• I was looking at my notebook of random Tigers thoughts and here’s one leftover from the fall. The 2007 Padres lost a Game 163 and began a downward spiral that’s still in motion, more or less. Are the ‘09 Tigers following a similar path? What might the Padres look like if they had beaten the Rockies — and has Matt Holliday yet touched home plate? How would the 2010 Tigers look had they beaten the Twins in Game 163?

  My initial thoughts on the subject led me to believe the Tigers’ competitive window was just about shut and locked. Now, I’m not so sure. A month after the Curtis Granderson trade, I’m more confident that the Tigers are on footing that’s much more solid than the Padres of recent years. What do you think?

• Found this on Baseball-Reference.com yesterday:
  

  In a story in the New York Times, Detroit Tigers President Frank Navin blames the length of the games on the coachers (sic) boxes. Navin, reacting to American League President Ban Johnson’s complaint that too many games the previous season had taken two hours to play, says the boxes should be moved back so that the catcher can give the pitcher his signals more quickly. From where they are now, he said, the coaching players can detect the catcher’s signals unless he takes a lot of time to hide them. Navin said this slow signalling (sic) is the reason for the longer games.

  Two hours to play? If only we had that problem today.

• Were you as surprised as I was that the Giants signed Aubrey Huff to be their starting first baseman and cleanup hitter? Here’s what general manager Brian Sabean said of the Huff signing:
  

  “The more we examined what he has done and what we need, we thought this would be a good fit. He’s a fourth hitter who’s been a run producer and quite frankly he’s got the track record we were looking for. Even in a down year he drove in 85 runs which is something we needed.”

  You have to admire the man’s optimism.

• In our recent Fungo Pulse Check we asked: If only one of these Tigers could be elected to the Hall of Fame, who would you choose? Here are the results: Alan Trammell: 85 percent (33 votes); Jack Morris: 15 percent (six votes). I guess I’m in the distinct minority on Morris. Be sure to take our current poll in the sidebar –>.

• Happy Birthday to Jose Macias (38) and the late Vern Ruhle.

Have a great week.

I still hold out hope that these two Tigers legends make it into the Hall of Fame — especially Morris, who was my favorite player. Meanwhile, former Blue Jays, Mariners and Phillies GM Pat Gillick is making a case for The Cat but our friend Rob Neyer ain’t buying it:

Pat Gillick has been a brilliant baseball man for a long time. If I haven’t already, someday I will throw my weight squarely behind his Hall of Fame candidacy. But he’s just wrong about Jack Morris. Or at the least, he pretty obviously isn’t objective about Jack Morris. That’s fine. Being objective about old ballplayers isn’t Pat Gillick’s job.

(Be sure to read the whole post.)

Rob and I have a running thing about his Morris-as-Hall-of-Famer stance; he knows I think Morris belongs (admittedly based on my youthful bias towards that early 1980s core and the fact I attended Morris’s first major-league victory), and I know Rob thinks the numbers don’t add up.

Nevertheless, it’s fun to talk about. At least I think it is.

By the by, last year we ran a Fungo Pulse Check poll on this topic and here’s how it played out:

Does Jack Morris deserve to be in the Hall of Fame?

Total Voters: 58 — Yes! (62%, 36 Votes) — No! (38%, 22 Votes)

What do you think? Is Morris a Hall of Famer? And what about Tram?

Discuss.

In the first six games one thing was constant: the team that scored first would go on to lose. The Blue Jays, with the season in the balance, would take their chances and welcome an early lead off Tigers starter Frank Tanana.

Instead, the Tigers struck first. Larry Herndon led off the Detroit third inning with a home run off Blue Jays starter Jimmy Key. A strong wind gust nudged the ball over Bell’s outstretched glove and into the lower deck in left. The Tigers led 1-0 on Herndon’s first homer since Aug. 18.

“Luckily, I just got enough,” Herndon said to Tommy George of the Free Press. “I saw Bell go back and it looked like he had a chance to catch it. I looked at Bell all the way. And then when I heard and saw the crowd reaction behind the fence, I knew it was out.”

Key gave his team every opportunity to get back into the game. He blanked Detroit – allowing only a single by Lou Whitaker and three walks – over the next five innings. As the shadows crept across the Tiger Stadium infield, Tanana faced – and escaped – a number of threats. In the eighth, the Blue Jays placed a runner at third with only one out and the heart of the order coming to bat. Tanana got Juan Beniquez to line to right and then Jesse Barfield grounded out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, Key struck out the side and finished the game giving up only three hits. He could now only watch as his teammates worked to muster some offense against Tanana.

Cecil Fielder, who three years later would become a star with Detroit, led off the ninth inning with a strike out. The next hitter, Manny Lee, who was superb in replacing Tony Fernandez during the season’s final 10 days, battled with Tanana and fouled off five, full-count pitches. With the sixth, Lee grounded sharply to third for out number two.

