Former Tigers’ pitcher Brian Moehler sees his own history in Cooperstown
After almost two decades, Brian Moehler was recently reunited with an old friend. In this case, the longtime pitcher laid eyes on and held a cap for the first time since he donated it to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 2000.
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It was back on April 11, 2000, that the right-handed Moehler threw the first pitch at the inaugural game at Comerica Park, the new home of the Detroit Tigers. Soon after the veteran hurler started and won the game for the home team, going six innings and giving up only one earned run in a 5-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners, he was approached with a request.
“It was weird because I remember two guys walking up to me and saying, ‘We’d love to put this in the Hall of Fame.’ They were almost like secret service,” said the 46-year-old Moehler during an interview at the Hall of Fame on June 11. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’d love to.’ And I remember signing a document and then getting in the mail a certificate, that I later got framed, and a lifetime pass to the Hall of Fame.”
The dark wool cap, size 7 ½, has a white stitched "D" on the front of crown, with a patch on left side celebrating Opening Day.
“Having my cap here at the Hall of Fame is an honor,” he said. “It’s something that very few people get the opportunity to do. It was a no-brainer for me to turn my hat over to them.”
Moehler was at the Hall of Fame with his son, Dane, whose 12U baseball team from Marietta, Ga., was playing at an area baseball camp.
“He can come here one day with his own kids and show them their granddad’s cap,” Moehler, gesturing towards his nearby son, said. “Just to know it’s here is pretty amazing. It’s really cool from a player perspective.
“This is hallowed ground,” he added, noting he had taken a couple of quick trips to the Hall of Fame back in the 1990s when he was in college and when he was playing in the minors. “This is where it begins and ends. It’s truly amazing to see all of this. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime memory that I’ll never forget. For a baseball fan this is the ultimate.”
Not only did Moehler start, throw the first pitch and win in the first game at Comerica Park in 2000, he started, threw the first pitch and won in the last game played at Detroit’s previous home, the venerable Tiger Stadium, on Sept. 27, 1999.
“I’ve got a lot of great memories from that final game at Tiger Stadium,” Moehler said. “I remember meeting Mark Fidrych, Hal Newhouser, just all the old Tiger greats. They were all there. It was a special night. I can remember the sights and sounds of playing at Tiger Stadium for four years. I remember opening the clubhouse door and the sound it made. It was a beautiful, beautiful place.
“Then moving into Comerica you get two different sides of the spectrum with this era of modern stadiums. But both were just unbelievable.”
Moehler retired after the 2010 season having played 14 years in the big leagues. His career was spent with the Tigers (1996-2002), Blue Jays (2002), Reds (2002) Astros (2003, 2007-10), and Marlins (2005-06), a winner of at least 10 games five times and finished with an 84-107 record.
It was during that long career that Moehler was a Tigers teammate with shortstop Alan Trammell, a Class of 2018 Hall of Fame inductee.
“I got called up in 1996 at the end of the year and in the clubhouse they wedged me in-between Alan Trammell and Ruben Sierra,” Moehler said. “I got to know Tram a little bit just from being in big league camp the previous two years. Just a great teammate, great leader. Could be vocal at times, but just led by example. Well-respected in the game by everybody. Well deserving of the Hall of Fame, without a doubt.”
Today, Moehler is an area scout in Georgia for the Red Sox, a job he’s been at since 2012.
“I love baseball and love being around it. And to just have Georgia, which has plenty of talent, and to be at home quite a bit, but to still be around the game is something I couldn’t pass up,” Moehler said.
“The best part about scouting is sitting down with those young men and giving them that opportunity. That’s all I promise them is that they’re getting an opportunity. What you make of it is up to you. It’s extremely hard, but for the kids who really love it there’s nothing better. Nothing.”
Bill Francis is a Library Associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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