June 13, 1984: Blue Jays 7 – Tigers 3

June 13, 1984: Blue Jays 7 – Tigers 3

W: Dave Stieb (8-2) – L: Milt Wilcox (7-4) | Boxscore

Record: 44-16 — 6 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • The Tigers were down 7-0 heading to the eighth. Wilcox, five innings, four runs, and Doug Bair, two innings, three runs, took the brunt of the damage.
  • Stieb shut down Detroit over seven innings, allowing just three hits.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Exhibition Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – John Hirschbeck, 1B – Steve Palermo, 2B – Dave Phillips, 3B – Jerry Neudecker
  • Time of Game: 2:28
  • Attendance: 34,122

Steve Baker – RHP #31

Steve Baker‘s major-league debut was a good one. On May 25, 1978, he started against the Orioles and went 61/3 and allowed just one run on eight hits and six strikeouts. Baltimore scored off of John Hiller in the eighth to take a 2-1 lead, and that was the final score.

According to his profile in the 1979 Tigers Yearbook, managers in the American Association, to which Triple-A Evansville belonged, in 1978 picked Baker as “the best prospect and pitcher with the best curve.”

He pitched in 15 games for the ’78 Tigers, 10 of them starts, finishing with a 2-4 record and a 4.55 ERA.

In 1979, Baker’s career with the Tigers nosedived in a hurry.

On April 26, he started against the Brewers and in his 52/3 innings gave up four runs on seven hits and five walks. He won his next start, 5-2 against the White Sox.

May wasn’t kind to Baker, June and July were worse — and, well, August just piled on.

  • June: Three starts, 121/3 innings, 13 earned runs.
  • July: Four starts, 271/3 innings, 16 earned runs
  • August: One appearance, 4 innings, six hits, four earned runs

When the dust settled, Baker had just one scoreless appearance all year, and finished 1-7 with a 6.64 ERA and one save.

He began the 1980 season in Evansville before the Blue Jays purchased his contract on June 6. Baker’s final Tigers line: 3-11, 5.74 ERA and that one save.

Birthdays

James McCann, Drew Smyly, Justin Miller, Bob Strampe, the late Gene Desautels and Marty Kavanagh

See you tomorrow.

June 12, 1984: Blue Jays 12 – Tigers 3

June 12, 1984: Blue Jays 12 – Tigers 3

W: Jim Clancy (5-6) – L: Jack Morris (11-3) | Boxscore

Record: 44-15 — 7 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • All the highlights in this one belonged to the Blue Jays. They took it to all three Tigers pitchers.
  • Morris: Three innings, eight hits, six runs.
  • Sid Monge: Four innings, six hits, three runs.
  • Oh, here’s one Tigers highlight: Lou Whitaker went three for four with a single, double and triple

Miscellany

  • Venue: Exhibition Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Jerry Neudecker, 1B – John Hirschbeck, 2B – Steve Palermo, 3B – Dave Phillips
  • Time of Game: 2:43
  • Attendance: 40,437

Elias Sosa #36

Here are five things to know about right-hander Elias Sosa, who spent one year in Detroit:

  1. Sosa was sent to the Tigers by the Expos on March 30, 1982 as part of a conditional deal. I have no idea what that means.
  2. He made his Tigers debut on April 12, 1982, pitching the ninth inning in a 9-5 Tigers loss.
  3. Of his 38 appearances, 23 were multiple innings, and he averaged 12/3 innings of work.
  4. Sosa’s longest outing was a five-inning stint on July 12 against the White Sox.
  5. His final line: 3-3 record, 4.43 ERA and four saves. The Padres purchased his contract from the Tigers on Oct. 7, 1982.

Birthdays

Avisaíl García, Scott Aldred and the late Matty McIntyre

See you tomorrow.

June 11, 1984: Tigers 5 – Blue Jays 4

June 11, 1984: Tigers 5 – Blue Jays 4

W: Dave Rozema (2-0) – L: Luis Leal (6-1) – S: Willie Hernández (10) | Boxscore

Record: 44-14 — 8 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • Detroit knocked around Leal with nine hits in six innings: three doubles, a triple and a Kirk Gibson home run.
  • Rozema went five, allowing three runs on four hits. Newcomer Sid Monge was immediately pressed into duty; he faced one batter, threw two pitches and gave up a single.
  • Willy pitched 21/3 scoreless, yielding a hit and striking out three.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Exhibition Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Dave Phillips, 1B – Jerry Neudecker, 2B – John Hirschbeck, 3B – Steve Palermo
  • Time of Game: 3:04
  • Attendance: 35,062
  • Start Time Weather: 75° F / 24° C

Birthdays

Ezequiel Carrera, Adam Pettyjohn, John Doherty and the late Archie Yelle

See you tomorrow.

