Tom Timmermann

Thomas Henry Timmermann (May 12, 1940 – November 14, 2025) was an American baseball player. He played professional baseball for 15 years from 1960 to 1974, including six seasons in Major League Baseball as a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers (1969–1973) and Cleveland Indians (1973–1974). He compiled a 35–35 win–loss record and a 3.78 earned run average (ERA), and recorded 35 saves and 315 strikeouts, in 228 major league games and 548 innings pitched. While at Carbondale he became a member of Sigma Pi fraternity.

Professional baseball

Minor leagues Timmermann was signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent in 1960 and spent nine-and-a-half years in the Tigers' farm system before making his major league debut. He began his minor league career in 1960 with the Montgomery Rebels and had stints with the Durham Bulls (1960, 1965), Duluth–Superior Dukes (1961), Knoxville Smokies (1962–63), Syracuse Chiefs (1963–66), Hawaii Islanders (1964), and Toledo Mud Hens (1967–1971). In October 1968, while playing for the Criollas de Caguas in the Puerto Rican Winter League, Timmermann pitched eight shutouts, including a five-hitter in which he recorded 12 strikeouts among 27 infield outs.

Detroit Tigers Timmermann was tall — — and weighed 215 pounds. Timmermann compiled a record of 6–7 with a 4.11 ERA. In one sequence of 11 games in June and July, Timmermann recorded nine saves and two wins. At the end of the 1970 season, Timmermann was voted "Tiger of the Year" by the Detroit chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America — garnering 25% of the votes to edge Mickey Stanley and Al Kaline. In November 1970, veteran Detroit sports writer Watson Spoelstra called Timmermann's 1970 performance "the strongest bullpen job ever achieved in Detroit."

In 1971, Timmermann appeared in 52 games (two as a starter), compiling a 7–6 record and a 3.86 ERA. and he started 25 games and made nine relief appearances. He compiled an 8–10 record in 1972 with a 2.89 ERA. Timmermann started 15 games for the Indians in 1973 and made 14 relief appearances, finishing with a record of 8–7. Timmermann pitched only four games for the Indians in 1974. He played his final major league game on April 26, 1974.