romad1 Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/08/21/detroit-tigers-john-wockenfuss-dies-willie-hernandez/7860529001/ Most insane batting stance. Hero of the Riders of the Lonesome Pine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted August 22, 2022 Author Share Posted August 22, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinzaki Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 Burrned his bridges on the way out of town....but he and Summers were a potent DH platoon for awhile there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted August 22, 2022 Author Share Posted August 22, 2022 Iconic player of my adolescent years. Mad respect for his dirty dozen leadership during the early 80s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cowan Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 Johnny B. Wockenfuss, such an important player on those resurgent teams of the late 70's and early 80's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobrob2004 Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 He played before my time, but I was looking at his stats and it's interesting that he was playing right between the last two Tigers World Series. He made his ML debut in Kaline's last year and left the Tigers the year before they won the '84 WS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinzaki Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, bobrob2004 said: He played before my time, but I was looking at his stats and it's interesting that he was playing right between the last two Tigers World Series. He made his ML debut in Kaline's last year and left the Tigers the year before they won the '84 WS. He was traded right before the start of the 1984 season...along with Glenn Wilson...to Philadelphia for Bergman and Willie Hernandez. That trade was the final piece of the puzzle (along with Evans as a FA) in making the Tigers WS champs Edited August 22, 2022 by Shinzaki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblong Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 As a 10 year old when he got traded we all had a lot of immature fun at his name. Seeing him at the closing ceremonies of Tiger Stadium was a highlight. He got a lot of applause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casimir Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 A 42nd round pick that hit .262/.349/.432 for an OPS+ of 115 for 200 PAs per season over a dozen seasons, some of those logging a couple of hundred innings behind the plate? Not bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hongbit Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 13 minutes ago, casimir said: A 42nd round pick that hit .262/.349/.432 for an OPS+ of 115 for 200 PAs per season over a dozen seasons, some of those logging a couple of hundred innings behind the plate? Not bad. Not bad numbers but he was popular due to the combination of his funny sounding name and even funnier looking batting stance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongLiveMaroth Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 Interesting story about Wockenfuss and a kid after he retired. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Roy Slade Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 On 8/21/2022 at 11:34 PM, Shinzaki said: Burrned his bridges on the way out of town....but he and Summers were a potent DH platoon for awhile there What is the story behind this? I live in Florida so didn’t always get all the news from Detroit at that particular point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblong Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 13 minutes ago, Evil Roy Slade said: What is the story behind this? I live in Florida so didn’t always get all the news from Detroit at that particular point. He came into camp in '84 complaining about his low pay. He even said something like "These bums are making more than me". So we traded him for the 1984 Cy Young winner. But who's to say that deal wouldn't have happened anyway. Legend is that Sparky tagged Willie as a potential target while doing TV work in the playoffs in '83. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casimir Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, oblong said: He came into camp in '84 complaining about his low pay. He even said something like "These bums are making more than me". So we traded him for the 1984 Cy Young winner. But who's to say that deal wouldn't have happened anyway. Legend is that Sparky tagged Willie as a potential target while doing TV work in the playoffs in '83. Quote After signing a two-year extension for a raise to approximately $200,000 annually, he was upset to discover through newspaper reports that the mean Tigers’ contract paid about $60,000 more. “I’ve been playing for this club 10 years and I can’t make the average salary?” he asked.35 Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan had just paid a fortune for the team the previous fall. “All they say is, ‘We don’t have the cash.’ A guy just buys the club for $50 million and he’s worth $150 million. Please.”36 As trade rumors involving the Phillies swirled throughout spring training 1984, Wockenfuss insisted he’d welcome a deal. “I’ll be happy,” he said. “If it’s Philly, great. I could live at home and see my family more.”37 Finally, 10 days before Opening Day, he was swapped to Philadelphia, the reigning National League champions. Wockenfuss started 47 games for the Phillies, batting .289. https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/john-wockenfuss/ I read this yesterday. Interesting read. To me, the article paints him as someone that always had a chip on his shoulder, and maybe had higher aspirations for himself than his talent showed. Then again, he managed to play in 12 MLB seasons with that attitude despite being a 42nd round pick, so maybe it worked for him more than it didn't? Quote In 1983 Wockenfuss enjoyed another solid year for a Tigers team that finished second with 92 victories, the most by a Detroit club since 1968. After some Angels outfield follies helped him leg out his first triple in three years in August, he insisted that he never considered trying for an inside-the-park homer. “They could have lost the ball for five minutes and I still would have been on third,” he joked.33 His dubious foot speed once prompted Anderson to remark, “The problem with John Wockenfuss getting on base is that it takes three doubles to score him.”34 OK, well, at least maybe he was realistic about his speed. Edited August 23, 2022 by casimir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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