June 8, 1984: Tigers 3 – Orioles 2

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.

June 1, 1984: Tigers 14 – Orioles 2

W: Dan Petry (8-2) – L: Scott McGregor (6-4) – Save: Doug Bair (3) | Boxscore

Record: 38-9

Highlights

This was a blast from the get-go. My friends and I sat in the upper-deck bleachers, taunting Orioles catcher Rick Dempsey during batting practice with a “Dempsey sucks” chant. He was a good sport, egging us on and even turning to face the bleachers and act as a conductor while we rained vitriol upon him.

As for the game, it was nothing short of bedlam. The Tiger scored six in the second highlighted by an Alan Trammell homer, and then three in the third and again in the fourth.

Chet Lemon and Lance Parrish also homered, as the Tigers built up a 13-0 lead in the fifth inning.

Tram had a three-hit game, and Lance, Chet and Larry Herndon each had two hits.

Petry threw six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits.

Miscellany

Venue: Tiger Stadium
Umpires: HP – Al Clark, 1B – Don Denkinger, 2B – Rich Garcia, 3B – Mike Reilly
Time of Game: 2:28
Attendance: 47,252

Game Highlights

Birthdays

The late Dean Chance, Jo-Jo White and Herm Malloy

See you tomorrow.

May 26, 1984: Mariners 9 – Tigers 5

W: Mike Moore – L: Juan Berenguer | Boxscore

Record: 35-7

Highlights

Kirk Gibson hit a first-inning homer to put the Tigers up 1-0 … and then the Mariners took control, scoring four off Berenguer in the home half.

Berenguer retired only one batter: Seattle’s leadoff hitter, Jack Perconte. The following hitters walked, singled, singled, singled, then a wild pitch, and two more singles. Mariners 4, Tigers 1.

Doug Bair, Dave Rozema, Glenn Abbott and Willie Hernandez did what they could but the Mariners built a 9-2 lead.

The Tigers scored three in the ninth and out-hit the Mariners, 13 to 11.

Gibson, Larry Herndon, Dave Bergman, Howard Johnson and Rusty Kuntz each had two hits.

Miscellany

Venue: Seattle Kingdome
Umpires: HP – Mike Reilly, 1B – Al Clark, 2B – Don Denkinger, 3B – Rich Garcia
Time of Game: 2:51
Attendance: 41,342

Bob Sykes #27

The Tigers drafted lefty Bob Sykes in the 19th round of the 1974 MLB June Amateur Draft from Miami Dade College.

After three seasons in the minors, he made his debut on April 9, 1977, at age 22, pitching four-and-two-thirds in a Royals 16-2 rout — but he managed to blank K.C., allowing just two hits and a walk.

Sykes appeared in 32 games that season, 20 of them starts, and finished with a record of 5-7 and a 4.41 ERA.

In 1978, appeared in 22 games, starting 10 and throwing a pair of shutouts. His record was 6-6 with a 3.94 ERA; he also earned two saves.

That offseason, Dec. 4, 1978, he was traded to the Cardinals, with minor leaguer John Murphy, in a deal that worked out well for the Tigers, who received Aurelio López and Jerry Morales in return.

Sykes’ final numbers in Detroit: 11-13, 4.22 ERA and two saves. He pitched three seasons in St. Louis before being traded to the Yankees for a young outfielder named Willie McGee.

Birthdays

Darrell Evans and the late Jack Cronin

See you tomorrow.

May 7, 1984: Tigers 10 – Royals 3

W: Juan Berenguer (2-1) – L: Mark Gubicza (0-3) – Save: Doug Bair (2) | Boxscore

Record: 23-4

Highlights

Alan Trammell (3 for 4), Johnny Grubb (2 for 3) and Chet Lemon (3 for 3) led the offense and Berenguer pitch a solid if not erratic six and two thirds. He gave up six hits and four walks. Bair pitched a scoreless two and a third.

The Tigers’ road winning streak marches on: 12 straight.

Miscellany

Venue: Royals Stadium
Umpires: HP – Vic Voltaggio, 1B – Joe Brinkman, 2B – Larry McCoy, 3B – Nick Bremigan
Time of Game: 3:02
Attendance: 19,474

A Bad Tigers TV Commercial from 1993

Fr. Allan Travers

Read about Fr. Allan Travers who gave up 24 runs on 26 hits in eight innings against the Philadelphia Athletics on May 18, 1912. It was his only appearance — anywhere.

Birthdays

Fr. Allan Travers

See you tomorrow.

April 26, 1984: Tigers 7 – Rangers 5

W: Doug Bair (2-0) – L: Frank Tanana (2-2) – Save: Aurelio López (2) | Boxscore

Record: 16-1

Highlights

No pitching duel in this one. The Tigers ambushed Frank Tanana with five hits and four runs in the first inning. He lasted

‘Twas also a rough start for Dave Rozema: 4.1 IP, 5 runs, 7 hits and 3 home runs.

