Leading Off: The Tigers crushed the Indians and Ubaldo Jimenez Monday night 14-0. Doug Fister was his usual phenomenal self: eight innings, three hits, no walks, nine strikouts. And, 74 percent of his 109 pitches were strikes.

ALDS Start Time (Maybe): Matt Dery (@deryNBA) posted this on Twitter: “According to reports, Tigers would either host Bos or TB at 5 pm Friday for Game 1 or play at NYY at 8:30 fri night.” If it’s a 5 o’clock game, looks like I’m leaving work early.

The Tigers enter tonight’s game versus Cleveland having won 28 of their last 37 games dating back to Aug. 19, a .757 winning percentage — tops in the majors.

On this date in 1999, the Tigers played their final game at Tiger Stadium — an 8-2 win over the Royals. Homers by Karim Garcia, Luis Polonia and Robert Fick power the Tigers behind Brian Moehler.

We knew Doug Fister was good, but this is ridculous. From Elias Sports Bureau:

Remember at the trading deadline when the biggest-name pitcher moved was Ubaldo Jimenez? On Monday he was outpitched by a player whose trade received considerably less attention, Doug Fister. Fister improved to 8-1 since joining Detroit, making him only the fourth pitcher in the post-WWII Era to have at least eight wins with no more than one loss for a team after pitching for another major-league team earlier that season. The three others: Randy Johnson (10-1 for the 1998 Astros, after starting with the Mariners); Doyle Alexander (9-0 for the 1987 Tigers after starting with the Braves); and Rick Sutcliffe (16-1 for the 1984 Cubs after starting with the Indians.) Fister will end the season with a seven-game winning streak and Justin Verlander has won his last 12 decisions. They’re the first teammates to end a season with each on a winning streak of seven or more games, mainly or exclusively as a starting pitcher, since 1993, when Jason Bere and Wilson Alvarez of the White Sox each won their final seven decisions. The pair preceding Bere and Alvarez was Doyle Alexander (9) and Walt Terrell (8) for the 1987 Tigers.

I was talking to a friend of mine today about possible successors to Ozzie Guillen and we did a quick review of higher-profile bench coaches around the majors. One name he brought up was Kirk Gibson’s bench coach, Alan Trammell. While I fully support Tram getting another shot at managing, I can’t abide by him taking over the White Sox. Oh, and did you see where former Tigers manager Buddy Bell is in the mix for the Sox’ gig? Oy vey.

Happy 67th Birthday to Gary Sutherland. He hit .251 with a .295 on-base percentage with the Tigers from 1974-76 and played primarily at second base.

Checking in on trade pieces: In 31 games with the Mariners since the July 29 trade, Casper Wells is hitting .216 with seven home runs, 15 RBI and a .742 OPS. Meanwhile Charlie Furbush is 3-7 with a 6.62 ERA in 10 starts, and Chance Ruffin is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in 12 appearances.

Why should you keep watching baseball this week?, asks Rob Neyer. One reason he offers is to see if Jose Valverde can keep up his perfect-save routine:

Valverde’s been phenomenal this season, and is only seven saves from tying Tom Gordon’s American League for consecutive saves (over different seasons). And the best part is that Valverde’s doing all this with lower strikeout and higher walk rates than his career norms.

Wanna bet he blows one in October? I don’t know. I predicted Lidge would blow a postseason save after his perfect 2008, but he didn’t and the Phillies won the World Series.

On this date in 1986, Jack Morris shut out the Yankees 1-0 in 10 innings, raising his record to 20-8 and snapped Don Mattingly’s hitting streak at 24 consecutive games.

I’ve had seller’s remorse on Omar Infante for a couple of years now — and especially since Placido Polanco was set free after the ’09 season. Infante just signed a two-year, $8 million extension with the Marlins. He enters tonight’s game batting .279 with seven home runs, 49 RBIs and only eight errors in 146 games. He’d look pretty good playing second for the Tigers these days, no?

Finally, Happy 64th Birthday to Meat Loaf.

Leading Off: The Tigers enter tonight’s game against the Twins having won 16 of their last 20 games dating back to Aug. 19, an .800 winning percentage – which leads the majors during that stretch … Detroit’s hitting .333 with runners in scoring position dating back to Aug. 11, second-best in the A.L. clubs over that period. The Tigers lead all clubs with a .284 batting average with RISP this season.

Around the Central: The White Sox and Indians are, theoretically, beating each other up this weekend in a four-game series in Chicago. The Sox took the first game last night, 8-1. The Royals are in Seattle this weekend, in a battle of clubs churning toward 90 losses. The M’s won last night, 4-1.

With a win tonight, Penny would join Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello to become the first quartet of Tigers pitchers with 10-or-more wins in the club’s first 144 games of the season since Verlander, Kenny Rogers, Nate Robertson and Jeremy Bonderman did so in the first 144 games of 2006.

Keeping that thought for a moment, right now Verlander, Scherzer, Porcello and Penny have combined for 58 wins. (Trust me, I’d much rather include Doug Fister in this year’s numbers, but Penny’s been around for the whole year.) In 2006, Verlander (17), Rogers (17), Bonderman (14) and Robertson (13) combined for 61. And in 1984, Jack Morris (19), Dan Petry (18), Milt Wilcox (17) and Juan Berenguer combined for 65. Does the ’11 foursome have enough wins in them between now and Sept. 28 to meet or pass the ’84 rotation?

