Milt tossed a beaut: Eight innings, four hits, one run.
The Tigers raced out to a 5-0 lead by the third inning, fueled by homers from Kirk Gibson, a solo shot in the first, and Howard Johnson a three-run job in the second.
Lance Parrish had a pair a doubles and Gibby went three for four.
Miscellany
Venue: Tiger Stadium
Umpires: HP – Jim McKean, 1B – Durwood Merrill, 2B – Dan Morrison, 3B – Marty Springstead
Time of Game: 2:33
Attendance: 44,680
Bill Nahorodny – C #18
He didn’t play very long for his hometown Tigers, but catcher Bill Nahorodny can, at the very least, say he appeared in a game, for the home team, at Tiger Stadium. Here are a few things to know about him:
The Hamtramck native was drafted by the Phillies in the sixth round of the 1972 MLB June Amateur Draft from St. Clair County Community College in Port Huron.
After several seasons with the White Sox and Braves and one each with the Phillies and Indians, he signed with the Tigers on March 1, 1983.
At Evansville, he ran roughshod over International League pitching in 1983 — 127 games, a .335 average, 21 home runs, 94 RBI and a .945 OPS — and it earned him a September call up.
Petry pitched a seven-inning gem in his hometown, allowing five hits and striking out five, surrendering only a Doug DeCinces two-run homer in the fourth.
When Brookens started the game at third, chances are he didn’t expect to finish it as part of the Tigers’ battery.
A routine Saturday evening game at Tiger Stadium, with Jack Morris pitching a typical eight and two thirds, and Willie Hernandez entering in relief of a 3-3 tie in the ninth got interesting in the top of the 11th when, given limited bench flexibility, to say the least, Sparky was forced to move Tom Brookens from third base to catcher … where he stayed for five innings.
Here’s how it happened:
In the bottom of the eighth, and the Tigers down 2-1, Alejandro Sánchez pinch hit for Bob Melvin with one out and pinch runner Dave Bergman on first — and homers! A two-run shot to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead.
Then, in the top of the ninth, Marty Castillo replaced Sánchez in the lineup at catcher.
Morris allowed the tying run in the top of the ninth and the Tigers failed to score in the bottom half.
Bottom of the 10th: Johnny Grubb pinch hits for Castillo.
Bottom of the 11th: Aurelio López replaces Hernández pitching, and Brookens moves from third to catcher, and Doug Flynn replaces Grubb playing third batting ninth.
So, Brookens caught three innings for Señor Smoke and two for lefty Bill Scherrer — talk about two different type of pitchers — and was flawless. No passed balls and no errors.
The teams traded runs in 10th and 13th, and the Tigers scored in the bottom of the 15th to win it.
Alan Trammell singled and went to second on an error by Rangers left fielder (and future Tiger) Gary Ward. The next hitter, Barbaro Garbey, singled Tram home.
A great win, but the story of the game was Brookens. His 1 for 6 night is a mere footnote in what was undoubtedly one of the most memorable games of his career.
Miscellany
Umpires: HP – Ken Kaiser, 1B – Rocky Roe, 2B – Larry McCoy, 3B – Larry Barnett.
Infielder Mark Wagner debuted on Aug. 20, 1976, in a 3-2 Tigers win over the Twins at Tiger Stadium. He went 2 for 3 with an RBI, highlighted by a single, off lefty Eddie Bane, in his first major league at bat.
Here are four things to know about the guy nicknamed Peanut:
In five seasons with Detroit, the most games he played was 75, in 1979. He hit .271 with one homer and 13 RBI that year.
On Dec. 10, 1980, the Tigers traded him to the Rangers for Kevin Saucier.
On Aug. 20, 1984, playing for his third and last club, the A’s, Wagner pitched the final 1-2⁄3 innings against the Tigers in relief of Chuck Rainey. He faced seven batters:
More proof of how baseball has changed over the past 50ish years: A 14-inning game and Ralph Houk used only three pitchers: Dave Rozema started and went 7 innings, John Hiller went 6 in relief, and Steve Foucault pitched the 14th, giving up three runs.
This was Rozema’s third career start and appearance.
If I remember correctly, the Tigers viewed Engle as insurance for Lance Parrish but he played only three games at catcher, 23 at first and a smattering of games in the outfield. In 86 at bats he hit .256 and was released on Aug. 10, 1986.
While we’re at it:
Happy Birthday to former Tigers catcher/third baseman/World Series overachiever Marty Castillo, who turns 52.
This is the second and final installment of my conversation with former Tigers outfielder and pinch-hitter extraordinaire, Johnny Grubb. You can find the first installment here.
Mike McClary: Heading into the 1984 season, was it a long off-season? It would seem like you would be chomping at the bit to get back on the field shortly after a little break. Was everyone coming into spring training raring to go?
Johnny Grubb: Yeah, I think so. I remember us getting Dave Bergman and Willie [Hernandez]. So they came over, and they fit right in with the team, too. I mean, we just had a good group of guys that got along, and Dave Bergman is a heck of a guy and so was Willie. So it worked out great.
MMc: Let’s talk about the ’84 season in general. Obviously, you got off to a great start, 9-0, and in the middle of that, Jack Morris throws a no-hitter. As you were getting older and becoming the seasoned veteran, were you really just enjoying about every moment of that season?
JG: Oh, gosh, yeah. It was fun to watch those guys play and every once in a while to jump in and do something myself. But it was a lot of fun watching Gibby and Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker and Darrell [Evans] — and Lance did a great job. And Howard Johnson had the great season for us. I thought he did a great job. And Larry Herndon and all those guys really did well in the pitching.
So really what I remember most about it is that I never really felt like we were out of any ballgame. Any lead a team could get, we felt like we could have a big inning and jump right back in the game. And we had real good pitching, so if we had the lead, we had Willie and [Aurelio] Lopez coming in to shut the door on them. The pitchers did their job, and the hitters did their job. And we just felt like we could win any game.
That 35-5 start really helped a lot, too. But I think that pretty much was an indicator of how strong we were because that’s pretty phenomenal when you think about a 35-5 start in the major leagues. That’s pretty good.
This is the second and final installment of my conversation with former Tigers outfielder and pinch-hitter extraordinaire, Johnny Grubb. You can find the first installment 
dailyfungoarchive.com 