Aug. 5, 1984: Swept by the Royals

Game 1: Royals 5 – Tigers 4

W: Bret Saberhagen (6-8) – LP: Willie Hernández (6-1) – S: Dan Quisenberry (29) | Boxscore

Record: 72-37 — 8 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • The Royals hand Willie his first loss of the year and Saberhagen gets his second win of the series.
  • Birthday boy Dave Rozema started and gave up three runs on 10 hits in six innings. Hernández pitched three innings and allowed six hits and two runs.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Derryl Cousins, 1B – Richard Shulock, 2B – Bill Kunkel, 3B – Terry Cooney
  • Time of Game: 2:57

Game 2: Royals 4 – Tigers 0

W: Charlie Leibrandt (6-4) – L: Juan Berenguer (5-8) | Boxscore

Record: 72-38 — 8 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • K.C. scored four in the first off Berenguer and made it hold up thanks to a dazzling start by Liebrandt.
  • Berenguer settled down to pitch a complete game, giving up eight hits, a pair of walks and striking out eight.
  • Alan Trammell had two hits and that was about it for the offense.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Richard Shulock, 1B – Bill Kunkel, 2B – Terry Cooney, 3B – Derryl Cousins
  • Time of Game: 2:37
  • Attendance: 42,761

Birthdays

Dave Rozema and the late Vic Frazier and Sam Gibson

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 491: 9/9 — Rarity 23

See you tomorrow.

July 31, 1984: Doubleheader versus Cleveland

Game 1: Tigers 5 – Indians 1

W: Juan Berenguer (5-7) – L: Roy Smith (4-3) | Boxscore

Record: 71-32

Highlights

  • This was a makeup game from the previous week’s rainout in Cleveland.
  • Berenguer was solid: 61/3 innings, four hits, two walks and four strikeouts — and just one run.
  • The Tigers jumped all over Indians’ starter Smith with five runs in the second inning. Doug Baker hit a bases-loaded triple and Ruppert Jones hit a solo shot which sent Smith to the showers.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Drew Coble, 1B – Jim Evans, 2B – Greg Kosc, 3B – Ted Hendry
  • Time of Game: 2:30

Game 2: Indians 6 – Tigers 4

W: Neal Heaton (8-10) – L: Dave Rozema (7-3) – S: Tom Waddell (5) | Boxscore

Record: 71-33 — 12 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • Cleveland chased Rozey with six runs on seven hits in 21/3 innings.
  • At the time, I wish I had better appreciated the freak of nature that was Aurelio López. Sparky used him in every situation except for spot starter — and he probably would have excelled in the role. In this one, he pitched 62/3 of shutout relief, allowing just four hits, one walk and striking out five.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Jim Evans, 1B – Greg Kosc, 2B – Ted Hendry, 3B – Drew Coble
  • Time of Game: 2:50
  • Attendance: 32,158

Birthdays

Reese Olson, Andy Van Hekken, Gabe Kapler, Howard Bailey, Dave Dombrowski, Terry Fox and the late Al Aber, Harry Malmberg and Billy Hitchcock

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 486 9/9 — Rarity: 37

See you tomorrow.

July 6, 1984: Rangers 5 – Tigers 3

July 6, 1984: Rangers 5 – Tigers 3

W: Mike Mason (6-6) – L: Juan Berenguer (4-7) – S: Dave Schmidt (4) | Boxscore

Record: 56-26 — 6 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • Detroit trailed 5-0 in the eighth when Darrell Evans hit a two-out, three-run homer off future Tiger Dickie Noles, but it wasn’t enough.
  • Juan Berenguer started and didn’t make it out of the third, giving up five hits, two walks and three runs — along with a wild pitch and a balk.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Arlington Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Nick Bremigan, 1B – Mark Johnson, 2B – Joe Brinkman, 3B – Larry McCoy
  • Time of Game: 2:42
  • Attendance: 22,378

Birthdays

Greg Norton, Omar Olivares, Jason Thompson and the late Karl Olson

See you tomorrow.

July 1, 1984: Twins 9 – Tigers 0

July 1, 1984: Twins 9 – Tigers 0

W: Frank Viola (8-7) – L: Juan Berenguer (4-6) | Boxscore

Record: 55-22 — 9 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • Not much good in this one. Juan Berenguer with a quintessential Juan Berenguer start: five innings, seven hits, six earned runs.
  • Only four hits for the Tigers, who were silenced by Viola’s complete game. He walked one and struck out three.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Larry McCoy, 1B – Nick Bremigan, 2B – Mark Johnson, 3B – Joe Brinkman
  • Time of Game: 2:21
  • Attendance: 43,484

Birthdays

Jamie Walker, Ron Nischwitz and the late Boots Poffenberger, Louis Brower and Bert Cole

See you tomorrow.

