PRELIMINARY ROUND
Series #141
1966 Detroit Tigers (88-74) vs 1973 Texas Rangers (57-105)
One wouldn’t think that a club that had three different managers would win 88 games and obviously on the rise, but the 1966 Tigers were looking for that leader and direction as they headed towards their 1968 championship season. The core of the pitching staff was blooming with 22 year old Denny McLain winning 20 games with 4 shutouts and a nice 1.16 WHIP. McLain still had some growing pains with his 3.92 ERA but the upside was obvious to all. Mickey Lolich had somewhat a rougher time proving himself with a 4.77 ERA but a better FIP at 3.70. Lolich threw 11 wild pitches and walked almost 4 per nine as he and McLain combined to allow 66 home runs. Earl Wilson was a nice third starter on this team bringing a veteran feel going 13-6 with a 2.59 ERA in 163 innings. He struck out 7.3 per nine and held a 1.00 WHIP while walking only 38. Johnny Podres at 33 years old made 13 starts with a 3.43 but some arm issues and other names like Dave Wickersham and Hank Aguirre also made multiple starts as the Tigers looked for the right mix. Who they choose to start game four of this series is very much in the air. Larry Sherry was the closer saving 20 games with a worrisome 3.82 ERA. Orlando Pena had seven saves and a better 3.08 ERA and Red Gladding was another piece who went 5-0 in relief with a 106 ERA+. A 3.85 team ERA was actually not very good for the era they threw in. Al Kaline was by now trenched at Mr. Tiger at 31 years old and was still getting it done with a .927 OPS, a .388 OBP, 29 home runs, and 85 runs scored. Kaline also had is usual gold glove play in center field. Jim Northrup manned right and hit 16 home runs with a .788 OPS and only 52 strikeouts. Willie Horton brought even more power in left field hitting 27 home runs and leading the club with 100 RBI. Horton struck out 103 times but for the most part was a very efficient hitter in the middle of the order. Don Wert played third for 150 games hitting .268 with 20 doubles but limited power and only 56 runs scored. Jerry Lumpe was very weak at second with a 61 OPS+, no power or speed and was platooned with Jake Wood who hit .252 and provided more basic tools at the position. Norm Cash whacked 32 home runs from first with 93 RBI and an .829 OPS> Cash was a legitimate power threat even as he was now past 30 getting 288 total bases. Dick McAuliffe played a good short hitting .274 with 23 home runs and 83 runs scored, his ability to pick the position and make contact would be a big key in the short term success of the team. An even bigger impact was likely 24 year old catcher Bill Freehan who was excellent with the glove and managed 12 home runs and 46 RBI while moving quite well for a catcher on the bases. Mickey Stanley and Ray Oyler were the most frequent pinch hitters with limited impact while Gates Brown hit seven home runs off the bench. There are some real competitors on this roster and a team that was inching to win during an era when the American League was quite competitive post Yankee dynasty.
The 1973 season was not a pretty sight for the Texas Rangers who had three managers including Billy Martin and Whitey Herzog but still lost 105 games. No one in the lineup hit over .300 or drove in over 100 runs. The only power source was right fielder Jeff Burroughs who hit 30 home runs and drove in 85, that was more then double the number anyone else on the team could produce. Vic Harris tried to bring the speed element in center stealing 12 bases and hitting seven triples, but he was quite raw at 23 and pure baseball talent was lacking. Rico Carty had seen better days at 33 and playing left and he managed only 86 games hitting .232 as Elliott Maddox got into 100 games and was better with the glove despite his 81 OPS+. Jim Fregosi played in only 45 games at third and Larry Bittner saw most of the work but he had zero pop and had only 80 total bases making the position a black hole. Jim Spencer hit 4 home runs out of first base in 102 games hitting a light .267 but did walk as many times as he struck out and drove in 43 runs. Toby Harrah at 24 years old was the legitimate hope for many at short. He hit .260 with 10 homers and 50 driven in while stealing 10 bases. Harrah was also an athletics defender and one of the few reasons to watch this team play. Dave Nelson was also fast and worked well with Harrah from second base. Nelson stole 16 bases and thrived under Whitey ball scoring 71 runs and hitting .286 to lead the team. Ken Suarez and Dick Billings switched off at catcher and both really could hit much at all; they were both 30 and on the downside of their careers. Bill Sudakis played in 81 games hitting .255 and spending