1984 Detroit Tigers

[stevem810]

And...what the doctor ordered!

Game 99 Comer vs Petry

Four hits for Tram including a pair of doubles and Petry 8/7/2 earned runs goes to 11-8 as the Tigers open up on the road with a 5-3 win. Save for Hernandez (18).

Game 100 R.Smith vs Wilcox

Milt didn't have much (7 IP/ 6 runs (4 earned) but Smith had less (2 IP/ 8 runs (4 earned) and the Tigers won 10-6. Three more hits for Tram (.328) and homers by Lemon (20) and Gibson (2) 13 sparked the attack.

So, Detroit is 53-47 after 100 games

Game 101 Heaton vs Berenguer

For the 2nd day in a row the Tigers SP was not hard to figure out as Juan Berenguer gave up 6 runs in just 5 innings. But, Heaton gave up 10 runs in 4.1 innings. Three more hits for Tram and two more homers for Gibby as Detroit wins 15-9.

Game 102 Schulz vs Abbott

The Tigers scored their only runs in the 7th as Junior Noboa's error opened the door to 4 unearned runs and that was enough to ensure the 4-2 win.Abbott 8 IP gets the W and Willie 1 IP the Save.

Detroit leaves the mistake on the lake with a 55-47 record. The Tribe is 41-67 as Detoirt trails the Yanks by 9 and Jays by 8. The O's are 6 out.

The Tigers return to Detroit for a twin bill with the Red Sox on Friday and then single games on Saturday and Sunday. The Red Sox are 46-55 with Wade Boggs hitting .361.

[stevem810]

July 27 Game 103 Morris vs. Clemens

Jack probably stayed in the game too long as the Red Sox touched him up for 3 runs in the 9th plus a single run of Hernandez as Boston takes it 9-5

Game 104 (2nd of a DH) Petry vs. Brown

Ugly starting pitching for both teams as neither pitcher made it out of the 5th inning. Lemon and Ho Jo each batted in a pair as the Tigers prevailed 8-4.

Game 105 Wilcox vs. Ojeda

Four Tiger relievers (none of them Willie Hernandez) combined to shut down the Sox over the last 4 innings as Rozema gets the W and Bair the S. Herndon (.328) batted in two runs in the 3-2 win.

Game 106 Berenguer vs Hurst

Juan Berenguer went just 5.1 IP but he was brilliant allowing just 1 hit, fanning 9, and walking 1 as the Tigers cruised to an 8-0 win behind homers by Lemon (21) and HoJo (19).

Just one game left in July as the Indians come to town next.

[stevem810]

Game 107 Abbott vs Heaton

Abbott was shelled, simply put, as the Tribe walked away with an easy win by the score of 9-2 effectively rendering D. Evans two solo homers meaningless (26,27). Abbott falls to 8-6.

So, the Tigers go 16-12 in the month of July and still trail three teams.

The Tigers ended up losing 6-3 on Aug. 1 as Blylevin pitched better than Morris. The series concluded on Aug. 2 with the Tigers salvaging one of three games by beating the Tribe 4-1 behind Dan Petry's 7 innings and A. Lopez's 2 IP (Save #2). Gibby went 3 for 3 with a walk.

[Darviathar]

Are you using historical lineups and transactions? I recently completed the 1984 season using those (managing the Dodgers each game myself). Detroit was fairly consistent, and ended up winning their deserved World Series crown.

1984 AL East Standings in my Universe:

Detroit 94-68
Toronto 90-72
NY 89-73
Baltimore 88-74
Boston 78-84
Cleveland 78-84
Milwaukee 74-87

Lance Parrish had a monster season hitting .273 43 HR 148 RBI, and I overruled the computer's pick to name him MVP.

I noticed that the other historical division winners are struggling in your league as well. Kansas City was right on target for me at 84-78, but the Cubs and Padres were their usual dismal selves at 78-83 and 77-85. I've been playing 80's historical seasons for a long time and have never seen the "one year wonder" teams (like the 84 Cubs and Padres) do very well. In particular, teams with weak pitching are usually very bad every year.

[stevem810]

I'm letting the A.I. manage the other teams and I'm managing the Tiger line ups/substitutions, etc.

Your stats definitely reflect more of what actually played out. I'm a bit surprised the Tigers are not doing better because, Ho Jo for example, has been a valuable contributor (but was in Sparky's doghouse) and will likely receive +200 more AB's.

Of course, Jack Morris has an ERA more that 1.00 over his actual and Gibby has a .757 OPS compared to .879 (and has suffered some injury time).

Also, 13-17 in 1 run games plays into it.