Doug Bair and Señor Smoke carried the load the rest of the way, blanking the Rangers on just four hits.

Alan Trammell went 3 for 4, Larry Herndon hit two doubles and Lance Parrish homered.

Miscellany

Venue: Arlington Stadium
Umpires: HP – Don Denkinger, 1B – Dan Morrison, 2B – Mike Reilly, 3B – Al Clark
Time of Game: 2:50
Attendance: 13,559

Rick Schu #35

Rick Schu was tasked with replacing Mike Schmidt when he retired from the Phillies. That could not have been fun, nor could it have been fun coming to the 1989 Tigers, who were 14-24 when the club purchased his contract from the Orioles on May 19.

He made his debut on May 21 against the Royals. He started at third and batted ninth, going 1 for 2.

Schu’s final game with the Tigers came on Oct. 1, a 5-3 Tigers win against Yankees to close out a 59-103 season. He went 1 for 4.

His Tigers career ended after 98 games, with a .214 average, seven home runs and 21 RBI. The Tigers released him on Dec. 8, 1989.

Birthdays

Felipe Lira and the late Virgil Trucks and Dale Alexander

See you tomorrow.

April 21, 1984: Tigers 4 – White Sox 1

Tigers 4 – White Sox 1

W: Dave Rozema (1-0) L: LaMarr Hoyt (2-1) Save: Doug Bair (1) | Boxscore

Record: 11-1

Highlights

Dave Rozema pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, to walks and striking out seven.

Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell and Darrell Evans each had two hits.

Whitaker homered off Hoyt, and drove in three runs.

Doug Bair pitched the final three innings to earn the save.

Miscellany

Umpires: HP – Larry McCoy, 1B – Nick Bremigan, 2B – Vic Voltaggio, 3B – Joe Brinkman
Time of Game: 2:35
Attendance: 34,395

On TV: Tigers @ Yankees: April 21, 1987

W: Joe Niekro (1-1) – L: Walt Terrell (1-2) – Save: Cecilio Guante (1) | Boxscore

Birthdays

Aquilino Lopez, Les Lancaster and the late Bill Faul

See you tomorrow.

April 13, 1984: Tigers 13 – Red Sox 9

Tigers 13 – Red Sox 9

W: Doug Bair (0-1) L: Bruce Hurst (1-2) | Boxscore

Highlights

Talk about the tale of two games. The Tigers ambushed Bruce Hurst for seven runs in an eight-run first. Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell walked, Barbaro Garbey reached on an error.

Lance Parrish struck out and then the next eight batters reached:

Larry Herndon: walk (1-0)

Chet Lemon: single (3-0)

Rod Allen: single (4-0)

Rusty Kuntz: single (5-0), and that was it for Hurst.

Mike Brown took over and was greeted by a Tom Brookens double. (6-0)

Whitaker reached on an error by Jerry Remy, scoring Kuntz and Brookens. (8-0)

Trammell doubled.

Dave Bergman, pinch-hit for Garbey — how often does that happen in the first inning? — and walks.

Parrish grounds into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Milt Wilcox takes the mound with an 8-0 lead … and allows the first seven hitters to reach. He gets one more out than Hurst, but after yielding five runs, gives way to Doug Bair.

Boston scores again in the second, to make it 8-6, and the Tigers in the fourth, on a Parrish solo shot.

The Tigers tack on four more in the eighth off Bob Stanley and give Willie Hernandez a 13-6 lead to protect.

Instead, the Red Sox tag him with three runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Mercifully, the ninth is scoreless, but not exactly clean, and Tigers hold on.

Record: 8-0

Miscellany

Umpires: HP – Drew Coble, 1B – Jim Evans, 2B – Greg Kosc, 3B – Ted Hendry
Time of Game: 3:11
Attendance: 35,179

Birthdays

Doug Strange, Mark Leiter and the late Ike Brown, Jake Mooty, Roxie Lawson, Ken Jones, Rufe Clarke, Al Platte, Red Killefer, Kid Elberfeld, Herman Long

Have a great weekend. See you tomorrow.

The Wednesday Fungo: Jan. 31

The Colt Keith extension got me wondering if 45 years ago, and these early extensions were a thing, the Tigers would have considered signing Kirk Gibson to a long-term extension.

It’s hard to take this notion even half seriously given that Jim Campbell was the Tigers’ GM back then.

But still.

Today’s Random Nuggets

On this date in 1952, Harry Heilmann was elected to the Hall of Fame.

Today’s birthdays: Hank Aguirre and Ted Power.

Today’s Immaculate Grid

Four Tigers in today’s grid:

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 304 — 9/9: Rarity: 17

One Last Thing

I cannot wait to watch the new Netflix documentary, “The Greatest Night in Pop”, about the recording, in 1985, of “We Are the World” — perhaps the song of my junior year.

And here’s the video:

See you tomorrow.