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!

His best overall season was 1984: .280, 18 HR, 92 RBI and 15 triples. For the Tigers he simply kept centerfield warm for, ahem, Milt Cuyler.

The Portland, Ark. native hit .255 in two Detroit seasons with a total of 20 homers. He retired after the 1991 season at the surprisingly young age of 31.

Today’s also the birthday of former Tigers righty Nate Snell (57) and infielder Johnny Paredes (47).

I got this autographed photo in 1984 from the late Tom Tuschak a dear high-school teacher, principal and Tigers fan. (And the father of a high-school flame!)

Morris signed it “Mike, My best to you.”

Awesome.

Happy 54th to The Cat.

• Gates Brown, 70

• Steve Grilli, 60

• Keith Moreland, 50

• Jim Walewander, 47

Now, did you know that Krueger’s batterymate in 1993 often was Chad Kreuter? Of course, Kreuter is pronounced “Kroy-ter”, but still, Krueger-to-Kreuter could’ve had a spot in the pantheon of classic batteries such as Bud Black and Steve Decker.

Well, maybe not.

He broke into the majors with Reds in 1899 and stayed until 1902 when the National League and American League fought bitterly for players.

According to his Baseball-Reference.com page, before the 1903 season Crawford “[j]umped from the Cincinnati Reds to the Detroit Tigers.” So there you have it.

Here’s Crawford’s entry in the 2008 Hall of Fame Yearbook:

“Wahoo” Sam Crawford — so nicknamed for his Nebraska birthplace — was one of his era’s finest hitters and base stealers. He led the American League in triples six times and remains baseball’s career leader at 312. Ty Cobb said of Crawford, “With the rabbit ball they’re playing with today, he’d have been one of the greatest home run hitters of all time.” Crawford, who stole 363 bases and batted .309 lifetime during a 19-year career, played alongside Cobb in the Detroit Tigers outfield for 13 seasons. Crawford helped the Tigers to three straight A.L. pennants from 1907 to 1909.

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1957. Crawford died in 1968.

You have to love projections. Looking at Cabrera’s player profile on ESPN.com I see where he’s projected to hit .513 this year with 324 hits, 65 homers and 194 RBI.

If only.

Before then-TV analyst Al Kaline reminded us at every turn that Tony LaRussa is also an attorney in Florida, Mr. Tiger liked to talk about Staub being an accomplished chef. More on that shortly.

Daniel Joseph Staub debuted in 1963 at the tender age of 19 with the Houston Colt .45s and spent six years in H-Town — two of those seasons were pre-Astrodome which means he played outdoors. In Houston. In the summer. If you’ve been there, you know.

In 1967, he hit .333 with 10 home runs and 77 RBI and made the All Star team for the first of five consecutive seasons. Two years later the Astros traded him to the expansion Expos where he spent three seasons. In 1972, the Expos sent him to the Mets for Ken Singleton, Mike Jorgensen and Tim Foli. All he did in New York was hit.

On Dec. 12, 1975, Staub was traded along with Bill Laxton to the Tigers for Mickey Lolich and Billy Baldwin. (Laxton appeared in only 26 games for the 1976 Tigers: 0-5, 4.96, 2 saves. He was selected by the Mariners in the expansion draft.)

In Detroit, Staub wore #10 and posted solid numbers during his first three seasons:

• 1976: .299 – 15 HR – 96 RBI (All Star)
• 1977: .278 – 22 HR – 101 RBI
• 1978: .273 – 24 HR – 121 RBI

Things got ugly in 1979 as Bill Anderson described in his excellent book The Detroit Tigers:

Staub had a disastrous season, holding out for weeks trying to renegotiate his contract and unsettling the team. He finally signed in May but was then peddled to Montreal and had a lost season.

You have to give Staub credit for having the guts to hold-out on former Tigers’ GM Jim Campbell. He had to know that wasn’t going to end well.

The Tigers didn’t get much for him in the July 20, 1979 trade: a player to be named later and cash. About five months later the Expos sent minor-leaguer Randy Schafer (December 3, 1979) to the Tigers to complete the trade.

In the offseason the Expos sent Staub to Texas where, in 1980 at age 36, he merely hit .300. He returned to the Mets for his final five seasons, retiring after the 1985 season at 41. Staub’s final numbers for a 23-year career: .279 – 292 HR – 1,466 RBI – .362 OBP.

Now, about the culinary side. Here’s a clip from a review of Staub’s second Manhattan restaurant, Rusty’s on 5th Avenue, which appeared in The New Yorker 20 years ago:

Staub has an extensive background in cooking. It started when he was in the Instructional League in Scotsdale, AZ when he agreed to do the cooking for his roommates if they would clean up. Then a few years later, when he was in the Majors, he did all the cooking for a large Christmas party & the response was tremendous.

In 1969-71 when he was with Montreal he dated the manager of a restaurant in the Old City. He worked with chefs there. When he came to NY in 1972 chefs were interested in atheletes who cooked. While rehabilitating from a hand operation in ‘72, Staub put in 1500 hours working with chefs.

