Mickey Lolich, the Tigers left-hander who blossomed from a skinny strong-armed southpaw in Oregon to the hero of Detroit’s 1968 World Series comeback, has passed away. He was 85.
"Lolich was a great pitcher, teammate and champion, but he was more than that to me," said former Tigers outfielder Willie Horton, who played alongside Lolich from 1963-75. "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 [widow] Joyce and their family and to everyone who loved him."
Lolich leaves behind an underrated legacy as one of the most clutch performers the Tigers have sent to the mound. While teammate Denny McLain earned MVP honors in 1968 with his historic 31-win season, Lolich earned World Series MVP with three complete-game victories in the best-of-seven World Series over the favored Cardinals. He tossed two of those gems with the Tigers facing elimination, culminating in a five-hit, one-run performance on two days’ rest to outduel the great Bob Gibson in a winner-take-all Game 7 in St. Louis.
It was a showcase and a breakthrough for Lolich, who won 17 games in the ‘68 regular season while pitching in McLain’s shadow after tossing an MLB-leading six shutouts during a 14-win season in 1967, including three consecutive shutouts as part of a 28 2/3-inning scoreless streak in the final month of that season. His ’67 season became known as much for his military service that summer when he was called into the Michigan Air National Guard for two weeks during the riots in Detroit, guarding a radio tower and driving in a motor pool.
“I neither fired my weapon at anyone, nor was I fired upon,” Lolich wrote in his biography, “Joy in Tigertown,” with Tom Gage. “I’m also not going to tell you I was ever at the epicenter of the unrest. But until peace was restored, we didn’t know what we would or would not experience. … Until I was Mickey Lolich, left-handed pitcher again, I was Mickey Lolich, sergeant.”
Michael Stephen Lolich was born on Sept. 12, 1940, in Portland, Ore. The son of a parks director, Lolich spent much of his youth outside, flinging rocks at “birds, squirrels, and anything else that moved,” according to his SABR biography. He was an accomplished pitcher on Babe Ruth League and American Legion teams that competed in national tournaments and went 19-5 in his high school career at Portland’s Lincoln High. In June 1958, still 17, he signed with the Tigers for $30,000 and made his professional debut in ’59 with Class A Knoxville.
For his first three professional seasons, Lolich split time between Knoxville and Class B Durham. When he balked at an assignment to Knoxville in 1962, Lolich returned home to Portland, ready to quit. After he struck out 16 batters in a semi-pro game, Tigers general manager Jim Campbell loaned Lolich to the Portland Beavers of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. He went 10-9 with a 3.95 ERA and 138 strikeouts in 130 innings.
Back in the Tigers organization in ’63, Lolich opened the season with Triple-A Syracuse but appeared in only six games before making his Major League debut on May 12. In two innings of relief against Cleveland, he walked one and struck out three without allowing a hit. After another two-inning relief outing three days later, Lolich made his first start on May 21, taking the loss in a 4-2 defeat in Baltimore. He allowed three runs in six innings and struck out seven.
Seven days later, Lolich earned his first MLB victory with his first complete game. In nine innings on the road against the Los Angeles Angels, he allowed one unearned run on eight hits, with one walk and two strikeouts.
Lolich’s durability was a keystone of the Tigers teams of the 1970s as he ascended to ace status following McLain’s trade to Washington. Lolich earned three All-Star selections in a four-year span from 1969-72, led the Majors with 25 wins, 308 strikeouts and 376 innings over 45 starts (and 29 complete games) in an incredible 1971 season, then won 22 games to help lift Detroit to an AL East title in 1972.
Lolich made 41 or more starts in four consecutive seasons through 1974, pitching at least 308 innings in each of them. While most pitchers iced their arms, Lolich would soak his left arm under scalding hot water for 30 minutes after every start to flush out swelling.
Lolich pitched 13 seasons in Detroit, went to the Mets in a trade for Rusty Staub following the 1975 season, then – after a frustrating season in New York that saw him go 8-13 despite a 3.22 ERA – came out of a one-year retirement to pitch two seasons for the Padres. His 2,679 strikeouts as a Tiger set an American League record for left-handers that lasted for more than four decades, until CC Sabathia passed him in 2017.
Lolich’s post-playing career brought him back to Michigan, where he bought into donut shops in Detroit’s northern suburbs. He learned how to bake the donuts and became an ironman of the operation, much like his pitching career, before selling the business.
“I frittered away the years after I played baseball. You could even say I apple frittered them away,” Lolich wrote.
It was a fitting chapter in the career of a gregarious personality that was never easy to define, from motorcycle rides to an on-stage performance in Las Vegas.
One of the few quiet parts of Lolich was his subtly strong case for the Hall of Fame. He went 217-191 in his 16-year career, striking out 2,832 batters in 3,638 1/3 innings with a 3.44 ERA and 48.0 bWAR. Of his 496 career starts, he completed 195 games, just shy of 40 percent. He topped out at 25.5 percent in 15 years on the BBWAA ballot, appearing last in 1999. The Veterans Committee considered his case in 2003, ’05 and ’07. He was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1982 and the Croatian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.