Tag: Frank Tanana

The Monday Fungo

Al Cowens – #10

Stop me if you’ve read this here before: When the Tigers traded Jason Thompson for Al Cowens, I was not a happy 12 year old.

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.

Just four days after the trade, Cowens made his Tigers debut* against the Angels on May 30, 1980 at Tiger Stadium. He batted fifth, going 2 for 5 with a run scored.

*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.

Cowens’ final game with the Mariners, and in the majors, was June 8, 1986. The club released him four days later.

Birthdays

The late Bill Lawrence and Art Ruble.

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 344 8/9 — Rarity: 129

See you tomorrow.

The Weekend Fungo

From the Archives: Jason Thompson

On May 27, 1980, Sparky traded my favorite Tigers player — my first favorite Tiger — first baseman Jason Thompson, to the California Angels for outfielder Al Cowens. (For more on Cowens, check out this post from the archives.)

The Hollywood native joined the Tigers full time in 1976 and played 123 games that year, hitting .218, with 17 home runs and 54 RBI. Two of the homers cleared the rightfield roof at Tiger Stadium. It was in 1977, though, that he made his mark: .270, 31 homers and 105 RBI, and an All Star Game selection.

In 1980, Thompson got off to a slow start: .214/4/20 in 36 games, and Sparky invoked his My Way or the Highway clause and sent his first baseman to Orange County.

As I’ve said before, Thompson’s replacement, Richie Hebner, was a favorite of mine too. But, who were the Tigers kidding? Hebner over Jason Thompson?

You can read the full post in the Archives.

Random Game: May 8, 1988

Tigers 9 – Mariners 3

  • Sunday, May 8, 1988
  • Start Time: 1:35 p.m. Local
  • Attendance: 12,695
  • Venue: Kingdome
  • Game Duration: 2:50
  • Day Game, on turf
  • Boxscore

    Birthdays

    Feb. 24: Bryan Kelly and the late Bubba Phillips, Pinky Pittinger, Lynn Nelson, Wilbur Cooper, Bugs Raymond, Monte Beville

    Feb. 25: Rich Rowland and Ken Szotkiewicz

    Weekend Grids

    Yesterday  

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 328 7/9 — Rarity: 239
    Today  

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 329 9/9 — Rarity: 12

    Enjoy the rest of your weekend. See you tomorrow.

    The Sunday Fungo: Feb. 4

    Happy Birthday, Stan Papi.

    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.

    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.

    Other Birthdays

    Doug Fister, Germany Schaefer, Joe Sparma, Rusty Kuntz and Chris Bando.

    Today’s Grid

    Immaculate Grid 308: 9/9 — Rarity: 37

    Three former Tigers and one Detroit native today.

    See you tomorrow.

    October Surprise Part 9: Comeback Complete

    This is the final installment in our series that looked back on the Tigers’ and Blue Jays’ epic fight for the 1987 American League East title.

    American League East Standings: October 4, 1987

    Team Record Pct. GB
    Detroit 97-64 .619 –
    Toronto 96-65 .596 1

    BallBatGrass.jpgIn the first six games one thing was constant: the team that scored first would go on to lose. The Blue Jays, with the season in the balance, would take their chances and welcome an early lead off Tigers starter Frank Tanana.

    Instead, the Tigers struck first. Larry Herndon led off the Detroit third inning with a home run off Blue Jays starter Jimmy Key. A strong wind gust nudged the ball over Bell’s outstretched glove and into the lower deck in left. The Tigers led 1-0 on Herndon’s first homer since Aug. 18.

    “Luckily, I just got enough,” Herndon said to Tommy George of the Free Press. “I saw Bell go back and it looked like he had a chance to catch it. I looked at Bell all the way. And then when I heard and saw the crowd reaction behind the fence, I knew it was out.”

    Continue reading “October Surprise Part 9: Comeback Complete” →

    October Surprise Part 3: Game 2 Skips Away

    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. Today: Game 2.

    Part 1 – October Surprise: Tigers and Jays Battle for ’87 Division Title
    Part 2 – Showdown in Toronto, Game 1

    American League East Standings

    September 25, 1987

    Team Record Pct. GB
    Toronto 94-59 .614 –
    Detroit 92-60 .605 1.5

    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.
    BallBatGrass.jpg

    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, Kirk Gibson bunted for a base hit and took second on Key’s wild throw to first. Larry 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.

    Continue reading “October Surprise Part 3: Game 2 Skips Away” →

    October Surprise: Tigers and Jays Battle for ’87 Division Title

    ViewFromOutfieldXSmall.jpgOver 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” →

    August 2 in Tigers History: How the Tigers Have Celebrated My Birthday

    I thought it was my birthday gift from the Indians — Carl Pavano starting? That’s gotta be a win waiting to happen, no? No. Not against this mirage of a first-place club.