On this date in 1970, commissioner Bowie Kuhn handed Denny McLain his third suspension of the year, this one for carrying a gun, plus other unspecified charges, and ended McLain’s season with a 3-5 record.

Happy 28th Birthday to Edwin Jackson, and a Happy 41st to Dan Miceli.

Finally, happy birthdays to Adam Sandler (45), Cliff Robertson (88) and Topol (76).

Have a great weekend.

The second was his brilliant performance against Detroit in game 161 of 1987 when he was pitching for the Blue Jays.

I had to look up the first at Baseball Reference.com and I was sort of right. In 49 career games against the Tigers (42 starts) Flanagan posted a 18-11 record and a 3.66 ERA — 8-8 at Tiger Stadium.

The only team in the old American League East against which he had a better winning percentage was Toronto (17-7). (Inexplicably, he was 8-12 against the Indians who, if it were not for the dreadful Blue Jays, would’ve been dead last in the East.)

I didn’t have to look up the second memory, because I was there for it.

On Saturday, Oct.3, 1987, with the Jays and Tigers tied for the East lead with two games to play. Flanagan, who’d been dealt from the Orioles on Aug. 31, faced off with Jack Morris in a game for the ages.

Flanagan pitched 11 innings, scattered eights hits, struck out nine and allowed just two runs, one earned. Morris matched him through nine, also allowing eight hits and two runs, both earned.

Flanagan was tremendous and there were moments, several, really, when we thought the Tigers were in deep trouble. But they managed to hang around and scratch across two, and eventually got the Toronto bullpen for a 3-2 win.

Morris was terrific that day, too. Even though the Tigers won the game, and the next to clinch the division, that day belonged to Mike Flanagan.

Update:  The Free Press’s John Lowe wrote about the game here.

Sour grapes? Of course.

I do, however, feel better today after reading Christina Kahr’s list of “Stars of the Forgotten ’80s” which, she writes, is “an excellent lineup of stars from the ‘80s who haven’t made it into the Hall of Fame.”

Former Tigers abound in her brilliant – brilliant! – assessment:

Catcher: Probably the weakest position, but Lance Parrish’s 324 career homers and 35.7 WAR (28.8 in the ’80s) would suit. Parrish was also one of the best-throwing catchers of his day, gunning down 39 percent on his career, helping to land him on eight All-Star teams. Effectively, he was to the AL what Gary Carter was for the NL.

I’ve been saying this for years!

Second Base: Has to be Lou Whitaker.

Once in a while, you’ll still get the odd stathead who argues that the BBWAA doesn’t make huge mistakes, making the easy comparison of its track record for putting people into the Hall against the various flavors of Veterans Committees the process has been saddled with over the years. Fair enough, but what about Lou Whitaker? The BBWAA eliminated Whitaker from all future consideration in his first year on the ballot, one of its most spectacularly thoughtless decisions where Hall voting is concerned.

Whitaker was the best second baseman in baseball between Joe Morgan and Robbie Alomar. Whitaker is the post-World War II WARP leader among all Hall-eligible players not in the Hall of Fame; he beats Sandberg and Willie Randolph fairly easily. He also beats Bobby Grich, 69.7 WAR to 67.6. Whitaker tops Raines (64.6) and Larkin (68.9) and Trammell (66.9).

But by receiving just 15 total votes in his first (and last) year on the ballot, Whitaker was dropped forever after from BBWAA consideration, because he didn’t reach the five-percent cutoff. He deserves much, much better, so we can hope this is one of those mistakes that whatever rules apply in 2015 or later can get him voted in by the Veterans Committee, the electoral college or the Diet of Worms. Somebody has to get this right, don’t they?

I think observers are finally recognizing what a colossal screw up this was by the writers. Speaking of which …

Shortstop: If Whitaker has been flat-out screwed by the process, there’s still some hope that ’80s great Alan Trammell will get his due from Cooperstown. Tram was the signature player from those great-to-good Tigers teams of the ’80s that seem to have been collectively forgotten ever since their manager, Sparky Anderson, got elected. Maybe Trammell suffers from being the best shortstop in baseball before Ripken, and maybe he’ll get his due after Barry Larkin gets voted in, but there really shouldn’t be any controversy over voting him in. Jay Jaffe’s JAWS system puts Trammell seventh overall among Hall-eligible shortstops (leaving Alex Rodriguez out of the conversation since his career’s still a going concern).

Amen.

Kahrl also takes a closer look at the Jack Morris Affair and her conclusion, well, hurts.

I often wonder if the Tigers had won or at least appeared in another World Series in the ’80s if Parrish, Whitaker and Trammell would’ve gotten more – or in Sweet Lou’s case, any – Hall consideration.

Maybe not. After all, Morris appeared in three World Series and look at what good that’s done him.

