August 5, 1984 Royals 5, Tigers 4 (72-37)
For the first time during the 109 games of the season, Willie Hernandez lost a game. A two run double in the top of the ninth by Dane Iorg broke a 3-3 tie as Bret Saberhagen takes the win in relief, and Dan Quisenberry notched his 29th save.
Larry Herndon had two hits and drove in two.
August 5, 1984 Royals 4, Tigers 0 (72-38)
Whether it was being tired, or good pitching, the Tigers couldn’t quite get going. Charlie Liebrandt held Detroit to five hits, and Dan Quisenberry pitched the ninth to complete the combined shutout.. Alan Trammell had the only multi-hit game, going two for three.
Juan Berenguer threw a fine game, going the distance and giving up four runs on eight hits. But it wasn’t enough. With the Royals sweeping, the Tigers now stood a meer eight games over Toronto. What looked like a run away was slowly turning into a pennant race again.
The Tigers were very hopeful entering the season that Eric Munson and Carlos Pena would both emerge as consistent and productive contributors in their lineup and attain the stardom that scouts and “experts” projected that they might achieve. They both have had difficult and frustrating seasons. For every glimmer of hope that they are ready to meet expectations, they both seem to take a step or two backward. After reading Lynn Henning’s recent article in the Detroit News I decided to look at their output and gauge it as compared to the rest of the American League. In doing this, I selected the members of each team who played the most games at both 1st and 3rd base. In the process I eliminated Seattle, Minnesota and Boston from my comparisons because injuries, trades and other variables made it to difficult for my feeble brain to factor them into the comparisons. I also grabbed 3 high run producing 1st/3rd pairs from the NL just as another comparison. In all of this I didn’t factor in park effects. I also realized that the National League 1st/3rd pairs would be even more productive in their lineups due to the fact that the pitcher bats and the American 1st/3rd pairs would be less productive with the presence of a Designated Hitter in their lineups.
G HR RP(runs scored+RBI) RP%(RP/team RP) .OPS
1b Pena 87 13 97 9% .737
3b Munson 79 14 66 6% .751
166 27 163 15% (.OPS+.OPS)1.488
When compared to the eleven other AL teams in my comparison Munson/Pena were 7th in Homers, 10th in Runs Produced, 10th in .OPS+.OPS, and 11th in Runs Produced Percentage. The .OPS+.OPS number in itself is not all that meaningful,but it was another way to compare player production. When you consider that the Tigers have hit the ball very well this year and are 5th in the American League in Total Team Runs Produced, the performance of Pena and Munson can be seen as that they are less productive members of a very productive lineup and that they are at positions in the lineup where teams hope to obtain a good chunk of their production. Also effecting their offensive production would be the fact that they are both as of late part of a platoon and are losing a lot of opportunities to increase their production in the Tiger lineup.
Here are some of the gaudier pairings as a means of comparison:
Player G HR RP RP% .OPS
Texeira 86 25 129 12 .923
Blalock 103 24 138 13 .885
Team RP=1100 49 267 24 1.808
Pujols 99 29 164 15 1.038
Rolen 101 25 169 15 1.024
Team RP=1104 54 333 30 2.062
Also compare the Tampa Bay pair, who are playing on a team with an identical record to the Tigers and whose team produces less runs.
Tino 89 14 90 10 .845
Huff 104 19 129 14 .805
Team RP=896 33 219 24 1.750
If Dave Dombrowski chooses to keep both Munson and Pena as the primary players at their positions, they will need to contribute more or the Tiger’s will need for Carlos Guillen, Brandon Inge and Omar Infante to continue to surprise with their offensice production.
First off, there’s no doubt that the Tigers as a team should be considered comeback team of the year. Basically little more then a AAA team, the Tigers nearly set the mark last year for futility. You had some players have some prett miserable years. The one shining star was Dmitri Young, who I thought should have gotten a little MVP consideration for the good season that he had despite having little around him.
The question is, who’s brought their game up to the next level? Two people, above all else, have come out of basically nowhere, and put together modest seasons. Omar Infante is the first of these players. Touted as a major prospect a couple of years ago, Omar fell flat on his face last year as the double play partner of Ramon Santiago. By the end of the season, he’d have a .222 batting average and a .536 OPS in 277 at bats and was eventually sent down to AAA in favor of Warren Morris.
