Ol’ number 33 turns 54 today. You can read more about Steve Kemp — and the trade that sent him to the White Sox — in the Fungo archives.

The wrecking ball at Michigan and Trumbull has caused Tigers fans across the nation to freak out. Or, to be precise, to express a desire to find a pair of Tiger Stadium seats.

How do I know this? Because of a stream of comments, pleas and offers for seats on a post I wrote last October.

If you’re looking for seats, browse the comments here. Of course, I’m doing this as a courtesy to fine Fungo readers everywhere. I have no personal interest in the sale of these seats, nor do I know the people offering them or looking for them.

Caveat emptor.

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.

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Yesterday was Johnny Grubb’s 60th birthday. Yes, 60th. I recently had the pleasure of talking with him while doing research for SABR’s book on the 1984 Tigers. (I’ve written the biographies of both Grubb and outfielder Rusty Kuntz.) We spoke about his entire career and focused a lot, of course, on the ‘84 team.

In honor of Johnny Grubb’s birthday, here’s the first of two installments of the discussion. Beginning with the trade that brought him to the Tigers from the Rangers for reliever Dave Tobik.

Mike McClary: What was your mindset coming to Detroit in 1983?

Johnny Grubb: Well, [Rangers manager] Doug Rader called me in his office in spring training when I was with Texas and he told me that they had made a trade.

He used to call me Grubsteaks. He said, ‘Grubsteaks, you’re going to like where you’re going.’ I said, ‘where’s that?’ And he said, ‘Detroit.’

And, of course, if you get traded, that would be a good team to go to because we knew they were strong and getting better each year and right on the verge of being a real, real good ball club. So I was happy to go there.

MMc: Did you know anything about the team in terms of who your new teammates were going to be or Sparky’s reputation?

JG: I knew Sparky’s reputation as a manager from playing against him in the National League. And then, of course, they did have a boy on the team, Mike Ivie, that goes back to when I played minor league ball. He was a teammate of mine, and he was a player with Detroit then. So I was going into a ball club there that at least I knew one guy real well.

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Welcome to The Detroit Tigers Podcast, the podcast for Tigers fans, by Tigers fans. This is Episode #57, a 45-minute podcast about the Detroit Tigers recorded live from Scottsdale, Arizona, and Ann Arbor, Mich.

Listen to show in the sidebar podcast player —>

In this episode we’re joined by Ian Casselberry, of BlessYouBoys.com. Ian and I discuss:

• The abysmal Tampa Series
• The Pudge-for-Farnsworth Trade
• What to do with the bullpen?
• The Tigers’ next moves
• The Chicago series that starts tonight

Download the audio file or grab the RSS feed here.

••• 

Comments? Leave a message on the listener line: (602) 903-5174.

Theme music for the podcast produced by Paul Minshall.

Between Bill Freehan and Lance Parrish, the Tigers’ backstop bridge to the future was ol’ Milt May.

The Tigers picked up May in a Dec. 6, 1975 trade with the Astros. He came to Detroit with Jim Crawford and Dave Roberts for Leon Roberts, Terry Humphrey, Gene Pentz and Mark Lemongello.

May’s first season as a Tiger was Freehan’s last, and it was one to forget. A broken ankle limited him to a half-dozen games behind the plate. Freehan and Bruce Kimm, Mark Fidrych’s personal catcher, shared receiving duties that year.

Here’s how May, who wore number 12, was described in the 1978 Tigers Yearbook:

Steady it goes with Milt May, the Tigers’ experienced catcher. He missed all but six games of the 1976 season, his first as a Tiger, because of a broken ankle. But 1977 was another story, as Milt caught 111 games with fine defensive skill and some timely hitting.

His .249 at the plate [sic] included two eight-game hitting streaks and 12 home runs, the most for May in his major league career. One of the homers was Milt’s second grand slammer and he also hit two for the circuit in one game.

That year, May, the son of Phillies’ infielder Pinky May, caught in 94 games and despite being just 27, was being phased out in the transition to Parrish. The Big Wheel appeared in 85 games at catcher in 1978 and 142 in ‘79.

After just five games in ‘79, May’s tenure with the Tigers was over. On May 27, the White Sox purchased his contract and the Gary, Ind., native played in 65 games for Chicago. In the offseason, May signed with the Giants where he played from 1980 through August 1983 when he was dealt to his original team, the Pirates.

Milt May’s final season was 1984. In 50 games with Pittsburgh, he hit just .177. His final career line: 1,192 games, .263 average, 77 homers and 443 RBI.

After his playing career, May went the coaching route. First as Jim Leyland’s hitting coach with the Pirates (1987-96), then the Marlins (1997-98). He spent the first half of the ‘99 season with Tampa Bay and then became Leyland’s pitching coach in Colorado for the remainder of that season.

Happy 58th Birthday, Milt.

Welcome to August! In the Phoenix area we ring in the month with 113 degrees…but a mere 20 percent humidity. The poor Tigers head to Tampa where the temperature and humidity are 86. God bless Willis Carrier.

