Mickey Lolich: One of the All-Time Best Lefthanders Who Came to the Mets Too Late in HIs Career in a Trade for Rusty Staub (1976)

Michael Stephen Lolich was born September 12, 1940, in Portland Oregon. Lolich was a natural right-hander, but as a child he broke his arm & then learned to throw left-handed.

In 1958, Lolich was signed as an amateur free agent by the Detroit Tigers. He pitched in the Detroit minor leagues for four seasons winning ten games in 1962 at AA Knoxville.

MLB Debut: In 1963 he came up the Tigers staff going 5-9 as both a starter & reliever.

By the next season, Lolich would become a top starter winning 18 games (18-9) notching 192 strike outs with a 3,26 ERA.

 He would be on the Tigers staff for 13 years, going 207-191 collecting 2679 strike outs in a Detroit uniform. From 1964 thru 19674 he would at least 14 games ever season, with five seasons of 17 or more win. Lolich would also win twenty games twice. Lolich was in the league's top ten in victories eight times in his career.

With his so-called rubber arm, he never experienced any arm trouble putting in seven straight seasons with 200 plus innings of work & 3361.1 innings as a Tiger. 

Lolich was also a big strikeout pitcher, coming in the top ten in the AL in strike outs ten times in his career. He would strike out 200 or more batters seven times, doing it for six straight seasons from 1969 through 1974. He also had two 300 plus K seasons.

Trivia: In the sixties from 1964-1970 Lolich had more wins & strikeouts than any pitcher in the American League.

A natural big guy, he would take criticism for his weight throughout his career, especially when he had rough times. He would downplay it saying he weighed 200 lbs. in his 1964 season & didn't gain much more along the way.

Detroit Riots & the Nation Guard: The city of Detroit had its problems in the late sixties with race issues, riots & looting. In 1967 Lolich was called to active duty with the Michigan National Guard in response to the riots. He received death threats from the Black Panthers upon his return. The FBI had snipers ready on the roof of Tiger Stadium for his next two starts.  

1968 Tigers Championship Season: But in 1968 the city became captivated by the Tigers run for the pennant & their trip to the World Series. It seemed baseball brought folks together, at least for a summer & fall. 

That year Lolich went 17-9 (6th most wins in the league). But he was overshadowed by his teammate
Denny McLain who won an incredible 31 games that season. Lolich had a bad stretch in August & was put in the bullpen making six appearances. He returned to top form, as he finished sixth in the A.L. in strike outs (174) & winning % (.654) posting a .319 ERA pitching 220 innings while tossing four shut outs.

1968 World Series: The Tigers won the AL pennant in the season known as the Year of the Pitcher. They faced the reigning World Champion St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. 

In Game #1 the Cards, Bob Gibson set a Series record with 17 strike outs shutting out Detroit for the victory.

World Series Win & HR:

Lolich & Catcher Bill Freehan
1968 World Series

In Game #2 Lolich got the call, pitching a six hit, one run, nine strike out, complete game performance. In the game he also hit the only HR of his 16-year career.

As the Series moved on The Cards won the next two games as well. In Game #4 Gibson beat Denny McLain for the second time, as St. Louis put up ten runs in the 10-1 victory. Dating back to 1964, Bob Gibson had a seven game World Series win streak going.

In Game #5 in Detroit, Lolich once again got his team back in the Series. In another complete game performance, he allowed three runs in the 1st inning, then stopped the Cardinal bats the rest of the way. He allowed he three runs on nine hits striking out eight in the 5-3 win. 

In Game #6 in St. Louis, the Tigers put up 13 runs led by Jim Northrup's grand slam, as Denny McLain held them down to a run evening the series at three games each.

In Game #7 Lolich went up against Bob Gibson after having pitched just three days earlier. Both pitchers shut out their opponents into the 7th inning. With two on, Jim Northrup tripled in two runs, then Bill Freehan's single made it 3-0 Tigers.

Mickey Lolich shut the Cardinals out for eight innings, before surrendering a 9th inning solo HR to Mike Shannon. It was only the fifth hit of the game for the Cards as Detroit won it 3-1 at Busch Stadium becoming the World Champions. It was the first time a team came back from being down three games to one in a World Series.

In that World Series, Lolich put on a dominating performance, pitching three complete game victories, while allowing only five runs over 27 innings. He would strike out 21 batters, walk six & post a 1.67 ERA. Lolich was voted the World Series MVP. 