June 10, 1984: Doubleheader in Baltimore

June 10, 1984: Game 1 Tigers 10 – Orioles 4

W: Doug Bair (3-0) – L: Mike Boddicker (7-5) – Save: Willie Hernández (9) | Boxscore

Record: 42-14

Highlights

  • The Tigers got to Boddicker early, five runs on seven hits in 41/3 innings. Glenn Abbott faired slightly less bad: three runs, seven hits in 22/3.
  • Bair threw 31/3 scoreless, one-hit innings.
  • The game featured 24 hits — 13 by Detroit — and the Orioles made four errors.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Memorial Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Jim Evans, 1B – Greg Kosc, 2B – Ted Hendry, 3B – Drew Coble
  • Time of Game: 2:48

Game 2 Tigers 8 – Orioles 0

W: Dan Petry (9-3) – L: Dennis Martínez (1-3) | Boxscore

Record: 43-14 — 7 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • Petry was stellar: a complete-game three-hitter.
  • All told: Gibby had six hits and six RBI in the two games‚ while Tram and Johnson each had five hits. Lou scored five runs in the first game. 

Miscellany

  • Venue: Memorial Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Greg Kosc, 1B – Ted Hendry, 2B – Drew Coble, 3B – Jim Evans
  • Time of Game: 2:44
  • Attendance: 51,764

Then, After the Doubleheader …

George Kell informed us that “the Tigers just announced they have acquired the rights to left-handed pitcher … (and it seemed like an eternity before revealing it was …) Sid Monge.”

Birthdays

Al Alburquerque, Elias Sosa and Hank Foiles

See you tomorrow.

June 9, 1984: Orioles 4 – Tigers 0

June 9, 1984: Orioles 4 – Tigers 0

W: Mike Flanagan (5-4) – L: Juan Berenguer (3-4)| Boxscore

Record: 41-14 — 51/2 games up on Toronto

Highlights

(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
  • The second time in a week that the Tigers were shutdown by the masterful Flanagan: a complete game, allowing seven hits, no walks and two strikeouts.
  • This was just the Tigers’ third shutout of the year.
  • Carl Willis made his major-league debut, pitching the final 21/3, giving up just one hit and a walk.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Memorial Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Drew Coble, 1B – Jim Evans, 2B – Greg Kosc, 3B – Ted Hendry
    Time of Game: 2:41
    Attendance: 44,404

John Pacella #27 and #43

Here are a few things to know about John Pacella, who spent part of the year with the 1986 Tigers:

The Brooklyn-born right-hander made his major-league debut on Sept. 15, 1977, his 21st birthday, for the Mets against the Phillies.

Fast forward to Dec. 28, 1984 when the Tigers signed Pacella. He spent the ’85 season with the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate in Nashville posting a 7-7 mark with a 3.23 ERA. In 1986, he started the year with the Sounds notching a 7-6 record and 2.90 ERA before getting called up to Detroit.

His first Tigers appearance came on June 16 at Baltimore. He pitched 11/3 scoreless innings and earned the save. Pacella pitched four more times for the Tigers that year; his longest outing was 52/3 innings against the Yankees in which he allowed seven walks.

His final major-league appearance was on July 12, 1986, at Kansas City. He faced Greg Pryor in the bottom of the seventh and gave up an RBI single. The Tigers lost, 7-4.

Pacella started the 1987 season with Detroit’s new Triple-A club, the Toledo Mud Hens. On June 30, 1987, the Yokohama Bay Stars purchased his contract from Detroit. In 1988 he was back in the States pitching at the Triple-A level for the Brewers, Orioles and then, hey now, the Tigers.

After 19 professional seasons, six major league, 13 minor league, Pacella finished with a mark of 4-10, 5.73 ERA in the majors, 71-86, 3.94 in the minors.

Birthdays

The late Billy Baldwin

See you tomorrow.

