Birthdays: Blasts from the Present, the Past — and then Some

Happy 30th Birthday to Mike Hessman and a Happy #51 to former Tigers pitcher Jerry Ujdur.

Ujdur pitched in 49 games for the Tigers from 1980 through 1983. His best year was 1982 when he posted a 10-10 record in 25 starts with a 3.69 ERA.

And it’s also the 148th birthday of the long-since-departed Sam Thompson. Big Sam, as he was known, played for the Detroit Wolverines in the National League from 1885 through 1888.

Get this: He came out of retirement to play with the American League Tigers in 1906 — at age 46 and after an eight-year layoff.

Thompson finished his career average with .336 average and a .502 slugging percentage. He was inducted into Hall of Fame in 1974.