Aug. 6, 1984: Doubleheader Madness Begins

Thanks to April rainouts, the Tigers and Red Sox played back-to-back doubleheaders in Boston. These follow the schedule doubleheader against the Royals on Aug. 5.

Game 1: Tigers 9 – Red Sox 6

Rescheduled from the April 15 rainout.

W: Aurelio López – L: Bob Ojeda (9-9) – S: Willie Hernández (23) | Boxscore

Record: 73-39 — 8.5 games up on Toronto

Highlights

A classic 198o’s slugfest: 16 runs on 31 hits.

Five Tigers had two or more hits, and Chet Lemon had three including his 15th home run of the year. Lance Parrish and Tom Brookens also homered.

Dan Petry started and last 4^2/3 innings and gave up six runs on 11 hits and two walks.

Miscellany

Venue: Fenway Park
Umpires: HP – Jim McKean, 1B – Durwood Merrill, 2B – Dan Morrison, 3B – Tim Welke
Time of Game: 3:17

Game 2: Red Sox 10 – Tigers 2

W: Roger Clemens (6-4) – L: Carl Willis (0-2) | Boxscore

Record: 73-39 — 8.5 games up on Toronto

Highlights

Yikes. The Red Sox battered three Tigers pitchers — primarily starter Willis and relief man Doug Bair — for 15 hits.

Willis got only one batter out and it was a productive one for Jim Rice, who drove in the game’s first run. All told: 1/3 of an inning, five hits and four earned runs.

Bair pitched the next 4^2/3 innings and allowed five runs on six hits.

Wade Boggs (4 for 5) and Tony Armas (3 for 4) had almost half of Boston’s hits. Boggs had two homers, and he and Mike Easler both drove in three runs.

Howard Johnson hit a solo home run off Clemens in the seventh.

Miscellany

Venue: Fenway Park
Umpires: HP – Durwood Merrill, 1B – Dan Morrison, 2B – Tim Welke, 3B – Jim McKean
Time of Game: 2:55
Attendance: 31,055

See you tomorrow.

July 27, 1984: Doubleheader vs. Boston

Game 1: Tigers 9 – Red Sox 1

W: Dan Petry (14-4) – L: Bruce Hurst (10-6) | Boxscore

Record: 69-30 — 12.5 games up on Toronto

Highlights

The Tigers scored two in the first on a Chet Lemon homer and a — wait for it — Lance Parrish steal of home. They tacked on two more in the sixth then blew it open with five in the seventh.

Petry threw a complete game, allowing just the one run on a Rich Gedman solo homer with one out in the ninth.

This is another one of those “I was there” doubleheaders, sitting in the upper deck bleachers. When the Tigers won, my friends and I were reveling in the thought of, if Detroit swept, they would be 70-30 after 100 games. Alas …

Miscellany

Venue: Tiger Stadium
Umpires: HP – Mike Reilly, 1B – Tim McClelland, 2B – Don Denkinger, 3B – Al Clark
Time of Game: 2:30

Game 2: Red Sox 4 – Tigers 0

W: Bob Ojeda (9-7) – L: Glenn Abbott (3-3) | Boxscore

Record: 69-31 — 12 games up on Toronto

Highlights

Ojeda shutout the Tigers for the second time in 1984 — the first was 1-0 on May 3 when he allowed six hits and struck out 10 — and this time he was even better. The lefty allowed just three hits in this complete game domination.

On the other side, Glenn Abbott was not good: 3^1/3 innings, 10 hits, a walk and four earned runs.

Rusty Kuntz led off the bottom of the first with a single and the Tigers would not get another hit until the seventh.

Wade Boggs went 4 for 5 and Marty Barrett 3 for 3.

Miscellany

Venue: Tiger Stadium
Umpires: HP – Tim McClelland, 1B – Don Denkinger, 2B – Al Clark, 3B – Mike Reilly
Time of Game: 2:22
Attendance: 49,607

Birthdays

Max Scherzer and the late Ray Boone, Charley Hall and Harry Kane (born Harry Cohen)

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 82 6/9 — Rarity: 345

See you tomorrow.

July 21, 1984: Tigers 7 – Rangers 6

W: Sid Monge (3-1) – L: Dickie Noles (3-3) – S: Willie Hernández (19) | Boxscore

Record: 65-39 — 9 games up on Toronto

Highlights

You could file this one under “winning ugly.” The Tigers gave Glenn Abbott a 2-0 lead but he couldn’t hold it — he was pulled with one out in the third after giving up five runs on five hits.

