Yesterday I got a text message from my friend Pat who I sometimes help out once a month at a show in Livonia she wanted me to know that we lost a good friend of ours Mickey Lolich. Mickey was a pitcher from 1963 through 1975 with the Detroit Tigers,1976 the New York Mets,1978 through the 1979 San Diego Padres. He was only 85 which is a long life for the left-handed Strike out artist in the 1960s. When he was with the Tigers he made his mark by being an Unsung Hero for the 1968 World Series Champions by being 3-0 with an ERA of 1.67 besting Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson in Game 7 on 2 days rest & all 3 of his starts in the were complete games which is a rarity of the game nowadays. As a bonus Mickey in his first at bat in Game 2 he went deep for his only Home Run in his career helping out his own cause to get the victory.
As I mentioned before Mickey was a left-hander but he wasn't always he was right handed but he was learning to become a left-hander due to a motorcycle accident when he was a youngster later on he admitted that accident helped his path to the majors faster. The back on the forementioned card from the 1976 Topps Traded how Mickey became a Met he was traded for Rusty Staub many of Detroit fans were upset about the trade as I mentioned he pitched the one season with the Mets before retiring to become a baker making donuts (I had one of his creations once & it was between Tim Hortons & Dunkin Donuts but with his special recipe of goodness). After the 1 year of hiatus Frank Cashen reached out to him to comeback to pitch 1 year for the Padres he ended pitching 2 for them mainly in relief as set up roles for Rollie Fingers then retiring for good after the 1979 season.
I was lucky to meet up with Mickey on 3 different venues & he was impressed with this bloggers knowledge of the game he even shocked that I knew that his cousin played for the Indians & White Sox. Each time we would talk about his career as well eat a couple of his donuts as well. This picture was taken May 2017 he wasn't feeling great cause he had a slight temp but made through cause we talked about how Vida Blue beat him for the 1971 Cy Young Award as well the greatest practical joke he did.
Cousin Ron's RC
The practical joke story goes as he did as a player it took place when he was still with the Tigers. You see Tiger Stadium had a scoreboard located along the left-field wall that would be in play during the games. Well that's all Mickey needed for he thought he unscrew a light bulb that resulted in doing over 25 different bulbs unscrewing them then walking away without making a scene. Later that day which was a Sunday it was time to play the game so they flicked on the switch everything lit up on the field except that scoreboard the Detroit officials couldn't figure out what happened so they turn off the switch then flicked on again to see if it was just a simple glitch still no lights then they called an specialist electrician on this day to investigate the problem he checked the fuses they were working fine but they couldn't figure out why they were lighting up. Then one of the grounds crew was talking to team president Jim Campbell saying they claim they saw Mickey was near the scoreboard earlier that day doing something near the scoreboard but couldn't get a good view of his wrong-doings so Jim wondered ya don't think he unscrewed a bunch of bulbs so he told the electrician to see if that was the case sure enough the first bulb he screwed in *bzzzz* the light came to life he proceeded to screw in the rest between innings meanwhile in the Tigers Dugout Mickey sat there quietly whistling innocently chuckling each time a light would turn on then the phone rang from the dugout Manager Mayo Smith answered the phone it was Campbell on the other line he demanded to speak to Lolich ASAP!!!!! He asked Mickey what was he doing around the scoreboard earlier that day Mickey told him absolutely not a damn thing meanwhile smirking that he was found out by Campbell. Then Campbell told him that it would come out of his paycheck to pay for to have that specialist to come out on a Sunday meaning time & half just to check on the lights & to rescrew in all those light bulbs. As for the paycut it never occurred cause Mickey convinced Campbell he was innocent. Another story that Mickey once said had he didn't have to take time off during the 1967 Season to do active National Guard duty on the weekends he missed about 12 games which would have been 2 starts in the time frame & those 2 games he could helped the Tigers win the pennant that year instead of the Boston Red Sox who won the American League just by 1 game over the Twins & Tigers that season. Mickey was a great friend Tiger fans across the whole state of Michigan will miss him in conclusion as you know I normally end it with my Rogers Hornsby quote but instead Ill leave you with a quote Mickey once said about his stature being a fat guy "Say Helen take a look at this pitcher for the Tigers he weighs in at 275,a World Series MVP, a 20+ winner in the majors, An 3 time All-Star pitcher & you say I am overweight." Rest In Peace my friend.
