Page 186 - 1975 BoSox

’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL 179
shortstop, and I don’t know what made me do it — I guess the excitement that I was in the big leagues and all the people there and everything combined — and I just broke for second base ... and I got doubled o rst base. So it wasn’t a very good impression.”
ree days later he got his rst start, against the Indians in Cleveland. “Jim Perry was pitching for Cleveland, in Cleveland, and the rst three times up I got a single, a triple, and a single. And then [Dick Stigman] came in, and [he] was just throwing balloons up there, and he threw one down the middle of the plate and I popped it up. And that was my rst big-league out.” (McAuli e evened the score with Stigman in 1961, hitting his rst major-league home run o the Indians hurler on June 23 at Cleveland Stadium.) McAuli e’s defense was still a work in progress in 1960 — in seven games at shortstop, he made ve errors.
At the end of the season, manager Joe Gordon wanted his young shortstop to come to California. “[He] wanted to take me to Sacramento, where he lived. He wanted to tutor me while I was out there, and he would get me a job at one of the big factories. ... ey have great baseball, semipro baseball out there. He wanted me to hook up with one of the teams and play, get in shape ... while I was out there. And at the end of the season they red Joe Gordon, so I never did get to go.” Bob Sche ng would be brought in for the 1961 season. “ e best manager I played for was ... Joe Gordon.” McAuli e said. “He was tough, he was fair. He treated the player ... like a man.”
McAuli e starred 1961 in the rare ed air of Colorado, playing for manager Charlie Metro and the Triple-A Denver Bears. After 64 games with Denver, the 22-year-old shortstop was hitting .353. He made 24 errors, but his hitting earned him a call to the Motor City. Joining the team for a game against the Washington Senators on June 22, 1961, shortstop Dick McAuli e was a Tiger to stay. In July there was some concern that President Kennedy would expand the military draft, leaving the 21-year-old McAuli e vul- nerable. But it didn’t come to pass. (He nished a six-month stint in the Air Force before spring training in 1962.) e 1961 Tigers had an excellent campaign,
posting a 101-61 record. But this was 1961, and the Yankees were a dominant 109-53. McAuli e played 55 games at shortstop and 22 at third, spelling regulars Chico Fernandez and Steve Boros.
McAuli e added a wife and second base to his rep- ertoire in 1962. He married JoAnne Lee Cromack on March 3. at season he played 70 games at second base, 49 at third, and 16 at shortstop . He made 30 errors, but more than made up for them with his bat, batting .263 with 20 doubles, 12 home runs, and 63 RBIs. He had his rst career four-hit game, against the Red Sox at Tiger Stadium on May 11. His rst child, Mary Elizabeth, was born in the o season.
e Tigers regular shortstop in the early 1960s was journeyman Chico Fernandez. e club had no other shortstops in their system capable of replacing him, and with his average hovering at .143 in early May of 1963, he was traded to the Milwaukee Braves for Lou Johnson (who would never play for Detroit) and cash. McAuli e took over at shortstop, starting 133 games there. e team nished sixth in the American League, 251⁄2 games behind the Yankees.
McAuli e had his breakout season in 1964. He played shortstop in all of the team’s 162 games. His career-high 32 errors were tied for third most in the majors. But his o ensive output—for a 1960s shortstop—was remarkable. e 25-year-old led the Tigers and set a team record for shortstops with 24 home runs. His drew 77 walks. He drove in 66 runs batting mostly in the bottom third of the order. e team nished 85-77, good for fourth place, 14 games behind the pennant- winning Yankees.
In 1965 McAuli e became an All-Star. Voted the American League starter at short, he led o the bottom of the rst against Juan Marichal at Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis. He popped out to shortstop. Against Jim Maloney in the fourth, McAuli e singled and later scored on a Rocky Colavito hit. In the fth, McAuli e faced Maloney again. “He threw me a high fastball, and in fact it was a funny thing, because Bill Freehan, our catcher was out in the bullpen,” McAuli e remembered. “And Bill was talking to one of the