Thankfully, Rangers’ starter Dickie Noles was worse: 4^2/3 innings, six hits, five walks and seven runs.

Sid Monge pitched four strong innings of middle relief before handing it over to Doug Bair and Willie Hernández.

Chet Lemon, Tom Brookens, Kirk Gibson each made an error.

Ruppert Jones, Chet, Howard Johnson and Dave Bergman each had two hits.

Miscellany

Venue: Tiger Stadium
Umpires: HP – Dale Ford, 1B – Larry Barnett, 2B – Rocky Roe, 3B – Ken Kaiser
Time of Game: 2:38
Attendance: 46,219

Birthdays

Kimera Bartee and Denny Harriger

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 476 9/9: Rarity: 17

See you tomorrow.

July 20, 1984: Tigers 3 – Rangers 1

W: Dave Rozema (7-1) – L: Frank Tanana (9-9) – S: Willie Hernández (18) | Boxscore

Record: 64-29

Highlights

Another pitchers duel in this series, with Rozema and Tanana nearly matching each other.

Both starters went eight innings, Rozema allowed six hits to Tanana’s eight. Rozey fanned four; Tanana, five.

The difference in the game was Bárbaro Garbey third-inning, two-run homer; Chet Lemon, who had three hits, also homered.

Miscellany

Venue: Tiger Stadium
Umpires: HP – Ken Kaiser, 1B – Dale Ford, 2B – Larry Barnett, 3B – Rocky Roe
Time of Game: 2:16
Attendance: 39,484

Birthdays

Mickey Stanley, Heinie Manush, Mutt Wilson and Red McKee

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 475 8/9: Rarity: 122

See you tomorrow.

July 16, 1984: Tigers 7 – White Sox 1

W: Glenn Abbott (3-2) – L: LaMarr Hoyt (8-10) | Boxscore

Record: 61-28 — 8 games up on Toronto

Highlights

A complete-game gem for Glenn Abbott: nine innings, five hits, one walk. The only blemish was Ron Kittle‘s two-out, ninth-inning solo homer.

Kirk Gibson went two for three with a first-inning homer and a fifth-inning triple, both off Hoyt.

Chet Lemon had two hits.

Miscellany

Venue: Tiger Stadium
Umpires: HP – Ted Hendry, 1B – Drew Coble, 2B – Mark Johnson, 3B – Greg Kosc
Time of Game: 2:29
Attendance: 41,935

Jim Lentine OF – #27

The Tigers picked up the right-handed hitting outfielder Jim Lentine on June 2, 1980, from the Cardinals for Al Greene and John Martin.

Lentine made his Tigers debut the following day against the Mariners in Detroit. Sparky slotted him seventh in the lineup, playing left field; he went 0 for 3.

On June 6, he had one of his best days at the plate, going 3 for 4 against the Brewers. On June 8, he hit his only Tigers home run: a leadoff shot to left off Milwaukee’s Bill Travers.

He appeared in 67 games for the 1980 Tigers, and finished with a .261 average, with one home run, 17 RBI and a .719 OPS.

Lentine’s final big-league appearance came on Oct. 5, 198o, the last game of the season, against the Yankees. He started the game at DH, batting eighth, and finished 0 for 1 with a walk. In his final plate appearance he flied out to left off Tim Lollar.

The Tigers released him at the end of Spring Training 1981.

Birthdays

Jim Lentine and the late Don Ross, Marv Peasley and Johnnie Williams

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 471 9/9: Rarity: 21

See you tomorrow.

July 15, 1984: Tigers 6 – Twins 2

W: Dave Rozema (6-1) – L: Ken Schrom (2-4) – S: Aurelio López (11) | Boxscore

Record: 60-28 — 7 games up on Toronto

Highlights

The Tigers had 15 hits on the night, 10 off Twins starter Schrom in 4^2/3 innings.

Of those 15 hits, eight were doubles — Chet Lemon, 2; Howard Johnson; Lou Whitaker, 2; Darrell Evans; Dave Bergman and Kirk Gibson. Evans also had a solo homer. Whitaker had four hits total.

Rozema turned in a solid start: 5^1/3, eight hits, two runs and five strikeouts.

Miscellany

Venue: The Metrodome
Umpires: HP – Joe Brinkman, 1B – Larry McCoy, 2B – Nick Bremigan, 3B – Vic Voltaggio
Time of Game: 3:00
Attendance: 27,965

Birthdays

Scott Livingstone and the late Bob Miller, Joe Rogalski and Red Oldham

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 470 9/9: Rarity: 172

Pete Rose is likely the least-rare guess of my Grid-playing career.

See you tomorrow.

