The 1979-83 Tigers' teams struck me as average, with no players battling for batting titles, no home run leaders, or no Cy Young candidates. Under new manager Sparky Anderson - who came to Detroit in 1979 after a very successful tenure for the Cincinnati Reds - the Tigers finished in fourth-place 3 times, once in fifth-place, and once in second-place. Little did I know at the time what was building in Motown...
The Detroit Tigers came into the 1984 season with the same core group of players as the previous seasons - Alan Trammell, Kirk Gibson, Jack Morris, and Lou Whitaker (who was my favorite Tiger). The Tigers added veterans Darrell Evans and Willie "Guillermo" Hernandez to the team prior to the season's start. The Tigers started the season on a tear, posting a 35-5 record to open the year. All the talk around me at school, at home, and on the news was about how great the Tigers were playing, and how 1984 could be their year to win the World Series. The rallying cry for the season became known as "Bless You Boys". I had never witnessed a town caught up in such baseball fever, and it was exciting. Tigers role players like Chet Lemon, Larry Herndon, Ruppert Jones, and Howard Johnson became household names in Detroit. The Tigers would send 6 players to the All-Star Game. The Tigers breezed through the rest of regular season, never having lost the lead in the AL East division from season's start to end. They entered the playoffs on a roll, and were set to face the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series. The Tigers made short work of the series, sweeping the Royals 3-0, to give the Tigers their first World Series berth since 1968. The Tigers opponents in the World Series would be the San Diego Padres. The series would open in San Diego for two games, with next 3 games to be played at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers won Game 1, 3-2, behind a solid complete-game pitching performance from their ace, Jack Morris. The Padres would win Game 2, sending the series back to Detroit tied 1-1. The Tigers won a close Game 3 by the score of 5-2 to take a 2-1 series lead, swinging the momentum in their favor. In Game 4, Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell provided all the offense the Tigers would need by hitting two, 2-run home runs. The Tigers won the game 4-2, giving Jack Morris his second win of the World Series. In Game 5, with the Tigers having a commanding 3-1 series lead, outfielder Kirk Gibson would become a World Series hero. With the Tigers leading by one run in the bottom of the eighth inning, Gibson came up to bat with two runners on base. Prior to the at bat, San Diego manager Dick Williams paid a visit to the pitchers mound to talk with Padres reliever Goose Gossage, possibly wanting to give Gibson (who had already homered earlier in the game) an intentional walk. Gossage persuaded his manager to let him pitch to Gibson. Gibson responded by hitting a three-run home run deep into the upper deck seats of Tiger Stadium, putting the Tigers ahead 8-4 and sending the crowd into a frenzy. I'll never forget watching that home run with my family on our console television. Willie Hernandez closed out the ninth inning, and the Tigers were World Series Champions. The people of Detroit erupted in celebration in the way only Detroiters would do - by rioting, burning police cars and taxis - several photos from these ugly events printed in national newspapers. I was in disbelief. In the ensuing weeks, Tigers World Series Champion memoriblia surfaced everywhere I looked - Coca-Cola cans with each individual player from the team, McDonalds placemats with players' images, newspaper inserts, posters in baseball card shops, etc. The "Roar of '84" definitely created a baseball culture in Detroit, and I couldn't have been happier to be in the middle of it.
The 1985 and 1986 MLB baseball seasons would see the Tigers (and their fans) come back down to earth by finishing in third-place both seasons. By 1987, with the aged core group of the '84 World Series team still intact, they faced even lower expecations. They started the season 11-19. The Tigers soon would turn things around though, and ended up finding themselves in a pennant race with the Toronto Blue Jays come late September. The Tigers entered the last regular season series against the Blue Jays, behind in the standings by one game - with three games to play at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers wound up sweeping the series from the Jays, capped by a 1-0 division clinching win. I remember watching this game, and up until that point, have never watched a more exciting baseball game. Frank Tanana piched a complete-game shutout for the Tigers, and I still have the image of that last out in my head. I think it was more special to me because all season long the Tigers were playing from behind, and were not the favorites like in '84. The Tigers ended up having the best record in baseball, and once again were playoff bound. The Tigers entered the American League Championship Series as clear favorites over the Minnesota Twins. But, the Twins caught lightening in a bottle once the playoffs started, and ended up winning the series 4-1, on their way to winning the World Series. This would be the Tigers last playoff appearance until 2006.
