Mickey Stanley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mitchell Jack "Mickey" Stanley (born July 20, 1942 in Grand Rapids, Michigan) was a baseball player for the Detroit Tigers from 1964-1978. Stanley's 15 year career is best remembered because of the last few weeks of the 1968 season.
Stanley made his MLB debut in center field with Detroit on September 13, 1964.
Stanley was an excellent defensive outfielder and adequate, but not overwhelming as a hitter. Until 1968, he was used mainly as a defensive replacement, pinch-hitter and even part-time first baseman.
He earned a regular spot in the lineup in 1968 with his slick fielding, .259 average and hustle. The fact that outfielder and future Hall of Famer Al Kaline spent part of the year injured also boosted Stanley's playing time.
The Tigers dominated the rest of the league with an overpowering pitching staff led by 31-game winner Denny McLain, great offense from the outfield and right side of the infield and an air-tight defense on the left side of the infield best represented by Ray Oyler, arguably the best defensive shortstop in the league.
However, Oyler's bat was impotent. Manager Mayo Smith worried that for all its strength, Detroit would not be able to compete with the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals without getting all four of his productive outfield batters into the lineup. The only way to do so was to choose one to replace Oyler in the infield.
So with the American League pennant clinched and two weeks left in the season, Smith asked Stanley to play the last 9 games of the regular season at shortstop, the first time he had ever played the position. Stanley did an adequate job and became the starting shortstop for the entire 1968 World Series. Oyler did not bat and appeared in only four games as a defensive replacement-- the four games the Tigers needed to win the series.
Stanley returned to play 59 games at shortstop the next year, while Oyler was allowed to be drafted by the expansion Seattle Pilots. However, the Stanley-at-short experiment did not work long-term and Detroit finished the 1969 season 19 games out of first. Stanley's batting average also dropped to .235. It recovered only when Stanley was returned to the outfield for the remainder of his career with occasional appearances in the infield.
Stanley played full-time until the 1974 season, then completed his career as he had started it from 1975-1978 as a utility outfielder, defensive replacement, but this time with an occasional infield appearance too.
Stanley now resides in Brighton, Michigan.[citation needed]