I'm actually okay not having the actual line-ups as it does create more opportunity for the season to play out differently with injuires, etc.

Thanks for sharing your stats and comments!

[stevem810]

August 3 G 110 Wilcox vs Gubicza
Royals cruise to a 5-0 win.

August 4 G 111 Berenguer vs Black
Another easy win for the Royals as they win it 7-2.

August 5 G 112 Abbott vs. Leibrandt
A pair of Tom Brookens errors paved the way for all 3 of the Royal runs (unearned) and that was the difference as the Tigers scored just 2 on Tram's fifth inning double. 9 LOB for Detroit.

August 5 G 113 Morris vs Gura
Detroit won 7-5 behind HoJo who went 3 for 4 with 2 ribbies. Jack gets the win (10-11) and Hernandez the save (20).

The Tigers head out on an incredible 24 game road trip except for a brief stop at Tiger stadium for a 3 game set with the Angels. Beantown up next. Detroit is 9 back of the Yankees.

[stevem810]

Game 114 Clemens vs. Petry

The Tigers hung a 3 spot on the board in the 2nd inning off the Rocket and that is all they would get. It was enough as Petry (5.2 IP), Mason (2 IP), and Bair (1.1 IP) limited the Sox to just single runs in the first and third innings.

Game 115 Nipper vs. Wilcox

Pretty much all Tigers as homers by the keystone combo of Tram and Lou were complimented by a pair of long balls by Kirk Gibson (16,17) in a game that ended 9-3, Detroit.

Game 116 O'jeda vs Berenguer

Four more Tiger homers by Gibson, HoJo, and Tram (2) led the way to a 6-2 victory and a series sweep in Beantown. It's been awhile since the Tigers dominated a team for a full series as the Sox seemed in over their heads never threatening to win any of the games.

The Tigers have Thursday off before they travel to KC for 3 game series.

[BaseballMan]

Your still in it. If you can can sweep a series and get it down to 4 or 5
you might be in good shape.
When you finish this one have you thought about taking another team?

[stevem810]

Originally Posted by BaseballMan

Your still in it. If you can can sweep a series and get it down to 4 or 5
you might be in good shape.
When you finish this one have you thought about taking another team?

Actually, I was just thinking about what I might do next this very day. I was chatting with one of my friends about the baseball glory years which made me think of 1961 when the Tigers won over 100 games but were a distant second to the powerhouse Yankees.

But, I like your suggestion about 'another team' which might be a franchise other than the Tigers. So, yeah, I'm giving this some thought.

[stevem810]

G 117 Leibrandt vs. Morris

Doubles by Whitaker and Gibson staked Detroit to a 1-0 first inning lead but a miscue by Tram in the 3rd inning led to 3 unearned Royal runs putting the Tigers down by a 3-1 score. Barbaro Garbey took Leibrandt for a trip downtown in the 6th as his Baltimore Special put the Tigers up 5-3. Jack made it into the 9th with just 92 pitches but after a lead off single Willie Hernandez was brought on to finish the job. His 1-2-3 inning elevated Jack to 11-11 while earning his 21st save of the year.

The Yanks, Jays, and O's are all within 2 1/2 games of each other while the streaking Tigers are now 7 out.

G 118 Gura vs Petry

The Tigers don't match up nearly as well vs LHP as RHP, especially with Herndon out with injury (again), but the real problem was the Starting Pitching (again). Dan Petry gave up a grand slam to Bye Bye Balboni in the first inning, another single run in the 2nd, and that set the stage for the 7-5 defeat which was sealed when Dan gave up 2 more in the 6th. Royals pull to .500.

G 119 Saberhagen vs. Wilcox

If Saturday's starting pitching was poor, and it was, Sunday's was even worse as Wilcox surrendered 7 hits, 6 walks, 2 homers, and 8 earned runs in the 11-1 drubbing.

Detroit heads home to face the Angels Tuesday through Thursday still 7 games back.

[stevem810]

Pretty good batting race in the A.L.

[BaseballMan]

If the 61 tigers interest you it might be better to do that one. When I said different team I just ment different from 84 tigers. There's still plenty of good tiger teams to go through.

[Darviathar]

[QUOTE=stevem810;4145896]I'm letting the A.I. manage the other teams and I'm managing the Tiger line ups/substitutions, etc.

Your stats definitely reflect more of what actually played out. I'm a bit surprised the Tigers are not doing better because, Ho Jo for example, has been a valuable contributor (but was in Sparky's doghouse) and will likely receive +200 more AB's.

Of course, Jack Morris has an ERA more that 1.00 over his actual and Gibby has a .757 OPS compared to .879 (and has suffered some injury time).

Also, 13-17 in 1 run games plays into it.

I'm actually okay not having the actual line-ups as it does create more opportunity for the season to play out differently with injuires, etc.

Morris indeed had a high ERA in 1984 in my league as well (3.86) but won 21 games in spite of it. He won 20 with a 3.03 ERA in 1985. Gibson was close to target at .291 24 96 with a .902 OPS. He followed this with a very fine 1985 season. I think what really holds Detroit away from 100 win territory is that Willie Hernandez will never come close to the greatness of his actual 1984 season. The computer simply will not utilize a closer for 140 innings the way Hernandez was employed back then, even though I've tried tinkering with relief pitcher stamina in order to better represent that. Willie was good for a mere 58 innings (2.78 ERA) which means that almost 100 innings were pitched by far inferior players, thus contributing to the 10 win shortcoming in the final record.

[stevem810]

[QUOTE=Darviathar;4148782]

Originally Posted by stevem810

I'm letting the A.I. manage the other teams and I'm managing the Tiger line ups/substitutions, etc.

Your stats definitely reflect more of what actually played out. I'm a bit surprised the Tigers are not doing better because, Ho Jo for example, has been a valuable contributor (but was in Sparky's doghouse) and will likely receive +200 more AB's.

Of course, Jack Morris has an ERA more that 1.00 over his actual and Gibby has a .757 OPS compared to .879 (and has suffered some injury time).

Also, 13-17 in 1 run games plays into it.

I'm actually okay not having the actual line-ups as it does create more opportunity for the season to play out differently with injuires, etc.

Morris indeed had a high ERA in 1984 in my league as well (3.86) but won 21 games in spite of it. He won 20 with a 3.03 ERA in 1985. Gibson was close to target at .291 24 96 with a .902 OPS. He followed this with a very fine 1985 season. I think what really holds Detroit away from 100 win territory is that Willie Hernandez will never come close to the greatness of his actual 1984 season. The computer simply will not utilize a closer for 140 innings the way Hernandez was employed back then, even though I've tried tinkering with relief pitcher stamina in order to better represent that. Willie was good for a mere 58 innings (2.78 ERA) which means that almost 100 innings were pitched by far inferior players, thus contributing to the 10 win shortcoming in the final record.

Yeah, Ho Jo is making a positive difference, to be sure. You've identified a few of the issues in your post correctly. When you look at the bullpen, homers, runs scored, and defense the Tigers are ranked high in the league. It's only the SP's ERA ranked 9th that stand out as a serious deficiency.

Well, still plenty of games to go.

[stevem810]

G 120 Berenguer vs Witt

Five early runs fueled by Lemon's 2 run triple and Lance Parrish's round tripper led the way as the Tigers won 5-3 behind Berenguer's 6 IP, Rozema's 2 IP, and Willie's shutout 9th earning him his 22nd save.

Detroit is still 7 behind the Yanks but picked up a game on both Tor and Bal who are 2.5 and 2 games out.

note: While 'real historical line-ups' was not clicked in the set up 'real historical transactions' were. Yesterday the Tigers lost Glenn Abbott who must have retired or been released as he is not with any club presently. Rozy heads to the rotation when consecutive games are 5 or more. Another guy that was in Sparky's doghouse but he's been very good in relief.

Game 121 Morris vs. Kison

Ho Jo went deep in the 2nd inning to stake Jack to a 1-0 lead but it didn't take long for Morris self destruct as he gave up a pair of 3 spots in the 3rd and 5th innings (5 runs scored with 2 outs) and the Angels cruised to an easy 8-1 win. You get the feeling time is running out on these Tigers when a 53-65 team comes to Tiger Stadium and rolls over your #1 pitcher.

Game 122 Petry vs. Zahn

Petry got off to a rough start allowing a run to score in the first when Sconiers singled in Bobby Grich with 2 out. The Tigers answered when Gibson launched a 3 run bomb in the bottom half of the 3rd and that actually closed out the scoring in this one. Petry went 8 IP and Willie on for the save.

The Jays are on a 7 game losing streak and the O's have lost 2 of 3.

NY
Bal -2
Tor -3.5
Det -7

Seattle comes to town next and then Oakland before the west coast trip.

[stevem810]

G 123 Wilcox vs Moore

I've put off this game write up for 24 hours just because.....ugh...it's the type of game that has been indicative of the season. Well, here goes...In the top of the first Dave Henderson plates a run with a SF. This was a result of Sweet Lou being out with injury and Brookens playing 2b...he made a miscue on the lead-off batter allowing Seattle to get the 1-0 advantage. Ruppert Jones and Ho Jo (again) hit solo homers and the Tigers are up 2-1 with Milt pitching a pretty nice game. But, the M's score when Bonnell steals 2nd base in the 7th and Phil Bradley singles him home with 2 outs. Tie game. But, in the bottom of the inning Tram comes through with his own 2 out hit, a double, and Detroit takes the lead 3-2. We go to the 9th and Tiger infielders commit not one, but two errors and the M's forge ahead 5-3 as all the runs were unearned. The Tigers try and rally as they put 2 on with 1 out but ultimately Stanton retires the side without allowing any runs and Detroit has just lost a home game to the 54-69 Seattle Mariners. With the Yanks and O's winning Detroit is now 8 games out of first and trail Baltimore by 6. They are 3 1/2 behind the reeling Blue Jays (6 losses in a row).

G 124 Rozema vs Stoddard

Danny Tartabull hit his 1st HR of the year with a man on in the 3rd inning to stake the M's to a 2-0 lead. But one inning later Bergman did him one better by launching a 3 run bomb to finish out the scoring as the Tigers win 3-2 behind Rozema's 7 IP, Lopez 1 IP, and Willie's 9th inning save.

G 125 Berenguer vs Young

The M's threatened to run away after the Tigers loaded the bases in the first but couldn't cash in as they led 3-0 heading to the bottom of the 6th. Somehow the Tiger bats finally woke up as they tallied 5 runs with 2 outs as homers by Garbey and Parrish accounted for 3 of the runs. Detroit added 4 more runs in the 7th for a 9-3 lead but guess what? The M's would go on to score 4 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th to tie it at 9-9. If not for Ho Jo's solo shot in the bottom of the 9th it could have been a disastrous loss.

So, Detroit bounces back in the series to take 2 out if 3 and are now 7 back of NY and prepare for Oak before the big west coast swing.

[stevem810]

[stevem810]

G 126 Morris vs. Warren

Jack even his record at 12-12 by going 7 IP and not allowing any runs while benefiting from homers by Parrish (2), Ho Jo, and Gibby as Detroit won 6-1.

G 127 Petry vs Krueger

The Tigers had a 3-1 lead but it was the A's who rallied twice to win it 6-4 as Lansford took Hernandez deep for a 2 run homer in the 9th.

G 128 Wilcox vs Codiroli

The Tigers managed but 2 hits a homer by Tram and a double by Lou while the A's pounded out 9 hits including 3 by Lansford. Yet, it was the Tigers who walked away with the 2-1 win. Wilcox (7 IP) goes to 10-10 and Mason earns his 2nd save.

So, with the O's and Jays 4 games out, and Detroit 7, the Tigers travel to the west coast to play the Angels, M's, and A's before coming back east to play within their own division.

[stevem810]

G 129 Witt vs. Berenguer

Forget 'Ducky' Schofield's grand slam homer in the 8th, culminating the unearned run total at 5, this game was all Tigers. Detroit exploded for 5 in the second inning and then added homers by Evans (29) and Ho Jo (25) as well as various hits by too many batters to mention and the Tigers had themselves a convincing 15-8 win. Parrish, Tram, Lou, and Berenguer played about half a game as the Tigers get ready for the game next evening. Yanks lost, Jays and O's won, so Detroit is 6 back.

G 130 Kison vs Morris

Boom. That was sound of the Tiger bats going off against Angel pitching for the 2nd consecutive game as Detroit pounded out 17 hits while scoring 11 runs in the 11-6 win. No Tiger homers but Parrish had 4 hits and Lemon 3. Mr. October and Schofield went deep for the Angels.

The Jays win in Minnesota and the O's win 7-0 in Oakland, but the Yanks lose 6-5 to the M's in 11 innings.
The Tigers are now 5 games out, Bal 2 out, and Tor 2.5 out. Are the Bronx Bombers feeling the heat?

G 123 Zahn vs Petry

The Tigers and Halo's traded solo homers in the first as Sweet Lou led the game off with one to right field and Bobby Grich hooked one around the left field pole so 1-1 after one. After trading runs in the 5th Detroit put up another in the 6th when Evans singled in Gibson, 3-2 Detroit. In the 8th Ho Jo's SF scored Lemon to make it 4-2, Tigers. Petry finished up with 8 IP/ 2 runs and Willie came on to retire the Angels 1-2-3 in the 9th nailing down his 25th save in so doing. Petry is now 15-9 with a 4.00 ERA.

So, the Tigers sweep the Angels and move on to Seatlle where they will face the 61-70 M's. Detroit is 5-1 on the current west coast swing. Good news for the #1 American League bullpen (aka Hernandez) Detroit has acquired Bill Scherrer in a trade with Cincinnati.

[stevem810]