Category: Fungoes

Happy Birthday, Frank Tanana – Part 1

Frank Tanana turned 55 on Thursday.

I was ecstatic when the Tigers picked up Tanana on June 20, 1985. For years — since the days of Mickey Lolich, in fact — Detroit lacked a long-term lefty in the rotation. Unfortunately, Bob Sykes didn’t pan out as we’d hoped.

But along came Tanana in a one-for-one swap with the Rangers that sent Duane James to Arlington. One could argue that Tanana’s two most-critical starts for the Tigers came two years later in the heat of an unforgettable pennant race: one a tough-luck loss, the other a thriller for the ages.

Here’s a recap of both from my article in Tigers Corner 2008:

September 25, 1987

Tigers left hander Frank Tanana had been in one divisional race in his 14-year career: in 1979 when he helped the California Angels win their first American League West title. In 1987, Tanana approached the twilight of his career but Toronto starter Jimmy Key’s best days were just dawning. Key had won 14 games in each of his first two years as a starter and in 1987 he would finish second in A.L. Cy Young voting, posting a 17-8 record and 2.76 ERA.

For the second straight night, the Tigers produced a two-run lead. In the Tigers’ second, Chet Lemon doubled and Darrell Evans singled him home. Later, in the sixth, Gibson bunted for a base hit and took second on Key’s wild throw to first. Herndon followed with a single to left scoring Gibson and giving Tanana a two-run cushion.

Tanana pitched one of his best games of the season throwing seven scoreless innings, yielding just five hits and a walk. Key was equally masterful in his 8.1 innings pitched. He scattered nine hits, allowing only one earned run and walking a single hitter. Going into the ninth inning the Tigers maintained a 2-0 lead.

The Jays scored three off of Dickie Noles, Willie Hernandez and Mike Henneman and the Tigers were 2.5 games out of first with eight to play.

Ten days later, Tanana would take the hill for his most memorable start in a Tigers uniform. Stay tuned for Part 2.

Happy Birthday, Nelson Simmons

Oh, how those September call-ups can distort reality.

In nine games with the Tigers junior varsity (i.e., after they clinched the division), Simmons batted .433 (13 for 30). Move over, Larry Herndon, right?

Nah.

The Tigers’ second pick in the 1981 draft, Simmons (#37) hit 10 homers for the ’85 Tigers. On April 29, 1986 Detroit released him. A few weeks later he signed with the Orioles but he played a mere 16 games in Baltimore during the ’87 season, then got traded to the Mariners in August of that year. He never played for Seattle.

According to his Wikipedia page (yes, he has one), his last season was with the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Triple-A Calgary Cannons in 1995. Whoda thunk it?

Happy Birthday, Darrell Evans


Happy 61st (?!) Birthday to ol’ #41 Darrell Evans.

Before Pudge Rodriguez and Magglio Ordonez, the Tigers’ big splash in the free agent market came on Dec. 17, 1983, when they signed the 36-year-old slugger.

As most seasoned Tigers fans remember, the free agency was anathema to the club’s leadership. Former Tigers GM Jim Campbell hated paying for his own free agent players — and loved to trade them before their walk year. He certainly wasn’t going to dole out cash for someone else’s players.

I can distinctly remember the old “re-entry draft” which created a competitive auction market for the services of veteran players. The Detroit News and Free Press would list, usually in agate type, each team and the free agents it “drafted.” Year after fifth-place year I would read “Detroit: No selections made.”

That changed in 1983 when Evans chose a Detroit offer which was, of course, lower than those of the Yankees, Giants and other clubs that tried to sign, or in the case of San Francisco, re-sign him. The allure of joining a team poised to win now (or then, as it were) made Detroit the best choice.

In his first game as a Tiger, April 3, 1984, Evans homered of the Twins’ Keith Comstock — a three-run jack — and Detroit was off to the races. A week later, on Opening Day in Detroit, he homered in his first Tiger Stadium at bat, an upper-deck blast of the Rangers Dave Stewart. He’d hit only 14 more home runs that year, but quickly became a fan favorite.

