1984 Detroit Tigers | |
---|---|
American League East Champions American League Champions World Series Champions |
|
Major League affiliations | |
|
|
|
|
Location | |
|
|
|
|
Other information | |
Owner(s) | Tom Monaghan |
General manager(s) | Bill Lajoie |
Manager(s) | Sparky Anderson |
Local television |
WDIV-TV (George Kell, Al Kaline) PASS (Bill Freehan, Larry Osterman) |
Local radio |
WJR (Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey) |
< Previous season Next season > |
The 1984 Detroit Tigers won the 1984 World Series, defeating the San Diego Padres, 4 games to 1. The season was their 84th since they entered the American League in 1901 and their fourth World Series championship. Detroit relief pitcher Willie Hernández won the Cy Young Award and was chosen as the American League Most Valuable Player. The 1984 season is also notable for the Tigers leading the AL East division wire-to-wire. They opened with a 9–0 start, were 35–5 after 40 games, and never relinquished the lead during the entire season.
Catcher Lance Parrish, known as the "Big Wheel", led the team in home runs (33) and RBIs (98) -- and strikeouts (120) as well. Parrish was the starting catcher for the American League All Star team and won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards in 1984. He hit 2 home runs and had 5 RBIs in postseason play.
Dave Bergman was acquired from the Giants (via the Phillies) in March 1984 and became the Tigers' principal first baseman, playing 114 games at the position. He hit .273 in the regular season, but failed to get a hit in 5 games of the 1984 World Series. On June 4, 1984, Bergman had an 11th inning at-bat at home in a big game against second-place Toronto, who at that point trailed the Tigers by only five games. The at-bat lasted 13 pitches (7 minutes), with Bergman fouling off seven straight pitches from Roy Lee Jackson before hitting a walk-off, three-run home run. Sparky Anderson called it the greatest at-bat he had ever seen.