Thomas Martin Veryzer
was born on February 11, , in Port Jefferson, New York. Tom came from a sport-oriented family, his father John Veryzer was a basketball star at Manhattan College in the Bronx in the forties. Also, his older brother played baseball in the Detroit Tigers organization in the early seventies.
The six foot one, right-handed short stop, Tom Veryzer went to Islip high school on Eastern Long Island getting drafted in the first round of the draft (11th pick overall) by the Detroit Tigers.
The shortstop had a good glove & impressed right away, getting a big league call up as soon as after playing at AAA Toledo. He batted a minor league best in at AAA Evansville, getting called up for good after that season.MLB Career: In Tom came up with the Tigers as a September callup, mostly coming in as a pinch hitter or late inning replacement. In the final two games of his season, he made starts in New York playing against the A.L. New York team.
Trivia: On September 30th, the last day of the season he drove in the last run at the old A.L. New York teams' old ballpark before it's renovation. In the top of the 8th inning, he singled to left field off Lindy McDaniel bringing home Marv Lane in the Tigers win.
By Veryzer settled in as the Tigers regular shortstop replacing Ed Brinkman, who had held the position since
That June he broke up a no hitter with a two out 9th inning double against the Oakland A&#;s Ken Holtzman.
Veryzer hit with a career high five HRs & 48 RBIs while also hitting 13 doubles making the Topps All Star Rookie team. Tom was never known for his power & he would never hit more than two HRs again in a season again. On the field he made 24 errors (4th in the league) and put up a league average fielding percentage.
Veryzer was a popular player on a mid-seventies Tigers team in transition that included Mark "the Byrd" Fidrych, Rusty Staub, Ron LeFlore as well as old Tiger veterans Bill Freehan, Mickey Stanley & Willie Horton.Veryzer was Detroit&#;s main shortstop for three seasons. By he improved to being the league&#;s fourth best defensive short stop although his hitting fell to a measly with 12 doubles & 28 RBIs in games played.
In his days in Detroit were over when Allan Trammell arrived for good, as he would be the Tigers main shortstop for the next decade and a half. In the winter of Veryzer was sent to the Cleveland Indians for Charlie Spikes. Veryzer spent four seasons as the Indians main short stop, hitting a career best in both & again in In January he was traded home to the New York area to the Mets for pitcher Ray Searage.
Mets Career: Veryzer loved playing at Shea Stadium being back near Long Island where he grew up although the Mets were still a last place team. For the Mets, Tom was brought in for his veteran presence after the Mets traded short stop Frank Tavares. Tom was mainly a backup second baseman (26 games) to Wally Backman & short stop (16 games) to Ron Gardenhire making a few rare starts.
On April 5th, he debuted as a late inning defensive replacement in the second game of the year in a loss at Wrigley Field. On May 2nd he had three hit game in a loss in the first game of a doubleheader at San Francisco.
He had four more multi-hit games that month & hit well enough to hold a average by June. On June 1st, he fractured his fibula when Claudell Washington slid into him at second base in a loss to the Braves. He ended up on the DL for three months.
He returned for four games, finishing up playing in 40 games for the season. He batted () with two doubles, four RBIs & a on base %. At second base he made just two errors in 26 games ( %).
In April the Mets traded him to the Chicago Cubs due to the fact they had too many middle infielders. Tom admitted the trade hurt because he was so close to his home.
Post Mets Career: Veryzer spent two seasons in Chicago backing up Larry Bowa & Ron Cey. He haunted the Mets getting five hits in his first three games against them in the summer of
In he batted & then the following year as the Cubs beat out the Mets to win the NL East.
Post Season- NLCS: In the NLCS loss to the San Diego Padres, Tom appeared in three games going
Career Stats: In his year career Veryzer played in games, batting with hits, 14 HRs 84 doubles 12 triples & RBIs He struck out times with walks posting a on base % & OPS.
On the field he played games at short, making errors in career games with a fielding %. He also played 30 games at second, 22 games at third & two at DH. Retirement: After baseball, Tom worked for the Department of Public Works in the town of Islip. He is a member of the Suffold County Sports Hall of Fame.
Family:Tom & his wife Vivian had three children. Vivian worked as a nurse in the Islip school district.
Passing: In , Veryzer suffered a stroke & passed away in July at age 61 in Islip, Long Island. His remains were cremated.