Re: The 1968 Tigers - losing our heroes
Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 12:20 pm
My own research on the ol' interwebs turned up no mention of an obituary for Mitchell Jack "Mickey" Stanley. Baseball-Reference.com does not list a date of death for him, so I'm operating on the assumption that he still walks among us. I would imagine that, considering his standing in Tigers lore, Stanley's passing would be thoroughly noted in Detroit media, and there's no mention of his death anywhere that I can find.
Interesting thing I've noticed about the '68 Tigers: Who do you think was the highest-paid player on that team? Kaline? Cash? Lolich? Freehan?
Nope, it was none other than future-HOF'er Eddie Mathews. His 1968 salary was listed as $75,000, which outpaced Al Kaline's $70,000 salary by $5,000. For that money, the Tigers got 31 games and 52 at-bats all season from Mathews. He appeared in two games in the WS, pinch-hitting in game 1 and starting at third base in game 4, a 10-1 loss. In that game, he went 1-for-2 with a walk in his last game as an MLB player.