February 18, 2010
Happy Birthday, Jerry Morales
By Mike McClary in Featured,Fungoes,Tigers Birthdays | 3 comments
Happy 61st to Julio Ruben (Torres) Morales, the light-hitting, basket-catch-making rightfielder of the 1979 Tigers.
Wearing number 27, he hit a wispy .211 in his only season in Detroit with 14 home runs and 23 doubles — just one fewer than Magglio Ordonez hit last year.
He wasn’t a total loss for the Tigers though. He came to Detroit along with Aurelio Lopez and was traded (with Phil Mankowski) to the Mets for one my all-time favorites, Richie Hebner.
Most of his success came with the Cubs. In seven seasons he batted .275 with 59 homers … for some really bad teams.
¡Feliz cumpleaños, Julio!
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Tim F. | Feb 18, 2010 | Reply
Jerry Morales also had one of the all-time great HR trots. He’d round 2nd base and go clear out to the outfield in a big, looping path. Amazing!
Mike McClary | Feb 18, 2010 | Reply
That’s right, Tim! I’d forgotten all about that. Classic stuff.
Mike
Nelson Rodriguez | Aug 16, 2010 | Reply
All I remember from Jerry was that he is my uncle, I was very young during his prime, but he always came to visit( His sister Sylvia was my uncle’s wife for years) the last time I saw him was in 2001 when I went to Yabucoa, PR for my grandmother’s funeral. he hasn’t changed a bit!!!