Detroit Tigers: All Saint Patrick’s Day team

The Detroit Tigers have had five players with Green in their name play for them. One of them is a Hall of Famer, and yet another is an active member of the team:

Lenny Green

Born in Detroit in 1933, Green had a solid 12-year big league career. His best season came in 1962 with the Minnesota Twins, when he hit .271 with 14 home runs and eight stolen bases. The center fielder finished his career out home in the Motor City, playing in 58 games in 1967 and another six in 1968. He hit .277 with a 99 OPS+ and a 0.3 bWAR in Detroit.

Hank Greenberg

One of Detroit’s first true icons, Hammerin’ Hank Greenberg played for Detroit from 1930-1946. He missed three seasons for military service, but still blasted 331 career home runs, making him one of Detroit’s most prolific sluggers. The two-time MVP led the league in home runs and RBI four times, and posted a career 158 OPS+. He also won two World Series while with the Tigers, in 1935 and 1945.

Greenberg first appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot in 1949 and was inducted in 1956. He became Detroit’s sixth Hall of Famer, behind Ty Cobb, Hughie Jennings, Mickey Cochrane, Charlie Gehringer, Harry Heilmann and Al Simmons.

Al Greene

Al Greene played in 29 games with the Detroit Tigers in 1979. The Detroit native hit .136 with three home runs with the Tigers, before going on to play professional in Mexico for seven seasons.

Paddy Greene

Patrick Joseph (Paddy) Greene accrued 81 at-bats across 24 games from 1902-1903. Three of those at-bats came with the Tigers. Not much else is known on the third baseman who had a cup of coffee in the big leagues nearly 120 years ago. However, he qualifies as both a Patrick and a Green, so that’s cool.

Shane Greene

For our younger Tigers fans, Shane Greene is the most recognizable name on this roster. Greene came to Detroit in a three-team trade with the Yankees and Diamondbacks. After a rough start as a starter in 2015, Greene converted to the bullpen where he found more success. The right-hander posted a 2.66 ERA in 67.2 innings last season. He will open the 2018 season as Detroit’s closer.

The Natives

There have been 44 players born in Ireland who have reached the major leagues. Three of them were some of the most talented players in baseball around the turn of the century. Tommy Bond and Tony Mullane were two elite starting pitchers back in the day. Mullane won 284 career games, Bond won 234. On the other side of the ball was Patsy Donovan, who hit .301 with 2,256 hits in his big league career. The right fielder also had 518 stolen bases, including a league leading 45 in 1900.

The Tigers have had two players in franchise history who were born in Ireland. As with many Irishmen who played in the big leagues, they both played in the early 1900’s.

Jimmy Archer

Born in Dublin, Jimmy Archer made his big league debut in 1904 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He resurfaced three years later with the Tigers in 1907, going 5-for-42 with four walks and six runs scored. Archer went on to play nine seasons with the Chicago Cubs, finishing in the top-25 in MVP voting three times. The catcher hit .249 with 660 hits and a 5.5 bWAR for his career.

John O’Connell

John O’Connell made his big league debut as a 19-year-old with the Baltimore Orioles in 1891. He didn’t return the the majors until 1902, as a grizzled 30-year-old. In each situation O’Connell played in just eight games, totaling 51 career at-bats and a .176 batting average. The Irish native spent the majority of his career barnstorming through minor leagues in the Midwest area, although stats are understandably hard to come by.

Although the majority of them chose to go by Pat, the Tigers have had nine players named Patrick play for their franchise. None of them have been named a Saint (as far as I know) but just their namesake represents the holiday spirit.

Pat Mullin

Mullin spent his entire 10-year career in the Motor City, hitting .271 with 87 home runs and a 115 OPS+. Mullin missed four years due to the war, but was a two-time All-Star upon his return. His 23 home runs in 1948 led the team by a considerable margin.

Pat McLaughlin

McLaughlin spent the majority of his career in the minor leagues, making small cups of coffee with Detroit in 1937 and 1945, with one appearance in 1940 with the Philadelphia Athletics. All told, McLaughlin posted a 6.88 ERA in 35.1 big league innings.

Pat McGehee

McGehee started one game on the mound for the Tigers in 1912. He gave up one hit and one walk and did not record a single out. However, his career ERA is zero thanks to Joe Lake, who came on and tossed the remaining eight innings.

Pat McCoy

Some die hard fans might remember McCoy, who threw 14 innings for the Detroit Tigers back in 2014. He posted a 3.86 ERA and a 103 ERA+, but an unsightly 2.43 WHIP and 11/13 K/BB ratio. He toiled around the minor leagues the last few seasons and spent 2017 on the independent circuit, starting 11 games for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.

Pat Dobson

Pat Dobson began his solid big league career with the Tigers, pitching for them from 1967-1969. He was used primarily as a reliever, racking up 16 saves with a 3.06 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 279.1 innings. He went on to be a part of a dominant Baltimore rotation, becoming one of four Baltimore starters in 1971 to win 20 games. Dobson was an All-Star in 1972 and won 122 games with a 3.54 ERA in his big league career.

Pat Ahearne

Ahearne threw 10 disastrous innings for the 1995 Detroit Tigers, giving up 20 hits and 13 earned runs. Although he never made it back to the big leagues, Ahearne threw all the way into 2013, where as a 43-year-old he tossed 29 innings of 7.14 ball with the Bridgeport Blue Fish of the Independent league.

Pat Underwood

The second overall pick of the 1976 draft by the Tigers, Pat Underwood never lived up to expectations. He threw 343.2 innings across four seasons for the Tigers, posting a 4.43 ERA and a 95 ERA+. He was out of professional baseball by age 27. The Tigers made up for their gaffe in the 1976 draft by selecting Hall of Famers Alan Trammell and Jack Morris in the second and fifth rounds, respectively. They also snagged right-hander Dan Petry in the fourth and shortstop Ozzie Smith in the seventh, who did not sign.

Pat Sheridan

Michigan native Pat Sheridan spent the first three of his 10 big league seasons with the Kansas City Royals. He signed as a free agent with the Tigers in 1986 and hit .251 with 26 home runs and 39 stolen bases over his four years with the ballclub.

Bob Patrick

Bob Patrick played in nine games with the Tigers, five in 1941 and four in 1942. He went 4-for-15 with a double and a home run in his brief MLB career. However, his one home run was a doozy: In the bottom of the ninth with two outs and a 1-1 game, Patrick took two-time All-Star Eddie Smith deep for a walk-off home run.

Next: Five Tigers prospects who will debut in 2018

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all our readers!