The Tigers announced Wednesday that three-time American League All-Star and 1968 World Series MVP Mickey Lolich passed away this morning. He was 85 years old.
Debuting as a 22-year-old during the 1963 season, Lolich quickly seized a spot in Detroit’s rotation. He became a mainstay on the Tigers’ staff for the next decade-plus, calling greats like Hall of Famer Jim Bunning and two-time Cy Young winner Denny McLain teammates along the way.
After several years as a steady contributor, Lolich carved out a lasting legacy with a historic performance in the 1968 World Series. The left-hander started Game 2, Game 5 and the pivotal Game 7 against the Cardinals, not only securing three victories but going the distance in each of those wins. In one of the greatest individual World Series performances ever seen, Lolich hurled three complete games, held St. Louis to just five runs on 20 hits and six walks (1.67 ERA) and punched out 21 opponents. His final start during that year’s Fall Classic came on just two days’ rest, but he nonetheless held Lou Brock & Co. to one run on five hits and three walks in a 4-1 victory.
That performance alone would’ve cemented Lolich’s place in Tigers lore, but it’s just one of many highlights over his stellar career. The Portland native made the first of three All-Star appearances the following season in 1969 and, in 1971-72, enjoyed a pair of top-three finishes in American League Cy Young voting, losing out to legends Vida Blue and Gaylord Perry, respectively.
Lolich finished top-10 in American League MVP voting in both of those Cy Young runner-up seasons and, in ’71, paced the American League with 45 games started and 376 innings pitched. He completed 29 games that year and did so while maintaining an ERA just shy of 3.00 (2.92). Both those 45 games started and 376 innings are the second-highest single-season marks for any pitcher in the past century; Lolich trails only Wilbur Wood in each category (376 2/3 innings, 49 games started).
Lolich spent the first 13 seasons of his career with the Tigers before being traded to the Mets in a Dec. 1975 swap that sent six-time All-Star Rusty Staub back to Detroit. He briefly retired following his lone year as a Met before returning as a reliever with the Padres in 1978-79 and again calling it quits — this time for good.
All told, Lolich pitched in 16 major league seasons and compiled a 217-191 record with a 3.44 ERA over the life of 3638 1/3 innings. His 2832 career strikeouts rank 23rd all-time, just 33 behind his rookie teammate, the aforementioned Bunning. Lolich is one of just 122 pitchers to ever record 200 wins in his career and is tied with Freddie Fitzsimmons for 87th all-time. His 47.9 wins above replacement (per Baseball-Reference) tie him with another standout lefty, Ron Guidry, for 116th on the all-time list. We at MLBTR offer our condolences to Lolich’s family, friends and countless fans on the loss of one of his generation’s great talents.
Another one of my baseball cards gone. Fantastic Pitcher and a gamer. RIP Mickey.
Pretty sure I have his rookie card.
Aloha Uncle, I was a kid when he retired in the late 70’s but heard my father talk about him. I put together a 63′ topps set and he’s in there! Great pitcher. Mahalo
Another player from my youth. Condolences to family, friends and fans.
Rest in peace Mickey. You were a respected part of baseball. Baseball just became worse without you.
A heck of a pitcher that dominated the early seventies. Arguably one of Detroit’s best pitchers alongside Verlander and Newhouser.
Oh Mickey. He wasn’t well liked in NY. Mets traded another productive fan favorite gor a has been – but he was anazing in 1968.
In truth, Mickey Lolich had his last good year in 76 and the Mets had an outstanding starting rotation but, they had no offense to speak of.
I met Mickey Lolich at his doughnut shop in Rochester, MI.
Mickey had a .322.ERA for the Mets that year. He was still throwing hard. The Mets offense was awful. He was in no sense a has been.
1976 Mets Rotation:
Tom Seaver
Craig Swan
Jerry Koosman
Jon Matlack
Mickey Lolich
Plus a pen featuring:
Bob Apodaca
Skip Lockwood
Two posts back to back about guys named Mickey..
Next up:
Pirates targeting Mickey Mouse, but he’s still celebrating his 2020 World Series.
