Michael Russell Laga (born June 14, 1960) is a former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

and

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

in the 1980s and 1990s. He is best known for once hitting a foul ball out of the second

Busch Stadium Busch Stadium (also referred to informally as "New Busch Stadium" or "Busch Stadium III") is a baseball stadium located in St. Louis, Missouri. The stadium serves as the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) f ...

(September 15, 1986). Laga played for the 1984 World Series Champion Detroit Tigers, going 6–11 that year with a .545 average for the year, but did not appear in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. Nor did he appear in the

1987 World Series The 1987 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1987 season. The 84th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Minnesota Twins and the Nation ...

for the

. In his career, Laga played in 188 major league games and had 84 hits, 55 RBIs, 39 runs scored, and 16 home runs. He also hit 32 home runs in , playing for

Daiei , based in Kobe, is one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan. In 1957, Isao Nakauchi founded the chain in Osaka near Sembayashi Station on the Keihan train line. Daiei is now under a restructuring process supported by Marubeni Corporation ...

of the Japanese League. He also played for the Hawks in . Laga currently lives in

Florence, Massachusetts Florence is a village in the northwestern portion of the city of Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. During the 19th century, Florence was a thriving manufacturing village shaped by progressive ideas on religion, abolitionism, and educa ...

. He has three children. Laga graduated from Ramsey High School in

Ramsey, New Jersey Ramsey is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located northwest of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's popula ...

and attended

Bergen Community College Bergen Community College is a public community college in Bergen County, New Jersey. It was founded in 1965 and opened in 1968. , it is the largest community college in the state, with sites in Paramus, Hackensack, and Lyndhurst and 13,352 stu ...

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Detroit Tigers players St. Louis Cardinals players Fukuoka Daiei Hawks players American expatriate baseball players in Japan Bergen Community College alumni Major League Baseball first basemen Nashville Sounds players Lakeland Tigers players Evansville Triplets players Louisville Redbirds players Phoenix Firebirds players Birmingham Barons players Baseball players from New Jersey People from Ramsey, New Jersey People from Ridgewood, New Jersey Ramsey High School (New Jersey) alumni San Francisco Giants players Sportspeople from Bergen County, New Jersey 1960 births Living people {{US-baseball-first-baseman-stub