The Blue Jays’ final hope rested on the bat of third baseman Garth Iorg, hitless in his previous three at bats. Iorg swung at the first pitch, a tantalizing curveball, and hit a slow roller between pitcher’s mound and first. Tanana scooped the ball, turned and softly underhanded it to first baseman Darrell Evans for the final out – clinching the Tigers second division championship in four years.

The Blue Jays could only watch as the Tigers celebrated a championship that, just a week earlier, appeared to be theirs.

“To lose that many one-run games, one play, one pitch, one hit turns ‘em all around,” Toronto manager Jimy Williams told the News’s Lynn Henning in a somber clubhouse afterward. “Especially one hit. We lost the first two and then, when you put nine eggs on the board, it’s tough to win.”

As the Blue Jays gathered their belongings and prepared for a long winter of questions and soul searching, the Tigers had more work ahead of them: the American League Championship Series against the Minnesota Twins.

Seven months earlier at their spring training home in Lakeland, Fla., the Tigers didn’t appear to have the ingredients required for a memorable season. At the time, Jack Morris said that the Tigers could win…but they’d have to do it with what they had. Hardly a stirring battle cry.

But when the final 10 days of the 1987 season arrived, the Tigers proved they had enough – plenty, in fact – to win the American League East title.

Final 1987 American League East Standings

]]> http://www.dailyfungo.com/2009/10/04/october-surprise-part-9-comeback-complete/feed/ 0 http://www.dailyfungo.com/2009/10/03/october-surprise-part-8-tigers-pull-ahead/ http://www.dailyfungo.com/2009/10/03/october-surprise-part-8-tigers-pull-ahead/#comments Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:56:13 +0000 Mike McClary http://www.dailyfungo.com/?p=2850 On the next-to-last day of the 2009 season, with the Tigers’ fate still undecided, we continue our series on the Tigers’ and Blue Jays’ battle for the A.L. East crown on the next-to-last day of the 1987 season.

American League East Standings: October 3, 1987

In game two of the final series, Jack Morris and Mike Flanagan faced off on a bright and blustery Saturday afternoon.

As they had in Toronto nine days earlier, the two veteran pitchers sparkled. The Jays grabbed an early 1-0 lead. The Tigers countered with a Mike Heath single and Bill Madlock double to knot the game. Both teams scored in the fifth.

But over the next seven innings neither team scored. Morris pitched nine strong innings to Flanagan’s 11.

“I’ve been in this league eight years facing Flanagan, and I’ve never seen him better,” Tom Brookens said to the Free Press’s John Lowe.

Mike Henneman relieved Morris in the tenth and shut down the Jays. Jeff Musselman took over for Flanagan but couldn’t pick up where the starter had left off.

Lou Whitaker led off the twelfth with a single that stirred up the Toronto bullpen. Madlock singled too, then Kirk Gibson walked to load the bases. Blue Jays manager Jimy Williams quickly switched to the right-handed Mark Eichhorn to face Alan Trammell.

On Eichhorn’s third pitch, Trammell rifled a groundball through shortstop Manny Lee’s legs into left field. Jim Walewander, pinch running for Whitaker, scored the winning run and for the first time in more than two weeks the Tigers had sole possession of first place in the American League East.

Following the game, Morris, who appeared to be throwing his hardest in the ninth inning, was asked how he got stronger as the game progressed.

“Adrenaline,” Morris told Lowe. “You know it’s the end of the season. There’s no reason to save anything. You reach back and you find a little extra. I didn’t have great stuff early, but I had great concentration from the third inning on. I just wouldn’t give in.”

The Tigers had seized momentum. With a win on Sunday they could cap baseball’s most unlikely comeback in years and seal perhaps the worst collapse in recent memory.

Tomorrow: Tigers Clinch in a Nail-biter

American League East Standings

September 24, 1987

At the outset of the first series the Tigers sat only a half-game out of first place. The game-one pitching match up featured two of baseball’s best in the 1980s: the Tigers’ Jack Morris and Jays lefty Mike Flanagan.

It didn’t take long for the complexion of the game, the series and perhaps the season to change dramatically. In the top of the third, with Bill Madlock on first, Kirk Gibson hit a routine double-play ball to second baseman Nelson Liriano. Liriano pivoted and threw to shortstop Tony Fernandez for the force at second; Madlock’s slide toppled Fernandez who fell to the artificial surface, breaking his elbow. (Shortly after Fernandez left the game the Blue Jays announced that he would need surgery and would be out for the remainder of the season.) Gibson reached first on the fielder’s choice.

