Mickey Lolich, the last Major League Baseball pitcher to achieve the remarkable feat of pitching three complete games in a single World Series with the Detroit Tigers in 1968, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 85. According to the Tigers, Lolich\u2019s wife confirmed that he died following a brief period in hospice care, though the specific cause of death has not been revealed.<\/p>\n
While Denny McLain was the star pitcher for Detroit in 1968, winning 31 games during the regular season, Lolich earned Most Valuable Player honors in the decisive seventh game against Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals, posting an impressive 1.67 ERA. The iconic moment of that championship came when catcher Bill Freehan caught Tim McCarver\u2019s foul pop-up for the final out, and Lolich jubilantly leapt into Freehan\u2019s arms.<\/p>\n
Reflecting on his career in a 2018 interview with the Detroit Free Press, Lolich said, \u201cI\u2019ve always been someone else, but finally my day has come.\u201d Baseball-reference.com ranks him 23rd all-time in career strikeouts with 2,832 \u2014 a total surpassing many Hall of Famers and placing him fifth among left-handed pitchers.<\/p>\n
Lolich was an unexpected hero during the 1968 season. He recalled that manager Mayo Smith relegated him to the bullpen for much of August before he worked his way back into the starting rotation, finishing with a 6-1 record in the final week. Although frustrated by his bullpen stint, Lolich confidently told Smith, \u201cIf we win this year, it\u2019s because of me,\u201d referring only to the regular season. As it turned out, the Tigers did achieve revenge by winning the World Series.<\/p>\n
Notably, Lolich pitched Game 7 following just two days\u2019 rest. Though he anticipated receiving a Corvette as a prize, his sponsor Chrysler gave him a Dodge Charger GT instead, which he humorously noted in his book \u201cJoy in Tigertown,\u201d saying he already had two Chargers in his driveway.<\/p>\n
Since Lolich\u2019s time, only one pitcher\u2014Arizona\u2019s Randy Johnson in 2001\u2014has won three World Series games, but Johnson accumulated fewer innings and pitched as a reliever in Game 7 rather than a starter. Over a 16-year career mostly with Detroit, Lolich compiled a 220-192 record including the postseason. He briefly played for the New York Mets in 1976 and returned to the San Diego Padres from 1978 to 1979.<\/p>\n
His peak seasons included 1971, when he posted a 25-14 record with 308 strikeouts over 376 innings, finishing second in the American League Cy Young Award voting, and 1972, when he had a 22-14 record with 250 strikeouts. The Tigers released a statement extending condolences to his family, celebrating his lasting legacy.<\/p>\n
Born in Portland, Oregon, Lolich entered the donut business in suburban Detroit after retiring from baseball, running a donut shop for 18 years. In his book, he remarked humorously, \u201cNo other player has ever made such a transition from diamond to donut, but I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reported by the Associated Press.<\/em><\/p>\n Fan Take:<\/strong> Mickey Lolich\u2019s legacy as a durable, clutch pitcher in one of baseball\u2019s most legendary World Series remains a high watermark for pitching excellence and determination. His passing reminds fans of the grit and heart that define the sport and inspires future generations to embrace resilience on and off the mound.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mickey Lolich, the last Major League Baseball pitcher to achieve the remarkable feat of pitching three complete games in a single World Series with the Detroit Tigers in 1968, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 85. According to the Tigers, Lolich\u2019s wife confirmed that he died following a brief period in hospice care, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[16],"class_list":{"0":"post-41363","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baseball","8":"tag-baseball"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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