Category: The Daily

The Sunday Fungo: Feb. 18

Happy Birthday, Jerry Morales

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.

Random Game: May 19, 1980

Milt Wilcox versus Ron Guidry in a terrific pitching duel.

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

Boxscore

More Birthdays

Isaac Paredes, Nick Maton and the late Leo Marentette, Frank “Pig” House and Herm Wehmeier.

  • Marentette, who died in 2014, was a Lambertville, Mich., native. He appeared in two games for 1965 Tigers: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K.

Today’s Grid

Yikes.

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 322 5/9: Rarity: 466

See you tomorrow.

The Saturday Fungo: Feb. 17

An Afternoon at the Ballyard

I spent the day at Camelback Ranch, the spring training home of the Dodgers and White Sox, watching my alma mater, Western Michigan, come from ahead to beat Michigan, 11-9 in 10 innings.

Imagine my surprise when I noticed that former Tiger Daniel Schlereth is the Broncos’ pitching coach.

Here’s the final out.

https://videopress.com/v/lEq5HmBx?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true
Western Michigan vs. University of Michigan — Camelback Ranch, Glendale, Ariz. February 17, 2024

Birthdays

Danny Patterson and the late Roger Craig, Jack Crimian, Orlin Collier, Eddie Phillips, Eddie Onslow and Wally Pipp.

Today’s Grid

Avert your eyes.

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 321 6/9: Rarity: 343

I hope you’re having a great weekend.

The Thursday Fungo: Feb. 15

Some Tigers players, and plenty of other teams’ guys are not liking their new uniforms, on several levels. The minuscule lettering on the backs are ridiculous.

A Tiger loudly complained, “These pants they made are terrible.”

Check out the article on The Athletic: MLB players dressing down Nike, Fanatics over new uniforms that look ‘like a replica’

“Replica” is not a word you want associated with your game-day gear.

Birthdays

Don Kelly, Alex Gonzalez, Ugueth Urbina, Brian Williams and the late Buddy Hicks

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 319 8/9: Rarity: 176
One former Detroit Star and one Tiger.

See you tomorrow.

The Tuesday Fungo: Feb. 13

From the Archives: Remembering Frank Williams

He pitched for the ’89 Tigers:

  • 42 appearances
  • 71.2 IP
  • 3-3 record
  • 1 save
  • 3.64 ERA

I wrote about him shortly after he passed away in January 2009. Check it out.

Birthdays

Ryan Perry and the late Frank Williams, Jim Brideweser, Hack Miller, George Gill, Ben Dyer and Fritz Buelow

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 317 8/9: Rarity: 163

One former Tiger today.

See you tomorrow.

The Monday Fungo: Feb. 12

On TV: Tigers vs. Red Sox – June 25, 1985

Jack Morris vs. Bob Ojeda — and what a great lineup. Here’s the boxscore.

Birthdays

Gary Knotts, Chet Lemon, Pat Dobson, Andy Harrington, Harry Arndt.

Weekend Leftovers

Saturday

Happy 75th birthday to Ben Oglivie who, after the Tigers inexplicably traded him for Jim Slaton and Rich Folkers, went on to hit 176 home runs for the Brewers over nine years. He retired after the 1986 season with a lifetime average of .273 and 235 career homers.

The late Tom Veryzer was born on Feb. 11, 1953. He played five years in Detroit (1973-77) before being dealt to Cleveland for Charlie Spikes. His last year in the bigs was 1984 when he was a bench rider for the Cubs. Had Leon Durham fielded a grounder more cleanly in the NLCS that year, perhaps Veryzer could’ve ended his career where it started, at Tiger Stadium. His final career numbers: .241 average, 14 homers, 231 RBI, .966 fielding percentage.

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 316 9/9: Rarity: 30

Two former Tigers managers today.

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.

The Wednesday Fungo: Feb. 7

On the Radio: Tigers vs. Angels – May 24, 1977

John Hiller makes the start against Nolan Ryan. Here’s the boxscore.

Enjoy Paul Carey’s bottom-of-the-first update from Evansville.


Birthdays

Dave Borkowski, Earl Whitehill

On this Date

2005: The Tigers signed Magglio Ordóñez for a reported five years, $75 million.
1994: The Tigers signed free agent pitcher Tim Belcher.

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 311 6/9: Rarity: 368

One former Tiger today.

See you tomorrow.