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luckymann · 09-20-2020, 01:40 AM

Cribbed from THIS article on SABR Bio by Chip Greene.

If I’m being brutally honest, in the big scheme of things Dave Rozema wasn’t much of a ballplayer. What he was is something we are seeing less and less of as baseball continues to evolve into more of a business than a pastime: a good ol’ boy. A character.

The Tigers had just unearthed Mark “The Bird” Fidrych in his 19-win ROY 1976 season when Dave “The Rose” Rozema came up. Despite having sub-par stuff, Rozema was seen as another huge prospect. Detroit skipper Ralph Houk said Rozema had the best control he’d ever seen. Even Reds manager Frank Robinson thought he could win 30 games in a season.

After turning down the Giants, who had nabbed him in the 22nd round of the 1974 Draft but failed to offer him a signing bonus, Rozema signed with Detroit the following year. He spent 1975 at their Class A team in Clinton, Iowa, finishing with a 14-5 record and an ERA of 2.09. After trying out unsuccessfully for the parent club the following spring, he started the season at AA Montgomery, and ended the year at 12-4 / 1.57.

With the inevitable avian comparisons flying thick and fast, Dave pressed his case for a spot on the parent team’s roster. That spot was clinched, somewhat ironically, when Fidrych went down with a knee injury in the pre-season. He made his MLB debut on April 11 with a no-decision in a loss to the expansion Blue Jays, and fashioned a solid 15-7 record in his rookie campaign. His 3.09 ERA was seventh-best in the AL and he walked just 34 batters in 218 IP. His promising start was curtailed, however, when the first of a series of injuries that would plague him from that point on forced him to sit out the final three weeks of the season. Nevertheless, he finished 4th in the ROY and 8th in Cy Young calculations.

These injuries definitely played a part in the dropoff in his performance the following year. And yet, despite his record falling to 9-12, most of his other stats closely replicated his rookie year: 209 IP; 3.14 ERA; WHIP up just a tad from 1.173 to 1.175. Things worsened again in 1979, which saw him appear in just 16 games and pitch just 97 innings, ending up 4-4 / 3.51.

It was around this time that Dave’s off-field behaviour started featuring in reports as much as his on-field performance, and after a so-so start to the 1980 season he found himself shifted to the bullpen. He did make one more memorable start, a two-hitter against Seattle in 1981, but it was the beginning of the end for him at Detroit.

After separate incidents in early 1982 that saw him requiring 11 stitches in his buttock and SS Alan Trammel needing 40 in his mouth (again, separate incidents…), Rozema started the year as well as he ever had, going 3-0 / 1.63 over the first month. But then on May 11, his involvement in a bench-clearing brawl resulted in him basically destroying one of his knees and missing the rest of the year.

He rebounded in 1983 with a solid 8-3 / 3.43 year in relief, and was 7-1 early on in the Tigers’ all-conquering 1984. But he faded so badly in the latter part of the season – losing 5 straight games – that he didn’t make an appearance in the World Series, and was released to free agency at the end of the season.

He signed with Texas for 1985, but never really got going there. He pitched less than 100 innings in his two seasons at Arlington, and that was his career in the majors done. He spent some time in the White Sox and Phillies’ farm systems before retiring from the game in 1990. Obviously Cooperstown was never an option for The Rose, but he is enshrined at the Grand Rapids Hall of Fame along with such players as Jim Kaat, Wally Pipp and Mickey Stanley.

Dave “The Rose” Rozema is certainly making the most of his second chance to shine in the FL, and strangely enough it is with the Tigers he is doing so after they drafted him in 1901 (4th round, 55th overall pick). The IRL parallels don’t stop there, as he has also struggled in the simulated world with shoulder problems, especially in 1902 when he was limited to just 90 IP. But this year has seen him roar back to life, going 7-2 with a 2.87 ERA, and he is on pace for a 4+ WAR season. Two of his most recent starts have been CG shutouts (helping him to the AL Pitcher of the Month Award for May), so he certainly seems at the peak of his form right now. Tempus effulgeo, Dave – keep up the good work!