After a Trammell fly out, Larry Herndon singled, moving Gibson to second. The next hitter, centerfielder Chet Lemon, drove in Gibson and advanced Herndon to third. A Flanagan wild pitch scored Herndon and gave Morris a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom half of the third, Toronto scored all the runs they’d need. Catcher Ernie Whitt smacked a two-run single tying the score at two. Jays’ third baseman Rance Mulliniks followed with a double off the top of the left field wall moving Whitt to third. Whitt scored – narrowly – on a wild pitch. The ball ricocheted off the backstop to catcher Mike Heath who tossed it to Morris covering home. Morris arrived ahead of Whitt but over-ran the plate and couldn’t recover in time to apply the tag. Toronto led 4-2.

Flanagan blanked the Tigers until the seventh when three straight singles by Lou Whitaker, Trammell and Gibson narrowed the deficit to 4-3. In the ninth, Toronto closer Tom Henke shut the Tigers down to notch his league-leading 34th save and give the Blue Jays an early lead in the series.

“I just didn’t do my job,” Morris told the Free Press’s John Lowe after the game. “My team gave me a two-run lead and I gave it right back. That’s not the way you’re supposed to pitch.”

Sparky Anderson refused to make too much of the loss. “Crucial?”, he said to Tom Gage of the Detroit News. “How the heck do I know if it’s crucial? I’ll let you know in another 10 days.”

With the injury to Fernandez, Toronto lost arguably its most important offensive player. For one night, though, the Jays were able to overcome it.

A game and a half ahead of the Tigers, Toronto had to like how the weekend had started. The Tigers would need to bounce back quickly.

Tomorrow: Game Two

Some birthday for me. Actually, yesterday was a fine day and I never let the Tigers’ performance impact my birthday mood.

Because there’s absolutely nothing positive to discuss about the Tigers’ finale against the Tribe, humor me as I walk through notable Tigers games and events that happened on Aug. 2 since the year I was born.

• Overall, the Tigers are 20 and 15 on my birthday; in seven years they didn’t play, including during the 1981 strike.

• The Tigers beat the Twins 6-5 at Metropolitan Stadium on the day I was born in 1968. Don McMahon got the win in relief of Joe Sparma. Bill Freehan drove in three runs while the Twins’ Rod Carew went 3 for 4, of course.

• On Aug. 2, 1972, the Tigers purchases the contract of P Woodie Fryman from the Phillies. Two days later, they purchased C Duke Sims’s contract from the Dodgers. Fryman, just 4-10 for Philadelphia, goes 10-3 for Detroit, while Sims hits .316 for the Tigers in 38 games.

• In 1975, at Fenway Park the game-time temperature was 103 degrees and the Tigers wilted under the heat of Rick Wise and the Red Sox and lost 7-2.

• In 1984, I was there when Jack Morris out dueled Bert Blyleven as the Tigers beat the Indians 2-1.

• On Aug. 2, 1985, Frank Tanana allowed one hit, a homer by Ben Oglivie in the 5th, and struck out eight on his way to beating the Brewers, 4-1.

• In 1990, Yankees rookie Kevin Maas hits his 10th home run in just 77 at bats, the fastest any player has ever reached that mark. Big deal. The Tigers won 6-5 in 11 innings.

Thanks for taking the trip down memory lane with me. Assuming you’re still there. Hello…?

• Yes, I would’ve preferred that Curtis Granderson got the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player award. But, as Ian mentioned on Twitter last night, it was good to see the triples-hitting stroke return for Grandy. Maybe it’ll inject some three-base life into Grandy’s bat in the second half?

• Friend of the Fungo Rob Neyer pours more salt into the wound of yours truly by presenting another case against Jack Morris’s induction into the Hall of Fame. This time, he points to an article comparing Morris to, ahem, Jamie Moyer. (!)

• Speaking of All Stars, tonight is the Triple-A All-Star Game (10 p.m. ET on ESPN2) and a look at the International League roster reveal a lone Toledo Mud Hens player: Brent Dlugach. Peek at the Pacific Coast League roster and you’ll find two familiar names: Eric Munson and Yorman Bazardo. Must be odd for Munson — the Tigers’ number-one draft choice 10 years ago — starting in the Triple-A All-Star Game representing Sacramento.

• Need a reality check on the Tigers? Tonight, MLB Network will televise 30 Clubs / 30 Report Cards, a midseason report at 8 p.m. ET. According to the network:
  

  The show will include analysis on the second half of the season and potential American League and National League MVPs, Cy Young Award winners and Rookies of the Year. John Hart, former general manager of the Texas Rangers, will also discuss farm reports, giving updates on Minor League players to watch.

• I hope the rumors of the Tigers’ interest in Roy Halladay are exaggerated. Why do the Tigers need another top-of-the-rotation starter who’ll get two runs of support? If there’s a splash to be made, let’s make it a bat. (Take our latest Pulse Check Poll to weigh in on this topic –>.)