• The Tigers’ collection of All Stars is the largest since 1985 when the club sent six players to the Metrodome for the game managed by Sparky Anderson. Here’s a look at the largest classes of Tigers All Stars since 1984 and the team’s record that season:

1984 (104-58)
Willie Hernandez
Chet Lemon
Jack Morris
Lance Parrish
Alan Trammell
Lou Whitaker

1985 (84-77)
Willie Hernandez
Jack Morris
Lance Parrish
Dan Petry
Alan Trammell
Lou Whitaker

2007 (88-74)
Carlos Guillen
Magglio Ordonez
Placido Polanco
Ivan Rodriguez
Justin Verlander

2009 (86-77)
Curtis Granderson
Brandon Inge
Edwin Jackson
Justin Verlander

Clearly, the better the Tigers were, the more players they sent to the All-Star Game. For a long time though, the Tigers were a team that had little to offer the American League manager. From 1996 through 2003, Detroit sent a single player to the game. In some cases the pickings were particularly slim (see 2002).

1996 (53-109)
Travis Fryman

1997 (79-83)
Justin Thompson

1998 (65-97)
Damion Easley

1999 (69-92)
Brad Ausmus

2000 (79-83)
Todd Jones

2001 (66-96)
Tony Clark

2002 (55-106)
Robert Fick

2003 (43-119)
Dmitri Young

Ugly, no?

• I still think it’s remarkable that Alex Avila is the starting catcher in tonight’s game. Whoda thunk it, especially after a dreadful Opening Day series against the Yankees when Avila looked about as lost as a player can look. I guess that’s why, as Rod Allen says, you play the games. Jason Beck has a nice piece recapping the Tigers’ All Stars’ respective experiences in Phoenix.

• The water is so far past being under the bridge, but isn’t it still a bit weird to see Curtis Granderson starting in the All-Star Game … as a Yankee?

• Six years ago today in the Home Run Derby at Comerica Park, Bobby Abreu destroyed the records for a single round, the championship round and the grand total for all three rounds of the derby by hitting 41 homers into every part of yard. The Phillies outfielder went deep 24 times in the first round, tacks on six more in the second round and finishes with 11 more in the championship round.

• Looking ahead to the pitching matchups for this weekend’s series against the White Sox:

Friday | 7:05 p.m. FSD/1270 & 97.1
Justin Verlander (12-4, 2.15 ERA) vs. Gavin Floyd (6-9, 4.59 ERA)

Saturday | 4:10 p.m. FOX/1270 & 97.1
Max Scherzer (10-4, 4.69 ERA) vs. Edwin Jackson (5-7, 4.30 ERA)

Sunday | 1:05 p.m. FSD/1270 & 97.1
Brad Penny (6-6, 4.50 ERA) vs. Jake Peavy (4-2, 4.83 ERA)

• Hey, look who’s available: The Dodgers designated Marcus Thames for assignment today.

• Happy Birthday to Mike Schwabe (47) and Mike Munoz (46).

Finally, on this date in 1979 the White Sox were forced to forfeit the second game of twi-night doubleheader against the Tigers when more tha5,000 fans refuse to leave the field during Disco Demolition Night. I wrote about it on the 30th anniversary.

We will restart the podcast machine after the All-Star Game and take the second half by storm. More or less.

Thanks to everyone who’s been asking — and thanks for your patience as we carve out time to do a show we love producing for our listeners.

• With Justin Verlander’s complete-game win yesterday at Coors Field, he limited the Rockies to one run on four hits. It marked the second-straight outing in which he tossed a complete game while limiting his opponent to as few as one run and four hits. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he joins Jack Morris (July of 1986) as the only two Tigers pitchers to accomplish the feat in consecutive outings during a single season over the last 33 seasons.

• One-hundred years ago today Ty Cobb broke the American League hitting streak record with an infield single against Cleveland’s Willie Mitchell. It’s Cobb’s 30th straight game with a hit. He adds two stolen bases to help the Tigers win, 8-3.

• Paul Swaney and crew at StadiumJourney.com continue their stellar work publishing reviews of pro and college sports stadiums. His goal this summer is to post a review of every affiliated minor league ballpark. Recently he posted reviews of Lakeland’s Joker Marchant Stadium and Fifth Third Ballpark in Comstock Park, Mich., home of the West Michigan Whitecaps.

• How’s this for timely? Just the other day we wrote about Tigers players filling in at third base. The most prominent name on the list was Al Kaline. Fifty years ago today played third for the first time in his career. His two hits and two RBIs lead the Tigers to a 5-4 win over the Senators at Griffith Stadium in D.C. He will return to the OF and play third base just once more in his career, in 1965.

• From the Game Notes: The Tigers are batting .312 with 95 runs scored, 31 doubles, seven triples and 20 home runs in 18 games during June. Detroit is tops among all American League clubs with a .312 batting average during the month, while the club is second with 95 runs scored and a .477 slugging percentage.

• One more historical note: On this date in 1984, Yankees reliever Jose Rijo falls to 1-7 when he serves up a two-out three-run homer to Howard Johnson in the 13th inning. The Tigers win 9-6. Alan Trammell, Lance Parrish and Chet Lemon also hit homers for the Tigers, who draw their third-straight crowd of more than 40,000.

Finally, Happy 78th Birthday to a terrific actor, Danny Aiello.

Thanks for your patience as I still try to get the hang of this blogging while working the 8-to-6 shift.

***

What was the point of Tom Gage‘s column on Monday? So Mike Ilitch came to Lakeland and left without talking to the media — big deal.

Maybe the man didn’t feel well. Maybe he wasn’t in the mood. Maybe the trip to Spring Training was squeezed in an otherwise busy schedule.

