The 1984-Detroit-Tigers rode a sizzling 35-5 start...

... all the way to a World's Championship! The-1984-Detroit-Tigers had been on an 8 year rebuilding program, gradually improving and putting pieces in place... by 1983, they'd won 92 games and fnished a mere 6 games behind the eventual World Champion Orioles and Detroit fans had a lot to be hopeful about in the off-season. … but the big news was the sale of the club, which had been owned for ages by John Fetzer… sold to Domino’s Pizza mogul Tom Monaghan for $53 million bucks… talk about getting in at the right time! … and things were changing in the way the Tigers were doing bidness… they actually signed a premier free agent… Darrell (UFO) Evans to provide power and leadership as an older guy- 37 years old- on a younger, though experienced, team. Since Evans rights were selected by 18 teams, this was

Darrell Evans

a stunner... the Tigers were first to offer a 3 year contract… other teams offered only 2 year deals. “I want a World Series ring on my finger… I’ve played 15 years, but have never gone to spring training thinking I was on a team with a shot to win it all. Now I am,” was an optimistic Evan’s comment before he headed to Lakeland. Since it had been 16 years without a pennant, us Tiger fans sure hoped he was right!

Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker

But make no mistake, this was a very talented club and a very strong defensive team, especially up the middle with gold glovers Parish, Trammell, Whitaker and Lemon who could also have won one. But, as always, there were a few concerns… shortstop Alan Trammell’s knee was a bit of a worry… he needed arthroscopic surgery after injuring it on Halloween, falling down while wearing a Frankenstein costume… and third base was another question… Tom Brookens' bat has been declining, young Howard Johnson could hit, but his glove was questionable… they don’t give him much respect (but he’ll turn into a pretty good one after he's

traded). Could Glenn Wilson move from the outfield to 3rd? He’d played there in the minors, but was not very good. How about rookie Barbaro Garbey… or even Evans??

Kirk Gibson will be given a chance in right field… he’s struggled out there in the past, but Sparky Anderson sees great potential in him despite a bat that’s been declining the past 2 years. Glenn Wilson was there last year and if Gibson can learn the position, he could be traded for more pitching… Tiger legend Al Kaline will tutor Gibson in right… he’d not been very willing to learn that position in the past but was told by Anderson that right would be his only opportunity to play regularly.

….. and then it happened: On March 24, the Tigers sent the disgruntled John Wockenfuss and the gruntled Glenn Wilson to Philadelphia in a three way deal in exchange for pitcher Willie Hernandez and first baseman Dave Bergman. This gave the Tigers the left handed closer they desperately needed and pretty much freed up right field for Gibson who had been making progress under Kaline. St. Louis manager Whitey Herzog said, after the Tigers picked up Herndandez, “If Detroit doesn’t win by 10 games, Sparky should be fired.” So the stage was set… the pizzas.. er pieces.. were in place… now the fun begins! The season opened with an 8-1 victory in the Metrodome as Evans paid off right away with a 3-run homer and Jack Morris beat the Twins…and the snowball started rolling- 2 game sweep in Minny and then on to Chicago! …and on April 7 in Comiskey Park, Morris became first Tiger to hurl a no hitter since Senator Jim Bunning in 1958. Morris silenced the White Sox to keep the Tigers at a

Willie Hernandez

perfect 4-0 on a Saturday afternoon en route to a series sweep, bringing the Bengals to the Motor City to open their home schedule at a perfect 5-0… the first time THAT had happened in years…and the home opener… 1st inning, expensive free-agent Darrell Evans at the plate… and he cranks one into the right field porch and the Tigers stay perfect and the crowd goes wild and we think this is may be OUR year!

Nine wins in a row, 16 of first 17…UNHEARD OF--- sweeps of Chicago, Texas, Minnesota… 1 little loss to KC mixed in there… and these games weren’t usually close- 3 of first 11 wins by 1 run, 2 by 3 runs and the rest by 4 or more-This club was dominating baseball!

Some strange things:
Did you know that on Friday, April 13, Lance Parish , number 13, scored the 13th run in the Tigers 13-9 win at Boston?

Darrell Evans claims to have seen a flying “wing” in 1982. “I believe there is something out there. If there are aliens, they’ve been out there longer than we have. They’ve evolved beyond war. They’ve got through it and they want to come and show us how. I hope it happens.”