June 8, 1984: Tigers 3 – Orioles 2

June 8, 1984: Tigers 3 – Orioles 2

W: Milt Wilcox (7-3) – L: Storm Davis (6-2) – Save: Willie Hernández (8) | Boxscore

Record: 41-13; 51/2 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • A solid start for Milt: six-and-a-third innings, four hits and two runs.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Memorial Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Ted Hendry, 1B – Drew Coble, 2B – Jim Evans, 3B – Greg Kosc
  • Time of Game: 3:18
  • Attendance: 50,361

Birthdays

Matt Perisho, Dave Mlicki, Kevin Ritz and Joe Grzenda

See you tomorrow.

June 7, 1984: Tigers 5 – Blue Jays 3

June 7, 1984: Tigers 5 – Blue Jays 3

W: Jack Morris (11-2) – LJim Clancy (4-6) | Boxscore

Record: 40-13

Highlights

  • Another complete game for Morris; he allowed seven hits, struck out four and walked just one.
  • Ruppert Jones earned the Rooftop nickname after launching his first Tigers homer, a three-run shot, off Clancy in the sixth inning.
  • Despite the 35-5 start and the Tigers earning their 40th win of the year, the Blue Jays were not far behind with 36 wins. Forty years later it’s still too close for comfort.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Bill Kunkel, 1B – Terry Cooney, 2B – Richard Shulock, 3B – Derryl Cousins
  • Time of Game: 2:38
  • Attendance: 40,879

Ray Bare #21

Here are five things to know about the late right-hander Ray Bare:

  1. The Tigers selected him off waivers from the Cardinals on April 4, 1975.
  2. Bare debuted on April 10, 1975, pitching the ninth inning in at in an Orioles 10-0 rout. He allowed two runs on two hits and a pair of walks.
  3. He appeared in 59 games for the Tigers over 1975 and ’76, 42 of those were starts. His 8-13 record in 1975 falls in line with that bad Tigers team.
  4. His final major-league game was on May 3, 1977, a 13-0 Rangers blowout. Bare came into the game with two outs in the second inning, and the Tigers down 6-0. He allowed four hits and three runs and was lifted without recording an out.
  5. Bare’s final record with the Tigers: 15-23 and a 4.94 ERA.

Birthdays

Mark Lowe, Virgil Vasquez and the late Ed Wells

See you tomorrow.

June 6, 1984: Blue Jays 6 – Tigers 3

June 6, 1984: Blue Jays 6 – Tigers 3

W: Luis Leal (6-0) – L: Dan Petry (8-3) | Boxscore

Record: 39-13

Highlights

  • Peaches got pummeled: Four innings, 10 hits, five earned runs. Aurelio López pitched four innings of relief.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Derryl Cousins, 1B – Bill Kunkel, 2B – Terry Cooney, 3B – Richard Shulock
  • Time of Game: 2:36
  • Attendance: 38,167

Ed Glynn #48

Here are a few things to know about lefty Ed Glynn.

  • The Tigers signed him as an amateur free agent on Sept. 25, 1971.
  • In parts of four seasons with Detroit, he appeared in 26 games — 10 being the high-water mark, in 1978 — and had a final record of 3-6 and a 4.93 ERA.
  • Along the way, he made eight starts and on Sept. 12, 1976, he pitched a complete game against the Yankees but took the loss in the 3-1 New York win.

Birthdays

Will Vest, Tyler Collins, Collin Balester, Eddie Bonine and the late Dave Bergman, Chet Morgan and Izzy Goldstein

See you tomorrow.

June 5, 1984: Blue Jays 8 – Tigers 4

June 5, 1984: Blue Jays 8 – Tigers 4

W: Jim Acker (1-2) – L: Glenn Abbott (2-2) | Boxscore

Record: 39-12

Highlights

  • Neither starter, Abbott for the Tigers or Doyle Alexander, made it out of the fourth inning.
  • Together Abbott and Doug Bair allowed three fourth-inning homers to give the Jays a 7-2 lead.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Richard Shulock, 1B – Derryl Cousins, 2B – Bill Kunkel, 3B – Terry Cooney
  • Time of Game: 3:05
  • Attendance: 35,983

Birthdays

Duke Sims and the late Herb Hall and Frank Huelsman

See you tomorrow.