Finally, Happy 44th Birthday to former Tigers third baseman Scott Livingstone. He played four seasons in Detroit (1991-94) hitting .286 with eight homers and 97 RBI.

• All-Time Record: 185-152-1
• All-Time at Home: 104-64-1
• All-Time at Comerica Park: 22-18
• All-Time at Seattle: 81-88

Wait a second. The Tigers and Mariners played to a tie? In the 20th century?

This little item sent me scrambling to my favorite site, Baseball-Reference.com, for the details. Here’s what I found:

On Monday, June 2, 1980, (back when the Tigers had 8 p.m. start times) Jack Morris faced lefty Rick Honeycutt at Tiger Stadium. According to the box score, the game-time weather was rainy, which means there could’ve been a rain delay — or more than one. In fact, the 3:43 time of game indicates that it was probably a combo of weather and American League-style baseball that slowed the game.

So the game lasted 13 innings. Big whoop, right? Not so fast. Beyond the oddity that is the tie in Major League Baseball, this particular game had some interesting sub-plots. For example, take a gander at the pitching lines from that night:

Seattle

• Honeycutt: 9 IP – 9 H – 3 R – 3 ER – 1 BB – 3 K
• Shane Rawley: 4 IP – 2 H – 0 R – 5 BB – 1 K

Detroit

• Morris: 10 IP – 10 H – 3 R – 3 ER – 0 BB – 7 K
• Aurelio Lopez: 3 IP – 2 H – 0 R – 0 BB – 3 K

Yes, you read that right: 13 IP by Tigers pitchers, zero walks.

Of the 10 hits Morris surrendered, eight came from Seattle DH (and former Tiger) Dan Meyer — he went 5 for 6 but with no RBI — and Detroit native Tom Paciorek (3 for 6, 2 RBI).

As for the Tigers, their offense was sparse and scattered. Kirk Gibson, who batted eighth, hit a solo shot off Honeycutt, and Richie Hebner drove in a pair going 2 for 3.

(Side note: Tigers icon Willie Horton pinch hit for M’s catcher Larry Cox in the ninth and grounded out, pitcher to first.)

The Tigers had the winning run on third in the bottom half of the 13th after a Lance Parrish single and then two walks. But Tom Brookens flied out to right to end the threat and the game — tied at three.

Why this game wasn’t finished is a bit of a mystery — at least to me. Looking at the schedule from June 1980, the 3-3 game was the first of a three-game series which means they could have continued it before the Tuesday, June 3 game or the one on June 4.

Oddly enough, each club’s record adds up to 162 games; the Tigers finished in fourth in the A.L. East at 84-78 and the Mariners dead last in the West at 59-103. So they both got credited for a win?

The only other thing that stands out about Tigers-Mariners matchups in 1980 is the July 20 game in the Kingdome. Baseball-Reference.com shows that the Tigers won 5-2, but with a note that the game was forfeited to the Mariners. Yet, the box score doesn’t indicate anything other than a Tigers win. Who knows?

I’ve got a feeling we won’t be seeing any ties in this weekend series, but the no-walks approach is something Jim Leyland can no doubt get behind.

• Morris Left Out Again: Our most recent poll question, Does Jack Morris deserve to be in the Hall of Fame?, pulled in 57 responses, 61 percent (35 votes) said yes; 39 percent (22 votes) said nay. Early on, the results were dead even but as the month progressed — and the Hall of Fame voting drew nearer — Morris gained steam among the Fungo Faithful.

  Alas, another year has passed and Jack the Cat will not be inducted in Cooperstown. Yes, his vote total reached 44 percent this year, but it seems that Morris may end up a Veterans’ Committee selection down the road. You know how I feel about that.

• Speaking of the Hall of Fame, Alan Trammell garners a meager 17.4 percent? That’s embarrassing.

  

• On this date in 1996 the Tigers acquired OF Duane Singleton from the Brewers for LHP Henry Santos.

• And here’s one we missed from yesterday: on Jan. 22, 1992, the Tigers traded LHP Paul Gibson to the Mets for OF Mark Carreon and LHP Tony Castillo.

• Happy 58th Birthday to former Tiger

  Charlie Spikes who played in 10 games for the 1978 Tigers (.250, 0 HR, 2 RBI). He was acquired on Dec. 9, 1977, from the Indians for shortstop Tom Veryzer.

  

• So Brandon Lyon looks like the Tigers closer for 2009. We’ll see if he can shake off whatever ailed him last season in Arizona and actually close some games. If he does sign with the Tigers he will be the second Brandon on the team and – how’s this for minutiae? – both Brandons have last names consisting of four letters. Yeah, it’s a slow news week.

Have a great weekend.