June 26, 1984: Tigers 9 – Yankees 7 (10)

June 26, 1984: Tigers 9 – Yankees 7 (10)

W: Willie Hernández (3-0) – L: Clay Christiansen (2-3) | Boxscore

Record: 53-19: 10 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • The Tigers score three in the eighth to tie it and take the lead in the 10th on a Lance Parrish two-run homer.
  • Detroit had 16 hits and five Tigers had two hits a piece; Tom Brookens went 3 for 5.
  • Juan Berenguer lasted only 21/3 innings, giving up five hits and three earned runs.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Yankee Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Marty Springstead, 1B – Jim McKean, 2B – Tim McClelland, 3B – Dan Morrison.
  • Time of Game: 3:22
  • Attendance: 32,301

Birthdays

Chris Shelton, Mike Myers and the late Babe Herman

See you tomorrow.

June 21, 1984: Brewers 4 – Tigers 3

June 21, 1984: Brewers 4 – Tigers 3

W: Don Sutton (4-7) – L: Juan Berenguer (4-5) – S: Rollie Fingers (12) | Boxscore

Record: 49-18 – 6.5 up on Toronto

Highlights

  • The Brewers tagged Berenguer for four runs on seven hits over 51/3.
  • Sid Monge pitched 22/3 scoreless, one-hit innings to keep the Tigers in it.
  • Detroit scored three in the seventh, two on Larry Herndon‘s pinch-hit home run, and got the tying run on base in the ninth but Fingers doused that flame.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Dan Morrison, 1B – Marty Springstead, 2B – Jim McKean, 3B – Durwood Merrill
  • Time of Game: 2:30
  • Attendance: 32,291

Gene Pentz RHP #39

I’m again stretching the boundaries of this site to feature Gene Pentz on his birthday. Here are five things to know about the Johnstown, Pa. native:

  • The 1975 Tigers were awful, so don’t read too much into the fact that they were 0-13 in games that Pentz appeared.
  • His final line: 0-4, 3.50 ERA, 251/3 innings pitched.

Birthdays

Jefry Marté, Jeff Baker, Sean Runyan and Gene Pentz

See you tomorrow.

June 16, 1984: Tigers 6 – Brewers 0

June 16, 1984: Tigers 6 – Brewers 0

W: Juan Berenguer (4-4) – L: Don Sutton (3-7) | Boxscore

Record: 46-16: 6 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • Berenguer controls the Brewers with a complete-game five hitter — but with just one strikeout.
  • Sutton strikes out six in his five innings of work, but allows seven hits and six earned runs.

Miscellany

  • Venue: County Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Bill Kunkel, 1B – Mark Johnson, 2B – Terry Cooney, 3B – Tim Welke
  • Time of Game: 2:30
  • Attendance: 50,395

Bob “Fats” Fothergill – OF

On this Father’s Day, I’ll stretch the purview of this site, out of the 1977 – 1994 range and out of the proper spelling of father, to highlight a former Tigers player whose name is pretty close: the late Bob Fothergill. Here are three things to know about him:

  1. The right-handed hitting outfielder played parts of nine seasons with the Tigers.
  2. He hit over .300 in eight of his nine seasons — and he hit over .350 four times.
  3. In 802 games he hit .337, 26 home runs, 447 RBI and an OPS of .861.

Birthdays

Fernando Hernandez, Chris Gomez, Ron LeFlore and the late Jay Kirke, Kid Speer, Jack Rowan and Wish Egan

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.

May 30, 1984: Tigers 2 – A’s 1

May 30, 1984: Tigers 2 – A’s 1

W: Willie Hernández (2-0) – L: Steve McCatty (3-4) – Save: Aurelio López (7) | Boxscore

Record: 37-9

Highlights

  • Juan Berenguer started and threw four and a two-thirds, yielding two hits and four walks.
  • Kirk Gibson hit a solo shot in the ninth to put the Tigers ahead.
  • The Tigers had five hits, the A’s just four.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
  • Umpires: HP – Rick Reed, 1B – Dave Phillips, 2B – Jerry Neudecker, 3B – Steve Palermo
  • Time of Game: 2:34
  • Attendance: 15,224

On TV: May 2, 1982 Channel 7 Sports

The segment begins with highlights from the Tigers-White Sox game at Comiskey Park.

Birthdays

The late Ed Rakow

See you tomorrow.

May 26, 1984: Mariners 9 – Tigers 5

May 26, 1984: Mariners 9 – Tigers 5

W: Mike MooreL: 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.
  • The Tigers scored three in the ninth and out-hit the Mariners, 13 to 11.

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.