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Mickey Lolich was an integral part of the Detroit Tigers’ 1968 World Series championship team. After a 17-win regular season, the left-handed pitcher was dominant in the Fall Classic. He started three games and won them all, and ended up with more strikeouts (21) than hits allowed (20). His ERA for the Series was a stingy 1.67.

Lolich’s performance is even more remarkable when considering the competition. The powerhouse of the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals finished with 97 wins, nine games better than the second place San Francisco.

In addition to his excellent pitching, Lolich also contributed at the plate. In Game 2, he hit a solo home run and added an RBI in the 9th inning of his 8-1 victory. Lolich’s long ball was the first and only homer of his career.

Shown here is a ticket that let a lucky fan into see the sole homer that Lolich hit during his 16-year big league career. His complete-game 6-hitter earned Lolich the second of his three wins in the 1968 World Series.

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One of the Tigers greatest pitchers, Mickey Lolich was at his best from 1964-1974. Lolich won at least 14 games each of those seasons and led the AL in wins in 1971 with 25. He finished in the league’s top-10 in victories every year. During that run he won 190 games and saved another 9. The Detroit lefthander completed 167 games and twirled 38 shutouts.

Lolich’s three All Star selections came in 1969, 1971, and 1972. In 5 postseason starts he pitched to a 1.57 ERA and tossed 5 complete games.

Though he falls short of the Baseball Hall of Fame, the 217-game winner and World Series MVP remains one of baseball’s legends.

Shown here is a 1970 Topps card autographed by Lolich.

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The Tigers were a formidable squad as Mickey Lolich entered his late 20s. From his age-27 season in 1968 through 1971 Detroit averaged more than 90 wins per season. The franchise’s third World Series triumph came in 1968.

In the Fall Classic that year Lolich tossed three complete-game wins for the Tigers. What’s more, Lolich batted .250 in the Series, and slugged his only career home run. In 1,017 regular-season plate appearances Lolich had just five doubles and two triples. In the World Series, he could do no wrong. For his efforts Lolich was named the Series MVP.

In the collection is this limited edition Upper Deck collectors series tribute to the 1971 Tigers signed by Lolich, Willie Horton, Al Kaline and Bill Freehan. All four players were on that ’68 team and the 1971 team that won 91 games.

Pitcher Lolich had his finest year in ’71. The Bengal workhorse led the league in starts (45), wins (25), complete games (29), and strikeouts (308). He finished second in Cy Young voting.

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Mickey Lolich has quite a Hall of Fame resumé. A 217-game winner and World Series MVP, Lolich was the game’s All-Time record holder for strikeouts by a left hander at the time of his retirement.

Shown here is a Topps baseball card commemorating his achievement. It was on June 6, 1975 that Lolich passed Warren Spahn’s record of 2,583 strikeouts by a southpaw.

By the time his career was over, Lolich extended the mark to 2,832, a number since surpassed by Steve Carlton, Randy Johnson, and CC Sabathia. A model of consistency, Lolich won 14 or more guys for ten straight seasons.