In five seasons with the Tigers, Evans hit 141 of his career 414 home runs. In 1989, he finished his career where it began: with the Atlanta Braves.

Today’s Tigers fans may be used to their team being in the mix for big-name free agents. But it certainly wasn’t the case in the late 1970s and early ’80s. And what better guy to break that bad habit than with Darrell Evans?

Today’s Tiger: Stan Papi

Papi Stan
…When, on May 14, we failed to acknowledge the 57th birthday of former Tigers infielder Stan Papi.

The Tigers purchased Papi’s contract from the Phillies on May 29, 1980 and he made an immediate splash in Detroit.

On Friday, May 30 against the Angels, Papi started at second base and batted ninth (behind the number-eight hitter, Kirk Gibson).

He struck out against Frank Tanana in the bottom of the second but in the fourth smacked a two-run home run of Tanana to give the Tigers and Milt Wilcox a 4-1 lead. He singled in his next at bat and then tripled in the sixth off Jim Barr. The Tigers won the game 12-1.

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.

Remembering the Les Moss Era

When you search for “raw deal” on Google, the first entry is for the 1986 film by the same name starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kathryn Harrold and Darren McGavin.

Twenty-nine years ago Les Moss got a raw deal in his second big-league managing job.

Yes, second. He managed the 1968 White Sox for just 36 games, going 12-24.

In 1979, John Lester Moss took over for the retired Ralph Houk as Tigers manager. Moss had been in the Tigers farm system managing the Triple-A Evansville (Ind.) Triplets in the American Association and it was, I guess, his turn.

Moss managed the Tigers for just 53 games in ’79. Detroit sat at a 27-26, on the morning of June 14. Before Moss could order lunch, he was out of a job and Sparky Anderson was the Tigers’ new manager. (Officially, first base coach Dick Tracewski was the interim manager. Trixie led the Tigers to a 2-0 record before Sparky took over.)

So the Moss Era was over before it even began. The managing era, that is.

Did you know that Les Moss had a 13-year career as a catcher in the majors? He debuted 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.

A review of his year-by-year stats show one thing: he was ridiculously inconsistent. For example:

  • 1947: 96 games, .157 avg.
  • 1948: 107/.257
  • 1949: 97/.291
  • 1950: 84/.266
  • 1951: 87/.193

…and so on. What else?

  • He never hit more than 14 homers in a season
  • His career average was .247; career OBP: .333

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

Today the Tulsa native turns 83.

**Update: Moss passed away Aug. 29, 2012.

Happy Birthday, Sweetness

Whitaker.jpg
How in the world did Lou Whitaker turn 50 — forget about 51, which he is today? Lest we’ve forgotten, let’s take a quick stroll down memory lane on his 19-year career with the Tigers:

  • 2,390 games
  • .276 average
  • 2,369 hits
  • 244 home runs

If you’re keeping score at home, Whitaker averaged a hit a game over his career. (Actually he averaged .991 hits a game, but when it’s your birthday, you benefit from rounding up.)

And how is he not in the Hall of Fame? Jeez!

Notable Hardware

  • 1978 Rookie of the Year
  • Five-time All Star
  • Four-time Silver Slugger
  • World Series Champion

Here’s hoping that Sweet Lou enjoyed his birthday at home in Lakeland, Fla., or a local theme park.

Happy Birthday, Dan Gakeler

Gakeler Dan
You are one die-hard Tigers fan if you remember right hander Dan Gakeler.

It’s scary because I remember him.

A former number-one pick of the Red Sox in the 1984 draft (secondary phase), Gakeler appeared in 31 games for the 1991 Tigers, seven of them were starts.

Wearing the number 32, he assembled a record of 1-4 with two saves and a 5.74 ERA.

Happy 44th Birthday, Dan.