One of the aces of the Detroit Tigers’ mid-century glory days and hero of the 1968 World Series champion, Mickey Lolich, has died at age 85, the Tigers announced Wednesday afternoon.
Later in life, he lived in Washington Twp., and owned a donut shop in Oakland County — originally in Rochester and moved to Lake Orion in 1983 — since his retirement from baseball in 1979.
Signed by the Tigers in 1958, Lolich started 496 of his 586 career games over a 16-year Major League Baseball career, with 508 of those games coming with the Tigers between 1963 and 1975.
At the time of his retirement in 1979 — after two seasons with the Padres — Lolich’s 2,832 strikeouts were an MLB record for a left-handed pitcher, but that mark has been surpassed by four pitchers since: Hall of Famers Steve Carlton, Randy Johnson and CC Sabathia, and soon-to-be Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw.
Lolich held the Tigers franchise’s single-game strikeout record (16, twice) until it was broken by Anibal Sanchez (17) in 2013.
At the anniversary celebration of the 1968 World Series win in 2013, Lolich recalled tuning in to the game the night his record was broken.
“That game was the night I was supposed to come back from Florida, so I was busy packing the car,” the then-72-year-old Lolich said later that year, admitting he was only paying half attention to the game, considering his more pressing task, which was complicated when he began to feel unwell.
He didn’t know Sanchez had accomplished it until he checked the recap of the game on the computer after the car was fully packed.
“I really didn’t think it would be Sanchez who broke it,’ Lolich admitted. ‘I used to think it would be Jack Morris. And then I thought (Justin) Verlander. Then I had to start leaning toward (Max) Scherzer, considering what he’s done. But I didn’t think it would be Sanchez.”
A three-time All-Star (1969, 1971, 1972), Lolich twice finished in the top three in American League Cy Young voting (second in 1971 and third in 1972) and in the top 10 in MVP voting (fifth in 1971 and 10th in 1972).
The pinnacle, of course, was his three complete-game wins in the 1968 World Series, including a Game 7 win over eventual Hall of Famer Bob Gibson in Game 7.
That season didn’t go completely smoothly, though, as he had to work through a midseason issue.
“It’s funny. I was having a little bit of a problem during the season where I wasn’t pitching too good, and Mayo Smith took me out in the outfield and told me I was going to the bullpen, which really upset me. He says, ‘I want you to go down there and get yourself straightened out.’ I says, ‘Well, I’m going to get myself straightened out, because you’re going to need me. I’m going to win this thing for you,’” Lolich, who won MVP honors in the 1968 World Series, recalled in 2013.
“Well, it wasn’t so much I won the pennant for us, but those other 10 days after the season – I did a halfway-decent job for ’em.”
Willie Horton remembered his former teammate in a message posted to X (formerly Twitter) by the Tigers:
“Lolich was a great pitcher, teammate and champion, but he was more than that to me. He was like a brother for over 60 years. I will keep the memories close to my heart and will never forget the close bond we shared. My condolences to Joyce and their familly, and everyone who loved him.”
