On April 2, 1990, the Kansas City Royals traded Jerry Don Gleaton to the Detroit Tigers for minor leaguer Greg Everson.
Gleaton pitched for the Tigers in 1990 and ’91 as a lefty specialist and based on his workload (as I remember it and according to Baseball-Reference.com), he was one of Sparky’s go-to relievers. He appeared in 104 games for Detroit and notched a 4-5 record and 15 saves.
After the 1991 season he became a free agent and eventually signed with the Royals, but was released in April ’92. His last big-league job was with the ’92 Pirates where he was anything but spectacular: 1-0, 4.26, 34 hits in 31 innings.
Jerry Don Gleaton, another in our collection of obscure Tigers, turns 51 today.