time at first and Jim Mason was the main defensive replacement on the infield. Alex Johnson was the very light hitting DH hitting .287 with 10 steals and only 8 home runs. He did hit 26 doubles with a .698 OPS which was not bat on this team. Six different arms did their best to patch together a pitching staff that allowed a 4.64 ERA. No one threw over 200 innings with Jim Bibby leading the way with a 9-10 record in 180 frames. Bibby had a nice 3.24 ERA with 2 shutouts but in desperation was also used in relief and ended with 2 saves. Jim Merritt was 5-13 in 19 starts and a 4.05 ERA allowing over 10 hits per nine and a 1.40 WHIP making him quite risky. Sony Siebert has a 3.99 ERA and a 3.49 FIP making him acceptable as he kept the ball on the ground but was also pulled to be used in relief when needed. Pete Broberg and Steve Dunning were awful with ERA’s over 5 and over 5 walks per nine. David Clyde started in 18 games but also saw his ERA grow to 5.01 with no complete games and also allowing 10.2 hits per nine. Who the ace on this team is a very wide open question as is who will start in this series. Mike Paul also made 10 starts but was more valuable as a lefty option in the pen. The pen had only a few “dependable” arms like Steve Fouclat who at 23 had a 3.88 ERA and 8 saves. He also had some major control issues. Jackie Brown had his FIP at 3.80 but had a WHIP at 1.60. Charlie Hudosn and Bob Gogolewski also were relievers along those same lines. The Rangers will have to find real magic to win a few games in this series, but at least their manager Whitey Herzog is innovative and will pull out all the stops to compete.
Game 1 At Tiger Stadium
Partly cloudy 60
1973 Rangers....................3
1966 Tigers........................2
WP: S. Foucault (0-1) LP: L. Sherry (0-1)
HR: D. McAuliffe (1), B. Madlock (1), J. Burroughs (1)
POG: Jackie Brown
1973 Rangers lead series 1-0
Texas opens up with an upset at Tiger Stadium as Jackie Brown and Mickey Lolich get tangled in a pitching duel. Three home runs played part in a 2-2 tie after both teams went to their bullpens heading into the 9th. An error by set up a Bill Madlock double to put the visiting side in front and Steve Foucault closed the door for the narrow win. Madlock was 3-5 with a home run and 2 RBI.
Game 2 At Tiger Stadium
Clear 64
1973 Rangers.....................6
1966 Tigers.........................3
WP: R. Hand (1-0) LP: B. Monbouquette (0-1)
HR: D. Nelson (1), B. Sudakis (1)
POG: Dave Nelson
1973 Rangers lead series 2-0
Texas stuns again winning their second game at Tiger Stadium with one big blow in the 8th inning. With the game even at three, catcher Bill Sudakis came up with two on and two out to become the key man. Larry Sherry left one in the zone and the ball was launched 399 feet over the right field wall for three run lead. Dave Nelson went 3-5 with 3 RBI while Rich Hand pitched well into the 8th inning striking out five for the win. The Tigers now head to Texas stunned at their predicament.
Game 3 At Arlington Stadium
Partly cloudy 71
1966 Tigers.........................1
1973 Rangers.....................3
WP: D. Clyde (1-0) LP: D. Wickersham (0-1) S: S. Foucault (2)
HR: T. Harrah (1)
POG: Toby Harrah
1973 Rangers lead series 3-0
The fairy tale continues is Texas and the Rangers just seem to have the Tigers number. Tonight it was starter David Clyde who pitched 7.1 innings on one run ball striking out six and allowing only three hits. Toby Harrah hit a two run home run in the 6th inning to give Texas the lead for good, it was the third game where a late home run by the Rangers made the difference. Steve Foucault closed the door and White Herzog has this group of misfits one game way from a sweep.
Game 4 At Arlington Stadium
Partly cloudy 77
1966 Tigers........................5
1973 Rangers....................7
WP: D. Bosman (1-0) LP: D. McLain (0-1) S: M. Paul
HR: D. Demeter 2 (2), B. Freehan (1), T. Grieve (1)
POG: Don Demeter
Funny things can happen in the game of baseball and even more so in a short series when a club gets hot. The 105 loss 1973 Rangers did away with the Tigers in four straight games and gave their fans something good to cheer for a franchise with a disappointing past. Don Demeter hit two home runs for the Tigers but it would not be enough as Jeff Burroughs delivered a two run double in a four run fifth and 12 run barrage for the home team. Dick Bosman was not good allowing 5 runs in 7 innings but was good enough for the win while Mike Paul earned a rare save. Kudos to Whitey Herzog for his teams performance in one of our biggest upsets.
1973 Texas Rangers Win Series 4 Games To 0
Series MVP:
Toby Harrah
(8/15, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, 1 SB, .800 SLG)