BASEBALL REFERENCE PAGE

09-20-2020, 01:40 AM	#218
luckymann Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2019 Posts: 13,923	Spotlight Player #8 – Dave Rozema *Cribbed from THIS article on SABR Bio by Chip Greene.* If I’m being brutally honest, in the big scheme of things Dave Rozema wasn’t much of a ballplayer. What he was is something we are seeing less and less of as baseball continues to evolve into more of a business than a pastime: a good ol’ boy. A character. The Tigers had just unearthed Mark “The Bird” Fidrych in his 19-win ROY 1976 season when Dave “The Rose” Rozema came up. Despite having sub-par stuff, Rozema was seen as another huge prospect. Detroit skipper Ralph Houk said Rozema had the best control he’d ever seen. Even Reds manager Frank Robinson thought he could win 30 games in a season. After turning down the Giants, who had nabbed him in the 22nd round of the 1974 Draft but failed to offer him a signing bonus, Rozema signed with Detroit the following year. He spent 1975 at their Class A team in Clinton, Iowa, finishing with a 14-5 record and an ERA of 2.09. After trying out unsuccessfully for the parent club the following spring, he started the season at AA Montgomery, and ended the year at 12-4 / 1.57. With the inevitable avian comparisons flying thick and fast, Dave pressed his case for a spot on the parent team’s roster. That spot was clinched, somewhat ironically, when Fidrych went down with a knee injury in the pre-season. He made his MLB debut on April 11 with a no-decision in a loss to the expansion Blue Jays, and fashioned a solid 15-7 record in his rookie campaign. His 3.09 ERA was seventh-best in the AL and he walked just 34 batters in 218 IP. His promising start was curtailed, however, when the first of a series of injuries that would plague him from that point on forced him to sit out the final three weeks of the season. Nevertheless, he finished 4th in the ROY and 8th in Cy Young calculations. These injuries definitely played a part in the dropoff in his performance the following year. And yet, despite his record falling to 9-12, most of his other stats closely replicated his rookie year: 209 IP; 3.14 ERA; WHIP up just a tad from 1.173 to 1.175. Things worsened again in 1979, which saw him appear in just 16 games and pitch just 97 innings, ending up 4-4 / 3.51. It was around this time that Dave’s off-field behaviour started featuring in reports as much as his on-field performance, and after a so-so start to the 1980 season he found himself shifted to the bullpen. He did make one more memorable start, a two-hitter against Seattle in 1981, but it was the beginning of the end for him at Detroit. After separate incidents in early 1982 that saw him requiring 11 stitches in his buttock and SS Alan Trammel needing 40 in his mouth (again, separate incidents…), Rozema started the year as well as he ever had, going 3-0 / 1.63 over the first month. But then on May 11, his involvement in a bench-clearing brawl resulted in him basically destroying one of his knees and missing the rest of the year. He rebounded in 1983 with a solid 8-3 / 3.43 year in relief, and was 7-1 early on in the Tigers’ all-conquering 1984. But he faded so badly in the latter part of the season – losing 5 straight games – that he didn’t make an appearance in the World Series, and was released to free agency at the end of the season. He signed with Texas for 1985, but never really got going there. He pitched less than 100 innings in his two seasons at Arlington, and that was his career in the majors done. He spent some time in the White Sox and Phillies’ farm systems before retiring from the game in 1990. Obviously Cooperstown was never an option for The Rose, but he is enshrined at the Grand Rapids Hall of Fame along with such players as Jim Kaat, Wally Pipp and Mickey Stanley. Dave “The Rose” Rozema is certainly making the most of his second chance to shine in the FL, and strangely enough it is with the Tigers he is doing so after they drafted him in 1901 (4th round, 55th overall pick). The IRL parallels don’t stop there, as he has also struggled in the simulated world with shoulder problems, especially in 1902 when he was limited to just 90 IP. But this year has seen him roar back to life, going 7-2 with a 2.87 ERA, and he is on pace for a 4+ WAR season. Two of his most recent starts have been CG shutouts (helping him to the AL Pitcher of the Month Award for May), so he certainly seems at the peak of his form right now. Tempus effulgeo, Dave – keep up the good work! BASEBALL REFERENCE PAGE Attached Images Last edited by luckymann; 11-26-2020 at 11:16 PM.