The next couple of seasons for the Tigers passed without much excitement. Kirk Gibson left the Tigers for the Los Angeles Dodgers only to become a World Series hero again, by hitting another dramatic home-run. Trammell, Whitaker, and Morris were still with the Tigers, as well as the now-beloved manager Sparky Anderson.
Excitement would return to the Tigers in 1990 however, courtesy of Cecil Fielder. Fielder caught the Tigers attention by hitting 38 homeruns the prior season in a Japanese league, and they signed him as a free agent prior to the 1990 season. Fielder responded by belting 51 homeruns and driving in 132 runs for the Tigers. He hit his 50th, and 51st home run on the last day of the season. Fielder's 51 home runs were the highest single season total in the American League since Roger Maris' record (at the time) of 61 in 1961. Cecil hit mammoth home runs, and became the first Tiger player ever to hit a homerun over the left field roof. Fielder would continue to be the showcase of attention in Detroit for the next several seasons, as the Tigers best finish during Fielder's tenure with the team was a second-place finish in 1991. Before Fielder, no Tiger had ever hit 25 home runs in 6 consecutive seasons, and he finished his Tiger career with 219 home runs. The Tigers traded Fielder to the New York Yankees at the July trade deadline of the 1996 season.
With Fielder gone, few bright spots remained for the Tigers. Sparky Anderson and Lou Whitaker would retire from the game after the 1995 season. Alan Trammell would retire a year later, and was the last of the "Bless You Boys" players to play in a Tiger uniform.
During the Fielder years though, the Tigers did do something I hadn't seen yet by them - they tweaked their cap logo. The home cap remained intact, the traditional navy blue hat embroidered with the Old English "D". In 1994 though, they unveiled a new cap logo to wear with the gray road uniforms. The new road cap still featured an Old English "D", but added a tiger crawling through the much larger logo. The navy blue hat also had an orange bill. I've always liked when teams change their logos and uniforms, and thought it was cool that the Tigers finally made a change to their traditional uniforms. They wore the new road caps until 2005, when the Tigers switched back to the traditonal all-navy cap with the orange "D".
I moved to Texas in 1998, at a time when the Tigers future was very much in question. It was almost like Sparky Anderson seen the writing on the wall when he retired. The next several years would see the Tigers trying to fill Anderson's managerial shoes with a handful of ex-major league players - Buddy Bell, Larry Parrish, Phil Garner, and hometown favorite Alan Trammell. The Tigers also moved into a new stadium to begin the 2000 season, Comerica Park, ending the historic run for Tiger Stadium. Perhaps to bring excitement to go along with the opening of the new stadium, the Tigers made a bold move when they made a blockbuster trade with Texas Rangers for superstar slugger, Juan Gonzalez. Upon the completion of the trade (which cost the Tigers 6 prospects) the Tigers offered Gonzalez an 8 year, $140 million contract extension - which the 2-time MVP spurned. Gonzalez struggled mightly with the Tigers, often dealing with injuries and complaining that the home run fences at Comerica Park were too far. Gonzalez only lasted one season in Detroit, playing in a total of 115 games, and the trade was considered a bust for the Tigers.
After settling in Texas, I found it was hard to follow the Tigers and what they were accomplishing on the field. This is when I started following the Houston Astros, and I adopted them as my new hometown team. I heard most of my news about the Tigers from my Dad, talking to him on telephone several times a week. During the 1998-2004 MLB seasons, the Tigers would finish in no better than third-place. The Tigers lost over 90 games 3 times, and over 100 games twice - topped by a 119 loss season in 2003 under manager Alan Trammell. I felt bad for Trammell, and felt his legacy in Detroit would be tarnished from this disastrous season. Trammell would go on to manage 2 more seasons with Detroit, both 90-loss seasons.
In 2004, the Tigers signed All-Star catcher Ivan Rodriguez to a multi-million dollar deal, a move (at the time) I questioned. I wondered if the Rodriguez signing was going to turn out like the disastrous Gonzalez deal. In 2005, the Tigers went out and signed another high-profile free-agent in Magglio Ordonez. I took notice to the moves the Tigers were making, and saw that the team was trying to restore itself to a respectable ball club.
The Tigers entered the 2006 season with MLB veteran Jim Leyland as their manager. The Ordonez and Rodriguez deals were working out nicely and the Tigers were starting to rebuild. They signed veteran starting pitcher Kenny Rogers before the season. As the 2006 season was unfolding, my hometown Astros seemed to me like they were still reeling from being swept in the World Series. My rooting interests for the Astors started to waiver. During the 2006 season, I started to hear about up and coming young pitchers in Detroit - Justin Verlander, Fernando Rodney, and Joel Zumaya - all who could top 100-mph on the radar gun. I was lucky enough, by chance, to sit down to watch a nationally televised, thursday daytime game broadcast on ESPN in July - right after the all-star break. The game was at a sold-out Comerica Park, against defending World Series champions and divisional rivals - the Chicago White Sox. It was the first time that I got to watch these new-look Tigers. The ballgame was tight contest, tied 1-1 after 6 innings. Tigers relief pitcher Joel Zumaya came into to pitch the seventh inning, the first time I got to see one of the young, fire-baller pitchers the Tigers had. He ripped through the White Sox hitters, only surrendering one hit in the 14 pitch inning. The Tigers manufactured a run in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving the Tigers a 2-1 lead. Zumaya came back out to pitch the eighth inning, against the heart of the White Sox batting order. He got slugger Jim Thome to groundout, and then walked Paul Konerko, to put the tying run on base. Zumaya then struckout Jermaine Dye on three pitches, with the fastball on full display. With a runner on first base and two outs in the inning, Joe Crede stepped into face Zumaya. I stood up watching the at-bat in my living room, totally enthralled in the moment. Zumaya struck out Crede with four pitches, and after the swinging third strike, Zumaya erupted with emotion and the crowd at Comerica Park went crazy. Tigers reliever Todd Jones closed out the ninth inning, and the Tigers won the game. I will never forget this game. The emotion that I felt, the way Zumaya fiercely celebrated when he struck out Crede, and the way the fans went crazy at the ballpark, reminded me of the '87 and '84 Tigers seasons. This is when I knew that I was a Detroit Tigers fan for life.
The Tigers surprised the baseball world in 2006, by making it to the playoffs only three years removed from the 119 loss season. It was their first season with a winning record since 1993 - baseball was back in Detroit. They ended up appearing in the team's first World Series since 1984, after beating the New York Yankees in the American League Divisional Round and Oakland Athletics in the American Leaugue Championship Series of the playoffs. The Tigers faced the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. The young Tiger pitching staff struggled in the World Series, and the Tigers lost the series 4-1. I watched the entire playoffs, and was not even stung by the loss in the World Series. I was just happy that the Tigers were back as a contending team, and finally had a new identity away from the '80's teams.
Since the 2006 season, the Tigers have continued to have success. Justin Verlander has turned into an elite starting pitcher, and won the Cy Young and MVP award in 2011. The Tigers acquired slugger Miguel Cabrera in 2008, and he continues to amaze the baseball world with his abilities. Cabrera won the Triple Crown and MVP award in 2012 - the first player to do so since 1967, and shows no signs of slowing down. The Tigers also signed the powerful home run hitter Prince Fielder (son of former Tigers slugger Cecil) to a multi-year deal in 2012. The Tigers played in the World Series again in 2012, but were swept in four games by the San Francisco Giants. This series loss hurt me a little bit more, because I always remember how short of a window there is for success in Major League Baseball.
The Tigers have always been a part of my life, but it took me awhile to appreciate the team as much as I do now. Thanks to satellite tv, I am able to watch every Tiger game that is played, and even get to listen to the hometown announcers and see commercials that are aired in Detroit. Watching the Tigers games now, take me home sometimes - for 3 hour stretches at a time. I love living in Texas, but my baseball team will always be the Detroit Tigers.
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