Mickey Hatcher says hello.
So does Mickey Tettleton.
Mickey Rivers sends regards from racetrack
So does Mickey Rivers, Mantle, Moniak, Morandini!!!hehehe
I feel like somebody slipped me a bunch of Mickies.
It was Mickey Brantley…
They probably should have called the series something else that year but it was fairly earned. All teams played under the same rules under same circumstances that year
That’s true. 1968 was the last year MLB played it the old fashioned way. I league each. No divisions. No playoffs. No DH. No interleague. Just play 162 games and the best from each league face it off.
RIP to Mickey Lolich. I imagine that someday he will be in the Hall of Fame.
Long overdue.
RIP Mickey.
I loved watching him pitch on those Saturday day games on TV back in the day. I think most of us probably tried his windup a few times when we were kids.
An MLB legend always, Rest well
Watching on tv on Saturday afternoons is what I remember too. It’s amazing by today’s standards that he pitched 3 complete game victories in one World Series
4 man rotations back then. McLain, Lolich, Earl Wilson and Joe Sparma. Ironically, the guy who led the wildest life (McLain) survived them all.
And talk about a different era… My math tells me that he averaged a little over 227 innings per season over a 16 season career. A team would get taken to court for that any more!
Wow. Mickey Lolich. I saw him pitch a good pat of his career in my youth. Another one of the guys I saw when young gone. RIP good sir.
I’ll never forget that ‘68 Series. Denny McClain was a 31 game winner but was meh in the Series. Tigers went with Lolich over McClain for pivotal game 7 and he delivered. Was rooting for the Cards because they were the NL team (remember those days?) He was dominant. RIP Mickey Lolich. Baseball lost a great one.
McLain pitched (and won) Game 6.
Yep, but his Series was considered a disappointment.
Yes. McLain was 1-2 in the Series but he got them to Game 7.
RIP. A true Tigers legend.
All time World Series great. 3 wins in1968 series. And beat Bob Gibson in game 7.
Arnold, I remember it oh so well. What a masterpiece performance by Mr. Lolich. He commanded that series and every fan of the game should forever remember his performance. I am very sad to hear that we have lost another legend. Rest in peace Mickey. I hope you and Bob Gibson are sharing stories soon.
Aloha folks, from my father’s time and a tremendous pitcher plus a switch hitter to boot! RIP. Mahalo
🙁
I was ten yr old in 1973. My first trip to Tiger stadium i saw Mickey throw a complete game 1-0 victory over the O’s. BTW, the only run? A Homer by their other Mickey, Stanley.RIP legend
Those players like Mickey back then pitched what would be two, three, or four years today in one season. They all busted their butts for all the gravy handed to the players today. They all should thank their gods for the work of the old ball players in making their lives so enjoyable today. R.I.P MICKEY…….IT WAS FANTASTIC WATCHING YOU PLAY !
RIP Mickey…..
The game has changed, and certainly no pitcher will ever again pitch three complete games, or any complete game, in a World Series. Whether any of us think it was better that way than now is a matter of aesthetics I suppose, and arguments can be made either way. But certainly the aura and the era of the dominant starting pitcher, the superstar starting pitcher, is gone, and I think something of value has been lost.
I think pitchers like Mickey Lolich, Jim Kaat, Rick Reuschel, Mark Buehrle, pitchers who were very good for a long time and often better than their teams, should be in the HOF.
Oops: Kaat is in the Hall, isn’t he?
As a broadcaster
baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/kaat-jim
Was going to say that myself. Two of my three kids went to the same small college in western Michigan (Hope College) that Jim Kaat attended. How many kids from a 3,500 student college have a member of the Hall of Fame among their fellow alumni?
My dad would talk about him when he pitched in high school. I believe Zeeland HS. He might have been the best fielding pitcher ever (16x gold glove). Plus a career 3.45 ERA, almost 2500 strikeouts and 283 wins…. What a fabulous career!
I’d add Jerry Koosman. Very comparable to Lolich and also was on the next World Series team (Miracle Mets).
