Gibson and Tigers Glad for Reunion : Baseball: Return of designated hitter to Detroit has paid off for player and team.

The man whom former owner Tom Monaghan once called a disgrace to the Tiger uniform is back in Detroit. The whiskers are as thick as ever and any warranty on that football-player body has long since expired.

So Detroit Manager Sparky Anderson had only one question for Kirk Gibson last winter.

Was he healthy?

“He’s never lied to me,” Anderson said. “I asked him one question: ‘Are you healthy?’ He said ‘Yes,’ and I said, ‘We’ll sign you.’ . . .

“I said, ‘Gibby, I have no idea what you’ll do, but I’d like to have you on the club.’ ”

And suddenly here he is, designated hitter extraordinaire, batting .333, hitting a grand slam in Friday’s series opener against the Angels, stealing a base during Saturday’s 5-2 Tiger victory, doing extra running in the darkness of the deserted Anaheim Stadium outfield 30 minutes after Saturday’s game . . .

In short, doing things the Kirk Gibson way. Hard-nosed and with a flair.

Forget the the controversies. Forget the bitterness when Gibson left Detroit for the free-agent pastures of the Dodgers after the 1987 season.

And most of all, ignore the cuts Monaghan took at Gibson in an in-house Domino’s Pizza publication that winter, severely criticizing Gibson’s grooming habits and suggesting that the Tigers were much better off without him.

Mike Ilitch, owner of Little Caesar’s Pizza and the Detroit Red Wings, purchased the Tigers from Monaghan last summer and, on Feb. 11, less than one year after he was unconditionally and unceremoniously released by Pittsburgh, Gibson, a former Michigan State football player, came home.

“With the previous ownership, I couldn’t have played here,” said Gibson, who broke in with the Tigers in 1979. “Not on my behalf; on theirs . . .

“People have been saying things about me all of my life. But you know who you are, if you’re a good person or a bad person. You know if you’re giving all you’ve got or if you’re cheating the organization.

“When (Monaghan) made statements like I’m a disgrace to the Tiger D, that was obviously an emotional statement. Anybody who has watched me knows that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“He made himself look stupid. It didn’t affect me. The repercussions were worse for him. Actually, it worked to my advantage. If you keep your mouth shut and work hard, good things will happen.”

He laid low after the Pirates released him May 5, spending the summer and winter with his wife, JoAnn, and their three children. Then, Ilitch finished the deal, talks between Gibson and the club turned more serious and a couple of weeks before spring training, he was delivered, much to the delight of Anderson.

“He’s the best guy in the world, believe me,” Anderson said. “He’ll get in the pits with you and he won’t run and hide. When the bullets are shooting, he’s going to be there. I loved him all the time he was here before.

“He should have never left Detroit. Certain players belong in certain cities. Like Paul Molitor; I was sorry to see him go to Toronto.”

The main thing Gibson wanted was a no-trade clause in his contract, which calls for $500,000 in base pay with the possibility of another $600,000 in incentives. The way Gibson figures it, he left once. He isn’t going anywhere again.