Sending out Happy Baseball Birthday! wishes to former Detroit Tigers catcher Matt Nokes, who's 57 today.
Matthew Dodge Nokes was born on October 31, 1963, in San Diego, California, where he attended Patrick Henry High School.
➡️ Matt was originally drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 20th Round, in 1981, making his big league debut on September 3, 1985, when he was just 21.
➡️ He was traded by the Giants, to Detroit, who sent another catcher, Bob Melvin, to San Francisco.
Yes, that Bob Melvin, the current manager of the Oakland Athletics.
Replacing legendary Tigers catcher LanceParrish in 1987, Nokes burst onto the scene, out of nowhere, it seemed, batting .289, belting 32 HRs, with 87 RBI.
Nokes would be an All-Star and Silver Slugger Award winner in 1987, but his production in Detroit never again approached his '87 season.
💗🐯⚾ I need to get one last PINK Baseball Card posted for Collecting Cutch's October Breast Cancer Awareness campaign.
His post today ask is to comment on our favorite wrestlers, so, of course, I had to give a shout-out to the beautiful Charlotte Flair.
After 5 years in Motown, Matt would go on to play 5 years in the Bronx, where, in 1991 & 1992, he would hit 24, and 22 HRs, respectively, for the pre-Jeter Yanks.
💗🎃💗 Nokes would move on to Colorado, and Baltimore to finish out his career in the big leagues.
In his 11 years in MLB, Nokes hit 136 HRs, driving in 422 runs, with a career batting average of .254.
Who's a player who came out of nowhere for your favorite ball club?
Hope you all had a fun, safe, Happy Halloween!
Play BALL! ⚾🎃💗⚾🎃💗⚾🎃💗
That 1988 Nokes was one of the cards to have back in the day. Nice little walk down memory lane.
ReplyDeleteDrawing a blank on breakout stars... but I definitely remember hunting for Nokes. Good times.
ReplyDelete