Trivia: Lolich is the only lefthander to have three complete game victories in the same World Series. He is the last pitcher to throw three complete games in a World Series.

After the Championship: The next season Mickey won 19 games (19-11) seventh most wins in the AL, with 280 strike outs & a 3.14 ERA, as Detroit fell to second place, 19 games behind the Baltimore Orioles who lost to the Mets in the World Series.

In 1970 he struggled, leading the league in losses with 19 (going 14-19). He also gave up 115 earned runs which was the most in the AL. The Tigers finished fourth (79-83) in the East that year & Lolich's 14 wins led his staff.

In 1971 he began a four-year stretch where he tossed over 300 plus innings each season. He led the league in wins with 25 (25-14) strike outs (309) starts (45) complete games (29) & an incredible 376 innings pitched. The only reason he didn’t win the Cy Young Award was because Oakland's Vida Blue had an even better year, posting a 1.82 ERA. The 1971 Tigers improved to finish second to the world champion Baltimore Orioles that season.

In 1972 Lolich won 20 games for the second straight season, leading the Tigers to an AL East title. That season Lolich posted his career best ERA at 2.50 (10th in the AL). The big lefty struck out 250 batters (2nd in the AL to Nolan Ryan) & posted a 2.50 ERA (tenth in the AL). He made 41 starts throwing four shut outs, allowing a league high 29 HRs. In his career Lolich would allow 347 HRs.

In 1972 he came in third in the Cy Young voting, behind Gaylord Perry & Wilbur Wood.

1972 Post Season- ALCS: In the ALCS the Tigers were beaten by the Oakland A’s who began a three-year reign as world champions. In Game #1 he pitched ten innings in Oakland, before taking a loss on pinch hitter Gonzalo Marquez' walk off single. 

In Game #4 he & Vida Blue went at it pitching nine innings each leaving in a 1-1 tie. The Tigers won it in the 10th inning

In 1973 Lolich returned to win 16 games for the first of two straight seasons. Lolich would start over forty games for four straight years, and since he pitched tons of innings, his decisions piled up in both the win & loss columns. 

In 1974 as the Tigers finished last, Lolich led the league in losses (21) for the second time. But the workhorse did win 16 games & pitched 308 innings, for his fourth straight 300 K season. 

In 1975 he lost 18 games, tied for second in the AL with teammate Joe Coleman.

Also, that year, Fergie Jenkins & Jim Slaton lost 18 games, all second behind the White Sox Wilbur Wood who lost twenty games. At 35 years old, he still made 32 starts & pitched 240 innings. 

Mets Trade: The New York Mets front office went after Lolich even though he was the age of 35. It was clear his great days were behind him. With a staff of Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman & Jon Matlack the team was loaded with quality pitching.

What they needed was more offense to help that talented staff. But for some reason that is still perplexing, they traded away their main RBI man, Rusty Staub to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Lolich. 

They also received a young promising outfielder in Billy Baldwin, who GM Joe McDonald insisted be in the trade never worked out. The Mets had a young Mike Vail ready to play outfield in Staub's position, but he got injured in the off season & never blossomed into a top player.

To this day the trade makes no sense & still bothers us longtime fans. Staub went on be an All Star, tearing up the American League, driving in 96 or more runs three years in a row, including 121 in 1978.

As for Lolich, he only would pitch one season in New York.

At first Lolich vetoed the trade, but when his lawyer & Mets management convinced him, it was financially a good move for he & his family he agreed to the deal.

Mets Career: On April 7th, Lolich debuted with the Met at Shea Stadium, in third game of the ’76 season. He pitched just two innings giving up three runs to the Montreal Expos, earning a loss. 

In that game he fell fielding a ground ball in the 1st inning, making an error that eventually led to three earned runs. He was pulled early in the game & his debut was highly criticized i the media. This was to set the tone for his legacy as a Met.

Lolich lost his second Mets start coming on the road in Pittsburgh. On April 21st, he returned to Busch Stadium for the first time since his 1968 World Seres victory. This time he gave up four runs, including a two run HR from Reggie Smith, to take his thord straight Mets loss.

On April 26th, he pitched a complete game win over the Braves at Shea Stadium. He gave up one run struck out a season high nine batters & walked a season high six.

 On May 8th, He gave up two runs to the Padres, scattering 11 hits but still earned the win as the Mets put up seven runs. 

From May 14th to June 8th, he lost five straight decisions although he posted a 2.60 ERA in that time. He never gave up more than one run in any of those starts. 

