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Post by Hunter McCormick on Apr 6, 2020 14:45:15 GMT -6
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Post by unionstation82 on Apr 6, 2020 16:37:30 GMT -6
You could argue that two men symbolized the Tigers: Cobb and Kaline, and the latter was more beloved. RIP, Al. |
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Post by abregmanfan on Apr 7, 2020 19:34:00 GMT -6
Tip of the cap, Mr. Kaline.
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Post by Hunter McCormick on Apr 10, 2020 9:15:11 GMT -6
You could argue that two men symbolized the Tigers: Cobb and Kaline, and the latter was more beloved. RIP, Al. Well, they're certainly the most universally famous of all Tigers, although personally my favorites were Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan. Interesting story regarding Al. In '68 he suffered a broken arm, hit-by-pitch. He missed a lot of games that season, but the Tigers had plenty of outfield talent. Willie Horton, Mickey Stanley, and Jim Northrup were the usual outfield for the latter part of the season. Al told manager Mayo Smith, he felt he should be a bench player during the World Series. But Mayo had a different plan. For the last six games of the regular season and throughout the WS, he moved Mickey Stanley from CF to SS (a position he had never played), and moved Jim Northrup to CF. This created an opening so Al could play his normal RF. And the rest, as they say ... was history. |
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Post by ɮօʀȶǟʐ on Apr 10, 2020 10:10:22 GMT -6
Kaline certainly must hold the record for most prolific autograph signer. You can’t shop for autographs without finding 10000 kaline sigs is every online sale or brick and mortar store.
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Post by paastrosfan on Apr 10, 2020 11:43:43 GMT -6
You could argue that two men symbolized the Tigers: Cobb and Kaline, and the latter was more beloved. RIP, Al. Well, they're certainly the most universally famous of all Tigers, although personally my favorites were Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan. Interesting story regarding Al. In '68 he suffered a broken arm, hit-by-pitch. He missed a lot of games that season, but the Tigers had plenty of outfield talent. Willie Horton, Mickey Stanley, and Jim Northrup were the usual outfield for the latter part of the season. Al told manager Mayo Smith, he felt he should be a bench player during the World Series. But Mayo had a different plan. For the last six games of the regular season and throughout the WS, he moved Mickey Stanley from CF to SS (a position he had never played), and moved Jim Northrup to CF. This created an opening so Al could play his normal RF. And the rest, as they say ... was history. I could add to your story on why Stanley was moved to short. There was a rookie from my hometown Tommy Matchick that was on the roster, with little MLB experience and the move they made to Stanley was the right move at the time. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Matchick |
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Post by Hunter McCormick on Apr 11, 2020 10:19:12 GMT -6
I could add to your story on why Stanley was moved to short. There was a rookie from my hometown Tommy Matchick that was on the roster, with little MLB experience and the move they made to Stanley was the right move at the time. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_MatchickTommy Matchick was an option at SS, but not the only one. Veterans Ray Oyler and Dick Tracewski, both of whom with a sufficient history of playing the position, were also choices. At the time, the press thought Mayo Smith had lost his mind: www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2013/10/09/mayos-big-gamble-the-mickey-stanley-experiment/But as you and I now know, this move was brilliant. |
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Post by Hunter McCormick on Apr 11, 2020 10:29:04 GMT -6
Kaline certainly must hold the record for most prolific autograph signer. You can’t shop for autographs without finding 10000 kaline sigs is every online sale or brick and mortar store. Mr Tiger was aware of who buttered the bread. He wasn't a great public speaker but he always acknowledged the importance of the fans who made professional baseball possible. Those weren't just empty words. If a fan wanted an autograph, he was available and willing to render one. But I think most of the players of that era shared a similar mindset. Baseball was better in those days. There was a simple elegance, not the overplayed hype we see today. |
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Post by paastrosfan on Apr 12, 2020 11:45:50 GMT -6
I could add to your story on why Stanley was moved to short. There was a rookie from my hometown Tommy Matchick that was on the roster, with little MLB experience and the move they made to Stanley was the right move at the time. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_MatchickTommy Matchick was an option at SS, but not the only one. Veterans Ray Oyler and Dick Tracewski, both of whom with a sufficient history of playing the position, were also choices. At the time, the press thought Mayo Smith had lost his mind: www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2013/10/09/mayos-big-gamble-the-mickey-stanley-experiment/But as you and I now know, this move was brilliant. After college I got to be a follower of the Tigers for awhile. During my Junior year Tom Brookens was a teammate of mine, also on the team at that time was his brother Tim. Our team was at that time a division two school, and both those guys were number one picks in the 1975 winter phase of the draft. Tom was the number four selection and Tim was the 18th selection by the Rangers. That is something that doesn't happen often coming out of a small school baseball program. |
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Post by paastrosfan on Apr 12, 2020 11:55:37 GMT -6
After college I got to be a follower of the Tigers for awhile. During my Junior year Tom Brookens was a teammate of mine, also on the team at that time was his brother Tim. Our team was at that time a division two school, and both those guys were number one picks in the 1975 winter phase of the draft. Tom was the number four selection and Tim was the 18th selection by the Rangers. That is something that doesn't happen often coming out of a small school baseball program. With this virus, that might be something MLB might be looking at going back to the winter draft of years ago. |
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Post by Saint on Apr 13, 2020 12:07:32 GMT -6
Mr. 399
If he had managed to play just one more partial season, he would have reached 400 HR 500 Doubles and 1600 RBI. His HR total will forever bother me.
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Post by unionstation82 on Apr 13, 2020 15:17:03 GMT -6
Mr. 399 If he had managed to play just one more partial season, he would have reached 400 HR 500 Doubles and 1600 RBI. His HR total will forever bother me. That reminds me of Sam Crawford, who needed like 40 hits for 3,000. He wasn’t aware that it mattered. Luckily, his boy Ty Cobb championed him for HOF induction. |
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Post by Hunter McCormick on Apr 13, 2020 21:46:51 GMT -6
Mr. 399 If he had managed to play just one more partial season, he would have reached 400 HR 500 Doubles and 1600 RBI.  His HR total will forever bother me.Fixed that for you. |
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Post by unionstation82 on Apr 14, 2020 5:26:24 GMT -6
Mr. 399 If he had managed to play just one more partial season, he would have reached 400 HR 500 Doubles and 1600 RBI. His HR total will forever bother me.Fixed that for you. Sam Rice finished with 2,987 hits. That bothers me more because he overcame a lot before he made it to the majors. |
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Post by Saint on Apr 14, 2020 8:17:20 GMT -6
Mr. 399 If he had managed to play just one more partial season, he would have reached 400 HR 500 Doubles and 1600 RBI. His HR total will forever bother me.Fixed that for you. Unfortunately, it's not far off. |
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