Dad's Birthday

So first things first I want to wish my dad a happy 60th birthday today. The man who cleans teeth for a living and reads Civil War books for fun

See, I'm not kidding. This is us at Fort Macon in North Carolina.

 also taught me how to throw a baseball and hit a pitch thrown overhand. Even though he hates to admit it, I am indeed bigger than him now, but that doesn't mean I can't look up to him and here is a birthday post to you, Dad.

Knowing that all of you are so great at math, my dad was born in 1954 in Detroit. As he began to grow up, the Tigers came into their own after a rebuilding phase between the 1940s slugging teams of Greenberg and York and the 1960s intimidating defense with Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich. When we would watch October baseball together in the past, he would always reminisce of how his teachers would stop whatever they were doing in class so they could turn the Tigers on the radio in the '68 World Series against the Cardinals (the MLB wouldn't dream of having a weekday World Series game now). And then he would share some memories of his favorite players, Willie Horton and Gates Brown. 

Willie Horton had a blue collar career, so to speak. Born in Virginia, Horton went to high school in Detroit and was drafted shortly after his graduation. Two short years later, he debuted as a 20-year old man (I saw man and not boy because look at these arms)

He's listed as 5'11"/209 lbs, I'm pretty sure his biceps were 20 pounds. Each. Screenshotted from YouTube.

 in the first game of a doubleheader in September of 1963 against the Washington Senators. Horton was a pinch hitter (remember no DH yet) for pitcher Hank Aguirre and promptly laced a single to centerfield off of Jim Hannan. Horton would round out his brief 1963 season with a .326 average, two steals, and his first career home run in only his second career plate appearance! 

Now I said he had a blue collar career, not because he played for a team that's primary collar is blue, but because of his work ethic. Horton, or so my dad says, always played the game hard and played it the right way. He showed up every day, did what was asked of him, and did it well. He wasn't the best player on the field, especially with a guy named Al Kaline playing the other corner of the outfield, but he usually played every game of a season. A 4-time All Star, Horton's best season came in 1968 when the Tigers won the World Series (coincidence?). At age 25, he hit for a solid .285 average with 36 home runs, 85 RBIs, and 20 doubles. All in all, he slugged .543, good for 3rd best in the MLB, and was 2nd in the AL in at-bats per home run. 

He brought is lunch pail every day and simply went to work. Horton was a career .273 hitter with 325 home runs and narrowly missed 2,000 hits - he finished with 1,993. Not the greatest player on the field, but always a tough out and power threat. He was fun to watch, says my dad, and rightfully so considering he was in the lineup every day and part of one of the best Tigers' teams in history. 

Gates Brown was basically Horton's backup for the duration of his career. He served as a pinch hitter and leftfielder for the Tigers from 1963 to 1975, and was essentially the 60s' Don Kelly (no wonder my dad loved him). Interestingly enough, Brown was a Tiger from 1963-1975 and Horton was from 1963-1976 before going to the Rangers, so they almost had the exact same tenure at the same position. That's what I call a neat-o fact. Brown, like Horton, was a good player and a better man. Being a career role player isn't easy (just ask about my varsity basketball career), but Brown did as he was asked and did it well. Hey, he got a ring, after all. That's all any player wants.

So happy birthday to a great dad and a great man.
Thanks for teaching me to throw.

Thanks for reading.