Jim Northrup

Trivia

• Currently, he is the CEO of Jim Northrup and Associates, a manufacturer's representative firm in Southfield, Michigan. He was inducted in the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame (2000), and also has been a supporter of many college activities.
• From 1985-1994, Northrup was a color analyst for the Tigers on the PASS Sports cable television service.
• After retiring from baseball, Northrup signed with the Detroit Caesars, a professional softball team and played two seasons (1977-1978).
• Northrup earned $76,000 a year with the Tigers in 1973. Northrup calculated that he earned $418,000 in his 12-year career in the major leagues.
• Northrup retired after the 1974 season. He later noted: “I’d had enough. I’d been away from home too much, and I wasn’t with my kids enough. So that was the end of it.”
• In August 1974, the Tigers sold Northrup to the Montreal Expos. Northrup played in only 21 games for the Expos before being traded to the Baltimore Orioles in September.
• Martin was fired by the Tigers before the 1973 season was over, but Northrup’s time with the Tigers was also nearing an end.
• Northrup had played in at least 130 games for the Tigers for 7 straight years, but in 1973 he played in only 119 games.
• In 1973, a 33-year-old Northrup hit .307 –- the highest batting average of his career. Despite his solid hitting, Martin kept Northup on the bench for part of the year.
• In the decisive 5th game of the 1972 American League Championship Series, the mutual dislike between Martin and Northrup may have affected Martin’s judgment.