Schatzeder, who turns 54 today, pitched for the Tigers in 1980 and '81.

• On this date in 1961, the Tigers made the only Dec. 1-trade in their history by trading righthanders Bob Bruce and Manny Montejo to the Houston Colt .45s for righty “Toothpick” Sam Jones. (Baseball-Reference.com claims that on Dec. 1, 1955, the Tigers brought back pitcher Virgil Trucks in a trade with the White Sox for third baseman Bubba Phillips. But the Tigers media guide has the trade taking place on Nov. 30. A tie goes to the team media guide.) Something else you likely didn’t know: This was the only trade between the Tigers and the Colt .45s. Now, the Tigers and the Astros, that’s another tale altogether.
• With the Baseball Winter Meetings just around the bend, Tigers fans can expect (hope?) for some trade or free-agent activity to come out of Las Vegas. In a recent Daily Fungo Pulse Check, 80 readers responded to the question: If the Tigers could address only ONE position this offseason, which would you choose? Here’s the final tally:
  • Premier closer: 44% (35 votes)
  • Starting shortstop: 39% (31)
  • Starting catcher: 18% (14)

  We certainly haven’t heard much about the closer options — at least compared to what we’ve heard about shortstops — and nothing at all, really, about catchers. Should be a fun month. (Be sure to weigh in on our latest poll, shown in the sidebar –>.)

• I’d finally given up any hope of Jack Morris being voted into the Hall of Fame and then this appears.

Finally, Happy 54th Birthday to Dan Schatzeder, Jim Campbell’s long-coveted southpaw starter. Traded from Montreal for Ron LeFlore, Schatzeder spent two unremarkable seasons in Detroit: 17-21 and a 5.04 ERA. On Dec. 9, 1981, he was traded with Mike Chris to the Giants for Larry Herndon. Now that’s a better trade.

• Remember when the Tigers announced that one of the coaches hadn’t decided to return for 2009? Whatever happened with that?

• Almost a year ago, the Tigers acquired Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera and the playoff tickets were being designed in a desktop publishing program somewhere. Today? This team is viewed as a club with a flawed roster, a manager whose job is on the line, and a suddenly tighter budget. Is this 180-degree turnaround as astounding to you as it is to me?

• Speaking of Dontrelle, listening to XM’s MLB Home Plate channel yesterday, I heard his agent, Matt Sosnick, say that Willis is physically sound and that any challenges next season will be purely mental. Ahem. Oh, and as for the D-Train’s offseason plans? This is a quote: “He needs to refresh himself mentally.” Don’t we all.

• Over at TigsTown.com [$] guest columnist Ian Casselberry suggests that the Tigers should trade Placido Polanco this offseason. As much as this idea pains me, Ian’s reasoning is spot-on…as usual.

• As usual, Friend of the Fungo Rob Neyer beats the No-Jack-Morris-in-the-Hall-of-Fame drum. Sigh. (Oh, and Rob’s column is no longer behind the ESPN.com Insider deal and is free to all.)

• For the past month I’ve been meaning to write a post about the Arizona Fall League experience. I started it. I just…can’t…finish it. Yet. In the meantime, here’s a set of photos from a game in late October featuring many Tigers prospects, including Jeff Larish.

Finally, Happy 61st Birthday to Richie Hebner. The old gravedigger turns 61 today. (Did you know that Hebner was the last Tiger to wear number 2 before the team retired the number in honor of Charlie Gehringer?)

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Be safe.

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.

MMc: Even today when you see teams get off to a good start, and then you look at the record and you think, That’s a good start, but that’s not 35-5.

JG: Yeah, that was awesome.

MMc: One moment of the ’84 season in particular I want to ask you about is the second game of the playoffs in Kansas City. Eleventh inning and you got the hit that drove in the go-ahead runs. That came off Dan Quisenberry. What do you remember about that at-bat? What were you looking for from him, and what did you get? Because you drove that ball deep.

JG: Actually, he got two strikes on me and (Royals catcher) John Wathan went out to the mound to talk to the pitcher. I guess he wanted to make sure that they were going to be on the same page.

We didn’t get the bunt down to get the runners over to second and third, so there were runners on first and second and one out. And he got two strikes on me, and I kind of was watching them when they were out there talking. I thought I could read their lips and I thought I saw them saying fastball.

And I said, well, I can’t trust that, but I’m going to be ready for it. And he threw a fastball, and I’m sure Willie Wilson was cheating in a little bit on me with two strikes on me. But I happened to get a hold of one and drove it over his head. So I’m glad I came through to help out. That was my turn I guess to do something to help the team.

MMc: Would you say that’s one of the biggest — if not the biggest — hit of your career?