Gage seems to be making a lot out of Ilitch’s in-and-out visit — that somehow the long-term contract status of Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland is now more in jeopardy than it is.

I’m not buying it. You?

***

This weekend I got my first live look at the Tigers thanks to MLB Network. I got to watch the 30 Clubs in 30 Days installment — which, mercifully, did not include the unfortunate Hazel Mae — on Friday night and then got the bonus coverage on Sunday of the game against the Nationals.

First, the 30/30 episode. MLB Network does a decent job with these, though it’s hard not to be a tad critical of them when they feature your favorite team.

I thought the interview with Leyland was more than a bit low on insight, but was shocked — stunned, even — to see that Kirk Gibson‘s 1994 season was ranked by the hosts as one of the top single seasons by a Tigers outfielder.

As for the game, watching Justin Verlander carve up the Nats was flat-out fun. Yeah, it was Grapefruit League action but nevertheless I enjoyed seeing Verlander adopt a more serious mindset in an exhibition.

In other words, if he was that locked in for a meaningless game in Viera, I can’t wait to see how he looks on Opening Day in the Bronx.

***

I’ve been two four Cactus League games this spring and as much as I like watching baseball in person, I have to admit there’s a major snooze factor when the games involve two teams I couldn’t care less about.

My first game was Diamondbacks and White Sox at the new Salt River Fields. The most notable parts of the game were Armando Galarraga’s head whipping around as another bullet from Sox hitters buzzed past him.

Fast forward to this weekend when I saw three games: Padres at Angels, Reds at Diamondbacks and Padres at Mariners. Hard to summon much enthusiasm for these clubs (though I was interested in seeing Cameron Maybin play for San Diego, which happened on Sunday.)

Outside of the company of friends, the highlight of the trio of games was getting my photo taken with former big-leaguer and Angels TV announcer Rex Hudler at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

Before we posed for the shot I asked Hud, as all the Angels fans called him, if he’d take a photo with a Tigers fan. He said absolutely, told me how much he loved playing at Tiger Stadium and said it was one of his favorite parks.

I couldn’t resist, of course, asking him if he thought Jack Morris was a Hall of Famer and he said: “Oh yeah. Should’ve been in on the first ballot.”

With Hudler’s vote, that makes three former big leaguers I’ve had the opportunity to ask (Rick Manning and Ken Phelps are the others) who all agree The Cat belongs in Cooperstown.

I will now pause and wait for my man Lee Panas to again tell me why Morris doesn’t belong.

Be kind, Lee. Be kind.

P.S. I saw Peter Gammons at the Padres/Mariners game on Sunday. He was sitting behind home plate with former D-backs GM Josh Byrnes and some other baseball execs, and had with him a notebook, media guides and all his tools of the trade. The man doesn’t slow down.

***

On this date in 1996 the Tigers pulled off a pair of less-than-history-making deals when they first acquired RHP Ramon Fermin and infielder Fausto Cruz from the Athletics for outfielder Phil Plantier. Next, they picked up RHP Richie Lewis, C Raul Casanova and OF Melvin Nieves from the Padres for RHPs Sean Bergman and their 1994 top draft choice Cade Gaspar and outfielder Todd Steverson.

***

Finally, Happy 48th Birthday to Rich Monteleone.

For all intents and purposes, there’s no drama to speak of with most of the coverage focusing on the prospects that are shining in Lakeland.

But here are some of the things that stand out for yours truly:

• If there’s one player that makes me uneasy heading into the regular season, it’s Alex Avila. In reading Lynn Henning’s Sunday’s A-to-Z review of Tigers so far this spring, he says this:
  

  He’ll hit. But it’s OK to wonder when he’ll drive the ball the way he did during his 2009 cameo.

  This is the first time since, when?, 2003 that the Tigers have a question mark — or something close to it — at catcher. Once Pudge Rodriguez left town, the club brought in Gerald Laird and he was, well, not the answer. But we all thought he’d start hitting somewhere close to where he did in Texas (at least against the Tigers, that is.)

  Certainly having Victor Martinez around will make the catching corps dramatically less frightful, but still, aren’t the Tigers placing an awful lot of faith in a guy who isn’t long out of college? What do you think?

• I forgot to mention, or at least I think I did, when I went to watch the Diamondbacks train a couple of weeks ago, I got to see Armando Galarraga get racked in batting practice. Moments before that, I got close enough to talk to him through the fence and told him that we love him in Detroit. He said, “Thanks, man, I appreciate it.” He may not be the most devastating pitcher in the bigs, but a nice guy? That, he is.

• On March 7, 1965, Tigers manager Chuck Dressen suffered a mild coronary occlusion. He was sidelined until May 19. Coach Bob Swift served as acting manager in the meantime, And on this date in 2000, the Tigers acquired cash from the Royals for catcher Gregg Zaun. Opting instead to go with the stud backup catcher that was Javier Cardona. Zaun hit .274 in K.C. — 99 points higher than Cardona.

  Another Randy Smith gem.

• One of the reasons I like Jim Leyland so much is his deep history with the Tigers organization. He was the first manager of many players that were on the 1984 championship team. In this piece in Sunday’s Freep, we learn a bit about his relationship with one of my favorites, Jack Morris:
  

  [Leyland] said Jack Morris was as temperamental as they come.

