Fred Scherman
Frederick John Scherman, Jr. (born July 25, 1944) was a Major League Baseball relief pitcher for eight years with the Detroit Tigers (1969–1973), Houston Astros (1974–1975), and Montreal Expos (1975–1976). Born in Dayton, Ohio, Scherman was a left-handed pitcher who attended Ohio State University before making his major league debut for the Tigers on April 26, 1969. Scherman pitched in only 4 games in 1969, but became one of the Tigers' main relief pitchers for the next four years. Between 1970 and 1973, Scherman appeared in 208 games for the Tigers (an average of 52 games per season), with all but four appearances as a reliever.
Scherman's best year was 1971, when he appeared in 69 games, compiled a record of 11–6, and had 20 saves and 40 games finished. His ERA in 1971 was a career low 2.71—well below the league average ERA of 3.61. Scherman's performance in 1971 ranked him among the American League leaders in winning percentage (10th best at .647), games (2nd), saves (3rd), and games finished (3rd).
Scherman had another strong year in 1972, appearing in 57 games, and finishing 7–3. Scherman played in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series in 1972, holding the Oakland A's scoreless in 2⁄3 of an inning. That proved to be Scherman's last game for the Tigers.
After the 1973 season, Scherman was traded to the Houston Astros on December 3, 1973 for Jim Ray and Gary Sutherland. Sutherland became the Tigers' starting second baseman, while Scherman never regained the level of performance he achieved with the Tigers in 1971 and 1972. Scherman went 2–6 in two seasons for the Astros. On June 8, 1975, Scherman was purchased by the Montreal Expos. Scherman was 6–5 in two seasons in Montreal. He played his final Major League game on July 6, 1976, and was released by the Expos two days later.
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