Note: I had mistakenly posted today a game recap for April 12 — forgetting that the Tigers had an off day on April 11 for the usual Opening Day rainout makeup date. Check back tomorrow for that recap.
5 Things to Know About Sid Monge #42
The Tigers purchased his contract from the Padres on June 10, 1984.
Monge’s longest outing with the Tigers came on Aug. 7 against the Red Sox, in the first game of a doubleheader. Boston chased Jack Morris after an inning and a third, surrendering nine runs. Sid came in for four and two thirds, allowing six hits and three earned runs.
I was thwarted by thinking former Tiger Mike Moore had won 20 games while pitching for the A’s. Alas, he topped out at 19 wins for 1989 World Series champs.
The wheelhouse of The Daily Fungo is the Ralph Houk, Les Moss and Sparky Anderson years. So, through that narrow lens in the Tigers’ much broader history, let’s look at how the teams from 1977 through 1994 opened their respective seasons.
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.
Fifty years ago this June, the Tigers signed Tim Corcoran as an amateur free agent, and he started hitting as soon as he got to Lakeland (.270) and Bristol (.370).
In 1975, Corcoran was promoted to Double-A Montgomery and hit .245 with a .666 OPS, but in ’76 he hit 64 points higher with a solid OPS: .309 / .811.
Corcoran made his Tigers debut on May 18, 1977, against Gaylord Perry and the Rangers. As Ralph Houk’s DH, he walked in his first big-league at bat and scored, but went 0 for 3 in a 6-3 loss.
The left-handed hitter played parts of four seasons with the Tigers as an outfielder/DH/first baseman combo.
From 1977-80, Corcoran appeared in 273 games for Detroit, with a final line of:
Average
Hits
Home Runs
RBI
OPS
.272
164
7
66
.690
Corcoran appeared in his final game as a Tiger on Oct. 5, 1980, against the Yankees, as a pinch hitter for Duffy Dyer. He lined into a game- and season-ending double play. The Tigers lost, 2-1.
He spent most of the 1981 season in Evansville where all he did was hit: .298 average, an .826 OPS and 100 hits in 106 games. Still, it wasn’t enough to last in Detroit.
On Sept. 4, 1981, the Tigers sent him to the Twins as the player to be named later in the Aug. 23 trade for Ron Jackson.
After spending time with the Twins and getting decent playing time with the Phillies from 1983-85, Corcoran’s final major-league appearance came on June 6, 1986 with the Mets. In ’87 and ’88, he played for the Triple-A Maine Phillies.
On this date in 1983, George Kell was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. Former Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Walter Alston was elected too.
My friend Doug and I attended this game, sitting in the centerfield bleachers for budgetary reasons, and choosing the lower deck for meteorological.
‘Twas a soggy day for the finale of a three-game set that, at the outset, provided foolish hope the Tigers could gain ground on the Red Sox, which entered the series four-and-a-half games up on second-place Detroit.
Instead, the Tigers were swept and this one ended with an eighth-inning bullpen collapse.
Neither Roger Clemens nor Walt Terrell were sharp: Clemens allowed seven hits, five walks and three earned runs in six innings. Terrell: six hits, three walks and four earned in seven innings.
The Red Sox led 4-0 until the Tigers scored two in the sixth, on a two-run homer by Alan Trammell, and Darrell Evans grand slam in the seventh to go up 6-4.
Bill Campbell (three) and Willie Hernandez (two) coughed up five runs in the top of the eight and Boston held on to win.
Rich Gedman hit a grand slam off Willie; two of the runs were charged to Campbell.
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