Backup catcher Dwight Lowry missed 2nd base on a home run by Lou Whitaker, the appeal was overruled because Cleveland 2nd baseman Julio Franco didn’t indicate the specific baserunner

…and on a trip to Oakland, when a female reporter entered the Tiger locker room, Gibson’s tasteless remarks caused her to leave… his teammates didn’t appreciate his behavior

Lance Parrish

Barbaro Garbey, a 1980 Cuban refugee- part of the famous Mariel Boatlift, the “Freedom Flotilla”, got off to a smoking start, leading the league after 20 games at .463. Garbey had some problems in the prior year- an altercation with a heckling fan, an a suspected game-fixing incident in Cuba, which he was cleared of. Still it was difficult for him with his wife and family remaining on that imprisoned island.…but everyone was hitting and pitching well… probably the only struggling Tiger was Lance Parrish, but he consoled himself with the knowledge that his quiet bat hadn’t really cost the Tigers who had reached a record of 22-4 in early May. His defense, however,was still good. He’d thrown out 9 of the 14 baserunners who dared to run on him. As they became first team ever to win 26 or their first 30 games and 14-0 on the road… the Tigers were becoming a national sensation… high profile actors such as Tom Selleck and George C. Scott were sporting the Old English D on their weekly programs… Disney’s

“Tigertown” movie was released, based (loosely) on Al Kaline- heck everyone in Michigan was into the Tigers… McDonalds’ was selling caps for $1.99. (I once went in and asked for 5 of them… the guy actually asked if I wanted fries with that. Really.)

The pitching was good, but the sticks were really carrying the club…Morris, Petry & Wilcox were a combined 20-2, but the Tigers had scored over 130 runs in those games! The record reached 35-5, but a 3 game sweep by Seattle brought the team somewhat down to earth with the Mariners fans chanting “Sweep-Sweep-Sweep” as the weekend series concluded with a 7-4 loss… strangely enough, Seattle was swept in its next 3 games by Baltimore… Coupled with a Toronto Blue Jay surge, the lead with a 35-8 record was just 5 games! …a burning issue was whether the Tigers should continue to play “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” by John Denver in the fifth inning while the crew dragged the infield. Team Prez Jim Campbell indicated that it would be dropped if the public indicated thus, but “no rock n’ roll,”

Dan Petry

One of the biggest moments of the season occurred on June 4 when the Tigers had skidded a bit—had lost 6 of 9 and leading the Blue Jays by 4½ games… After the Tigers had clawed back from an early deficit and forced extra innings, Dave Bergman faced Roy Jackson in the bottom of the 10th. Bergman had fouled off 5 then 6 then 7 pitches when on a 1-2 count he launched a 3 run homer into the right field porch- one of the biggest hits of the season…and Bergie’s first as a Tiger… larger even because the Jays took the next 2 games of the series… “The best at-bat I’ve ever seen, without a doubt,” said coach Dick Tracewski.

… and in the stands, the “Wave” was the big hit… and they ran it several ways, backward-forward, upper deck going one way while the lower deck went the other… fast motion- slow motion… a lot of fun- except for a few grouches that is!

Willie Hernandez	Then onto a big series in Baltimore over 95 degrees for each game… Hernandez needed to pick up starters who tired in heat on June 10 in a GI-NORMOUS doubleheader win while Toronto was losing- this extended the lead to 7 and on June 24 Morris came back from a tender elbow which had cost him 3 starts to win his 12th against Milwaukee and pick up his 100 career win … He’d only missed one start in the past 5 years and overshadowed Ruppert “Roofert” Jones who became the 9th player to hit a home run over the rightfield roof! Willie Hernandez was pitching better in the 2nd 40 games than in the first and was a main reason why the team didn’t collapse as they played mediocre ball after the blazing start… Morris’ ERA was over 6.00 in his last nine starts, partially due to a sore elbow, and an erratic workload due to Sparky resting him sporadically… Petry and Juan Berengeur were pitching only a little better while Dave Rozema and Milt Wilcox carried the staff. But some things were going right- at the break, the Tigers hadn’t grounded into a double play in 14 games. For the second 40 game block, they were only 20-20 to bring the season record to 55-25.

The All Star break came showing a record of 57-27 and a 7 game lead… attendance was over a half million ahead of last year which was on a pace to SMASH all Detroit records!

AND IN THE SECOND HALF:
Friday the (July) 13th was lucky for the Tigers as Lou Whitaker’s 9th inning 2 run inside-the park home run, which bounced in front of-and over- the left fielder… was the margin of a 5-3 victory over the Twins in the Metrodome.

