In 1987, I was 12 years old. I grew up in a baseball family- playing baseball, talking baseball, collecting baseball cards, and always watching the Tigers games on TV. I also was becoming an avid fan of all types of music at the time. Alot of new music was bieng introduced to me by my brother and my friends. Bands and Groups like Run DMC, Metallica, Prince, and Van Halen to name a few. I also was just getting into another type of music that I had just recently discovered- Punk Rock. My friends and I were lucky to live real close to a great record store where you could find used records and tapes for just a few dollars. We discovered and got into bands like Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Minor Threat, The Circle Jerks, and Suicidal Tendencies.
MLB Baseball, in my mind at that age, was a wholesome game that was played by only the best ball players in the world- great athletes who lived their lifestyles very much "with" the grain. In 1987, the Tigers called up a very normal looking player with a weird last name- Jim Walewander. As with any new player on the Tigers, I took note but usually didn't scratch the beneath the surface. The only thing at first that stuck out to me was Walewander's fielding position - second base. I knowingly thought to myself that this new guy was not here to challenge my favorite Tiger, second-baseman Lou Whitaker for his job. Not long after the 26 year old Walewander was called up, I began to hear from game broadcasts and read articles in the newspaper certain things about him that normally wasn't associated with regular ballplayers. I learned that when he was playing for the Mud Hens in Toledo, Walewander lived contently in a gritty apartment that had no furniture, he used aluminum foil for window curtains, and lived off of only basic needs. Writers and baseball game analysts used words like "eccentric", "flaky", "free-spirited", "zany"- to descibe Walewander- words that reminded older Tiger fans of another Detroit player who often times fit those same descriptions- Mark "The Bird" Fidrych. I then read that Walewander was also into punk rock music, and I realized that this player was bringing my two worlds together- Tigers Baseball and Punk Rock music! Walewander also dressed like a punk rocker, favoring leather jackets and combat boots when not wearing a Tigers uniform.
Walewander soon became synonmous with a Punk Rock group called "The Dead Milkmen", after members of the band heard that he was a fan. When the group played a gig in Detroit, the band arranged passes for Walewander so he could attend the concert. The day after the show, Walewander returned the favor to the band by showing them around Tiger Stadium, and also introducing them to his manager at the time, Sparky Anderson. Sparky had taken a liking to his new misfit ballplayer- "Wales", as Anderson called him, because of Walewander's solid work ethic towards the game. The Dead Milkmen posed for pictures in the Tigers dugout with both Walewander and Sparky, then soon left to move on to the next gig in the next city. Walewander would end up hitting his only Major League homerun that day. Having not yet heard of the Dead Milkmen, I soon rushed up to my local record store and picked up the band's debut album "Big Lizard In My Backyard" on cassette tape. Although the Milkmen did not sound as aggressive as some of the other bands that I was into, I enjoyed the album with it's satirical lyrics, and folksy type of punk rock music that they played. I still have that album, and consider it a essential part of my music collection.
On the field, Walewander was not much more than a pinch-runner or a role player for the Tigers that year. He spot-started at shortstop or second base whenever the veterans needed a day off. Some Tigers fans did cherish his minimal playing time, however, forming the "Jim Walewander Fan Club" and hanging banners and signs supporting him in the cheap-seat, outfield bleacher section. Some of Detroit's resident punk rockers also came out to Tiger Stadium to show support for Walewander. His most memorable contribution to the Tigers in 1987 was when he was a pinch-runner in the bottom of the 12th inning, in a season-ending series against the first-place Toronto Blue Jays. The Tigers were one game behind in the standings, and needed the win to move into a tie for first-place, with one game remaining the following day against the Jays. Shortstop Alan Trammell came through with a clutch base hit and Walewander scored the winning run. The next day, the Tigers shutout the Jays 1-0 to capture the Division Title. Walewander was left off of the Tigers playoff roster, and his folk hero-like 1987 season was over.
Walewander played one more year for the Tigers, then played a year of professional baseball in Japan. He returned to MLB in 1990 for the New York Yankees, was in minor league ball for the 1991-92 seasons, and had one final big league stint with the California Angels in 1993. His career statistics tell no tale of Walewander's off-beat ways: 162 games, 242 at-bats,1 home run, 14 RBI, to go with a .215 lifetime batting average.
I still hold the Detroit Tigers and even Punk Rock music near to my heart as they both give me fond memories from my childhood. For one year, 1987, there was a special player who brought these odd worlds together for me, and his name was Jim Walewander...Thanks Wales!!!