Alan53: don’t apologize or equivocate. A lot of things of value in baseball have been lost.
RIP. Great pitcher for the Tigers
Too bad another Tiger lefty won’t be around to match his records.
Kind of ironical that the greatest Tiger LH’d pitcher ever, passes on the day the 2nd best LH’d pitcher in Tiger’s history, Skubal, has his arbitration hearing with the Tigers.
As a young lad growing up in Michigan, listening to the ’68 WS on my transistor radio (featuring the dulcet tones of the late, great Ernie Harwell!), Mickie Lolich mesmerized me into becoming a lifelong baseball fan.
Thanks Mickey, and RIP.
@goob
I love stories like yours. Lolich was before my time but all due respect for a great one. 3 CG in a single Series with an ERA <2.00 is never, ever going to happen again.
I'm in awe. Props to Mickey Lolich and condolences to his family and loved ones.
Lolich despised those Padres colors. He associated them to human waste products just in more colorful terms.
RIP Mickey.
Childhood hero, all time Tigers great! Too many memories to even begin…
RIP to one of the greats. He played wayyyy before my time but I have nothing but respect for him.
Only 2 years in his career of under 200 innings; the first and the last. 29 complete games one year! 350 Innings one year! They don’t make them like they used to
He would have won the Cy Young Award in any other year but for the year Vida Blue had in 1971. That was Lolich’s best season.
376 innings pitched!!!!
25-14 with a 2.92 ERA
308 Ks!!!!!
Those stats are crazy to look at with the numbers put up the decades since he retired. Almost FORTY decisions! Nearly 400 IP!?
Wild, just wild.
Wilbur Woods, who was mentioned in this article only passed away 2 weeks ago!!!
RIP Mickey, you were one of my childhood idols! Every kid I knew wanted to be like you, Kaline, Cash, or Horton. You were gods in our eyes, you helped mold a generation of young people into quality citizens. Thank you for so many great memories and go see your buddy Kaline in heaven. God bless your family
I always wanted to be Bill Freehan
RIP Mickey. What great memories! The three complete games in the 1968 World Series plus his only career home run.
Here are some Mickey Lolich fun facts:
He started out as a right hander before breaking his arm as a kid. Then he started throwing left handed.
He had the most career strikeouts by a left handed pitcher until some guy named Steve Carlton topped him.
When he retired, he opened a donut shop in suburban Detroit. Given his girth, maybe that wasn’t a great idea!
Since you mentioned his girth, I wanted to say that Baseball Reference lists his vitals as 6’1″, 170. There is no way he ever pitched below 200 pounds. No way. That said, he was great. So great, in fact, that I honestly had to look him up to see if he made the Hall of Fame. Back in those days, a pitcher’s W-L record meant something, since they normally pitched all (or close to all) of a game. His career ERA in today’s game alone would have likely put him in the Hall, but back then it was only a very good, not great, ERA.
RIP Mickey!
He broke my heart as a 10 year old boy beating my beloved Cards in 68 series. Was a really good pitcher but he was a great pitcher in that series . RIP Mickey
It was nearly 60 years ago, but as a kid growing up in southern Ontario, that ‘68 World Series win by the Tigers remains my all-time favorite sports moment, in a lifetime of being a fan.
There were so many great memories from that series, like the Tigers’ Gold Glove winning centerfielder, Mickey Stanley, starting all seven games at shortstop. But Mickey Lolich topped it all, with a simply fantastic performance (glad to see the MLBTR writer call it “one of the greatest individual WS performances ever seen,” which it most assuredly was).
Also notable, Lolich, who had over 1,000 MLB plate appearances, hit his only career homerun in that series, in Game 2. Thanks, Mick, you’ll not be forgotten.
Which is exactly what’s wrong with the DH, by the way: stuff like that can’t happen.
Man, that’s sad. Mickey Lolich was awesome with the Tigers, especially in the 1968 World Series. R I.P.
my first world series memory.
I know I had his baseball card, clothes pinned to my bicycle spokes.
R.I.P.
One of my fondest WS memories, Mickey in ’68. RIP, Mr. Lolich.