July 14, 1984: Tigers 6 – Twins 5 (12)

W: Willie Hernández (6-0) – L: Mike Walters (0-3) | Boxscore

Record: 59-28 — 7 games up on Toronto

Highlights

With one out in the ninth, Dave Bergman tied it at four with a pinch-hit solo homer off Ron Davis.

The Tigers scored two in the 12th to take a 6-4 lead. Hernández pitched three innings and allowed a two-out home run to Tim Teufel in the 12th, before getting Ron Washington (!) for the final out.

Milt Wilcox started and pitched 5^2/3 allowing four runs on eight hits; Doug Bair pitched a flawless 3^1/3.

Detroit had a dozen hits, two apiece for Bárbaro Garbey, Chet Lemon and Howard Johnson.

Miscellany

Venue: Metrodome
Umpires: HP – Vic Voltaggio, 1B – Joe Brinkman, 2B – Larry McCoy, 3B – Nick Bremigan
Time of Game: 3:40
Attendance: 46,017

Birthdays

Enrique Gonzalez and the late John Peters

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 469 8/9: Rarity: 128

See you tomorrow.

July 13, 1984: Tigers 5 – Twins 3 (11)

W: Willie Hernández (5-0) – L: Rick Lysander (0-1) – S: Aurelio López (10) | Boxscore

Record: 58-28 — 7 games up on Toronto

Highlights

Jack Morris and Twins starter John Butcher matched up more or less evenly through seven. The Tigers gave Morris a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth — thanks to a Johnny Grubb solo homer — only to see The Cat allow the tying run in the bottom half.

Lou Whitaker‘s 11th-inning two-run homer off Lysander gave the Tigers a 5-3 lead. Aurelio López earned the save by pitching a quintessential Señor Smoke inning: one hit, one walk and one strikeout.

Whitaker, Lance Parrish, Chet Lemon and Tom Brookens each had two hits. In fact, the Tigers got four hits in five at bats out of the number-nine spot: One from Doug Baker, Grubb’s homer and Brookens’ double and triple.

Miscellany

Venue: The Metrodome
Umpires: HP – Nick Bremigan, 1B – Vic Voltaggio, 2B – Joe Brinkman, 3B – Larry McCoy
Time of Game: 3:11
Attendance: 30,050

Birthdays

Clint Sodowsky and the late George Cunningham

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 468 9/9: Rarity: 20

See you tomorrow.

July 10, 1984: National League 3 – American League 1

W: Charlie Lea (1-0) – L: Dave Stieb (0-1) – S: Rich Gossage (1) | Boxscore

Highlights

Lou Whitaker led off the game with a double to right off the Expos’ Charlie Lea. (Baseball Reference’s box score describes the hit as “Pop Fly to Short RF Line”.)

In the third, he singled off Fernando Valenzuela and finished two for three before being replaced by the Blue Jays’ Dámaso García in the sixth.

Lance Parrish started and batted seventh. He went hitless with two strikeouts. Jim Sundberg replaced him in the fifth.

Jack Morris relieved Stieb in the third and tossed two scoreless innings, allowing two hits and a walk, and striking out two.

Chet Lemon started and batted eighth. In the second inning he singled to center off Lea. In the top of the fifth, Lance, Chet and the Mariners’ Alvin Davis were struck out in succession by Dwight Gooden.

Willie Hernández allowed an eighth-inning homer to Dale Murphy which gave the N.L. the insurance run they needed.

Notable: A.L. Manager Joe Altobelli used five pitchers, two from Toronto (Stieb and Bill Caudill), two from Detroit and one, Richard Dotson, from Chicago.

Miscellany

Venue: Candlestick Park
Umpires: HP – Lee Weyer, 1B – Al Clark, 2B – Dutch Rennert, 3B – Durwood Merrill, LF – Fred Brocklander, RF – Rocky Roe
Time of Game: 2:29
Attendance: 57,756

Birthdays

Buddy Groom, the late Jim Walsh and Bobby Lowe

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 465 9/9: Rarity: 7

See you tomorrow.

July 9, 1984: The All-Star Break

The Tigers had six players on the 1984 American League All-Star team, three in the starting lineup …

… and three reserves:

Tram was on the disabled list, as I recall, with an elbow issue and wouldn’t play in the game, played at Candlestick Park.

I had held out hope that Morris would start the game. Alas, that assignment went to the Blue Jays’ Dave Stieb.

The Standings

A seven-game lead at the All-Star Break, even knowing how it all ends, is still remarkable. What I did not realize, until I started writing this post, was the Padres entered the break with the best record in the National League.