Lolich was a lot like Curt Simmons. Simmons never was a 20 game winner, but he was a 1950's workhorse and a big part of the 1950 Phillies "Whiz Kids" team. Simmons was still pitching in 1964 and started 2 World Series games for that championship Cardinal/Gibson team that you guys took down in "68".
I remember Simmons well and without looking it up I believe he ended up with the Cubs at one time.
Lolich did have a 25 win season in 1971 and followed it up with 22 in 1972. He had several more seasons in the high teens even though he served in the National Guard and did two weeks each year away from the team for much of the 1960s. If Lolich posted the numbers today that he did in the 1960s and 1970s, he would be a borderline Hall of Famer but because he pitched in an era when starting pitchers were expected to pitch a lot more than they do now, he doesn't get the credit for it. 217 career wins would certainly get you considered for Cooperstown these days. In 1971 Lolich pitched 29 complete games. By comparison, there were only 28 pitched in the entire American League last year and only three pitchers threw as many as 2.
I just read a book about the 1968 Tigers and learned a story I had never heard before. As his playing days were winding down, Lolich was looking ahead for ways to earn a living. A Tiger fan asked him if he wanted to go partners in a pizza chain he had started. After considering it, Lolich declined and decided to open his own donut shop in the Detroit area. That donut shop did well and was his main source of income for decades to come. The pizza chain did pretty well too. It was started by Mike Ilitch and was the Little Caesars pizza chain. Mr. I as he was called ended up buying the Tigers and the Detroit Red Wings as well. The Red Wings won a Stanley Cup for him but the Tigers lost both World Series they got into under Mr. I.