Still #5 all time for strikeouts by a lefty after retiring #1 41 years ago. RIP Mickey.
Mickey Lolich served in the Air National Guard from 1963-1969. His unit was activated in the summer of 1967 in response to riots in Detroit. The Tigers flew to Baltimore on July 24 but Mickey stayed in Detroit and served with his National Guard unit into August.
Sounds like a big boy, not a brat. Thanks for passing that along.
He was a stallion. I remember that 68 series. I was a big Norm Cash fan (I’m from Philly). A great team.
Mickey threw more than 190 complete games, more than 40 shutouts, won more than 215 games and started more than 495 games in his sixteen seasons. As of 2018, he ranked 19th among all time strikeout leaders and fourth among lefthanders for innings pitched. His career earnings, adjusted for inflation up to 2018, were less than five million dollars.
Tom Seaver said that Mickey Lolich threw his pitches without using any seams, which made his pitches move unpredictably.
Never heard of that. Mighty interesting!
I reserve the right to be partially incorrect on minutiae, but here goes if memory serves:
World Series megahero in 1968, out there 3 times like it was dead-ball 1908.
Opposite-McLain personality type, but what an R-L combo they were for a brief while.
Rubber arm deluxe. Billy Martin ruined that in 1971. Wasn’t the same after being run out there for about 3 million innings.
Grew up a righty, forced-switched to lefty (but just for throwing) after running into some unfortunate bad math as a pre-teen (Boy x [Tree + Gravity] = Busted L Arm).
Upset Mike Ilitch in his pre-Tigers ownership days, back when he was making promo appearances at Little Caesars openings. Don’t know why, but it cost him later on. Financially, anyway.
Ended up making great donuts instead of pizza. Got up at 3 am for years, just to brighten up your day via tasty sugar and caffeine.
He sat in nearly the last row, lower deck, at a World Series game in 1984. That insult was borderline criminal. Don’t know if putting him there was intentional by someone in the Monahan Administration, or he was in on one he bought or possibly on a Padres comp as an Alum of their program. Regardless, I should not have had a better seat than he did.
I once discussed Lolich’s Padre Time with then-teammate Randy Jones. Jonesy recalled Mickey barely eking out his farewell MLB time via the knuckleball. He also bought a life insurance policy from him. Didn’t ask if he still held it; it all came to mind when he also recently died.
Best wishes to Joyce and the Lolich family.
Lolich, like Bill Freehan and Lou Whitaker, should be in the HOF. Now Lou is the only one who could still be elected while still alive.
RIP
Those 1960 era Tigers were great. Year in and year out were always competitive.
With all the stats that Mickey Lolich has why isn’t this man in the Hall of Fame?
Large market bias. Were he a Yankee or Red Sox he’d be in.
detroit: a very good question.
Another warrior from the childhood gets a final call-up. RIP. He was a warrior and fantastic to watch.
Good memories of his donut shops in the Detroit area. He was active in the business, not just putting his name on it.
Saw him pitch against A’s in 1972.
Have a sweet PSA graded 9 of Mickey’s 1971 Topps card. I guess I’ll leave the set out since I’m pulling out a card every week it seems.
RIP Mickey Lolich.k
That 68 Tigers team was my 1st team at 7 years old living in Detroit.
RIP Mickey.
RIP Mickey.
No one will ever equal your performance in the ’68 Series.
Legendary!
Living members from the Tigers’ 1968 World Series roster:
Denny McLain
John Hiller
Jon Warden
Dick Tracewski
Mickey Stanley
Roy Face briefly pitched for the Tigers that year, but wasn’t on the World Series roster. He will turn 98 on February 20.
George Kell on TV,Ernie Harwell on WJR. Outdualed the Bob Gibson and even hit a homerun in classic 68 series. Should be in hall of fame for 68 series alone, but had a worthy enough career. Before the 5-man rotation, His inning and strikeout totals are legendary
Agree! Freehan should also be in (along with Lou).
Not many left from 68 and 72 Tiger rosters left. Rest Easy Mickey and thanks for the memories