  “You’ve got to be careful that you don’t take something away that’s a strong suit,” Leyland said. “But you can’t let a pitcher continue like a bull in a china shop.”

  Leyland managed Morris in the minors.

  “I stayed on top of Jack pretty good,” Leyland said. “He handled it well. We have a great relationship even today. I’m proud of that.

• How’s Nate Robertson doing with the Mariners, you ask? Check out this headline to uncover the answer.

Finally, my apologies for the long stretch without a post. I’ve never wanted to post just for the sake of posting — you deserve better than that.

More to come this week.

• Born: July 6, 1954 in Hollywood, Calif.
• Bats: Left Throws: Left
• Height: 6′ 4″ Weight: 200 lb.
• Acquired: Drafted by the Tigers in the fourth round of the 1975 amateur draft.
• Seasons in Detroit: 5 (1976-80)
• Uniform Number: 30
• Stats: .256 avg., 98 HR, 354 RBI, .779 OPS
• Awards: Three-time All Star (1977, ’78 and ’82)

On May 27, 1980, Tigers GM Jim Campbell traded my favorite player, first baseman Jason Thompson, to the California Angels for outfielder Al Cowens.

The Hollywood native joined the Tigers full time in 1976 and played 123 games that year, hitting .218, with 17 home runs and 54 RBI. Two of the homers cleared the rightfield roof at Tiger Stadium. It was in 1977, though, that he made his mark: .270, 31 homers and 105 RBI — and earned an All Star Game selection.

The 1977 Tigers yearbook noted:

Jason led the Tigers with 31 home runs and 105 RBI — the first Tiger since Norm Cash (32) in 1971 to top 30 homers and the first since Willie Horton (100) in 1966 to attain the century mark in RBI.

At that point, the Tigers had to like their team of the future: Thompson, Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, Lance Parrish, Steve Kemp, Ron LeFlore, Jack Morris, et al, with a third baseman to be named later.

Thompson had another solid year in ’78, hitting .287 with 26 homers and 96 RBI.

The Beginning of the End in Detroit…Already?!

In 1979 he continued to hit homers and drive in runs — 20 and 79, respectively — but his average dropped 40 points to .246. That was also the year that Sparky Anderson arrived and, so the story goes, Thompson and Sparky didn’t mesh.

In 1980, Thompson got off to a slow start: .214/4/20 in 36 games, and Sparky invoked his My Way or the Highway clause and sent his first baseman to Orange County.

As I’ve said before, Thompson’s replacement, Richie Hebner, was a favorite of mine too. But, who were the Tigers kidding? Hebner over Jason Thompson?

From Anaheim to Pittsburgh to Montreal

Back home in southern California, Thompson thrived. In 102 games he batted .317 with 17 homers and 70 RBI. (Hebner hit .290/12/82.) On the eve of the 1981 season the Angels traded the three-time All Star to the Pirates for Ed Ott and Mickey Mahler.

In his five seasons in Pittsburgh, Thompson hit 93 home runs and averaged 93 RBI (not counting the 42 in the shortened ’81 season).

On April 4, 1986, the Pirates traded him to the Montreal Expos for players to be named later. Thompson played only 30 games for the Expos, hitting .196 with no home runs and just four RBI. On June 30, at the age of 31 and with balky knees, Jason Thompson was out of baseball for good.

The Jason Thompson Curse

If you remove the years that Darrell Evans and Cecil Fielder manned first base, the Tigers have had a revolving door at the position since they traded Jason Thompson. I call it The Curse of Jason Thompson: Hebner, Enos Cabell, Dave Engle, Keith Moreland, Tony Clark, Eric Munson, Carlos Pena, Chris Shelton, Sean Casey and Carlos Guillen. (And now, of course, Miguel Cabrera. Though I’m not convinced he’s long for first base.)

When looking back on the 1984 World Series team, I often think about how that team, or three-quarters of the starting nine, could’ve been homegrown talent — if Thompson were still in Detroit then.

With the exception of Chet Lemon and Larry Herndon, the Tigers could’ve had six of eight starters developed from Lakeland on up. (Or seven of nine if Morris or Dan Petry were on the hill.) Quite a different scenario from the 2008 Tigers when only two full-time, homegrown position players — Curtis Granderson and Matt Joyce — roam the field.

Today Thompson runs “Jason Thompson Baseball” in Auburn Hills, where kids can get hitting and fielding instruction from old #30 himself. He’s also an executive with Wachovia Securities.

If you can’t tell, even 28 years later I’ve still not gotten over the trade involving my favorite childhood player. I quickly hitched my wagon onto Hebner as a way to ease the pain. But that didn’t last long either, come to think of it.

So I threw my allegiance behind Kirk Gibson and five years later, when Gibson signed with the Dodgers, had to deal with the anguish all over again.

Anyway, all the debates about whether Morris or Alan Trammell belong in Cooperstown got me wondering who the most-similar players are two these Tigers greats.

Thanks to the invaluable Baseball-Reference.com, we can get a quick look at how a player’s stats compare to others in baseball history.

I decided to look at how Baseball Reference compares Morris, Trammell and the BBWA-voter-shafted Lou Whitaker.