Manager Joe Frazier was quicker to yank Lolich out of a game, than his former Tiger skipper, Ralph Houck had done in Detroit. This upset the big fellow, as he was used to pitching long innings. The Mets also had Lolich ice his pitching arm, something else he didn't like to do. 

Quotes- Mickey Lolich: "People love to put ice on their arms, but I refused, When I went to the Mets, they told me to ice my arm, but I wouldn’t. I would wrap my arm in a towel and go into the shower and let the water get hot. I would stay in there about 15 minutes until my arm was red. Teammates wouldn’t get close to me because water bouncing off me would burn them.”

Shut Outs: Lolich did show a few brief glimpses of his star studded past. On June 29th, he threw a two-hit complete game shutout over the St. Louis Cardinals at Shea Stadium, matching his season high nine strike outs.

On July 18th, he threw a three-hit shutout against the Atlanta Braves at Shea, beating pitcher Carl Morton. That day he walked no one & lowered his season ERA to 2.69. 

On July 29th, he pitched nine innings against the St. Louis Cardinals at Shea Stadium, allowing just one run. The bullpen came in & blew the game, denying him of a victory. It was his 41st career shutout.

That win got him to 5-10 on the season. On July 24th, he won his sixth game, as the Mets put up ten runs in Montreal. Lolich gave up two runs on five hits in six innings.

Complete Game Win: On August 8th, he pitched his third complete game victory of the year. It came at Pittsburgh, beating the Pirates 7-4. he walked just one & didn't record any strike outs.

On August 13th, he gave up a season high three HRs, two to the Reds Dave Concepcion & another to Geroge Foster. Concepcion only hit seven other HRs all season. Lolich took the loss to fall to 7-11.

On September 5th, he took his third loss of the season to Larry Christenson of the Phillies in a 3-1 loss at Shea for his 12th losing decision.

On September 10th, Lolich had his final Mets winning decision, beating the Cardinals & John Denny 4-3 at Busch Stadium. On September 15th, he matched his season worst, allowing six runs in his loss to Denny & the Cardinals at Shea.

In 1976, he went 8-13 with a 3.22 ERA. He struck out 120 batters walking 52 pitching in 192 innings in 31 appearances, making 30 starts. His victory & strike out totals were the lowest since his rookie year in 1963.

The Mets finished third that year at 86-76. Mickey Lolich chose to retire after the season.

Out of Retirement: In 1978 he returned, signing as a free agent with the San Diego Padres. He pitched in 20 games, making just two starts going 2-1 with a 1.56 ERA. 

On August 17th, 1978, Lolich came back to Shea Stadium, pitching three scoreless innings of relief, earning a save against the Mets. Two weeks later he got a 2-1 win against Jerry Koosman & the Mets in San Diego. Lolich shutout New York on four hits over five innings of work.

 In 1979 the 38-year-old Lolich, appeared in 27 games, making just five starts going 0-2 with a 4.74 ERA. He retired for good at the end of the season.

Career Stats: In a sixteen-year career, he was 217- 191 (85th most wins all time / 52nd most losses). He struck out 2832 batters which is the third most for left-handers in history (23rd most all time) pitching 3638 innings (59th all time). He had 195 complete games (146 all time) & 41 shutouts (41st all time).

In his career he gave up many HRs-347 (32nd most all time) as well as lots of walks 1009 (77th all
time). 

He posted a 3.44 ERA pitching in 586 games (223rd all time) making 496 starts (52nd all time). 

Retirement: After his season with the Mets, he opened a doughnut shop with a partner in Lapeer, Michigan right outside of Detroit. He eventually bought out the partner & moved the business to Lake Orion in 1983. Lolich ran the shop before retiring in the late 1990's. 

Family: In 1964 Mickey married airline stewardess Joyce Fleenor. They have three children together.

Honors: Lolich is a member of the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame & The Croatian American Hall of Fame.

For many years Lolich appeared at Detroit Tiger fantasy camps & many Tiger events. 

Quotes- Mickey Lolich: “All the fat guys watch me and say to their wives, 'See, there's a fat guy doing okay. Bring me another beer.” 

Lolich ranks high in many Detroit pitching records, first in strike outs, shut outs, games, & HRs
allowed. He is third in wins, games & innings.

Book: In 2018 his book "Joy in Tigertown" was published.

Drama: In 1989 his daughter Stacy & her boyfriend, stole jewelry from Lolich including his 1968 World Series ring. They were arrested & charged with a felony.