JG: Yeah, I’d say that was the biggest hit for me helping the ball club and everything. It came at a great time because he was a tough relief pitcher, and he’d gotten it to the eleventh inning. And being at their ballpark, sometimes it favors the home team when it starts going extra innings. But things worked out.

MMc: Did you have success against Quisenberry throughout your career?

JG: You’d have to check my record on him because I felt really good against him because he was a sinker ball pitcher, and I’m a good low ball hitter. And I felt like I hit the ball hard on him, but I don’t know how many hits. I can remember a lot of times coming back across the diamond going into the dugout thinking you lucky son-of-a-gun. It was like I hit the ball hard, but it’d be at the second baseman or right at the centerfielder.

So I don’t know if my batting average was that high against him. But it’s one of those pitchers where maybe my batting average wasn’t – I’m not sure. I don’t know what my batting average was against him. But I felt good facing him. I felt good hitting against him.

[Note: According to Baseball-Reference.com, Grubb had a .200 career batting average (3 for 15) against Quisenberry, with just one RBI. Before facing him in the A.L.C.S., Grubb had one plate appearance against the Royals' submariner in 1984: a flyout to left on Aug. 3.]

MMc: After sweeping the Royals in the A.L.C.S., what was the confidence level heading into the World Series? It looked like it was going to be against the Cubs until the Padres came back to win the N.L. Pennant.

JG: Well, I remember watching the [N.L.C.S.] because we wanted to see who we were going to be playing. And you’re right, I thought it looked like it was going to be the Cubs, and then all of a sudden it turned out to be San Diego. And I don’t remember knowing that much about either team.

I knew more probably about the Cubs than we did about San Diego. But I think most of the guys, the way that team was with Detroit, I think we just felt like we’re going to play them, we’re going to take care of business with them. I don’t think it would have made any difference. I think we were destined to have a good year wherever we played it. We planned on going out there and taking care of business.

MMc: What was that like for you going back to San Diego where you started your career?

JG: It was real neat to go back. When they did the introductions, I remember they gave me a nice ovation. I wasn’t sure really what they might do. You’re not sure if fans are going to turn on you or not. But they were really, really nice. And I remember Ruppert Jones was with us, and they gave him a nice round of applause, too. So it was neat. And, of course, we had friends that still lived back there, and just going back where I started my career was a neat feeling being in that stadium.

MMc: Talk about the whole World Series experience for you as a player at that point in your career.

JG: Well, it was all new to me. I’d gone to College World Series, Junior College World Series, watched them on television. And I guess as a kid you put yourself in that position where you could just imagine and dream about being in the World Series. So it wasn’t like I was intimidated or I don’t think any player at that level are going to be intimidated. The big crowds and all the media and all that were a little different.

But as players you get focused on what you’ve got to get done. And you still just make it this same game. It’s still the same ball and the same bat and gloves, and you don’t try to make it any different than that and make the plays.

And all the hype and all the media and all that, that I guess can get to some players. But Sparky had pretty much told us not to talk too much to the media and just get focused on the game. He said, “Let me speak to the media” and that let us go out and do the work on the field. So I think that was good advice.

MMc: It seemed like it was a very focused group, but everyone assumed it was going to be a quick World Series with the Tigers coming out on top. Did the team self-police each other in terms of getting overconfident or did Sparky have to do that — or was that even an issue?

JG: I don’t think it was an issue. We had guys on the team like Gibby and Chet [Lemon] and, of course, you’ve got a veteran player like Darrell. And Lance was kind of quiet, so he didn’t do a lot of rah-rah stuff. But we just had a group of guys that all of us, we weren’t going to be intimidated, and we didn’t take anybody lightly.

We understood what it would take to win ballgames, and went out there and played hard every pitch. And we respected Sparky’s decisions. I know we had Marty Castillo starting at third base, and I’m sure, myself included, when we saw him starting at third, it was like, wow, I wonder why Howard is not starting at third? But that’s who he’s going to play. We’ll just go out there and take care of it with Marty at third, too, because he’s a good ballplayer as well. And darn it if he didn’t hit a home run (in Game 3). It was like Sparky made all the right calls.

MMc: I want to talk to you about your final season which was also, from a team perspective, a good one, the 1987 season. Heading into that season, did you have a sense it was your last year, or were you just going to kind of see how it played out?

JG: Well, I was close to 40, so I knew it was getting right down to the end. And I knew Sparky probably saw me as not going to have a whole lot of playing time, a guy off the bench. And he’d pretty much shown to some of the veteran players that he was starting to move a little bit more towards younger players (like) Scott Lusader. So I knew it was a good chance it might be my last year, but I wouldn’t allow myself to think that way. And I just had a poor season, but ended up having a good playoff for us. But I wish I’d have had a better season for us. I just didn’t do that well that year.

