1943
Born April 8, 1943
Toronto, ON, CAN
John Hiller Marquee
b. April 8, 1943 · Detroit Tigers 1965–1970, 1972–1980
In January 1971, at twenty-seven, he had a heart attack and then surgery that removed part of his intestine to lower his cholesterol. He was told he would not pitch again. He was back in Detroit in July 1972 and in 1973 he saved 38 games with a 1.44 earned run average in 65 appearances, more saves than anyone had recorded in a season.
He pitched fifteen seasons, all for Detroit: 87 wins, 125 saves, a 2.83 earned run average across 1,242 innings, and the 1968 World Series before the heart attack. In 1974 he won 17 games in relief and lost 14, which is a shape of season nobody has now.
He was Canadian, from Toronto. He was Comeback Player of the Year and won the Hutch Award in 1973 and finished fourth in both the Cy Young and Most Valuable Player voting that season. The 1986 ballot gave him 11 votes of 425.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 1 | 1974 |
| Hutch Award | 1 | 1973 |
| The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year | 1 | 1973 |
| The Sporting News Fireman of the Year | 1 | 1973 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | DET | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1966 | DET | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1967 | DET | 23 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .133 |
| 1968 | DET | 39 | 37 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 | .081 |
| 1969 | DET | 41 | 21 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .286 |
| 1970 | DET | 47 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | .000 |
| 1972 | DET | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 |
| 1973 | DET | 65 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1974 | DET | 59 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1975 | DET | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1976 | DET | 56 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1977 | DET | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1978 | DET | 51 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1979 | DET | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1980 | DET | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 546 | 101 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 34 | 0 | .109 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | DET | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0.00 |
| 1966 | DET | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9.00 |
| 1967 | DET | 4 | 3 | 23 | 6 | 3 | 65.0 | 57 | 19 | 9 | 49 | 2.63 |
| 1968 | DET | 9 | 6 | 39 | 12 | 2 | 128.0 | 92 | 34 | 51 | 78 | 2.39 |
| 1969 | DET | 4 | 4 | 40 | 8 | 4 | 99.1 | 97 | 44 | 44 | 74 | 3.99 |
| 1970 | DET | 6 | 6 | 47 | 5 | 3 | 104.0 | 82 | 35 | 46 | 89 | 3.03 |
| 1972 | DET | 1 | 2 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 44.1 | 39 | 10 | 13 | 26 | 2.03 |
| 1973 | DET | 10 | 5 | 65 | 0 | 38 | 125.1 | 89 | 20 | 39 | 124 | 1.44 |
| 1974 | DET | 17 | 14 | 59 | 0 | 13 | 150.0 | 127 | 44 | 62 | 134 | 2.64 |
| 1975 | DET | 2 | 3 | 36 | 0 | 14 | 70.2 | 52 | 17 | 36 | 87 | 2.17 |
| 1976 | DET | 12 | 8 | 56 | 1 | 13 | 121.0 | 93 | 32 | 67 | 117 | 2.38 |
| 1977 | DET | 8 | 14 | 45 | 8 | 7 | 124.0 | 120 | 49 | 61 | 115 | 3.56 |
| 1978 | DET | 9 | 4 | 51 | 0 | 15 | 92.1 | 64 | 24 | 35 | 74 | 2.34 |
| 1979 | DET | 4 | 7 | 43 | 0 | 9 | 79.1 | 83 | 46 | 55 | 46 | 5.22 |
| 1980 | DET | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 30.2 | 38 | 15 | 14 | 18 | 4.40 |
| Career | — | 87 | 76 | 545 | 43 | 125 | 1242.0 | 1040 | 391 | 535 | 1036 | 2.83 |
On this day & linked events
1965
Major-league debut: John Hiller
John Hiller made a major-league debut on September 6, 1965.
1980
Final major-league game: John Hiller
John Hiller played a final major-league game on May 27, 1980.
Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain