Where Every Day Is Throwback Thursday
MLB Seasons
College Football Seasons
NFL Seasons
Past Champions In A Sentence
Membership Zone
Access Membership Area
Themify – Layout Parts
Menu Our Finest Recipe
1984 MLB
College Basketball History Articles
College Football History Articles
MLB History
NBA History Articles
NFL History Articles
Sports History Articles
Stanley Cup History
A Course Correction For The 1984 California Angels
Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1984 baseball, 1984 California Angels, 1984 MLB, baseball history, California Angels history, MLB history, sports history articles
After winning the AL West in 1982, the Angels suffered a heartbreaking loss in the ALCS and parted ways with manager Gene Mauch. The 1983 season was a 92-loss disaster. The 1984 California Angels responded by bringing back Mauch and starting a course correction that would last for three years.
The everyday lineup had aging players, but they were future Hall of Famers who could still produce. Rod Carew was 38-years-old, but the first baseman still hit .295 with an on-base percentage of .367. Reggie Jackson was also 38 and now in a DH role, but he hit 25 home runs.
Other accomplished veterans still playing well included second baseman Bobby Grich, with his stat line of .357 OBP/.452 slugging percentage. Doug DeCinces was at third base and he homered 25 times and drove in 82 runs. Brian Downing manned left field with a stat line of .360/.462, 23 homers and 91 ribbies. Fred Lynn was in center, a final stat line of .366/.474 and 79 RBI. And 34-year-old Juan Beniquez provided depth, with a .370/.452 stat line his 354 at-bats.
California's offense was still flawed. They didn't hit for average or hit the ball in the alleys. But the ability to hit home runs and draw walks at least allowed the Angels to finish a respectable seventh in the 14-team American League for runs scored.
The starting rotation had more veterans. Geoff Zahn was another 38-year-old still performing and he went 13-10 with a 3.12 ERA. Tommy John, the ageless 41-year-old didn't have a great year, with a 4.52 ERA, but he still made 29 starts and eased the pressure on the top of the rotation.
It was that top of the rotation where some youth was starting to thrive. Mike Witt was 23-years-old and he emerged as the staff ace. With 15 wins and a 3.47 ERA, Witt started a run where he would be one of the American League's most reliable starting pitchers.
Ron Romanick made 33 starts and posted a 3.76 ERA. Doug Corbett gave some good work out of the bullpen, working 85 innings with a sharp 2.12 ERA. Luis Sanchez was a respectable closer. But depth was a problem. Even though Don Aase came back from a 1982 elbow injury in June and pitched well, Mauch didn't have a lot of arms to rely on and the Angels finished eighth in the American League for staff ERA.
California quickly came out of the gate by beating a good Toronto Blue Jays team three straight and unloading for 27 combined runs. Then the Angels lost three straight to the Minnesota Twins, another team that would jump from being woeful to being respectable in this 1984 season. The up-and-down cycle of the early going continued with a sweep of the Yankees and then getting swept by red-hot Detroit.
By Memorial Day, California's record was 24-24. Not bad given where they were coming from. Even better when you consider that the strange nature of this 1984 season had them in first place in the AL West.
The alignment of this era had just two divisions, an East and a West. Only the first-place team could make the postseason. In the late 1970s and through much of the 1980s, the AL West was usually the weaker of the two American League divisions and the gap between East and West was most exaggerated this year.
Thus, even though the Angels had to compete in a seven-team division—one that included the Twins, Royals and White Sox for just one playoff spot, it would prove easier to win the 1984 AL West than it would be to grab the second wild-card berth in today's game.
Chicago was the defending division champion and California lost three of four on the South Side in early June. But they got two of three when the White Sox made the return trip to SoCal and also won five of six against the lowly Cleveland Indians. By the All-Star break, the Angels were 44-42. They were tied for second with Minnesota and one game back of Chicago. Kansas City and Oakland were within four of the lead.
The race was anybody's to take California looked ready to make a stand when they opened the second half by taking three of four from Milwaukee (the Angels' sparring partner in the 1982 ALCS, an American league team prior to 1998 and collapsing hard this season), and then grabbing two of three from Toronto. California led the division by as many as 3 ½ games in the late summer.
But Boston, one of several AL East teams that would have won the West, came to Anaheim and won three straight. That triggered a rough August. By Labor Day, the Angels had slipped under. 500 at 67-68. But they were still in third place, only a game and a half back of Minnesota. Kansas City was in second, a single game back, with Chicago having fallen off the pace.
Over the next two weeks, the Angels played the White Sox and Indians home-and-home. California played well and won eight of twelve. They moved to 75-72. Minnesota and Kansas City were 76-72. There were two weeks to go and the Angels were poised to play two big series with the Royals.
The penultimate week opened with KC in Anaheim for a four-game set. The depth problem in the pitching staff was immediately on display. Bruce Kison and Jim Slaton, a couple veterans who had tough years, pitched the first two games—and lost by a combined 20-1.
Wednesday night was must-win. Zahn kept his team in the game into the sixth. Corbett was brilliant out of the bullpen and retired ten straight batters. A 3-3 game went to extra innings. In the 11th, DeCinces singled, was bunted up and scored the winning run on a base hit by Grich. Witt came out the next night and tossed a three-hit shutout. Downing homered and it was enough for a 2-0 win. California averted disaster by salvaging the split.
In between the two series with Kansas City was a weekend set against Texas and the Angels stumbled, losing two of three. When the final week began, they were 78-76, a game and a half back of both the Royals and Twins, who were 80-75.
A Monday doubleheader in Kansas City got the week started. The bats failed in the opener, mustering only three singles in a 4-0 loss. And to illustrate the depth problem one more time, the start in a must-win nightcap fell to Rick Steiner. He made seven career starts and this 12-4 loss was one of them.
The Angels' backs were to the wall and Lynn responded on Tuesday with a couple hits that helped put California ahead 5-4 going into the ninth. Then Aase, who had done some brilliant work in relief on this night, pitching over four innings, allowed the tying run. In extra innings, the Angels put runners on first and second with one out. Reggie and DeCinces both struck out. They ultimately lost in twelve innings.
Romanick's Wednesday night gem, a 2-0 shutout, was too late. California was all but finished and Kansas City outlasted Minnesota to win the AL West. The Angels' 81-81 record tied with the Twins for second place.
It was a disappointing end, but it was a clear course correction after 1983. In 1985, significantly better California and Kansas City teams fought to the final week again. The Angels came up short in that one too, but they kept getting better and in 1986, California returned to the top of the AL West.
1984 Minnesota Twins: A Surprise Run At The Playoffs
Dan Flaherty MLB History, Stanley Cup History 1984 baseball, 1984 Minnesota Twins, 1984 MLB, baseball history, Minnesota Twins history, MLB history, sports history articles
The Twins were in the fourth year of a rebuilding program under manager Billy Gardner. The franchise, after some moderately successful teams in the late 1970s, let their star players—including Hall of Fame first baseman Rod Carew—go elsewhere. The Twins lost over 100 games in 1980. They were on a pace to do the same in the strike-shortened year of 1981. 1982 was only modestly better, with 92 losses. The 1984 Minnesota Twins made a jump to respectability and playing in a weak division, that was enough to make them a serious contender.
Pitching was the key to the Twins' improvement in 1984, particularly the top three starters in their rotation. Frank Viola and Mike Smithson and John Butcher combined to make 105 starts and all had ERAs in the 3s. The back end of the rotation was a little shaky. The bullpen, with closer Ron Davis being on the erratic side with a 4.55 ERA, was problematic. But the Big Three of the rotation carried the Minnesota pitching staff to fourth in the American League for staff ERA.
Offensively, the Twins got a big year from first baseman Kent Hrbek. With 27 home runs, 107 RBI and a stat line of .383 on-base percentage/.522 slugging percentage, Hrbek finished second in the AL MVP voting.
Tom Brunansky was in right field and he homered 32 times and drove in 85 runs. But the rest of the lineup was spotty. Kirby Puckett was embarking on a Hall of Fame career, but in 1984, Puckett was a rookie enduring his growing pains. Ron Washington provided a .447 slugging percentage at shortstop, but was only a part-time player.
Gary Gaetti at third base, Tim Teufel at second and Tim Laudner behind the plate had some good years over the course of their careers. But 1984 wasn't one of them. The Twins' offense finished 11th in the American League for runs scored.
The divisional alignment and playoff format of baseball at the time had each league split into just two divisions, an East and a West. Only the first-place team could go to the postseason. In general, that naturally meant it was more difficult to get to the playoffs than it would be today. But the unique circumstances of 1984 were a boon for the Twins.
They lost the first two games of the season in Detroit. The Tigers were on their way to a breathtaking 35-5 start, and would end up winning 104 games and eventually the World Series. But unlike today, Minnesota and Detroit did not share a division. The Tigers went East, the Twins went West. And no one in the AL West was making a name for themselves in the season's early going.
Minnesota's first signs of life came when they swept defending World Series champion Baltimore three straight, scoring 29 runs in the process. In early May, the Twins swept a six-game homestand from the A's and Angels. Toronto was a problem—the Blue Jays beat the Twins all five times they played in the season's early going. But Minnesota reached Memorial Day with a 23-24 record.
It was marked improvement from where the club had been in recent years. And while it would have left them in a 14-game hole to Detroit and in fourth place in the AL East, it was good enough to be within a half-game of the lead in the AL West—the division where no one was over .500 and everyone was within four games of each other.
Minnesota lost three of four at home to Kansas City and slipped as low as 28-33 and 4 ½ games off the pace. But on the return trip to KC, the Twins' pitching came through. Butcher tossed a three-hit shutout and Minnesota only allowed two runs combined in a three-game sweep. They followed that up by taking two of three from the defending division champion Chicago White Sox and closed the first half by winning three of four from the Yankees.
By the All-Star break, the Twins' record was 43-41. They were only a game behind the first-place White Sox. The AL West was still a packed race, with everyone except Seattle and Texas within four games of the lead.
The late summer opened with a heavy diet of games against Oakland, California and Seattle, twenty games on the road and at home. The Twins played good baseball and won 13 of those games. They took over first place and led by a game and a half. Minnesota continued to gain steam through August and their record reached a peak of 67-59 on August 23. They were five games up on the field in the AL West. The first division title since 1970 was shockingly in sight.
But those pesky Blue Jays were again a problem. Toronto came into Minnesota and won three of four. The Twins lost three straight on the return trip to Canada and dropped a series to the Red Sox in between. By Labor Day, Minnesota still held the lead, but the record was now 69-67 and the lead back to a single game. Kansas City and California were in hot pursuit. Chicago had fallen off the pace.
It was the Twins, Royals and Angels that would fight this race to the finish. And the first big showdown of September started when Minnesota visited Kansas City on Labor Day evening to start a three-game series.
Butcher was outstanding in the opener, working into the eighth inning and winning 4-1. But the bats fell silent the next two nights, with the Twins on the wrong side of two more 4-1 decisions. The Royals and Twins were still in a dead heat a week later when Kansas City came north to Minnesota. California was a half-game back.
Behind three hits from Puckett, the Twins again took the opener, this time 7-3. Viola delivered a gem in the middle game, winning 5-1 with help from an inside-the-park home run by Hrbek and a conventional blast from Brunansky.
Even though another good outing from Butcher went to waste in a 3-2 loss in the Wednesday finale, Minnesota had won a big series. They gave it back with three losses in four games at home to Chicago, needing a 13-inning win to avoid a devastating sweep. But, continuing to put the good people of Minnesota on an emotional roller-coaster, the Twins swept a series from the lowly Cleveland Indians.
When the final week of the season started, Minnesota and Kansas City were both 80-75. California was a game and a half back. The Angels and Royals would open the week against each other, while the Twins paid a return visit to the White Sox.
Minnesota won 8-4 on Monday night, but KC swept a doubleheader—exactly the kind of decisive outcome the Twins didn't need. Then Minnesota's pitching, so reliable all year long, gave up 17 runs over the next two nights and lost both games. Kansas City picked up another win over California and finished off the Angels.
On Thursday night, the Twins began their final series of the season in Cleveland. Davis blew a save in a 4-3 loss. Minnesota slipped two back of idle Kansas City who began their final weekend in Oakland.
Over the course of their franchise history, the Minnesota Twins have had some infamous failings in big games, most notably in recent years against the Yankees. But it's tough to fathom a bigger collapse than what happened on Friday night in Cleveland. After staking Viola to a 10-0 lead…yes, 10 to 0…the Twins lost 11-10. The Royals won later that night in Oakland and wrapped up the division.
It was an extremely disappointing way to end a nice season. The Twins finished 81-81. Yes, the AL East had the top five teams in the American League and that's why Minnesota could stay in contention to the final weekend, but the .500 finish was an unqualified success after where the organization had been at in recent years.
The more disappointing part is that 1985 and 1986 saw the Twins slip back to irrelevance. But in 1987, with a new manager in Tom Kelly, the core talent that emerged in 1984—Hrbek, Brunansky, Gaetti, Puckett and Viola had more experience, more help and they won the World Series.
1984 New York Yankees: Finishing Strong After A Slow Start
Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1984 baseball, 1984 MLB, 1984 New York Yankees, baseball history, MLB history, New York Yankees history, sports history articles
The 1984 New York Yankees were a team going through some big transitions. After the renaissance era of 1976-81—a period where the proud franchise won five AL East titles, four American League pennants and two World Series titles—the Yankees were slipping behind other contenders in their rigorous division. And a difficult offseason would make '84 an even bigger challenge.
Billy Martin had managed the team to a 91-win campaign in 1983, but Martin's off-the-field problems led to one of his many firings. Owner George Steinbrenner tapped another legend of Pinstripe Past—the great Yogi Berra—to be the new skipper.
The on-field changes were an even bigger problem. Hall of Fame closer Goose Gossage was clashing with Steinbrenner and left via free agency. Graig Nettles, the third baseman with the power bat and excellent glove, was having his own problems with the front office and he was traded. Both players ended up in San Diego—and by October, both were in the World Series.
Meanwhile, New York tried to fill their third-base void with a deal to get veteran Toby Harrah from Cleveland. Harrah had a nice career, but at age 35, he proved to be at the end of the line in 1984. Harrah was one part of a disastrous left side of the infield. Young Bobby Meacham and veteran Tim Foli shared the shortstop spot. Roy Smalley played both third and short. None of the four players produced.
Neither did centerfielder Omar Moreno or left fielder Steve Kemp, both of whom had been productive with other teams. But what kept the Yankee offense afloat was the emergence of a 23-year-old first baseman. A guy by the name of Don Mattingly.
Mattingly stepped into an everyday role for the first time and posted a stat line of .381 on-base percentage/.537 slugging percentage. His .343 batting average led the league, as did his 44 doubles and 207 hits. Mattingly finished fifth in the MVP voting and began an era where he would define Yankee baseball.
Dave Winfield had a big year of his own in rightfield, with a stat line of .393/.515. Winfield's batting average of .340 finished second to Mattingly, and Winfield also drove in 100 runs. Don Baylor held down the DH role and hit 27 home runs.
The big years enjoyed by Mattingly, Winfield and Baylor—combined with a solid OBPs from second baseman Willie Randolph (.377) and catcher Butch Wynegar (.360) were enough to overcome the myriad of problems elsewhere and keep the New York offense fourth in the American League for runs scored.
Berra had no clear ace to rely on for his pitching rotation. Normally that #1 role was reliably filled by Ron Guidry. But the lefty had a bad year in 1984—a 10-11 record and 4.51 ERA in 28 starts. That made the performance of Phil Niekro all the more important.
A 45-year-old knuckleballer, Niekro dug in and had one more good season in the majors leagues. He made 31 starts, won 16 games and posted a 3.09 ERA. Combined with a respectable year from unknown lefty Ray Fontenot and Dave Righetti stepping into the closer's role vacated by Gossage, the Yankee staff still finished third in the American League in ERA.
Expectations, at least by Yankee standards, were not high coming into the season and for the first part of the season, New York played down to the expectations. They did not win a series until sweeping lowly Cleveland in early May. By Memorial Day, even though the schedule did not include the American League's three best teams—Detroit, Toronto and Baltimore—the Yankees were 19-25 and 16 ½ games out of first place.
The alignment of the era split each league into just two divisions, an East and a West and only the first-place finisher went to the postseason. The AL East included not only the current members in the Yanks, Orioles, Red Sox and Blue Jays, but centrally-located teams from Detroit, Cleveland and Milwaukee (an American League city prior to 1998).
With Detroit getting out to a historic 35-5 start, the Yankees had a long road back. In a normal year, one without the Tigers dominating the sport, the Blue Jays' strong start would have marked them a team to beat. At the very least, a home series with Toronto in June offered New York a chance to get their season on track.
The Blue Jays were right in between two head-to-head series with the Tigers, and the Yankees took advantage of the ideal schedule spot. Friday night's opener was tied 3-3 into the 11th inning. With two outs, Winfield doubled and Kemp drove him in with a single to win it.
The same combo worked on Saturday night. Guidry dueled his way to a 1-1 tie going into the ninth. With two outs, Winfield singled and Kemp doubled him home. On Sunday, Mattingly's two hits, including a home run, keyed a 5-3 win that completed the sweep. Even though the Blue Jays played well in their games against the Tigers, this lost weekend in the Big Apple prevented them from gaining ground.
But playing spoiler wasn't what Yankee fans were used to and the record was still 36-46 by the All-Star break, now twenty games off the pace. There was no hope of catching the Tigers. But what New York could do was use the balance of this season to turn some momentum around. And they did.
Kansas City had been New York's ALCS sparring partner four times during the Renaissance Era. The Royals were only 39-43, but in a more forgiving division were actually still in a pennant race. KC came to New York for five games to open the second half of the season.
Niekro opened the series with seven strong innings to lead a 5-2 win on Thursday night. Friday saw a twilight doubleheader—a common scheduling occurrence in the era where the first game began around 5:30 PM and there was just a twenty-minute break between games. The Yankees won both games by a combined score of 15-2.
Saturday night saw Righetti pitch three scoreless innings to close out a 4-1 win. And on Sunday, Moreno drove in a couple runs, Fontenot pitched well and another 4-1 victory completed New York's five-game sweep.
The Yanks were off and running. By August, they got back to the .500 mark. By Labor Day, their record was a solid 72-63, even if it was still fifteen games behind the Tigers. And New York played well in September. They took five of seven from the defending World Series champion Orioles and four of seven from the Blue Jays.
By season's end, the Yankees were 87-75. They had moved their way into third place in the AL East. It was three games better than Kansas City, who actually won the AL West with an 84-78 record. And it was the sixth-best record in all of baseball. By the standards of today, the 1984 New York Yankees would have been going into the playoffs as the hot team no one wanted to tussle with. The strong finish foreshadowed a return to real pennant contention in 1985.
1984 Baltimore Orioles: A Step Back In A Tough Division
Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1984 Baltimore Orioles, 1984 baseball, 1984 MLB, Baltimore Orioles history, baseball history, MLB history, sports history articles
The great baseball city of Baltimore was at the peak of its glory coming into 1984. Over the past 23 seasons, the Orioles had 22 winning seasons. They won the rigorous AL East seven times. There were multiple near-misses that would have been easy playoff seasons by the standards of today. They had a reputation as a team that closed seasons strong. And in 1983, they won their third World Series championship of this glory era. The 1984 Baltimore Orioles were still a good team, but it was a step back and ushered in the end of an era.
Cal Ripken and Eddie Murray were the focal points of the lineup, having finished 1-2 in the MVP voting following the '83 title run. Both picked up where they left off. Ripken had a stat line of .374 on-base percentage/.510 slugging percentage. Murray's stat line was .410/.509, including 29 home runs, 110 RBI and another top-5 finish in the MVP vote.
But the players surrounding the two stars dipped substantially. Ken Singleton, Rich Dauer, Rick Dempsey, John Shelby, Al Bumbry and John Lowenstein—all key players for the past several years of success, did not produce.
The only notable offensive contributions beyond Ripken and Murray came from third baseman Wayne Gross, whose stat line was a respectable .346/.442, and left fielder Gary Roenicke, who posted a .346 OBP of his own. The lack of support for star talent is why Baltimore finished ninth in the American League for runs scored.
Pitching was the hallmark of Oriole success over the years and there were no problems here. Mike Boddicker emerged as a hero of the previous October and he won 20 games with a 2.79 ERA, good for fourth in the Cy Young results.
The rotation behind Boddicker was steady and consistent. Mike Flanagan, Storm Davis and Scott McGregor all went to the post at least thirty times and all finished with ERAs in the 3s. In the bullpen, Tippy Martinez and Sammy Stewart combined for 30 saves with ERAs in the 3s, although there wasn't much behind them. But the quality of the rotation got the Oriole staff as a whole to second in the AL for ERA.
Baltimore's bid for another championship got off to a less-than-stellar start—they lost ten of their first twelve games, including three straight in Toronto, where the Blue Jays were off to a hot start. It was late April before the Orioles found their footing. Between April 27 and May 20, they won every series, including taking two of three from the Jays. By Memorial Day, Baltimore's record was a respectable 25-21.
Normally that would be enough to at least keep you in the mix heading into the summer. But there are a lot of differences that have to be underscored. The first is the difference in the era. From 1969-93, there were only two divisions per league, an East and a West, and only the first-place finisher advanced to the postseason.
That meant that in addition to sharing the AL East with the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Toronto, Baltimore also had to compete with Detroit, Cleveland and Milwaukee (an AL team prior to 1998) for a single playoff berth.
Even so, a 25-21 record was still good enough to at least be in striking distance. In fact, in 1984, Baltimore's Memorial Day record was better than the leaders of both the AL West and the NL West. But 1984 in the AL East was no ordinary year.
Yes, Toronto was hot, out to a 31-14 start. But Detroit was blazing. The Tigers were in the midst of a historic 35-5 start to the season. On this holiday weekend, the Orioles were staring at a 11 ½ game deficit in the division.
June would be the critical month. Baltimore and Detroit would play a pair of series against each other. The Orioles could reasonably hope to chip away at the lead in the head-to-head games, and then count on the Tigers simply being too hot not to cool down.
The first series opened up at old Tiger Stadium on a Friday night and was less than ideal for the Birds. McGregor was rocked off the mound by the second inning in a 14-2 loss. But Baltimore bounced back the following afternoon. Storm Davis outpitched Detroit ace Jack Morris, Gross and Singleton each homered and the Orioles won 5-0. Flanagan came out on Sunday and delivered another game, winning 2-1.
Baltimore nudged to within 8 ½ games and Detroit made the return visit to old Memorial Stadium. This would be a four-game set ending with a Sunday doubleheader.
Again, it started poorly. This time it was the bats failing. Ripken and Murray went hitless in a 3-2 loss. Again, Flanagan stepped up. He tossed a complete-game shutout on Saturday afternoon and won 4-0. With Boddicker scheduled to pitch the first game on Sunday, the Orioles were primed to make a move.
But instead, Boddicker struggled and lost to a relative no-name pitcher in Detroit's Glenn Abbott, 10-4. The Orioles mailed in the nightcap, mustering only three hits in an 8-0 loss. Not only had Baltimore slipped back to eleven games out, but they had been humiliated on their home field.
It has to be noted this was more about the greatness of Detroit in 1984, arguably the best team of the entire decade, than anything having to do with Baltimore. The Tigers left a number of good AL East teams in the dust this year.
Baltimore continued to play reasonably consistent baseball. They were 46-39 by the All-Star break, still eleven games back. By Labor Day, the Orioles were 73-62. That was 14 ½ games back of Detroit, but still third-best in the American League.
September did not go particularly well. Even though the Birds won a couple series with a Tiger team that had moved into the champagne-drinking stage of the season, Baltimore went 2-5 against New York and 3-5 against Boston. Both the Yankees and Red Sox moved ahead of the Orioles in the final standings. Baltimore clocked in at 85-77, fifth in the AL East.
That was still better than anyone in the AL West, where Kansas City took the division with an 84-win season. It was still eighth-best in all of baseball. In other words, it was playoff-caliber baseball by the standards of today.
What it also was though, was a pretty substantial step back from where this proud franchise had been. 1985 was more of the same—another year that was above .500, but the decline continuing. A year later, the glory era of baseball in Baltimore officially bottomed out.
The Contending Season Of The 1984 Toronto Blue Jays
Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1984 baseball, 1984 MLB, 1984 Toronto Blue Jays, baseball history, MLB history, sports history articles, Toronto Blue Jays history
After their first winning season in franchise history in 1983, the 1984 Toronto Blue Jays solidified the progress. They posted another solid campaign and established the breakthrough of '83 was no fluke. Only playing in a division with one of the best teams of the 1980s kept them from the postseason.
A talented outfield that would become one of the most heralded in baseball played their first season together in 1984. George Bell stepped into the left field job and hit 26 home runs. Bell joined an outfield that already had Lloyd Moseby in center and Jesse Barfield in right. Moseby finished with a stat line of .368 on-base percentage/.470 slugging percentage in 1984. Barfield, in addition to being a terrific defensive rightfielder with a rifle for an arm, posted a stat line of .357/.466.
The corner spots of the infield were in productive hands. Willie Upshaw played first and slugged .464. Rance Mulliniks was at third and his OBP was .383. Cliff Johnson, the veteran DH, provided more muscle with a .507 slugging percentage and his OBP was a sparkling .390.
Toronto's well-balanced offense also had table-setters. Damaso Garcia was a good contact hitter at second base. Dave Collins, the veteran fourth outfielder, got playing time and stole 60 bases. The shortstop's job was mostly in the hands of Alfredo Griffin, known more his glove than his bat. But a transition was beginning to 22-year-old Tony Fernandez who would become known for both.
All told, the Blue Jay offense ranked fifth in the American League in runs scored.
The pitching staff was anchored by four reliable veterans who combined to make 142 starts. Dave Stieb was the rotation ace and he won 16 games with a 2.83 ERA. Doyle Alexander racked up 17 wins and his ERA was 3.13. Luis Leal's 13 wins came with a 3.89 ERA.
Where Toronto staff started to have problems was an off-year from Jim Clancy, whose ERA was up at 5.12. The bullpen lacked a reliable stopper and no one who put in any consistent time in relief had an ERA lower than 3.65. The quality of the top three still kept the Blue Jay staff ranked fifth in the AL for composite ERA, but the lack of depth would hold Toronto back.
The Blue Jays came out of the gates firing on all cylinders. In mid-April they hosted the defending World Series champion Baltimore Orioles. Alexander locked up with Baltimore's Mike Boddicker, an October hero in 1983 in the series opener and a 2-2 game went to the eighth inning. Upshaw doubled, Bell drove him in and the Jays took a 3-2 win.
On Wednesday it was Collins who knocked out three hits, drove in three runs and keyed an easy 7-1 win behind Stieb. The Thursday afternoon getaway finale saw Clancy battle Oriole lefty Scott McGregor. A 1-1 tie went to the ninth. Upshaw again got something started with a base hit. Backup infielder Garth Iorg tripled in the run. The Blue Jays completed the sweep.
Toronto went on to win all six games they played against eventual AL West champ Kansas City. The Blue Jays swept a three-game set over the Chicago White Sox, who had won the West the year before. And Toronto delivered another three-game sweep over Minnesota, who contended to the final week of the season.
By Memorial Day, the Blue Jays were 31-14, riding high with the second-best record in baseball. There was only one problem. The Detroit Tigers were even hotter.
Here is a good place to step back and remind younger readers about the alignment and playoff format used by MLB from 1969-93. Each league was split into just an East and a West and only the first-place finisher could go to the postseason. That meant the AL East not only included current members in the Blue Jays, Yankees, Orioles and Red Sox, but centrally located teams in the Tigers, Indians and Brewers (an American League team prior to 1998).
So even though Toronto was red-hot, they were five games out of first place heading into the summer. By an early June series in Detroit, the first head-to-head shot at the Tigers, the deficit was still 4 ½ games. This was Toronto's chance to dent that lead.
Stieb pitched Monday night's opener and the ace was staked to a 3-0 lead that he carried into the seventh inning. But the Tigers rallied to tie the game. Jimmy Key came on in relief. The young lefty would become a reliable starter by next season. Right now he was still an untested part of a spotty bullpen and he gave up a three-run homer in the 10th.
It was a tough loss, but the Blue Jays bounced right back. They won Tuesday's game 8-4, thanks to a six-run fourth inning where catcher Ernie Whitt hit a three-run blast. Upshaw hit an early two-run homer on Wednesday and Leal won 6-3.
Even though Clancy lost the Thursday afternoon finale to Detroit ace Jack Morris, the Blue Jays had managed to split on the road. When Detroit made the return trip across the border a week later, the Toronto bats unloaded for 23 runs in three games and won twice.
The head-to-head with Detroit wasn't the problem. The problem was what happened in between the series at Tiger Stadium and the follow-up at old Exhibition Stadium. It was a weekend in New York against the Yankees. Toronto lost the opener 4-3 in eleven innings. Stieb lost a heartbreaking 2-1 duel to New York ace Ron Guidry. A 5-3 loss on Sunday swept the Blue Jays out of the Big Apple.
Thus, by the time this entire schedule stretch was completed, the Blue Jays had not cut into the Tigers' divisional lead. By the All-Star break, Toronto was still 50-34, still the second-best team in baseball…and seven games out of first.
The Blue Jays continued to play well in the late summer. They won five of seven from the Orioles and six of seven from the Twins. But losing four straight to the Royals held Toronto back in the divisional race that had no room for error. On Labor Day, Toronto's record was 79-57 and they were 8 ½ games behind Detroit.
Making a pennant run was a longshot against this good of a frontrunner and Toronto did not play well in September in either case. They dropped another series in New York. And when Detroit came to town and delivered a three-game sweep, it was all but over. The Tigers ended the season with a dazzling 104 wins and cruised through the postseason.
Toronto finished the season at 89-73. It was the same record as 1983. But even so, this felt like progress. The Blue Jays still ended up with the fourth-best record in baseball. They would have won the much weaker AL West with room to spare. They were clearly a playoff team by the standards of today. And by 1985, they would be a playoff team by the standards of their own, more demanding era.
1984 Pittsburgh Pirates: The Curtain Comes Down A Winning Era
Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1984 baseball, 1984 baseball season, 1984 MLB, 1984 MLB season, 1984 Pittsburgh Pirates, baseball history, MLB history, Pittsburgh Pirates history, sports history articles
Where the 1984 Pittsburgh Pirates were at in the historical arc of their franchise was a pertinent question coming into the season. They won the World Series as recently as 1979. Their only losing season since 1968 was in the strike-shortened year of 1981. They had been in first place as late as September in 1980, 1982 and 1983, even if they ultimately fell short.
READ GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
On the other hand–those three most recent contenders all ended up in the low 80s for wins. Dave Parker left after 1983 via free agency. There were few pieces left from 1979. So where exactly was this team? The '84 Pirates decisively answered the question–and not in a way that anyone in the Steel City appreciated.
Pittsburgh struggled offensively all year. The biggest reason was down years from two good players at the corner infield spots. Jason Thompson had been a reliable power hitter with a good batting eye. The batting eye stayed good in 1984 and Thompson's on-base percentage was .357. But his slugging percentage was a woeful .389. Even though he was only 29-years-old, his career decline had begun and he was out of baseball two years later.
Bill Madlock was at third base. A man who won four batting championships in his career struggled to an awful stat line of .297 OBP/.323 slugging. Even though Madlock was 33-years-old, it wasn't the end for him. He had good seasons ahead of him. But they wouldn't be in Pittsburgh and certainly did the Pirates no good in 1984.
It's not that no one had good years with the bat. Second baseman Johnny Ray hit .312. Lee Lacy, the 36-year-old outfielder hit .321. Jim Morrison slugged .454. Tony Pena was at least a respectable bat behind the plate with a stat line of .333/.425. But without Thompson and Madlock's production, the Pirates couldn't score enough runs. And they finished 10th in a 12-team National League at doing so.
Another reason for the poor offense was the offseason trade of Mike Easler, a good lefthanded bat. But that at least brought back lefthanded starting pitcher John Tudor, and it signaled that the '84 Pirates would be built on their arms. Tudor made 32 starts and posted a solid 3.27 ERA. And he was just one of several success stories in the rotation.
Rick Rhoden finished with a 2.72 ERA in his 33 starts. Larry McWilliams went to the post 32 times and his ERA was 2.93. John Candelaria's ERA was 2.72. Jose DeLeon, the talented second-year righthander had the "worst" ERA of the rotation and that was still a respectable 3.74.
Even more important, these five arms were healthy and combined for 153 starts. It eased the burden on a bullpen that was good in its own right. Kent Tekulve and Don Robinson shared closer duties in an era where a relief corps didn't have to be nearly as deep as they do today.
Pittsburgh finished with the best staff ERA in the National League. If the adage that baseball is 90 percent pitching were true, they would have been home free. Unfortunately, the '84 Pirates proved that you do need to occasionally score some runs.
Seven losses in the first ten games dug a quick hole and by Memorial Day, the Pirates were 17-24. They were in last place in a six-team NL East that included the Phillies, Mets, Montreal Expos (today's Washington Nationals), Cubs and Cardinals. Pittsburgh was 7 ½ games off the pace in an era when only the first-place team could qualify for the postseason. They had to get their act in gear.
They didn't. In early June, 14 games against NL East rivals produced a 3-11 record. The Pirates played well against the Cubs, winning four of seven against the eventual division champs. But they went to the West Coast and lost nine of eleven going into the All-Star break. They were 32-52, 16 ½ games out and the only NL East team that wasn't at least hovering near .500.
Pittsburgh picked up the pace out of the break, playing those same West Coast teams (Dodgers, Padres, Giants) at home and going 10-4. But they couldn't make a dent in the divisional margin. Any hope of a late summer surge was further put to rest with five losses in eight games with the Mets, the team that would finish second to Chicago.
The Pirates were back to twenty games under .500 by September 18, with a record of 65-85. They finished the season with a flourish that included sweeping the Cubs in Wrigley. The final record was a respectable 75-87.
But there was no doubt that this Pirate team was no longer a contender. For anyone who still harbored doubt, 1985 ended it when Pittsburgh lost 104 games and fired manager Chuck Tanner. An era of rebuilding had to begin.
The Mismatch That Was The 1984 ALCS
Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1984 ALCS, 1984 American League Championship Series, 1984 baseball, 1984 baseball season, 1984 Detroit Tigers, 1984 Kansas City Royals, 1984 MLB, 1984 MLB season, ALCS history, American League Championship Series history, Detroit Tigers history, Kansas City Royals history, MLB history, sports history articles
There are times when a perceived mismatch leads to a magical upset or at least a riveting moment when a favorite has to turn back a determined challenger. The 1984 ALCS between the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals was not one of them. The Tigers came in a heavy favorite, and while the Royals were able to make a couple of the individual games very good, the outcome of the series was never in doubt.
GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today.
1984 was the last year the LCS round was still a best-of-five affair. Homefield advantage was determined by a rotation system, so the series would open with two games in Kansas City on a Tuesday & Wednesday. After a day off for travel, the balance of the series would be played in Detroit. You can read more about the season-long paths each team took to its division title at the links below. This article will focus strictly on the games of the 1984 ALCS.
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1984 DETROIT TIGERS
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1984 KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Each team had its ace ready, Detroit with Jack Morris and Kansas City sending Bud Black. The Tigers wasted little time getting after Black and sending a clear message about their status as the top-heavy favorite to win the World Series.
Lou Whitaker led off the ALCS with a single and Alan Trammell promptly tripled him home. A sac fly from Lance Parrish had Detroit up 2-0 before anyone was even settled in. Larry Herndon and Trammell each hit leadoff homers in the fourth and fifth inning to extend the lead to 4-zip. Another run came in the seventh when Whitaker took second on a misplayed liner to right and quickly scored on a base hit from Trammell.
Morris was rolling and the 5-0 lead was plenty, but the Tigers tacked on three more runs, including another leadoff homer, this one from Parrish. The Royals avoided a shutout with a run in the seventh but that was all they achieved. The final was 8-1.
Detroit went to 18-game winner Dan Petry in Game 2. Kansas City had a 20-year-old kid who had both started and relieved throughout 1984 and pitched pretty well. His name was Bret Saberhagen. The Tigers wasted no time jumping on the kid. After a one-out error, Detroit pounced with back-to-back doubles from Kirk Gibson and Parrish. The Royals again faced a 2-0 deficit before coming to bat.
Gibson padded the lead with a one-out solo blast in the third. It looked like the rout was on. But Saberhagen settled in and Detroit stopped scoring. Meanwhile, the K.C. offense started grinding its way back.
Pat Sheridan worked a one-out walk in the fourth and took third on a base hit by George Brett. A productive ground ball from Jorge Orta put the Royals on the board. In the seventh, Steven Balboni singled with one out. A forceout replaced him on the basepaths with Frank White and Dane Iorg's pinch-hit single cut the lead to 3-2.
Detroit closer Willie Hernandez would won both the Cy Young and MVP awards in 1984, and he came on in the eighth inning. Kansas City, fighting for its life, found a way to tie the game. Lynn Jones singled to start the frame. Hal McRae, a veteran of K.C.'s four ALCS battles from 1976-80 had lost his power by this stage of his career, but he still came through here with a game-tying double. Kansas City had gotten to Hernandez and still had their own great closer, Dan Quisenberry in the pen.
Tiger manager Sparky Anderson cut his losses on Hernandez and went to Aurelio Rodriguez. The move came through, as Rodriguez tossed two shutout innings, matching zeroes with Quisenberry as the game went to the 11th.
Parrish led off the Detroit half of the eleventh with a single. A sac bunt by Darrell Evans was booted by catcher Don Slaught and now there were runners on first and second. Ruppert Jones bunted both over and John Grubb came up with the biggest hit of this ALCS, a two-run double off Quisenberry. Kansas City rallied in the bottom of the inning, putting two on with two outs. Jones came to the plate and lifted a long fly ball to right. But there was no walkoff magic…just a flyout to Gibson. Rodriguez finished the job in the 5-3 win.
Detroit took the field on Friday night knowing they had three cracks at home to clinch their first pennant since 1968. Milt Wilcox got the ball for the Tigers and pitched the game of his life.
Wilcox threw a three-hitter, with no Royal batter ever making it to second base. And it turns out he needed to be just that great, because K.C. lefty Charlie Liebrandt was almost as good.
Detroit mounted a soft rally on the second. An infield hit by Barbaro Garbey started it. After a forceout, an Evans single put runners on the corners and Marty Castillo's productive groundball out brought in the run. The Tigers threatened again the next inning, with Gibson on third and one out. But Leibrandt struck out Parrish and was able to escape.
The rest of the game was the two pitchers putting on a show. The 1-0 lead held and Hernandez came on for the ninth. When he got Darryl Motley to pop up to third, the city of Detroit could celebrate. Gibson was named ALCS MVP, going 5-for-12 with a home run and two RBI.
As series MVP honors go, those numbers are pedestrian. But no pitcher had to go more than twice, no reliever dominated and Trammell was the only other everyday player to have an impact going 4-for-11. Trammell was the difference in Game 1, but Gibson was in the much more competitive Game 2 that all but clinched the series.
Detroit was able to keep right on celebrating through the World Series, as they rolled through the San Diego Padres in five games to win what is still their most recent title (though the franchise won AL flags in 2006 and 2012).
Kansas City would get its own chance to celebrate—one year later they would be back and win the World Series themselves. But 1984 belonged to Detroit.
A September Surge Saves The 1984 Kansas City Royals
Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1984 baseball, 1984 baseball season, 1984 Kansas City Royals, 1984 MLB, 1984 MLB season, Kansas City Royals history, MLB history, sports history articles
The 1984 Kansas City Royals weren't one of the stronger teams in the franchise's halcyon days from 1976-85. The season looked lost several times and the final record was a mediocre 84-78. But in a year where the AL West was weak, the Royals put together a September surge that won them a division title.
It was a division title that was, at least by the standards of Royals baseball at this time, a long time coming. After winning the AL West four times from 1976-80 and winning the pennant in 1980, the Royals had seen the A's, Angels and White Sox all take turns winning the division. Some offseason changes were made.
Amos Otis, the centerfielder who'd been such a big part of the late 1970s, was let go. Kansas City then made two good pickups in power-hitting first baseman Steve Balboni from the Yankees and relief pitcher Joe Beckwith from the Dodgers. K.C. only gave up minor leaguers that never panned out. Balboni hit 28 home runs and had a nice career run in Kansas City. Beckwith logged 100 innings out of the pen and posted a 3.40 ERA.
Other young players included catcher Don Slaught and shortstop Onix Concepion, though neither were very productive. Nor was rightfielder Pat Sheridan. Two veterans, designated hitter Hal McRae and second baseman Frank White were in decline, but managed to contribute something. White hit 17 home runs. McRae's power was gone, but he finished with a .363 on-base percentage.
Darryl Motley hit 15 home runs from the left field spot, while centerfielder Willie Wilson batted over .300 and stole 47 bases. Ultimately though, the Royals offense ranked just 11th in the American League in runs scored because of relatively bad year from third baseman George Brett.
The word "relatively" has to be emphasized. Brett finished with an on-base percentage of .344 and a slugging percentage of .459, which is hardly an embarrassment. But after years of production at Hall of Fame levels, this was a dropoff and he also only played 104 games due to a series of nagging injuries.
Pitching was better than the hitting, although the Royals were still only in the middle of the league in ERA. Bud Black was the staff ace, winning 17 games with a 3.12 ERA. Black's 35 starts made him the only pitcher to go to the post 30-plus times as manager Dick Howser kept finishing for a combination that would work.
Mark Gubicza was a young arm on the rise though he only finished 10-14, he posted a respectable 4.05 ERA in 29 starts. Larry Gura was a veteran on the decline and the 36-year-old lefty struggled to a 5.18 ERA. Charlie Leibrandt, a finesse lefty in the Gura mold, although younger, was able to win 11 games with a 3.63 ERA.
Two young arms with bright futures ahead of them also got their share of work. Danny Jackson made 11 starts with a 4.26 ERA. And the man who would be a World Series hero by 1985, 20-year-old Bret Saberhagen made 18 starts along with a lot of relief work. He finished 10-11 and the ERA was a solid 3.48.
The entire pitching staff ultimately pointed to submarine-style throwing closer Dan Quisenberry. One of the top relievers in baseball in the early 1980s, Quisenberry finished in the top three of the Cy Young voting four straight years, though he never won it. This year he saved 44 games—at a time when every closer in baseball didn't routinely rack up huge save numbers. He finished second in the Cy Young race to another closer, Detroit's Willie Hernandez. And with Hernandez winning the MVP, Quisenberry finished third in that race.