I know I was hoping that the team would do it again, and I’ve got two boys, so my little extra motivation was that I would have liked to have had two World Series rings so I could pass one down to each child. So it would have been nice.

But that was a heck of a ball club. We had a good team, and we had some new players that I believe Mike Heath was the catcher that year. And, of course, we had Frank Tanana and Walt Terrell, and it was a number of new faces, but real good ballplayers.

So we had a good team. We caught Minnesota when they were hot, and we had come off a real tough series against Toronto. So it just was one of those situations that you catch a team hot and maybe you’re not as hot as you’d like to be, and anything can happen. They won the whole thing that year, so I guess they were destined to win, too.

MMc: Were you surprised that you only got one World Series out of that collection of talent?

JG: Well, see, ’87 was my last year, so I don’t know how they did the following year. But that Eastern Division at that time was a tough division. And just to win the American League East, that in itself was saying a whole lot because Toronto, Baltimore, Yankees, Boston, there’s some good ball clubs, and just to win the American League East is tough. So it’s a shame we didn’t beat Minnesota, but they played better. They came with their fans with those whistles.

MMc: Yeah, their Homer Hankies.

JG: The Homer Hankies and all that. But they had a heck of a ball club, so you’ve got to give them credit. They were scrappers and they played hard. So they got the job done.

MMc: I understand that you’re involved with Tiger Fantasy Camps. Is that something you do every year?

JG: Yeah, I enjoy going there. That way, I get to see my old teammates and, of course, the people that do the fantasy camps are real nice people, and I’ve gotten to know a lot of them over the years. So it’s a great experience and look forward to going every year. Jim Price is one of the guys that helps along with Jerry Lewis. And, of course, the Tigers I think operate it and everything. It’s a fun time.

MMc: And do you stay in touch with a lot of your old teammates and follow the Tigers in general?

JG: I still follow the Tigers and get Christmas cards and stuff from the teammates. And I don’t talk to them as much as I’d like to, but I usually catch up with them at Tiger Fantasy Camp or some reunion that we might have. But it’s every time you see them, just like I saw Darrell Evans recently at the Tigers camp, Milt Wilcox, and those guys, it just seems like it was just yesterday that we were playing. So it’s great seeing them.

• Bruce Kimm, Mark Fidrych’s personal catcher, turns 57 today.

• Eddie Miller played 14 games for the 1982 Tigers and got one hit in 25 at bats; that’s an .040 average, folks. He turns 51 today.

• Dizzy Trout was born on this date in 1915. The righty pitcher won 27 games for the Tigers in the 1944 season (and pitched 352 innings). Trout was part of a big-time trade on June 3, 1952. He was dealt by the Tigers with Hoot Evers, George Kell and Johnny Lipon to the Boston Red Sox for Bill Wight, Walt Dropo, Fred Hatfield, Johnny Pesky and Don Lenhardt.

• Old-time Tigers outfielder Bobby Veach was born 120 years ago today. He played 12 of his 14 big-league seasons in Detroit and finished with a .310 average.

And these three nuggets from Tigers history, courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com:

On June 29…

• 1968: Jim Northrup’s third grand slam ties the major-league record for slams in a month (Rudy York, May 1938), and sets a major-league record for slams in a week. The Tigers win 5-2 over Chicago, as Denny McLain tallies his 14th victory.

• 1984: Twins rookie Andre David hits a two-run home run off Jack Morris in his first major-league at bat to spark Minnesota to a 5-3 win over Detroit before 44,619. It is the only home run David will hit in the big leagues and stops Morris’ 11-game win streak over the Twins. Detroit wins the nitecap, 7-5, as Kirk Gibson starts the scoring with a two-run homer in the first and ends it with a two-run homer in the ninth. The Tigers also score in the second on back-to-back homers by Chet Lemon and Rupert Jones.

• 1986: Detroit beats Milwaukee 9-5 in the first game of a doubleheader split, making Sparky Anderson the first manager ever to win 600 games in each league. The Brewers win game two, 3-1.

There are, of course, two former Tigers on the ballot that have a legitimate shot at the Hall of Fame: Jack Morris and Alan Trammell.

The debate over whether these two Tigers are of Hall of Fame stock continues to rage on across the Internet. Well, rage might be a skosh too strong. Simmer is more like it.

This morning the Detroit News’s Lynn Henning revealed that Trammell reappears on his ballot in 2008. But what about the peeps? What do they have to say about who’s in, who’s out for this year and who’s out for good.

You can check out the current results here (the ballot is open as of this writing), but in the meantime take a look at how Morris and Trammell fare in the mock voting.

Bottom Line: 85 percent of the voters think Morris is a Hall of Famer, and 58 percent think the same of Tram.

By most accounts, neither Tram nor Morris will be voted in this time around. (Nor will anyone else for that matter.) In time, though, Tigers fans can expect to see at least one of them enshrined.