The original Rusty’s opened in 1977 when Staub was with the Tigers. Rusty Staub’s on 5th was first proposed by Fred Wilpon, co-owner of the Mets & chairman of the board of the company that manages the building, in the late summer of 1987.

According to this site, Staub appears to be out of the restaurant business for now. Back in the day, though, he performed awfully well in his day job.

Happy Birthday, Rusty.

On Nov. 18, 1997, GM Randy Smith sent Fryman to the Diamondbacks for Gabe Alvarez, Joe Randa and minor leaguer Matt Drews. Two weeks later, the D-backs dealt Fryman, Tom Martin and cash to the Indians for Matt Williams. Go figure.

Fryman played five seasons in Cleveland, highlighted by his 2000 campaign: .321 – 22 HR – 106 RBI. Two years later — his last in the bigs — at the age of 33, he cratered and hit .217, with 11 homers and 55 RBI.

(Aside: I remember when he visited Comerica Park the first time as a member of the Indians and he essentially said the park was okay but had too many Tigers around the exterior. He might be right, but at the time, man, I was indignant!)

Today, Travis Fryman is the manager of the Indians’ Class A Mahoning Valley (Ohio) Scrappers in the New York-Penn League. He debuted with the Scrappers last season. (Do yourself a favor and check out what the Scrappers have in store for their fans on July 18. Sweet mercy.)

In case you were wondering, Baseball-Reference.com estimates that Fryman made more than $47 million in his career. Chances are, those earnings are helping make it a happy birthday.

At least we hope so.

• Happy 28th Birthday, Curtis Granderson. The sooner you get back to Lakeland, the better.

• Today is also the birthday of Charles Hudson. His only distinction in Tigers lore is that he’s the guy for whom Detroit traded Tom Brookens 19 years and 51 weeks ago today. Hudson appeared in 18 games during the slog that was 1989 and posted a 1-5 record with a plump 6.35 ERA.

• Jose Capellan? For real?

• Finally, in our most recent Daily Fungo Pulse Check, we asked Who should get the Opening Day start in Toronto for the Tigers? The choices were Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman. Talk about a landslide: Verlander 31 of 35 votes (89%) to Bondo’s 11%.

  For those of you wondering if I’d lost my mind by even considering Bonderman an Opening Day option, keep in mind I posted the survey before his setbacks, trip to the doctor in Detroit, etc.

Speaking of Fungo Pulse Checks, weigh in on the latest one, won’t you?

He did, though, appear in 39 games for the Twins from 1977-79 amassing a 3-4 record and a 5.60 ERA. He came to Detroit on Dec. 5, 1979, in a trade for pitcher Fernando Arroyo.

However, if your photo appears in the Tigers’ Yearbook (1980 edition), you deserve recognition — especially on your 56th birthday.

Today’s also the birthday of two former Tigers pitchers:

• Bill Slayback, a member of the 1972 A.L. East Division champs, turns 61. A seventh-round pick in the 1968 draft, he pitched three years in Detroit posting a 6-9 record and 3.84 ERA in 42 appearances. In his rookie year of ‘72, Slayback (who wore number 44) appeared in 23 games (13 starts, three complete games) and notched a 5-6 record.

• Jack Billingham turns 65 today. He won 25 games for the Tigers from 1978-80 and he did so wearing number 41. Did you know that Billingham is a cousin of Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson? For a funny Billingham vs. Kirk Gibson nugget, revisit this post from last year.

Tom Veryzer turns 56 today. He played five years in Detroit (1973-77) before being dealt to Cleveland for Charlie Spikes. His last year in the bigs was 1984 when he was a bench rider for the Cubs. Had Leon Durham fielded a grounder more cleanly in the NLCS that year, perhaps Veryzer could’ve ended his career where it started, at Tiger Stadium. His final career numbers: .241 average, 14 homers, 231 RBI, .966 fielding percentage.

Happy Birthday, gentlemen.

• I wonder what was going through Tigers’ owner Mike Ilitch head today when Lynn Henning of the News asked him about the team’s off season progress — at a press conference in which Ilitch was committing $72 million to Henrik Zetterberg.

• Remember all the panic from 2006 and 2007 as the Tigers dealt away blue-chip pitching talent? Things are already looking up.

• I was about to crack wise about poor Nationals fans who will be subjected to Rob Dibble as the new television analyst on MASN broadcasts. Then I realized Tigers fans have a problem of their own alongside Dan Dickerson in the radio booth.

• I’m with Ian: Timo Time es muy bueno.

Finally, Yahoo! Sports’s Tim Brown recently pitched in his two cents on the 2009 Tigers in his Hot Stove Daily column.

If you think Justin Verlander is a beanpole, you should’ve seen Meacham: 6′ 2″ tall, 175 pounds.

He’s 41 today.

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.

Other birthdays:

• George Cappuzzello, 55
• Mike Marshall, 65
• Steve Gromek, he was born (1920) and died (2002) on Jan. 15.

Learn more about these three in a post from Jan. 15, 2007.