Jack Morris: Similar Pitchers — *indicates Hall of Famer

1. Dennis Martinez (903)
2. Bob Gibson (885) *
3. Luis Tiant (873)
4. Jamie Moyer (873)
5. Red Ruffing (860) *
6. Amos Rusie (859) *
7. Chuck Finley (859)
8. Burleigh Grimes (855) *
9. Bob Feller (855) *
10. Jim Bunning (854) *

So of the 10 in the list, Morris, who misses the cut for so many writers, actually aligns closely in career numbers with statistically to six Hall of Famers. Six!

Lou Whitaker

1. Ryne Sandberg (901) *
2. Alan Trammell (868)
3. Roberto Alomar (857) *
4. Buddy Bell (850)
5. Joe Morgan (849) *
6. Joe Torre (846)
7. Ray Durham (845)
8. Brian Downing (843)
9. Barry Larkin (841)
10. Julio Franco (834)

Sweetness compares to three Hall of Famers and one soon-to-be, Larkin. It’s astounding to me — and should be shameful to the writers — that Whitaker was one-and-done on the ballot.

And finally, Alan Trammell

1. Barry Larkin (914)
2. Edgar Renteria (895)
3. Jay Bell (876)
4. Lou Whitaker (868)
5. Ray Durham (866)
6. Tony Fernandez (865)
7. B.J. Surhoff (860)
8. Ryne Sandberg (859) *
9. Pee Wee Reese (850) *
10. Julio Franco (849)

Seeing Renteria on this list is painful if not appalling. And, it might just have obliterated any credibility of these comparisons. Nevertheless, Tram compares to a pair enshrined players and, like Whitaker, to Larkin.

What does this all prove? Probably not much. However, if, as we so often hear, writers must look at how a player compares to his contemporaries — or even to others across the history of the game — this trio of Tigers legends certainly deserve much stronger support than they’ve received to this point.

What do you think?

Gobs of articles have been written in the past couple of weeks, the majority of which put The Cat squarely in the “great but not Hall-of-Fame great” category.

Sadly, many of them, such as this one by Joe Posnanski, make terrific arguments against Morris’ chances. Even sadder, I’m starting to believe them. As a result I’m resigned to the fact he won’t be elected this year, if ever.

But wait! I have some anecdotes of my own:

In the summer of 2008 I attended the SABR Convention in Cleveland and asked former Indians outfielder Rick Manning if he thought Morris belonged in Cooperstown. He hemmed and hawed and eventually said, “That’s a tough call.” I took it as a “no”.

Then, last spring — thanks to a twist of fate — I had coffee with former major leaguer Ken Phelps and I asked him if he thought Morris belonged in the Hall and he responded without hesitation: “Absolutely.” I told him that many writers disagree and he replied, “Well, they didn’t face him.”

Touche.

I think today I realized why I so badly want to see Morris in the Hall of Fame. It’s because Tigers fans that grew up with the players that formed the core of the 1984 team expected so much from them. Didn’t we honestly think the Tigers would win again and again in the 1980s — not just one other division title in 1987?

For crying out loud, there was Morris, Dan Petry, Lance Parrish, Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, Kirk Gibson — the best collection of Tigers players in a generation! And all we got was a single World Series championship?

Granted, I wouldn’t trade the summer of ’84 for anything, I just expected it to be the beginning of something great, not a one-time trip to the baseball summit. Didn’t you?

That’s why I want to see Morris or Trammell in the Hall. They deserve — and I think they’ve earned – a lasting baseball legacy. One that includes more than the magic they displayed in October 1984.

• Born: July 20, 1942 in Grand Rapids, Mich.
• Acquired: Signed by the Tigers as an amateur free agent in 1961
• Seasons in Detroit: 15 (1964-78)
• Uniform Numbers: 49, 24
• Stats: .248 avg., 117 HR, 500 RBI, .675 OPS
• Awards: 4 Gold Gloves (1968-70, 1973)

For many fans, Mickey Stanley’s defining moment with the Tigers came in the 1968 World Series when manager Mayo Smith shifted him from the outfield to shortstop — a position he’d played only in nine major-league games.

The move was made specifically to keep Al Kaline in the lineup while adding some pop to the ’68 team’s woeful production at shortstop. Ray Oyler played most at short that year (111 games) but hit just .135, while backups Tom Matchick and Dick Tracewski combined hit an anemic .180.

In his terrific bio on Stanley, which appears in the 2008 book Sock It to ‘Em Tigers, Jerry Nechal sums up the new shortstop’s performance in the Series against the Cardinals:

Obviously a quick learner, Stanley went on to amaze the baseball world in the Series. In the first inning of Game 1 he was tested by a leadoff ground ball off the bat of the speedy Lou Brock. Brock was out on a close play and Mickey’s fielding at shortstop became a nonfactor. He successfully handled 30 of 32 chances, making two inconsequential errors.

Mickey Stanley broke in with the Tigers on September 13, 1964, singling in his first at bat off Claude Osteen, and appeared in just four games that season. He played in 30 games the following season before making the big club out of Spring Training in 1966, and soon became a fixture in centerfield for the Tigers until a speedy rookie Ron LeFlore took over in the mid-’70s.

My greatest memory of Stanley comes from Aug. 10, 1977, the first Tigers game I ever attended. The starting pitcher for the Tigers was rookie Jack Morris who would pitch 7.2 innings on the way to his first major-league win, but he wouldn’t have gotten the win that night without a dazzling play by Mickey Stanley with two out in the ninth inning.