The only remaining questions are: Who goes first, and is he elected by the writers or the Veterans Committee?

Today Rob raised a terrific Tigers-related question in his column titled: Trammell being unfairly judged? (Insider only).

Actually, he first points to an article on BaseballProspectus.com in which Joe Sheehan shares his mock ballot. Guess who ain’t on it? Tram.

Once again, Trammell’s candidacy is the most difficult one to evaluate. He was one of the best players in baseball at his peak, and was part of the bridge from shortstops as singles hitters to the better players we see out there today. On the other hand, he had a fairly short peak and a short career. I’m wary of the defensive numbers on him, as his home park was notorious for its high infield grass. With so much of Trammell’s statistical case built on very good defensive stats at his peak, the twinge of doubt I feel about their validity makes me nervous. My bigger objection, though, is to the way his career ended. Trammell was done as a full-time player at 32, which is awfully early for a 20th-century position player being pushed for Cooperstown. Like Rice, Trammell would have been a Hall of Famer with a more typical decline phase. Instead, he had 10.2 WARP, total, after 32. I’m leaving him off, again.

Whoa. The grass at Tiger Stadium is being held against Trammell? Who the —? What the —?

It appears Mr. Neyer isn’t sure what to make of it either.

[W]hile it’s true that a typical decline phase would make Trammell’s career stats look a lot better, I don’t think Trammell’s (apparently) atypical decline is a reason to leave him out of the Hall of Fame

(snip)

I am not saying that Trammell’s 2,365 career hits constitute, by themselves, a great case for the Hall of Fame. I’m saying we shouldn’t hold Trammell’s decline phase against him, because his career accomplishments are right in line with plenty of Hall of Fame shortstops.

Two, while I’m intrigued by the notion that Trammell’s solid defensive credentials — he won four Gold Gloves, and Bill James has him as a Grade B-minus shortstop over his entire career — are partly the result of the high grass in the Tiger Stadium infield, I’d sure like to see somebody do some actual work on this one. Yes, sinkerballer Walt Terrell’s home/road splits were massive when he pitched for the Tigers, particularly from 1985 through ‘87.

Ah, Walt Terrell. Oh, and Sheehan isn’t voting for Jack Morris either.

As I said at the outset. If you’re an ESPN Insider, check out the comments on Rob’s post. Some people need to lighten up.

P.S. Happy 59th Birthday to short-time Tiger pitcher Ike Brookens, cousin of long-timer Tom.

 
• The Twins are quite a busy bunch this week with the Johan Santana discussions and the three-for-three trade with the Devil Rays. I read in the New York Daily News on Tuesday that the Detroit Tigers are a part of the Santana talks but, at best, on the extreme periphery.
  

  The Red Sox, Dodgers, Angels, Mets and Tigers are believed to be interested, though the Twins appear unwilling to deal Santana within the AL Central, likely taking the Tigers out of the equation.

  I can’t even begin to imagine him at the top of the Tigers rotation. You?

• Unlike yours truly, ESPN.com’s Rob Neyer doesn’t believe Jack Morris is worthy of a spot in Cooperstown.
  

  I’ve made my feelings pretty clear over the years: if I were enfranchised [as a Hall of Fame voter], I would vote for Tim Raines, Bert Blyleven, Goose Gossage and Alan Trammell. Jim Rice is borderline; Jack Morris is not.

  To my chagrin, Neyer points to an article that offers a solid argument for why The Cat is not Hall of Fame material. Sigh. I’ve got more to say on this topic — and will soon.

• On this date in 1967 (when Doug Hill was not yet six months old), the Tigers acquired RHP Dennis Ribant from the Pirates for RHP Dave Wickersham.Ribant, a Detroit native, appeared in 14 games (all in relief) during the 1968 season posting a 2-2 record, 1 save and 2.22 ERA. In 13 months, he was involved in four transactions — all involving the Tigers. Here are the other three:
  

  July 26, 1968: Traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Chicago White Sox for Don McMahon.October, 1968: Purchased by the Detroit Tigers from the Chicago White Sox.December 15, 1968: Purchased by the Kansas City Royals from the Detroit Tigers.

  As for Wickersham, his best year in the majors was with Detroit in 1964 winning 19 and losing 12 with a 3.44 ERA. He appeared in 40 games, started 36, pitched 254 innings, and tossed 11 complete games…and had one save.The next year he came back to earth with a 9-14 record but with a respectable 3.78 ERA.Who knew?

Finally, speaking of birthdays, Tony Giarrantano turns 25 on Thursday. Pudge Rodriguez has a birthday on Friday. How old? If you add the number of base on balls Pudge earned in 2006 and 2007 then add one, you’ll have your answer.