Champ Summers never doubted that he was the greatest hitter in the world and for half of one year, 1979, he was.
I like his '82 Donruss card a great deal. I usually prefer action cards and if a Detroit player is involved, it is better if the
player is in the beautiful Tigers home white uniform. Neither is the case with this particular card but it still has a lot going for it.
It shows Champ totally embracing his Thomas Magnum/Tom Selleck look and the scar on his left cheek (more on that later).
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loginSummers' real first name was John but when his Father (who had done some boxing) took his first look at his newborn son he called him
Champ because he thought the baby looked like he had just gone 10 rounds with Joe Louis. Champ would grow up to be a gifted athlete
who seemed to be able to do anything he put his mind to in sports. He lettered in basketball, football, tennis, track and cross-country while
also swimming and diving. Notice that baseball was not on the list as he wasn't interested in it. At one point, Jimmy Connors mother asked
Summers to play her son Jimmy to give him some older, tougher competition. Champ Summers won the match and could always say that
he had beat Jimmy Connors in tennis.
After high school, Summers would attend Nichols State on a basketball scholarship. After a year and half he would leave school after
being kicked off the team for fighting with a team mate. He would end up in the Army, going through jump school and serving in Vietnam.
The experience made him grow up and once he finished his hitch he went back to school much more serious about getting an education.
He attended Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and played on the basketball team and did well enough to where he would be
offered a tryout by an ABA team and also by the Dallas Cowboys, although he didn't take them up on it. While playing intramural softball
he was noticed by the members of the baseball team and they encouraged him to tryout. Summers rolled up to the baseball field riding his
Harley and not wearing a shirt. The coach wasn't impressed and was even less so after learning that Summers hadn't played ball since the age
of 13. He finally let Summers hit in the cage and after watching him hit for a bit said "Where the hell have you been?" Champ Summers
would hit a pinch hit home run in his first collegiate at bat as a walk on senior. He would finish his only year of college ball in the top 10 in
all the hitting stats.
Most big league clubs were not interested in signing a 25 year old but eventually the Oakland A's did. He put up very nice numbers in the minor
leagues but the A's of the early to mid-70's were just stacked with talent. There was really no place for Champ Summers to play on the A's.
He finally made his major league debut in 1974 at the age of 28. He would be moved to the Cubs in a trade for Jim Todd but without the DH
Summer's would spend his two seasons as a Cub as a pinch hitter. They would move him to the Reds for a guy named Dave Schneck. Summers
would find it impossible to get into the lineup of the Big Red Machine. After a few years there, he would be traded to Detroit for Shelly Burnside
just after halfway through the 1979 season.
With Rusty Staub traded away by Detroit, the Tigers needed a big left handed bat in the lineup and at the age of 33, Champ Summers
would finally be given to play regularly. He made the most of it by having an incredible half season. He would hit 20 homers, knock
in 51 runs, hit .313 with a .614 slugging percentage in only 246 at bats. He would also walk more than he would strike out. He loved
his time in Detroit and the Detroit fans would love him back. He was always B.Sing with the fans. I remember a game that my family
attended where we had seats along the right field line. This area was known as Champ's Camp. Summers came over just before the
game started and chatted us all up. My Mom asked him about that scar and he said "I picked that up roaming the streets one night".
Pretty awesome response..................
Summers would have a good year in 1980 but then began to decline in his mid to late thirties. He would be diagnosed with degenerative
arthritis in his left shoulder. His last at bat in the big leagues would be as a pinch hitter for San Diego when they were playing the
Tigers in the 1984 World Series. With his career over Summers would sell cars at a Mercedes dealership for awhile but eventually
got back into baseball. He was the Yankees hitting coach for a time and finished up coaching and managing in the minors.
He would take a long, rather unique path to the Major Leagues. The man could hit, so it would have been interesting to see what kind of numbers
he would have put up if he had come up the standard way.
In 2012, Champ Summers would pass away at the age of 66 from kidney cancer.
Attached below is a picture of Champ Summers in Vietnam during the war (from what I read he split his time in country between
airborne and being a life guard - this must have been his life guard phase).