1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-two

DETROIT 7, MINNESOTA 1 IN DETROIT

Date:  Wednesday, August 19.

Batting stars:  Steve Lombardozzi was 2-for-2 with a home run (his sixth) and a walk.  Randy Bush was 2-for-4.  Tim Laudner was 1-for-3 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Dan Schatzeder struck out four in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  George Frazier pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Walt Terrell pitched a complete game, giving up one run on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts.  Pat Sheridan was 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base (his twelfth), scoring once and driving in three.  Johnny Grubb was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.

The game:  With a man on first and two out in the second, the Tigers went single, double, single, double, producing four runs and a 4-0 lead.  Lombardozzi homered leading off the third, but that was as good as it got.  The Tigers scored two in the fourth and one in the fifth to put the game out of reach.

Of note:  Bush was again leading off and in right field, with Tom Brunansky in left and Dan Gladden out of the lineup...Gene Larkin was the DH...Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .312...Laudner raised his average to .201, the first time he was over .500 since July 24...Twins starter Bert Blyleven lasted only 4.1 innings, allowing seven runs on nine hits and two walks with two strikeouts.  He left a pitch up to Darrell Evans in the fourth and to Kirk Gibson in the fifth.  The solo home runs didn't hurt him, because the game was pretty much gone by then...This was the second straight game where the only Twins runs came on solo home runs.

Record:  The Twins were 66-56, in first place, four games ahead of Oakland.

Player profile:  You know how we have players that we just kind of take a liking to for no particular reason?  Catcher Matt Nokes was one of those players for me.  He was born and raised in San Diego and was drafted by the Giants in the twentieth round in 1981.  He spent two years in Class A and two more in AA, got a September call-up in 1985, was in AAA for most of 1986, getting another September call-up, and finally was in the big leagues to stay in 1987.  He was no longer a Giant by then, obviously, having been traded to Detroit after the 1985 season in a trade that included Juan Berenguer.  He was their mostly-regular catcher in 1987-88, sharing the position with Mike Heath.  He was very good in 1987, batting .289/.345/.536 with thirty-two homers.  He made the all-star team that year, won a Silver Slugger award, and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting behind Mark McGwire and Kevin Seitzer.  When you look at Nokes' career, that season sticks out like a sore thumb--he never came anywhere close to his .880 OPS in any season other than 1994, when he had only 79 at-bats.  In 1989 he lost the catching job to Heath, and by June of 1990 he'd been traded to the Yankees.  He was the Yankees regular catcher in 1991-92 and did provide some power for them, hitting a total of 46 home runs in those two seasons.  It wasn't enough, though, and in 1993 he lost the job to Mike Stanley.  He was injured much of 1994, played briefly for Baltimore in 1995 and for Colorado in 1996.  That was the end of his big league career, but he played in independent ball through 2002.  He never lived up to the promise of his rookie season, but he hit .254/.308/.441 with 136 home runs.  He now has a website, mattnokes.com, which gives advice on both the physical and mental aspects of baseball.