On May 31, 1979, Pat made his debut, facing Tom (then with the Blue Jays). The Tigers won 1-0, with Pat getting the victory. Tom took the loss, although he pitched a complete game, only giving up 6 hits. Both pitchers received standing ovations.
Sadly, Tom passed away in 2010. He had been battling pancreatic cancer.
A few years ago, I sent a ball to Tom asking for an autograph. As I sometimes do, I mentioned that I would be trying to get Pat to sign it at a future date. To my surprise, Tom got Pat to sign the ball before he sent it back to me. Thus, I added another family-ties ball to my collection. By the way, Tom is #2 all time in wins leader for pitchers with a last name beginning with "U" (George Uhle is #1 with 200).
Tom Underwood
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