Mickey Lolich

Quotes From Lolich
"I was a beer-drinker's idol." — Mickey Lolich

"Once we got the lead [in Game Seven of the '68 World Series], I told Mayo, 'I'll finish it.' " — Mickey Lolich

"I've got to go to my mouth to keep my teeth from falling out." — Mickey Lolich, responding to increased enforcement of the spitball rule

Played For
Detroit Tigers (1963-1975)
New York Mets (1976)
San Diego Padres (1978-1979)

Best Season: 1971
Lolich narrowly lost the Cy Young Award to Vida Blue. He went 25-14 with a 2.92 ERA and 308 K's in more than 376 innings. He completed 29 of his 45 starts and hurled four shutouts. in 1972 he lost the Cy Young again in a tight race, that time to Gaylord Perry.

Factoids
Mickey Lolich blasted a home run in his first World Series at-bat, and he hit .250 in the 1968 Series.

Mickey Lolich broke his left collarbone as a small child, when a motorcycle fell on him. With his left arm needing more work to strengthen from the injury, he became a natural southpaw.

Full Bio
Mickey Lolich described himself as "the beer-drinker's idol." With his portly physique and his likable disposition, the pitcher was popular with Tiger fans during his 13 seasons in their uniform. His talented left arm didn't hurt his cause either.

Lolich was born in Portland, Oregon, on September 12, 1940, the same day that Schoolboy Rowe defeated the Yankees to keep the Tigers one-half game ahead of the Indians in the AL pennant race. Lolich's father was a parks director, which kept him outside, and his kids near the parks and play equipment. Consequently, Mickey (born Michael Stephen Lolich) developed into an outdoorsman and an athlete. Lolich said that as a kid he "threw rocks at birds, squirrels, and anything else that moved."

As a result, he built a strong arm. But Lolich was almost right-handed. As a toddler, he was favoring his right arm, until one day he tipped over a motorcycle onto himself. The bike landed on his left side, damaging his left arm and shoulder. That summer he wore a cast on the arm and performed exercises to strengthen the torn muscles. When the cast came off, Lolich was a southpaw.

As a youth in Oregon, Lolich played lots of baseball, though there wasn't a major league team to follow. "The only games we would get were national broadcasts of the Yankees," Mickey said, "so I grew up idolizing Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford in the 1950s." Later, Lolich and Ford would be friends in the big leagues. When he was a teenager, Lolich pitched brilliantly for local Babe Ruth and American Legion teams, setting records for strikeouts that are still standing. One pitcher who Lolich battled in amateur tournaments was Al Downing, also a left-hander, who was signed by the Yankees at the same time that Mickey was being scouted. "My uncle told me Al had signed with the Yanks," Mickey said, "and I knew I'd be battling him to get to the majors, so I signed with the other team that was really interested in me, the Detroit Tigers."

In Mickey's first season in the minor leagues, he weighed 160 pounds, and as he says, "was nothing but skin and bones." After more than four years in the minors, Lolich was called up to Detroit early in 1963, working out of the bullpen and as a spot-starter. His big league debut came on May 12 in a 9-3 Tigers' loss to Cleveland. The first batter the young Lolich faced, Indians' pitcher Sam McDowell, struck out. Mickey earned his first win on May 28 in Los Angeles against the Angels, going the distance. Complete games would become a Lolich trademark.

From 1964 to 1975, Lolich was in the Tiger rotation, winning 12-25 games every season. He tossed six shutouts in 1964, six more in 1967, and four during the magical 1968 campaign. In 1968, the Tigers had the best team in the American League, coming from behind to win several games on the way to the pennant. Teammate Denny McLain won 31 games that year, overshadowing another fine season by Mickey (17-9, 3.19 ERA, 197 K's). But in the World Series, Lolich took center stage. The Tigers squared off against the St. Louis Cardinals, the defending World Champions. After McLain lost Game One to Cardinal ace Bob Gibson, Lolich righted the ship by winning Game Two, 8-1 on a six-hitter. In that game, Lolich hit a home run off Nelson Briles in his first at-bat. In Game Five, with Detroit trailing three-games-to-one in the Series, Lolich out-dueled Briles again, winning 5-3 in his second complete game. Detroit won the next game in a rout, and set up a seventh game match between Gibson and Lolich, both of whom had two wins in the Fall Classic. In Game One, Gibson had set a record with 17 strikeouts and seemed invincible, but Detroit erupted for three runs in the seventh inning and Mickey went the distance to win, 4-1. The southpaw had become one of the few pitchers to win three games in a World Series.