With Von Joshua at first, Cecil Cooper stood at the plate as the potential tying run. He launched a pitch from Steve Foucault deep to right field and from my lower deck seats on the first base side, it looked like it would indeed tie the game. Instead, Stanley timed his jump and took away a home run, securing a 5-3 win for the Tigers — and Morris.

And it took no time for me to decide who my favorite Tigers were.

Mickey Stanley retired after the 1978 season, his 15th, after playing in 1,516 games — all with the Tigers. According to Nechal’s biography, today Stanley lives in the Brighton, Mich., area.

78-75, 3rd Place; 14 GB

Today’s Game

Tigers vs. Twins | 7:05 p.m. ET – Comerica Park | On the air: FSD/AM 1270 and 97.1 FM

Pitching Matchup

Jeremy Bonderman (8-9, 4.92 ERA) vs. Carl Pavano (17-11, 3.60 ERA)

Yesterday’s Results

Tigers 10 – Twins 1

• W: Justin Verlander (18-8)
• L: Francisco Liriano (14-9)
• HR: Miguel Cabrera (36), Jhonny Peralta (15), Casper Wells (4)

Tigers History Lesson

Today’s Birthdays

• Steve Wapnick, 45

• Ed Putman, 57

• Sal Butera, 58

On this Date in Tigers History

• 1998 — In the third inning of a 7-5 Tiger win, Toronto starter Woody Williams serves up consecutive homers to Juan Encarnacion and Frank Catalanotto, walks a batter, and tees up another for Tony Clark.

• 1988 — Jack Morris one-hits the Orioles in the first game of a doubleheader sweep, winning 2-1,
  for his 14th victory. Doyle Alexander scatters six hits over eight innings for his 14th win of the year, 7-4, in the finale.

• 1971 — With rookie catcher Tim Hosley hitting two homers and driving in five runs, the Tigers trip the Yankees, 10-7. Les Cain pitches six innings for the win. Cain finishes with a 10-9 record with 145 innings, but contends he is forced to pitch by Manager Billy Martin while he has a sore arm. Cain later claims that it did permanent damage to his arm and he sues the Tigers. In a landmark decision, the Michigan Bureau of Workman’s Compensation will order the Tigers to pay Cain $111 a month for the rest of his life. A lump sum payment is later agreed upon.

• 1955 — Al Kaline becomes the youngest batting champ in history, as he wins the American League crown at age 20.

• 1952 — Hal Newhouser wins his 200th game — his last win for the Tigers, who will release him in early 1953.

• 1908 — Ed Summers pitches two complete-game wins over the A’s, winning the opener, 7-2. The second game goes 10 innings with another rookie, Biff Schlitzer, that ends 1-0 on a Claude Rossman drive for
  an inside-the-park home run. Summers allows just two hits. With the White Sox idle, the Tigers move to a half-game out of first.

Twenty-eight years ago today, Tigers GM Jim Campbell broke my heart.

On May 27, 1980, he traded my favorite Tigers player, first baseman Jason Thompson, to the California Angels for outfielder Al Cowens. (For more on Cowens, check out this post from the archives.)

The Hollywood native joined the Tigers full time in 1976 and played 123 games that year, hitting .218, with 17 home runs and 54 RBI. Two of the homers cleared the rightfield roof at Tiger Stadium. It was in 1977, though, that he made his mark: .270, 31 homers and 105 RBI — and earned an All Star Game selection.

The 1977 Tigers yearbook noted:

Jason led the Tigers with 31 home runs and 105 RBI — the first Tiger since Norm Cash (32) in 1971 to top 30 homers and the first since Willie Horton (100) in 1966 to attain the century mark in RBI.

At that point, the Tigers had to like their team of the future: Thompson, Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, Lance Parrish, Steve Kemp, Ron LeFlore, Jack Morris, et al, with a third baseman to be named later.

Thompson had another solid year in ’78, hitting .287 with 26 homers and 96 RBI.

The Beginning of the End in Detroit…Already?!

In 1979 he continued to hit homers and drive in runs — 20 and 79, respectively — but his average dropped 40 points to .246. That was also the year that Sparky Anderson arrived and, so the story goes, Thompson and Sparky didn’t mesh.

In 1980, Thompson got off to a slow start: .214/4/20 in 36 games, and Sparky invoked his My Way or the Highway clause and sent his first baseman to Orange County.

As I’ve said before, Thompson’s replacement, Richie Hebner, was a favorite of mine too. But, who were the Tigers kidding? Hebner over Jason Thompson?

From Anaheim to Pittsburgh to Montreal

Back home in southern California, Thompson thrived. In 102 games he batted .317 with 17 homers and 70 RBI. (Hebner hit .290/12/82.) On the eve of the 1981 season the Angels traded the three-time All Star to the Pirates for Ed Ott and Mickey Mahler.

In his five seasons in Pittsburgh, Thompson hit 93 home runs and averaged 93 RBI (not counting the 42 in the shortened ’81 season).

On April 4, 1986, the Pirates traded him to the Montreal Expos for players to be named later. Thompson played only 30 games for the Expos, hitting .196 with no home runs and just four RBI. On June 30, at the age of 31 and with balky knees, Jason Thompson was out of baseball for good.

