Brad Havens Made Tiger Stadium History, Too

Like most Detroiters who've held a clean, white baseball in their hands as a child, Brad Havens dreamed of playing big league baseball in Tiger Stadium. On June 5, 1981, Havens did. He was the starting pitcher for the Minnesota Twins. Six days after Havens made his major league debut at the stadium he dreamed of playing in, the players' union ordered a strike that lasted 53 days and marred the '81 campaign.

Brad Havens watched the Detroit Tigers play at Tiger Stadium hundreds, if not thousands of times as a child and teen. He was born in Highland Park, Michigan and played baseball on Detroit's suburban sandlots. He prepped at Royal Oak's Kimball High.

One of the few players among the many big leaguers who hail from metro Detroit to have made their debut at the stadium, Havens' story sticks with me because its the kind of memory that should be kept alive instead of becoming a parking lot or armory or high-rise project. I've made a big deal of Tiger Stadium's deconstruction. Her ungraceful demise doesn't sit well with me because of the park's unique place in our region's professional and prep sports past. The last 10 years as it relates to Tiger Stadium have revealed yet another sad chapter about Detroit's political machine and the 'Can't-Do' attitude entrenched in metro Detroit. We let Tiger Stadium molder and fall, pull down the picturesque Statler Hotel, allow the grandiose Michigan Central Depot to become a hulking eyesore and yet, for reasons no one can explain, the Book-Cadillac Hotel at Michigan and Washington is granted the needed liquidity to be resurrected and spared from death row, scheduled to soon shine again.

Havens was an All-State, southpaw pitcher at Kimball. He wore No. 26 for the Knights in some of the ugliest uniforms imaginable but formed a powerful 1-2 pitching punch with lefty Steve Manderfield for Coach Frank Clouser. He hurled a no-hitter in the 1977 playoffs before high school baseball was about inflated stats, unbelievable numbers and parents keeping scoresheets that are anything but legitimate. Back then a no-hitter in a district game from Oakland County was a big deal. Bob Welch was from Hazel Park. Kirk Gibson was at Waterford Kettering. Steve Howe was pitching for Clarkston. Oakland County had talent.

Before his graduation ceremony had taken place, Havens was drafted on June 7 by the California Angels in the 8th round of the '77 amateur player's draft.  Less than two years later, Havens and fellow Angels Ken Landreaux, Dave Engel and Paul Hartzell were traded to the Twins for Rod Carew.

How many Oakland County prep players can say they were traded for a Hall-Of-Famer like Rod Carew? I'll bet the list is short.

Fast forward to 1981, like a scene from the movie The Rookie, Havens is tabbed to make his debut at The Corner. Clouser was there along with nearly a thousand fans from Royal Oak who, like Havens, found themselves rooting for the visitors for the first time at Tiger Stadium. A farm boy from pint-size Colfax, Indiana, Clouser was from a town that could have been the real-life studio double for the fictitious Hickory in the movie Hoosiers. In fact, Clouser bought his first insurance policy from Bobby Plump, the motivation for the character Jimmy Chitwood in Hoosiers. The first time he ever witnessed a major league game was in the 1960s, when he traveled from Indiana to Detroit to watch the Tigers sweep a twin bill from the New York Yankees in front of a raucous, sold-out Tiger Stadium.

It's safe to assume both Havens and Clouser can remember this night at the stadium for all that it represented to both of them for the rest of their natural-born lives.

As far as the game went, Havens did himself proud. Havens was opposed by nasty Jack Morris, who was tabbed to start that season's All-Star Game in Cleveland, a game that set MLB's All-Star Game attendance record of 72,086. Morris knew a thing or two about making a memorable debut for a different reason -- he was tabbed as a last-minute replacement for Mark "The Bird" Fidrych as a rookie, and when Morris was announced as the starting pitcher, he was lustily booed by the huge crowd -- because he wasn't Fidrych.

With umpire Larry McCoy calling balls and strikes and Butch Wynegar catching, Havens retired the first hitter he faced, outfielder Lynn Jones, before shortstop Alan Trammell singled. Havens promptly picked Trammell off first and got through the first five frames without much trouble. He fanned Kirk Gibson in the 3rd and got the Kettering grad to line out to first baseman Danny Goodwin to end the 5th.

In the sixth, with two outs and nobody on, Trammell golfed a Havens offering into the lower deck in left. Havens retired Steve Kemp to end the frame and was pulled after six innings trailing 1-0 after allowing one run and two hits in his debut. The Tigers would push across another run across in the 7th and earn a 2-0 decision in front of 23,133 at the stadium, a great crowd considering the last-place Twins and the 6th-place Tigers were anything but marquee attractions.

