 james thomas northrup (november 24, 1939 â june 8, 2011), nicknamed the "silver fox" due to his prematurely graying hair, was a major league baseball outfielder and left-handed batter who played for the detroit tigers (1964â1974), montreal expos (1974) and baltimore orioles (1974â75).jim northrup at baseball reference ==career overview== northrup was a good outfielder who played significant percentages of his time in all three outfield positions. northrup's versatility allowed then-manager mayo smith to make him the tigers' center fielder in the 1968 world series, as smith famously moved regular center fielder mickey stanley to shortstop to replace the weak-hitting ray oyler. an excellent streak hitter and catalyst for detroit during the 1960s, northrup was a power hitter who had good strike-zone judgment and a short, quick stroke. in the field, he had a decent arm, a quick release and good accuracy. northrup is best remembered for his contributions to the 1968 detroit tigers world series championship team. northrup led the 1968 tigers in hits and rbis, hit five grand slams, broke up three no-hitters, and had the game-winning triple off bob gibson in game 7 of the 1968 world series. in his 12-year major league career northrup batted .267, with 153 home runs, 610 rbis, 603 runs, 218 doubles, 42 triples, and 39 stolen bases in 1392 games. ==early years== northrup was born in breckenridge, michigan, a small farm town 25 miles west of saginaw. northrup grew up on his grandfather's farm. even after the family moved six miles away to st. louis, northrup spent his summers and weekends during the winter at his grandparents' farm.{{cite web|url=http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=1583&pid=10478|title=the baseba
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