… and when the going got tough, Jack Morris reacted badly, declaring that he’d no longer talk to the press , and leaving the ballpark early after getting kayoed, among other things. Pitching coach Roger Craig said “He’s acting like a little baby. He’s letting his temper get the best of him and he’s upsetting the entire club. Obviously he still has a lot of growing up to do.” Trammell went on the DL with a sore shoulder and was being replaced by Doug Baker, but they won 9 of 10 following the All Star Break to right their ship somewhat… the only loser was Morris who got hammered by Chicago 10-6 on July 18 and Toronto’s Cliff Johnson noted “We don’t like to lose any games, but Secretariat couldn’t catch Detroit this year.”

Jack Morris

… but it wasn’t over yet…trouble was looming… the early August schedule called for 3 doubleheaders in 3 days (and 4 in 8)- unprecedented… and what would it do to the pitching staff, not to mention the 8 game lead over Toronto… the 8 game lead which had shrunk from 12½ in 5 days as KC swept 4 in Detroit… all of a sudden, it was looking like we might have a real race as Toronto was a good club.

Some roster shuffling was done in order to shore up the pitching… fan favorite Rusty Kuntz was sent down briefly to Evansville and replaced by pitcher Carl Willis- Rusty had come up 9 times with a runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs and had driven in the run EVERY time. That’s smart hitting.

But the doubleheader stretch actually went pretty well… the road trip ended up at 5-3 featuring a 3 game sweep as payback to the Royals in their ballpark… and all of a sudden things were a lot better and the lead was up to 9 games by August 12!

…and Aurelio Lopez contributed big time, pitching a ton of relief innings, while Hernandez got all the credit as the closer- but he was doing a great job too…

Aurelio Lopez

but Trammell’s sore elbow had deteriorated into numbness and tendonitis and his stay on the disabled list became longer with no real end in sight- Baker had replaced him… Tom Brookens was doing it now, but they were certainly to Trammell. Morris was an emotional mess… he’d blown a 5-0 lead against the Angels, but didn’t bother to congratulate his teammates after they rallied to win the game. “He should act like he’s part of this team. It’s not enough to pout in the corner,” said Gibson about the righthander. But even Mount Morris couldn’t ruin things… they passed 2 million in attenance on August 16 and set a team record the following night… and remodeled Tiger Stadium was getting more attention as seldom-used 3rd deck press box sections were receiving new paint and cleanings for playoff and {hopefully} World Series guests!

The MVP debate started heating up… traditional candidates would be Gibson or Trammell, but it looked like Willie Hernandez would get very serious

consideration… even the players seemed to agree that Willie was the team’s MVP- and if he was Tiger MVP, the league award should be pretty much case-closed. Willie was offered to Toronto for Jesse Barfield, but the Jays turned the deal down… and Toronto’s bullpen was their real weak spot- how would things have been different if that deal had been made? The team won 7 out of 10 and built the lead to 12½ games and headed out west… not a good trip… they lost 5 out of nine and had the lead trimmed down to 8½ over that blasted Toronto team which wouldn’t go away. After losing 2 of 3 to Baltimore, they headed to Toronto for the Jays’ last gasp chance and they SWEPT ‘EM! This put it out of reach… an 11½ game lead and time to get those playoff tickets… Jay killer Bergman had a 4 hit game with a game winning HR in the 10th inning- … Gibson cranked 3 over the fence

Kirk Gibson

in the series and Hernandez ran his streak to 28 saves in 28 chances.

The divisional championship was clinched on September 18 as rookie Randy O’Neal beat the Brewers in his first major league start… 4 hits in 7 innings and saved by Hernandez who made it to 30 out of 30… 22 cases of champagne were guzzled, spilled and sparyed… “I’ve never been around a team that had more pressure on it from May on. Everyone was waiting for them to crack and they didn’t” Anderson said.

Sparky Anderson	When the team won it’s 100th game on September 23, the crowd refused to leave until Sparky Anderson returned to the field for a curtain call… for a manager? Unheard of… except when you consider that he was the first to win over 100 games with two different teams! … and the final home attendance exceeded 2.7 million, second best ever for an American League team! Only the 4th team in MLB history to lead from wire-to-wire and first since the ’55 Brooklyn Dodgers… The playoffs were a case of a mismatch… Kansas City came in- they’d have finished 20 games behind Detroit if they were in the East. Detroit disposed of these pretenders in 3 games 8-1, 5-3, and 1-0 on a gem by Milt Wilcox with the save going to ….. Guess Who??? Click here for a summary of the World Series!