds and Expos, and retired after the 1986 season.