Mickey Lolich (September 12, 1940-February 4, 2026) nearly played his way to the Hall of Fame mostly with the Detroit Tigers, including an MVP performance in the 1968 World Series.
Lolich grew up in Portland, enjoying plenty of success as a youngster. He had been born right-handed but switched to throwing with his left after a childhood accident. Mickey pitched in the Babe Ruth World Series in 1955 and 1956 for Barnard Motors, then led his American Legion team to second in the country in 1957. At Lincoln High School, he completed his high school career with an amazing 19-5 mark in 1958, striking out 18 batters in the state championship game against Medford.
He then signed with the Detroit Tigers as a left-handed pitcher the summer after graduation. Lolich spent five seasons in the minors, including three with the Durham, N.C., Bulls, and most of 1962 with the Portland Beavers. The Tigers called him up in May of 1963 and he spent 16 seasons in the big leagues.
In 1964. Lolich moved into Detroit’s starting rotation and started at least 30 games for 13 straight seasons, including 1976 with the New York Mets. In 489 starts during that stretch, he pitched 195 complete games, 41 of which were shutouts.
In 1968, Lolich went 17-9 with a 3.19 ERA, then pitched three complete game wins in the World Series against St. Louis. He won Game 2, Game 5 and Game 7, pitching the decisive game on just two days rest. The Tigers won the final three games of the Series, one of the most dramatic in history.
Lolich was named to three All-Star teams and finished second in Cy Young voting in 1971 after compiling a 25-14 record and a league-best 308 strikeouts, and third in ’72 following a 22-14 season with a 2.50 ERA that helped the Tigers win the AL East.
After taking the ’77 season off, he finished his career as a reliever with the San Diego Padres in 1978-79. He retired following the ’79 season at age 38.
In his 16 seasons, Lolich went 217-191 and compiled a .344 ERA with 2,832 strikeouts, a total that left him as the AL’s All-Time leader for strikeouts by a left-hander. CC Sabathia now holds that record.
Lolich is a member of the PIL Hall of Fame, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame and the Croatian-American Sports Hall of Fame. Despite his on-field accomplishments and all-time popularity with Tigers fans, he has somehow missed out on induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.