no. 39 - tigers rookie stars

Who is the man: Lerrin LaGrow and Gene Lamont each arrived in the major leagues in the same year, 1970. LaGrow pitched in 10 games for Detroit. Lamont played in 15 games with 44 at-bats.

Can ya dig it: It's interesting to me that LaGrow and Lamont are paired up because I always thought that both of them were players who looked much older than they were (check out LaGrow's 1979 Topps card or Lamont's 1975 Topps card). It's strange to think of them as rookies as both looked 45 from the start.

Right on: This is the second straight alliterative rookie stars card! First it was C&C and now it's L&L!

You see these rookies are bad mothers: No they're not. They're rookies.

Shut your mouth: LaGrow's most famous major league moment was in the 1972 ALCS, when he plunked Bert Campaneris in the ankle with a pitcher. Campaneris, who had three hits already in the game, tossed his bat at LaGrow, who ducked as it sailed over his head. The bench-clearing brawl followed and LaGrow and Campaneris were suspended for the rest of the series.

No one understands him but his woman: Lamont, the third base coach for the Tigers and a former manager for the White Sox and Pirates, is apparently notable enough to have a fake Twitter account. I can't imagine what would be entertaining about pretending to be a third base coach, but life is full of mysteries.

(A word about the back): You can see that Lamont was a Christmas baby. Also, the home run he hit in his first major league at-bat came off Red Sox pitcher Cal Koonce.