His performance in the 1968 World Series seemed to buoy Lolich, as he vaulted to the position of staff ace. In 1969 he won 19 games, and two years later he racked up 25 victories as he finished second in Cy Young Award voting to Vida Blue. That season he started 45 games and completed 29, as he logged an incredible 376 innings pitched. His 308 strikeouts paced the league. Lolich was nearly as effective in 1972, winning 22 games as he led the Tigers to the AL East title. As usual, Mickey was a workhorse, pitching 41 games, completing 23, and hurling more than 300 innings. From 1971-1974, Lolich reached the 300-inning mark every season. The lefty used an unusual method to keep his arm fresh. "I never used ice. I would stand in the shower after a game and soak my pitching arm under hot water for 30 minutes. The water was scalding hot. After 30 minutes it would be red, but it would feel fine and I'd be throwing on the sidelines in two days. I never had a sore arm."

At his peak, Lolich threw his fastball in the mid-90s and relied on a change-of-pace and a curveball which he threw from 88-90 MPH. His philosophy was simple: stay ahead of the hitters and let them get themselves out. "I tried to throw two of my first three pitches to a batter for strikes. I was like 'Here, hit it.'" But his fastball was hard to hit, and Lolich went on to fan more batters (2,679) than any other lefty in American League history.

After the 1975 season, in which he lost 18 games for a miserable Tigers' team, Mickey was traded to the New York Mets for Rusty Staub in an unpopular trade. Lolich never took to the Big Apple, and never moved his family there. During his one season as a Met, he battled with the trainer and pitching coach, who wanted him to run and treat his arm with ice. Lolich balked at the advice. He managed a decent 3.22 ERA for the Mets, posting an 8-13 record. At the end of the season, fed up with New York, Lolich retired in order to get out of the last year of his two-year contract. After sitting out a season (in which he put a few more pounds on his ballooning frame), Mickey signed with the San Diego Padres in 1978. But his arm failed to bounce back from the layoff, and he landed in the bullpen, where he performed well in '78, going 2-1 with a 1.56 ERA in 20 games. After an ineffective 1979 season, Lolich retired and returned to Detroit, where he had a home and business interests.

Lolich won 217 games in his 16-year career, fanning 2,832 batters in 3,638 1/3 innings. He was named to the All-Star team three times, and earned the 1968 World Series Most Valuable Player Award. He completed nearly 40% of his starts, and hurled 41 shutouts. After his playing career, Lolich ran a donut shop near Detroit for several years, before selling the business and retiring to his home in Oregon. He is active in charitable work and as a coach at the Detroit Tigers' Fantasy Camp in Lakeland, Florida. In 2003, Lolich was one of 26 players selected to the final ballot by the Hall of Fame's Veterans Committee. He received 13 votes, placing him far below the 75% required for election.

Most Career Strikeouts by LHP, American League
Mickey Lolich ... 2,679
Frank Tanana... 2,669
Chuck Finley... 2,527
Sam McDowell... 2,267
Lefty Grove... 2,266
Mark Langston... 2,233
Jim Kaat... 2,175
Randy Johnson... 2,162
Eddie Plank... 2,099
Rube Waddell... 1,965

World Series Aces
Pitchers who have hurled three complete game wins in one World Series:

Christy Mathewson, Giants (1905 vs. A's) 27 IP, 14 H, 18 K, 1 BB, 0.00 ERA

Babe Adams, Pirates (1909 vs. Tigers) 27 IP, 18 H, 11 K, 6 BB, 1.33 ERA

Stan Coveleski, Indians (1920 vs. Robins) 27 IP, 15 H, 8 K, 2 BB, 0.67 ERA

Lew Burdette, Braves (1957 vs. Braves) 27 IP, 21 H, 13 K, 4 BB, 0.67 ERA

Bob Gibson, Cardinals (1967 vs. Red Sox) 27 IP, 14 H, 26 K, 5 BB, 1.00 ERA

Mickey Lolich, Tigers (1968 vs. Cardinals) 27 IP, 20 H, 21 K, 6 BB, 1.67 ERA

Born
Michael Stephen Lolich was born on September 12, 1940, in Portland, OR.