Havens pitched in eight uneventful seasons. He became a teammate of Kirk Gibson in 1988 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who voted Havens' a full share of the players' winnings from the Dodgers' improbable 1988 World Series title and a championship ring to boot. In 1989, Havens would become a teammate with Trammell when he signed with the Tigers on May 23rd of that season. He made the final appearance of his career against the team that drafted him, the Angels, on July 23, 1989 in a game that was Detroit's '89 season in a nutshell. The '89 Angels were fortified with ex-Bengals Dan Petry, Lance Parrish, Bill Schroeder and Rich Monteleone.

Holding a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the 9th, Tiger closer Mike Henneman retired the first hitter but surrendered back-to-back singles to Dick Schofield and Claudell Washington. Brad Havens was summoned by manager Sparky Anderson to put out the fire. Havens allowed a single to Johnny Ray to score the tying run, walked Devon White to load the bases and then plunked Wally Joyner to plate the winning run in a walk-off, 5-4 win for California.

Havens made his major league debut with a last-place team in the stadium that housed his boyhood dreams and ended his career with his childhood team, also in last place, against the team that started his major league dreams.

One player, one story and one memorable stadium.

(Topps baseball card image courtesy of www.CheckOutMyCards.com)

Content update: Southpaw Steve Manderfield was mistakenly identified as Dave Kopf in the original post, now corrected.

Comments

[The Write Referee]

Thanks for the post, Ed.

Brad had great stuff and I wish I could get my hands on the picture of Brad pitching in the bullpen for the Angels with Frank Tanana watching. Not often Kimball and Catholic Central crossed paths.

[ed springs]

Brad's big opening night is also rememberd by my family. Brad's father Bud was my guest along with my wife and son seated in the second row next to the visitors dugout. Before the games first pitch Brad brought Ernie Harwell over and introduced him to Bud Havens. Bud was tongue tied. Both Brad and Bud had an evening that we all remember like it was yesterday. Brad gave my son an autograpged baseball that we still have today.

[sue rohrig]

hi did you play in kc royals game in 85 as a rookie. you signed a ball for my daughter ihave the balltoday iam going to give to her boys 5 and 3 i would to know if you was there. i have a ticket 6 28 85.

[The Write Referee]

Chelsey,

Brad Havens was the best in a long line of outstanding baseball players to have played for Kimball. To understand how dominating Kimball was in baseball, Brother Rice's appearance in this past year's Division I title game was the school's fifth, eclipsing the mark held by an Oakland County school of four, which was Kimball, and Kimball remains the only school to appear in three consecutive Class A or Division I title games.

Brad Havens was the best of the best among baseball players from Kimball HS. I'm happy to hear Brad has made a name for himself outside of sports in a positive way. Helping your community and youth as a positive role model is always more important than strikeouts and state titles.

[Chelsey]

Brad Haven's and his story is such an encouragement to me and my life. He never boasts about his baseball days, but once in awhile I'm able to drag a story out of him. He's one of the most humble men I know and I'm so thankful to know him. He's the best Youth Leader we all, at FHBC, could ask for!!!

[Pattie Juarez]

Brad Havens is still making history. Last week Brad and his wife Ruby lead a team of 26 people on a Mission Expereince in West Virgina. They were committed to ending the week with the Heart felt need of a "new roof and other work COMPLETE". Brad's can do attitude was picked up by everyone on his team. The week ended with the homeowner knowing that she was given a gift by a team who loved her and Jesus Christ!! Way to go Havens and the team from Farmington Hills Baptist.

[Tanner]

Dude my dad is soooo sweet. Dont you guys agree???

What happened to 'mighty' Kimball in the state playoffs when Brad-turned-Dad pitched for the Knights?

[Tanner]

That is my dad... he is the best pitcher ever.

Tanner,

How come your Dad didn't mention Triple Play Baseball Camp at Alma College on one of his baseball cards?

Your Dad was pretty tough in his day...

[Paul Manderfield]

Very nice article. It saddens me to about Tiger Stadium.One quick correction - my brother Steve Manderfield was also a southpaw.

Paul: Didn't know that. One would think with as much Kimball knowledge I would have known that but the years have started to fuse together. Thanks for the correction -- Kimball had some great teams back then.

[Rick]

Tim Birtsas, Clarkston graduate, was once part of a package for future HOF Rickey Henderson.

Rick: Good addition to the article, go Wolves!