Tigers Trade Deadline: Pointers from Past Pickups of Pitchers for the Postseason

With the 2011 MLB trade deadline on the way, rumors are afloat regarding the Detroit Tigers and their quest for another starting pitcher. 

General Manager Dave Dombrowski has confirmed the Tigers are seeking a starting pitcher to bolster their chances at winning the division and having a successful post-season.

Tigers fans likely recall the 2009 acquisition of Jarrod Washburn that fizzled and left the Tigers teetering on the cusps of the postseason.

Looking back at years where the Tigers reached the postseason and obtained starting pitchers suggests the Tigers faithful need to recognize that an in-season acquisition might provide a boost in getting to the postseason, but the intact starting pitching is most likely to drive the desired postseason results. 

In fact, no in-season pitching acquisition seems to have ever won a postseason game for the Detroit Tigers.  The Tigers' postseason success is more likely to rest on the performance of Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello.

Here are five starting pitchers picked up by the Tigers during the season, in years where the team reached the postseason.

Doyle Alexander: Acquired, August 12, 1987

Detroit Tigers Record: Nine Wins and 0 Losses with a 1.53 ERA in 11 games started 

This remains one of the well-known reference points for in-season starting pitching acquisition. 

Alexander was 5-10 with a 4.13 ERA in Atlanta prior to being sent to Detroit in exchange for John Smoltz.  Reports by some scouts, even at that time, indicated that Smoltz was a dominant pitcher in the Eastern League and might be a top-flight major league pitcher.

The soft-tossing Alexander enjoyed September success in the years preceding 1987, and he was a difference maker in edging the Tigers into the postseason.

However, Alexander went 0-2, losing Games 1 and 5 of the American League Championship Series.  His performance in the decisive Game 5 was dismal, as he lasted one-and-two-thirds innings, allowing four runs that the Tigers could not quite make up. 

His 1987 postseason was, unfortunately, consistent with several other postseason appearances.

 Alexander remained with the Tigers for two more seasons before hanging up his MLB cleats.

Woodie Fryman: Acquired August 2, 1972

Detroit Tigers Record: 10 Wins and Three Losses with a 2.06 ERA in 16 games (14 games started)

One of the better in-season pitching acquisitions in Tigers history, Fryman paid immediate dividends with his hot hand, even though he had went just 4-10 with a 4.36 ERA in Philadelphia before arriving to the Tigers. 

Fryman also holds the distinction of being the winning pitcher in manager Billy Martin’s “out-of-the-hat” lineup game that season. As the postseason approached, the Detroit Zoo named four new Tiger cubs after Woody, Mickey Lolich, Joe Coleman and Billy Martin.

Fryman went 0-2 in the American League Championship Series, losing Game 2 and the decisive Game 5.  However, the bullpen didn’t help his cause in Game 2.  In Game 5, a 2-1 loss, the first run scored on a Reggie Jackson steal of home and the second run resulted from an error and was unearned.

After the season, the trade for Fryman was completed with Tom Haller and Don Leshnock heading to the Phillies.  Fryman stuck around in Detroit for two more seasons but wasn’t able to regain the “lightning in a bottle” of 1972.

He continued his MLB career with several other teams and enjoyed some additional bouts of success.

Jim Tobin: Acquired August 9, 1945

Detroit Tigers Record: Four Wins and Five Losses with a 3.55 ERA in 14 games (six games started)

A starter and reliever once he reached the Tigers, Jim Tobin started the year 9-14 with a 3.84 ERA for the Boston Braves. 

Abba Dabba, as he was sometimes known, lost his last five decisions for the Braves and almost magically became available to the Tigers by waivers.  It was so magical that there was a minor outcry for a probe into the waiver rule.

Tobin pitched three innings of middle relief in Game 1 of the World Series and gave up three runs.

The knuckleball /flutterball pitcher was released following the season and his MLB career over.

Alvin Crowder: Acquired August 4, 1934

Detroit Tigers Record: Five Wins and One Loss with a 4.19 ERA in Nine Games Started

General Crowder used his fastball and changeup as the workhorse pitcher for the pennant-winning Washington Senators in 1933.  That, along with a league-leading 327 innings tossed in 1932 were believed to be the reasons that Crowder puttered  to a 4-10 start with a 6.79 ERA in 1934.  Crowder’s struggles, and waiver by the Senators, were fortuitous for the Tigers who needed to reinforce an embattled pitching staff.

The General ended up starting Game 1 of the 1934 World Series for the Tigers, either because he had an easier time warming up in cold weather than Schoolboy Rowe or because the Tigers wanted to save Rowe to face someone other than Dizzy Dean.  Regardless, Crowder’s charge in Game 1 fizzled as the Tigers' infield—including Hall of Famer Charlie Gehringer—made five errors in the first three innings.  Over the course of two games and six innings pitched, Crowder allowed four runs…only one earned.

Crowder went on to be a significant part of the Tigers' first World Series championship in 1935.  It was his first championship too, in three consecutive World Series, and it earned Crowder his first win in “the classic”. 

He finished his MLB career in 1936 with the Tigers.

George Winter: Acquired July 26, 1908

Detroit Tigers Record: One Win and Five Losses with a 1.60 ERA in Seven games (six games started)

Winter, a spitballer, was obtained by purchase from the Boston Americans.  With Boston, he had been a member of the first World Series champs in 1903.

Prior to joining the Tigers during the 1908 season, Winter assembled a 4-14 record with a 3.05 ERA.  Much of Winter’s 1908 record was attributed to hard luck, such as a mid-September loss where the only two runs against him were attributable to a bunt that was not handled and an “accidental” swing.

Winter pitched an inning of relief in the 1908 World Series versus the Cubs, and allowed one run…unearned…on an error by Ty Cobb.

Following the 1908 season, Winter and the Tigers debated contract terms, with an agreement eventually reached.  However, Winter never appeared in another MLB game.