The Jason Thompson Curse

If you remove the years that Darrell Evans and Cecil Fielder manned first base, the Tigers have had a revolving door at the position since they traded Jason Thompson. I call it The Curse of Jason Thompson: Hebner, Enos Cabell, Dave Engle, Keith Moreland, Tony Clark, Eric Munson, Carlos Pena, Chris Shelton, Sean Casey and Carlos Guillen. (And now, of course, Miguel Cabrera. Though I’m not convinced he’s long for first base.)

When looking back on the 1984 World Series team, I often think about how that team, or three-quarters of the starting nine, could’ve been homegrown talent — if Thompson were still in Detroit then.

With the exception of Chet Lemon and Larry Herndon, the Tigers could’ve had six of eight starters developed from Lakeland on up. (Or seven of nine if Morris or Dan Petry were on the hill.) Quite a different scenario from the 2008 Tigers when only two full-time, homegrown position players — Curtis Granderson and Matt Joyce — roam the field.

Today Thompson runs “Jason Thompson Baseball” in Auburn Hills, where kids can get hitting and fielding instruction from old #30 himself. He’s also an executive with Wachovia Securities.

If you can’t tell, even 28 years later I’ve still not gotten over the trade involving my favorite childhood player. I quickly hitched my wagon onto Hebner as a way to ease the pain. But that didn’t last long either, come to think of it.

So I threw my allegiance behind Kirk Gibson and five eight years later, when Gibson signed with the Dodgers, had to deal with the anguish all over again.

Tigers’ Record: 1-0; Tied for 1st

Today’s Game

Tigers @ Royals | 8:10 ET — Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City | On the air: FSD (Joined in Progress at 10 p.m.)/AM 1270

Pitching Matchup

Max Scherzer, 0-0 0.00 ERA vs. Luke Hochevar, 0-0 0.00 ERA

From the Game Notes: Tonight Scherzer is making his second career start at Kauffman Stadium. He earned the win in his previous outing, limiting the Royals to two runs in six innings of work.

Tonight’s Lineup

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Johnny Damon, LF
3. Magglio Ordonez, RF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Carlos Guillen, DH
6. Brandon Inge, 3B
7. Alex Avila, C
8. Scott Sizemore, 2B
9. Ramon Santiago, SS

Yesterday’s Results

Off day

Tomorrow’s Game

Tigers @ Royals | 2:10 p.m. ET — Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City | On the air: FSD/1270 & 97.1

Pitching Matchup

Dontrelle Willis, 0-0 0.00 ERA vs. Brian Bannister, 0-0 0.00 ERA

Tigers History Lesson

On this Date in Tigers History

• 1984 – Jack Morris pitches a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox; the Tigers win 4-0. He strikes out eight and walks six in shutting down the Sox at Comiskey Park. Morris becomes the first Tiger since Jim Bunning, in 1958, to toss a no-
  hitter.

• 1986 – At Tiger Stadium, Boston Red Sox outfielder Dwight Evans becomes the first player to hit the first pitch on Opening Day for a home run. Morris surrenders it but gets the win as Detroit edges Boston, 6-5, behind two home runs by Kirk Gibson. (I was at that game but left in the sixth to be back in time for baseball practice; it was my senior year in high school.)

• 2004 – Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm signed House Bill 5200 permanently designating Willie Horton‘s birthday, October 18, as “Willie Horton Day” in the state of Michigan.

1. Want to go fishing with Jack Morris? World Fishing Network and Comcast Michigan will offer one lucky angler and his or her favorite fishing buddy the opportunity to spend the day fishing with former Tiger Jack Morris in the “WFN’s Fishing with Jack Morris presented by Comcast” Sweepstakes. You can enter here. The contest ends May 2.

   I don’t fish so you can count me out. But if you win, be sure to tell The Cat that I said hello and that I think he should be in the Hall of Fame.

2. One hundred years ago today, Detroit’s Chalmers Auto Company agreed to award a new car to the player who owned the highest batting average at the end of the 1910 season. Nap Lajoie won a disputed batting title over Ty Cobb in a controversial finish. Here’s what happened, according to Cobb’s page in Baseball-Reference.com’s Bullpen:
   

   In 1910, he was so unpopular with other players that St. Louis Browns manager Jack O’Connor instructed his third baseman, Red Corriden, to play well back on the last day of the season as his team faced the Cleveland Naps. The Naps’ star Napoleon Lajoie was locked in a tight race with Cobb for the batting title, but thanks to the Browns’ generosity, dropped bunt single after bunt single down the third base line that day, going 6 for 6 on his way to a batting title that is still controversial today.

   Chalmers gave cars to both players to avoid any hassles.

3. Believe it or not, former White Sox slugger Jermaine Dye is looking for work. But according to our recent Fungo Pulse Check Poll, nabbing Dye shouldn’t be the Tigers’ top priority — but close to it. Here are the results:

   What move should the Tigers make for the final piece of the 2010 puzzle?

   • Trade surplus pitching for a slugger (35%, 63 Votes)
   • Sign Jermaine Dye (34%, 61 Votes)
   • Add infield depth (31%, 54 Votes)

   Thanks to everyone that weighed in. The 178 votes were the most ever for a Fungo Pulse Check. Also, be sure to vote in our latest poll in the sidebar –>

• 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.