• So how did July end up for the Tigers? Even. As in 13-13. Here are some other tidbits that helped shape a so-so month in this so-so season:
  • Losses to the Twins on July 1 and the Indians on July 31 bookend the month.

  • Top hitter: Magglio Ordonez: .386; however he played in only 15 games. We’ll expand this to the two players that played in the most games last month: Curtis Granderson (26 games) .324, and Miguel Cabrera (25 games) .330.
  • Most hits: Granderson, 36; Cabrera, 25
  • Most homers: Cabrera, 8.
  • Top pitcher, wins: Justin Verlander, 4
  • ERA, starter: Zach Miner, 1.29
  • ERA, reliever: Bobby Seay, 0.79
  • Saves: Todd Jones, 3.

• The good news heading into a new month is that the Tigers are just 5.5 games out of first place with two months to play. The bad news? The Tigers are just 5.5 games out of fourth place. Savor that for a moment, won’t you?

• According to the results of The Daily Fungo Pulse Check unscientific poll, 57 percent of Fungo readers said they expected the Tigers to be buyers at the trade deadline, 43 percent thought the Tigers would sell. Interestingly, I noticed a mini-surge in “sellers” votes after the Pudge deal was announced. Be sure to cast your vote in this week’s new poll.

• The big media outlets released power rankings for this week. The Tigers certainly have the look of a middling team according to:
  • ESPN.com: 11
  • Fox Sports.com: 18
  • CBS SportsLine.com: 14
  • BaseballProspectus.com Hit List: 13
  • SportsIllustrated.com: 14
  • MLB.com’s Fab 15: 14

• Does anyone else feel like it’s Sept. 20 and not Aug. 1? This season is exhausting.

Finally, on Aug. 1, 1974, at Milwaukee’s County Stadium, Ron LeFlore made his major-league debut for the Tigers. Ralph Houk put him in the leadoff spot against the Brewers’ Jim Slaton and LeFlore struck out thrice. It wasn’t until his fourth at bat that he put a ball in play: a grounder to third baseman Don Money for the first out of the eighth.

The Tigers won the game 2-0 behind a masterful performance by Woodie Fryman: a complete-game one-hitter. Woodrow struck out 10 and walked three. Norm Cash drove in both runs with a solo homer and an RBI single.

Wondering who caught Fryman’s gem? Gene Lamont.

Have a great weekend.

Now this makes sense (from Bill Madden’s column in The New York Daily News):

How could [Yankees' GM Brian Cashman] know the Detroit Tigers’ perennial All-Star and Gold Glove catcher had become disconcerted over the decision of his manager, Jim Leyland, to give an increased percentage of the catching role to Brandon Inge? It seems nobody had an inkling of this until Rodriguez, who is a free agent after the season, asked for a meeting with Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski at the team hotel in Cleveland, at which he was the one who suggested a trade to the Yankees.

“They need a catcher and I want to catch every day,” Rodriguez reportedly told Dombrowski. “Why don’t you see if you can work something out?”

And here’s a zinger:

From Cashman’s standpoint, the Yankees had already been asking a lot of Jose Molina, a career backup, and there was also private concern that he might eventually break down. With Rodriguez coming in, those fears have been alleviated, but it remains to be seen how the Yankee pitchers, all of whom apparently love working with Molina, will interact with Rodriguez. Despite Rodriguez’s Hall-of-Fame credentials, his reputation is that he catches for himself.

Not surprisingly, we find out that Scott Boras was just being Scott Boras:

When Dombrowski got to the ballpark in Cleveland, he called Rodriguez into Leyland’s office at which time they made a courtesy call to Rodriguez’s agent Scott Boras, who, predictably, immediately started making demands for compensation to his client in exchange for waiving his no-trade clause. At that point, Rodriguez reportedly got on the phone and told Boras to butt out; that this was his wish and that everything had already been signed off on.

And that about wraps up that story. For now.

Here’s what we were talking about last year at the Trade Deadline:

• Harwell still swinging for the seats
• Putting the “Dead” in Trade Deadline
• What ails the Tigers? Well, for starters

• If you listened to Dave Dombrowski’s comments yesterday, you might believe that he was approached by Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman about trading Pudge Rodriguez. Not so, at least according to the New York Times‘ story:
  

  [A]t 10 a.m. … Cashman received a call from Dave Dombrowski, the president of the Tigers. Cashman says he has always appreciated Dombrowski’s direct style, and Dombrowski hit him with a thunderbolt: he wanted Farnsworth for Rodríguez.

• Last night I sent an instant message to Ian Casselberry asking that if the Tigers found a way to win the game, would it (could it?) be considered a possible defining moment for this team? Everything pointed to a loss — especially given the Tigers’ apparently fragile collective psyche. [Insert excuse -- the heat, the cold, fatigue, high expectations, Pudge trade -- here.] Nevertheless, they battled and won. If the stars align and this team is still in the hunt in late September, perhaps this game will be considered a big factor. Then again, let’s see how they respond in today’s finale.

• The Tigers enter play today at 13-12 for the month. How bad would they be if not for the 19-8 month of June?