This year, Omar is playing solid second base in place of an injured Fernando Vina. He has 10 homeruns, and a .806 OPS. In addition to his regular spot at second, he’s also played short, third and centerfield.
The second player is Brandon Inge. After never having a season batting average above .203, Brandon was basically without a job when the Tigers signed Pudge. Now, he’s turned into the basically the starting third basemen, and he’s played well in all three outfield spots. And honestly, at this point in the season, Brandon looks like the better defensive catcher. Pudge is dinged up, and it’s showing.
And the bat has shown a dramatic improvement. He’s hitting .282 with an .823 OPS. He hit his 10th homer last week and has stuck out only 43 times, while walking 20.
Tough call? My sentimental favorite is Inge. just because of the story. When told he was being replaced, he basically said F You, and proved he was valuable to the team and made his own place.
August 4, 1984 Royals 9, Tigers 5 (72-36)
Glenn Abbott got hit hard once again, giving up eight hits and four runs in 5 1/3. Doug Bair and Sid Monge also got shelled, as the Royals scored nine for the second time in as many nights.
Kirk Gibson went three for five and Rupert Jones had three RBIs. Neither starter got a decision, as Mark Gubicza, then a rookie, only went 4 1/3 for the Royals. He’d eventually go on to have a nice career with the team, eventually winning 20 games in 1988.
Playing one doubleheader can give a manager headaches. In fact teams no longer are scheduled double headers like they were in the past. But due to some rainouts, the Tigers were forced to play not one, not two, but three consecutive double headers. The Tigers would survive, but their lead over the Blue Jays would once again drop into single digits.
August 3, 1984 Royals 9, Tigers 6 (72-35)
Milt Wilcox was cruising along until the Royals hit him hard in the fourth. By the end of the inning, Wilcox would be sitting, and Aurilio Lopez would be in the game. Lopez threw another six innings of relief, but it still wasn’t enough.
Lou Whitaker went four for five, and Alan Trammell and Tom Brookens hit homeruns.
The trade deadline has come and gone, and in my mind, there really was only one blockbuster. The Cubs getting Nomar is very big, and now more then ever, I’ll be rooting for the Cubs down the stretch. They have a long way to go to catch the Cardinals, but they’re only one game back of San Diego for the Wild Card. I think a Cubs/Yankees series would be a huge draw.
Hee Sop Choi also found a new home. I like this guy, and think he’ll be a great talent, but like Bobby Kielty, hasn’t quite found his place yet. Touted as having 50 homer potential, he’ll be hard pressed to do that in Los Angeles.
I was at the game on Saturday. Great pitching matchup between Mike Maroth and Mark Buerhle. Of course the ending was kind of anti-climactic, because Carlos Guillen drew a bases loaded walk to win it in the bottom of the tenth. So is that considered a walk off walk? Bobby Higginson gets an assist on this because he made an awesome throw from deep in right to throw Paul Konerko out at the plate. Almost 41,000 people made it out to the park last night, so the Tigers are still getting great crowds on the weekend.
And speaking of trade deadlines, the Tigers stood pat. I would have liked to have seen them shop Urbina, but I’m glad Dombrowski stuck to his guns and didn’t deal him for just anyone. Deals can still go through if the players clear waivers, so you could still some activity, but I’m not holding my breath.
Today is the 25th anniversary of Thurman Munson’s tragic death. Munson was one of the best throughout the 70s, and won the MVP in 1976. Munson put up Pudge Rogriguez type of numbers before Pudge, and had he been allowed to play out his entire career, probably could have been a hall of famer.
About a year ago at this time, I started tracking my traffic on sitemeter. During that time, over 15,000 have stopped by. I want to thank everyone who’s stopped by and read all of my ramblings. I hope there’s a little bit here for every Tiger fan.
August 2, 1984 Tigers 2, Indians 1 (72-34)
Jack Morris bounced back nicely after a bad stretch of outings by throwing eight solid innings. He gave up seven hits, walked none, and struck out one. The only damage against him was a solo shot by Andre Thornton.
Bert Blyleven threw a nice game as well, but a two run shot in the fifth by Lou Whitaker would end up being all the Tigers needed.
August 1, 1984 Indians 4, Tigers 2 (71-34)
A good pitching performance by Dan Petry went to waste, as Cleveland’s Steve Farr shut down the Tigers. In all, the Tigers only managed three hits, one of which was a two run shot by Dave Bergman, his sixth. Tom Brookens made two errors at shortstop that led to an unearned run.