Names out of a hat

Having lost four straight games and 10 of the last 13, Detroit manager Billy Martin decides 51 years ago today to pick his lineup out of a hat for the first game of a doubleheader against Cleveland at Tiger Stadium.

With that, first baseman Norm Cash – normally a middle-of-the-order hitter – leads off for only the second time in his 17-year career, followed by right fielder Jim Northrup and left fielder Willie Horton.

So far, so good.

Martin’s lineup then gets goofy, though, as light-hitting shortstop Ed Brinkman finds himself hitting clean-up for the first and only time in 1,846 career games in the majors – followed by aging second baseman Tony Taylor, catcher Duke Sims, center fielder Mickey Stanley, third baseman Aurelio Rodriguez and, finally, pitcher Woodie Fryman.

All this to face Cleveland’s Gaylord Perry, the future Hall of Famer who on this day is looking for his 19th victory of the season.

Turns out – as often happens during his managerial career – Martin is a genius.

With the Tigers trailing 2-1 with two outs in the fifth inning, Horton begins an improbable rally with a single to right field and scores the tying run as Brinkman – owner of a .206 batting average – follows with a double to right.

Brinkman then scores the go-ahead run as the 36-year-old Taylor singles to center.

Fryman retires the next nine Cleveland batters of the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to clinch Detroit’s 3-2 victory.

Martin and the Tigers use a more conventional lineup in the second game of the doubleheader – and lose 9-2 as Cleveland pitchers Tom Hilgendorf and Phil Hennigan combine on a six-hitter.

No worries, though, as the Tigers win the American League East title in 1972 with an 86-70 record before falling to Oakland in five games of the American League Championship Series.