Batted:  Both
Threw:  Left

Primary Position:  P

Primary Team:  DET

Major League Debut
May 12, 1963

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1963
Pete Rose
Rusty Staub
Joe Morgan
Willie Horton
Jose Cardenal
Jimmy Wynn
Dick Allen
Tommy John
Mickey Lolich

Nicknames
Lolo

"Lolo," both for his last name, and how low his leg drive was in his delivery.

Uniform Numbers
#29 (1963-1976, 1978-1979)

Similar Players
Jerry Koosman, Jim Bunning, Jerry Ruess

Related Players
Bob Gibson, Denny McLain, Bill Freehan... Rusty Staub, for whom Lolich was traded to the Mets after the '75 season. It turned out to be a great deal for Detroit, even though it was unpopular at first with fans.

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 1985 BBWAA 78 19.7% 1986 BBWAA 86 20.2% 1987 BBWAA 84 20.3% 1988 BBWAA 109 25.5% 1989 BBWAA 47 10.5% 1990 BBWAA 27 6.1% 1991 BBWAA 33 7.4% 1992 BBWAA 45 10.5% 1993 BBWAA 43 10.2% 1994 BBWAA 23 5.1% 1995 BBWAA 26 5.7% 1996 BBWAA 33 7.0% 1997 BBWAA 34 7.2% 1998 BBWAA 39 8.2% 1999 BBWAA 26 5.2%

Post-Season Appearances
1968 World Series
1972 American League Championship Series

Post-Season Notes
Lolich gave up five earned runs in three complete game wins in the '68 Series. He defeated Nelson Briles twice and came back on two days rest to beat Bob Gibson in Game Seven.

Awards and Honors
1968 ML WS MVP

Milestones
Lolich struck out Cookie Rojas on July 5, 1972, for his 2,000th career strikeout... On May 25, 1975, Lolich defeated the White Sox, 4-1, in a rain-shortened seven-inning game at Comiskey Park for his 200th career victory.

Milestones

• May 25, 1975: 200th Win... Bill Freehan caught this game, who also caught Lolich in his first ML start (5-21-63)

Notes
Lolich suffered one of the worst stretches of offensive support in baseball history in the second-half of 1975. While the Tigers were on their way to their worst season in more than two decades, Lolich pitched effectively, but had little help. Over the course of 14 starts from July 11 through September 13, Mickey received a total of 14 runs from his offense! Not surprisingly, Lolich's record was 1-13 during the stretch, which included a 19-game losing streak by the Tigers. When Mickey toed the rubber on July 11, he was 10-5 with a 3.31 ERA. When he lost the last of the 13 games during the 14-game stretch, his ERA was just 3.88,but his record had ballooned to 11-18. He won his next start, on September 20th (his teammates scored five runs for him). It was his final game in a Detroit uniform.

Injuries and Explanation for Missed Playing Time
After a disappointing season with the Mets in 1976, where he went 8-13, Lolich retired. What he really did was squirm his way out of his Mets' contract, for whom he never wanted to play. He sat out the entire 1977 season in suburban Detroit, running his doughnut shop. He returned in 1978 and 1979 for two years in sunny San Diego.

Transactions
June 30, 1958: Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent

December 12, 1975: Traded by the Detroit Tigers with Billy Baldwin to the New York Mets for Rusty Staub and Bill Laxton

January 5, 1978: Granted Free Agency

February 2, 1978: Signed as a Free Agent with the San Diego Padres

October 3, 1979: Released by the San Diego Padres.

All-Star Selections
1969 AL
1971 AL
1972 AL

Replaced
Don Mossi, who was on his way out in the Tiger rotation in 1963.

Replaced By
When he was traded from Detroit, the Tigers turned to lefty Dave Roberts to fill Lolich's spot in the rotation. After he left the Mets, he was replaced by Pat Zachry.

Best Strength as a Player
Location of his four-seam fastball, and durability.

Largest Weakness as a Player
Mickey was a dreadful hitter. He batted .110 (90-for-821) with seven extra-base hits in his regular season career.

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