    Some birthday for me. Actually, yesterday was a fine day and I never let the Tigers’ performance impact my birthday mood.

    Because there’s absolutely nothing positive to discuss about the Tigers’ finale against the Tribe, humor me as I walk through notable Tigers games and events that happened on Aug. 2 since the year I was born.

    • Overall, the Tigers are 20 and 15 on my birthday; in seven years they didn’t play, including during the 1981 strike.
    • The Tigers beat the Twins 6-5 at Metropolitan Stadium on the day I was born in 1968. Don McMahon got the win in relief of Joe Sparma. Bill Freehan drove in three runs while the Twins’ Rod Carew went 3 for 4, of course.
    • On Aug. 2, 1972, the Tigers purchases the contract of P Woodie Fryman from the Phillies. Two days later, they purchased C Duke Sims‘s contract from the Dodgers. Fryman, just 4-10 for Philadelphia, goes 10-3 for Detroit, while Sims hits .316 for the Tigers in 38 games.
    • In 1975, at Fenway Park the game-time temperature was 103 degrees and the Tigers wilted under the heat of Rick Wise and the Red Sox and lost 7-2.
    • In 1984, I was there when Jack Morris out dueled Bert Blyleven as the Tigers beat the Indians 2-1.
    • On Aug. 2, 1985, Frank Tanana allowed one hit, a homer by Ben Oglivie in the 5th, and struck out eight on his way to beating the Brewers, 4-1.
    • In 1990, Yankees rookie Kevin Maas hits his 10th home run in just 77 at bats, the fastest any player has ever reached that mark. Big deal. The Tigers won 6-5 in 11 innings.

    Thanks for taking the trip down memory lane with me. Assuming you’re still there. Hello…?

    My Grandpa: 1 – The Bird: 0

    When it comes to topics like the death of Mark Fidrych, I tend to be reflective — and that usually means several hours (or even a day) can pass before I post something about it.

    I’ll certainly have more on The Bird this week, but I will share my single memory of Fidrych and his magical 1976 season.

    My parents had tickets for one of the most dazzling games of that year: August 17, Detroit native Frank Tanana and the Angels against Fidrych and the Tigers at Tiger Stadium.

    Back then, Tanana was a flamethrower and entered the game with a 14-8 record on his way to a 19-win season. The Bird was 13-4 and, as everyone knows, soaring toward the A.L. Rookie of the Year honors.

    Anyway, I had two choices: I could attend the game with my family or I could spend the evening hanging out with my grandpa. The choice was easy: I hung out with grandpa.

    And what a night! I ate ice cream, played Go Fish and listened to the game on WJR. The fact is, I wasn’t a diehard fan at that point (I was but a pup of 8 years) and, let’s face it, grandpa never disappointed. (One note about the ice cream. Grandpa asked me if I wanted syrup on my Sander’s vanilla. “Of course,” I said, expecting Hershey’s. Instead I got Log Cabin.)

    So, what happened in that game? Not much. Only everything you’d expect in a game for the ages: A crowd of 51,822 watching Tanana go eight innings, give up just four hits, and strike out eight. For his part, Fidrych went the distance, too, scattering five hits, allowing only a pair of runs.

    Despite the tremendous pitching by both starters, the real hero was The Bird’s personal catcher, Bruce Kimm, whose solo homer in the eighth broke a 2-2 tie. Did I mention it was the only homer he’d hit in his career? ‘Twas.

    Sure, the baseball fan in me wishes I’d seen that game, but it’s a much richer memory — and a better story — having the worlds of Mark “The Bird” Fidrych and James McClary collide.

    Less than a year after the Fidrych/Tanana tilt, I lost my grandpa — way too soon. Now we’ve lost The Bird before it was time.

    Even before learning of Fidrych’s death this afternoon, I couldn’t think of him without thinking of my grandpa and that wonderful night in 1976.

    And that’s not going to change.

    Frank Tanana, Part 2

    The last we saw of Frank Tanana (in this 1987/Frank’s-birthday-mini-mini-series, at least), he pitched brilliantly against the Blue Jays at Exhibition Stadium only to watch the bullpen blow the game and put the Tigers farther behind Toronto in the A.L. East race.

    Tanana faced the Jays 10 days later, this time at Tiger Stadium, and with a different landscape atop the East division. On the last day of the season, Tanana and Toronto’s Jimmy Key squared off again. The Tigers came into the game one-up on the Jays. Win and clinch the division; lose and prepare for a one-game playoff the next day.

    Continue reading “Frank Tanana, Part 2” →