Tigers minus 50

1976 Detroit Tigers schedule

@AlTheBoss03 Need to give Aurelio Rodriguez some love here! And yes, I saw him!

Who’s the BEST defensive third baseman you’ve ever seen? Forget the bat. I’m talking pure glove.

In 1975, Willie Horton hit .275 with 25 HRs with 92 RBIs in 159 games as the full-time designated hitter. While Horton feels he can play at first base or the outfield, these positions are taken, and Willie seems destined for the DH role.

He felt justified in that Rusty Staub will be making $145,000 in his first year with the #Tigers while the 33 year old from Northwestern HS in Detroit is entering his 13th year. The team met Horton in the middle, making him a six-figure player with a $105,000 contract.

Willie Horton held out at the beginning of spring training and threatened to become a free agent at the end of the 1976 season if the #Tigers failed to consider his demand for a salary increase.  Horton, who made $86,000 last year, was asking for $125,000 this year.

@989baseball Thanks for following up. What's good about doing this is that sometimes I just put something out there, and others pick it up and run with it. Attaching the article from the @freep

@DetTiger40 James then played in Mexico from 1980 - 1982 before hanging up the cleats. Thanks for sending me down this rabbit hole 😁

Art James, a 23 year old outfielder from Detroit, started 11 games in the outfield in two stints with the #Tigers as a rookie in 1975. James was the starting right fielder on Opening Day. He hit .225 with no home runs.

He will have surgery and will be out for 6 months. (Note: Art James never again played in the major leagues)

In February of this year, he reportedly was involved in a relay race at Macomb Community College (where he played ball). They were using a bat as the baton. The bat was dropped, hit James in the back of the foot and ruptured his Achilles tendon.

Last year in New York, Staub hit .282 with 19 HRs and 105 RBIs while playing 155 games (starting 153 in right field). He will likely play a similar number of games in right field at Tiger Stadium in 1976.

Staub, who celebrates his 32nd birthday tomorrow and hails from New Orleans, will begin his 14th season in the majors and his first in the American League. He spent time with the Colt .45s/Astros, Expos, and Mets. It was in Montreal that he became the popular Les Grand Orange.

Rusty Staub was obtained by the #Tigers in a trade with the New York Mets along with pitcher Billy Laxton for Detroit legend Mickey Lolich and outfielder Billy on December 12.

To top it off, they traded Benji to the Brewers for Jim Slaton, who one year later became a free agent and returned to the Brewers. Someday, I'll get over this.

Note: 50 years later, I am still mad about they way the #Tigers handled Ben Oglivie. Given regular playing time, he would have blossomed in Detroit into the star he later became in Milwaukee. But sure, Alex Johnson!

But with the #Tigers acquisitions of Rusty Staub and Alex Johnson, along with the emergence of Ron Leflore, there is no room in the crowded outfield for Oglivie and he returns to a backup role.

Oglivie started 75 games in left field after Nate Colbert was released last year, and Danny Meyer moved to first base. Oglivie had career highs with a .286 average and 9 home runs and 36 RBIs.

Ben Oglivie came to the #Tigers after the 1973 season in a trade with the Red Sox for Dick McAuliffe. As was the case in Boston, the 27 year old from Panama had shown great promise, but that has not translated into a starting position with the team.

On March 9, the @freep reported that they had several official documents stating that Leflore was born in 1948, making him 28 years old. The #Tigers have taken the attitude that they do not care about his age. They just want him to play baseball.

But it is Ron Leflore's age that has become a controversy this spring. According to the #Tigers records, Leflore was born in 1952, making him 24 years old. The team used the information from his parole document after serving two sentences in Jackson State Prison.

Leflore started the season well, hitting .289 with 25 stolen bases at the All-Star break. But Leflore slumped terribly in the second half, ending with a .265 with 8 HRs, 37 RBIs, and only 3 more SBs for a total of 28. He will be the team's starting centerfielder in 1976.

Ron Leflore played his first full season in the major leagues in 1975 after coming up to the team in August of '74. Last year, the Detroit native was the opening day centerfielder and started 133 games at the position.