Former Detroit Tiger’s outfielder Jim Northrup passed away Wednesday in Grand Blanc, Michigan.
Northrup was with the Detroit Tigers from 1964 – 1973. He spent his major league career with the Tigers, Expos, and Orioles. He carried a lifetime .267 batting average.
The 1968 Tiger’s team is one of Detroit’s most revered. That team was historic. Detroit’s 1967 race riots left many in the city peering into an uncertain future. The Tigers gave the fans hope, and were the team that brought the people of Detroit and its suburbs together.
Northrup, along with Al Kaline, Norm Cash, Mickey Stanley, and Willie Horton, became the heroes of young boys who would gather their bats, balls and mitts to play impromptu baseball games in the streets and vacant fields.
Before the first pitch was thrown they would huddle and discuss the plays from the previous day’s game at Tiger Stadium, or another ballpark that the Tigers had just played in.
No doubt a number of the conversations during the summer of ’68 centered around the Tigers run to make it into the World Series.
And, of course, they made it to the series, and into our stories and memories.
There is one play that still carries the conversation to this day, this time among the boys who are now grown men with families — Jim Northrup’s triple during game 7 of the 1968 World Series.
Sportscasters tend to highlight Curt Flood’s mis-step that caused him to slip in the outfield, however, Tigers fans will always let you know whose batted ball it was that he missed that game. It sparked the Tigers comeback, and they would win the game and the series largely due to Jim Northrup.
Detroit sports fans are passionate about their teams and their players. They revere the stars of their teams, and they can tell you, without hesitation, about them, and about the great plays that they had.
Stars in Detroit sports are given a special place in our hearts. Jim Northrup occupies that special place in the hearts of many Detroit Tigers fans.
~Skip