The Royals stumbled right away out of the gate, starting 5-15. They played nine games against the two best teams in the AL East, Detroit and Toronto and lost eight of them. Kansas City was able to stop the bleeding, but by Memorial Day the record was still just 18-24. The good news was that .500 was good enough to lead the AL West, so they were only three games back.
A 6-2 stretch against Minnesota and Seattle had K.C. knocking on the door of the break-even mark, but they promptly lost nine of eleven to give the ground back and by June 20 they were in last place and 6 ½ games out. Once again, Howser steadied the ship and by the All-Star break the Royals had chipped back to a record of 39-43 and were within four games of first in a division where no one had any separation.
If anyone thought a rejuvenated K.C. team would come out of the All-Star break, their illusions were quickly shattered. The Royals went to Yankee Stadium for a five-game series and got swept, scoring just six runs in the process. Kansas City lost three of four to Cleveland the season hit its nadir with a record of 40-51 and an eight-game deficit in the AL West.
Oddly, it was games against the far superior AL East that turned the season around. The Royals went on a 9-3 run against the other division, including a four-game sweep of Toronto where they scored 28 runs. In early August, Kansas City went to Detroit, who was having one of the great seasons of the modern era. The Royals had another offensive explosion, scoring 27 runs in four games in a series sweep.
The White Sox were the defending divisional champs, but were starting to fade as the stretch drive approached. The Royals facilitated that fade, winning four of six games against their rival. By the time Labor Day arrived, Kansas City had reached the .500 mark at 68-68. They were in second place, just a game back of Minnesota. The California Angels were only a game and a half out. These three teams would chase the watered-down AL West crown to the end.
K.C. would begin a run of head-to-head battles with a three-game homer series against Minnesota on Labor Day. It didn't start well, when the Royals only mustered five hits in a 4-1 loss. But Gubicza and Leibrandt answered the bell with strong outings of eight-plus innings the next two games. Quisenberry closed out a pair of 4-1 wins for the Royals. When Kansas City followed that up with a weekend series sweep of Seattle, they were in first place.
The margin was still only a single game and K.C. now made the return trip to the Twin Cities the following week. Gubicza pitched the opener and only trailed 3-2 in the eighth inning before he finally cracked and Minnesota broke the game open. A similar pattern happened the next night. Leibrandt pitched well, trailed 1-0 in the seventh, but then came apart as the Twins took their revenge on the two pitchers who had beaten them in Kansas City.
In the series finale, Black did what an ace does—he pitched eight strong innings. The game was tied 2-2 in the ninth. Concepion and Wilson both singled, were bunted over and Jorge Orta picked up the winning run with a sac fly. Kansas City then traveled to Seattle for the weekend and won two of three. The week ended with the Royals and Twins tied for first and the Angels a half-game back. There were two weeks to go.
Now it was time to play California and Kansas City stayed out west for a four-game series. The offense unloaded in the first two games, with six home runs by six different players and the combined score was 20-1. That same offense went quiet in the next two games. They got eleven hits combined and lost a 4-3 game in extra innings and were shut out 2-zip in the series finale. The Royals returned home to take a weekend series from the A's. K.C. entered the final week still tied with Minnesota, and California a game and a half back.
For the fourth straight week, the Royals opened with a series against a fellow contender. The only thing that could have made this stretch run schedule any better was if these games were on the weekend. A Monday doubleheader began a four-game set and Saberhagen was brilliant in the opener, tossing a three-hitter in a 4-0 win. The bats came through in the nightcap. Brett drove in three runs and Motley unleashed with a grand slam and six RBIs in a 12-4 win. The Twins beat the White Sox, but K.C. was at least starting to separate from California.
The Royals all but crushed the Angels chances on Tuesday in a great baseball game. Trailing 5-4 I the ninth, Wilson walked, stole second and scored the tying run on a base hit by Dane Iorg. Quisenberry came on in relief and tossed four innings of shutout ball as the game went to the 12th inning. Iorg, who in the 1985 World Series, would get a walkoff RBI to win a legendary Game 6, came through again. He doubled, and it set up an RBI single from Balboni.
Even though Kansas City lost the finale 2-0, getting only four hits and wasting a good effort from Black, Minnesota had lost the final two games to Chicago. The last weekend began with K.C. up by a game and a half.
The Royals were off on Thursday and watched Minnesota blow a 3-0 eighth-inning lead in Cleveland and the margin extended to two games. On Friday night, with Kansas City having a late start in Oakland, they watched the Twins cough another one up, this one in stunning fashion. After scoring ten runs in the first two innings, Minnesota let Cleveland chip all the way back and closer Ron Davis blew it for the second straight night. The Indians delivered a stunning 11-10 win.
Kansas City played Oakland knowing that a one-game playoff was the worst they could do and one more win would clinch. After an up-and-down season and dramatic September, the Royals took care of business right away. The veterans came through, as White had three hits, including a triple and home run. Brett also homered, while the young Concepion met the moment with a three-hit game. The 6-5 win clinched the division.
It was by no means the greatest of division titles, with five AL East teams having a better record and no one else in the AL West breaking .500. Kansas City was summarily dispatched from the ALCS by the Detroit Tigers. But it was still a fun stretch run, it added another piece to the legacy of this period in franchise history…and it set the stage for the greatest year of 1985 when the Royals finally won the World Series.
THE ERA: 1978-88 IN MLB, CFB & NFL
Go deep into the heart of the 1978-88 era in baseball, college football and the NFL. TheSportsNotebook has individual articles on the most consequential teams from that time period, from their key players to their season-defining moments. Click the images below to be taken into the library and back to another era.
BOOKS ON AMAZON
From 1980s sports, to the Lou Holtz era at Notre Dame, to the historic 1978 baseball season, TheSportsNotebook.com has three books available in both print and electronic format at Amazon. Click the images to learn more and order.
THE LAST GOLDEN AGE: THE LOU HOLTZ ERA AT NOTRE DAME
THE SEQUEL SEASON: THE YEAR-LONG NARRATIVE OF THE EPIC 1978 BASEBALL SEASON
thesportsnotebook.com
TheSportsNoteBook.com Copyright 2023