Double Whammy

The Tigers had two former players pass away last Friday, each with memorable four letter names:

Reno:


Bobo:


The Detroit Free Press has a nice little writeup on Reno Bertoia while Larry Osborne gets a bit of press back east. Tom Gage of The Detroit News, who brought both deaths to my attention, has a great Bobo story, about his only career Grand Slam...that didn't count.

I picked up both of these cards at last year's National, and the Osborne in particular holds a special place in my heart for the great shot of an all-green Tiger Stadium in 1960.

RIP to the both of them.

Gus Zernial 1923-2010

Shame on me. I am now the third card blogger to have written something about Gus Zernial, who died last Thursday from congestive heart failure. That response time is unacceptable, especially when I actually have a Gus Zernial card:



Ozark Ike (where do they get these nicknames?) was 87. MLB has a nice writeup that highlights his involvement in bringing AAA Baseball to Fresno.

Zernial ended his career as a part time player for the Tigers, and actually had a pretty good 1958 before his worst-of-his-career-in-all-categories 1959 wrapped things up. Baseball Reference provides the meat and potatoes.

Rest in Peace, Gus. Baseball Card Icon.

RIP Steve Boros

Another former Tiger dies in 2010.

Steve was known to many as the former manager of the A's. He was known to me as this guy.

From 1958 Topps

Also, this one.

From 1959 Topps

I'll leave it to the real reporters to do justiceto his memory. For me, I need to find those cards, both of which were picked up at the National this summer, and put them in their appropriate binder pages.

Former Tigers Lefty Billy Hoeft Dies at 77

File this one under "players you young whippersnappers don't know anything about until they die," which is sad. Cue the info from the Free Press

Hoeft, from Oshkosh, Wis., once struck out all 27 batters in a high school game. He began his Tigers career in 1952 and was an All-Star in 1955.

The Tigers traded Hoeft to the Boston Red Sox in 1959. He also pitched for the Baltimore Orioles, San Francisco Giants, Milwaukee Braves and Chicago Cubs before retiring after the 1966 season with a 97-101 career mark and 3.94 ERA in 15 seasons.

Of career highlights--Hoeft won 20 games for the 1956 Detroit Tigers, not bad for an 82-72 5th place team.

Also to my liking, Hoeft played in that wonderful era where baseball cards were just fabulous looking. Thanks to the magic of Topps' Million Card Giveaway database, I was able to snag images of Hoeft's cardboard immortality as a Tiger. All the best to his family and friends, and I encourage you to consult the cards to learn more about Hoeft's place in Tiger History.  Cue the music...

1953

1956--I don't know why he didn't have cards in 54 and 55. Anybody?

1957

1958

1959