OT: RIP Willie Hernandez
November 21st, 2023 at 3:25 PM ^
that screwball (the pitch, not the pitcher, although both were true) was well-nigh unhittable that year. just a freight train of a pitch.
cannot BELIEVE he was 69. how is that even possible?!
November 21st, 2023 at 6:01 PM ^
Thought was in those days that screwball pitchers were highly effective the first year in a new league. It definitely worked that way for Willie.
November 22nd, 2023 at 12:50 AM ^
I read that many years ago too, but I don't remember reading an explanation why.
I wonder if it was just that not very many pitchers ever perfected the pitch.
November 21st, 2023 at 3:27 PM ^
Damn. Willie was the man in 84.
November 21st, 2023 at 7:48 PM ^
I seem to remember him to be the Tigers version of Vinnie Johnson... Could make a difference in a game very quickly
November 21st, 2023 at 3:28 PM ^
Man that sucks. I was just at an event where Lance Parish was the guest speaker and he was talking about what an incredible find Hernandez was that season. Too young man....
November 21st, 2023 at 3:30 PM ^
Came out of nowhere to win the Cy Young AND AL MVP, along with a World Series ring in 1984. His screwball was magic. He only had 32 saves that year, but he pitched 140 innings AS THE CLOSER. He is also known for dumping a bucket of water over Mitch Albom’s head.
November 21st, 2023 at 3:35 PM ^
Hernández was only the third player to win MVP honors, the Cy Young Award and World Series in the same season, joining Sandy Koufax (1963) and Denny McLain (1968).
Rest in peace, Guillermo.
November 21st, 2023 at 3:49 PM ^
... and a 1.92 ERA.
November 22nd, 2023 at 1:42 AM ^
Back when there was a 4 man rotation and the term "closer" wasn't yet a thing. I think his number of saves that year, low compared to current numbers, is because he either won games (can win or save, can't do both), he won 9, or the Tigers had a greater than three run lead when he came in. Additionally, can't discount that Aurelio Lopez had 14 saves of his own.
November 21st, 2023 at 3:34 PM ^
Man, that's a bummer. Always is when one of the 1984 Tigers goes.
Outside of 1984, Willie did not have a great year (he did have good years). But man, in 1984 --- he was GREAT. Heck of a trade in spring training to bring him here. The Tigers probably don't win it all without that trade.
My favorite stat from 1984 is that he pitched 140 Innings in 80 games. He had many, many, many multiple-inning stints and saves. He also had 9 wins (and none of those cheap wins many relievers get after blowing a save: he only had 1 blown save, he got the wins by shutting down the opponent as the Tigers scored runs to win). He was a workhorse, not the single-inning relief pitcher of today.
November 21st, 2023 at 3:37 PM ^
If you pitch 200 innings as a starter now, you are considered a workhorse. 140 as a closer is nuts. I do think the way closers are managed now is way too conservative. They should focus on number of pitches rather than innings. Managers seem allergic to bringing their closer into the game to get out of an 8th inning jam.
November 21st, 2023 at 3:43 PM ^
It's just a lost art. Especially in today's age where teams carry pitching staffs of 13-14 (which ...... I still cannot get my head around). Everybody is a 1-inning man, that's it.
Hernandez's 140 IP in 80 games is impressive --- but Aurelio's average IP/game is higher. 137.2 IP in 71 games!
And speaking of Aurelio - I didn't realize this until just looking it up. He had only 1 blown save himself! And 10 wins!
Heck of a bullpen.
November 21st, 2023 at 4:58 PM ^
Senor Smoke and Willie... practically unbeatable ⚾
November 21st, 2023 at 6:05 PM ^
Aurelio was awesome. It was most spooky that both of our Aurelios lost their lives in the same fashion - car accident.
Rodriguez was shipped out before '84. I am pretty sure those were the only MLB rosters ever to have two guys named Aurelio. I was a big fan of both.
November 21st, 2023 at 7:29 PM ^
So that fact gets even SPOOKIER - I just looked this up.
Aurelio Rodriguez, Aurelio Lopez and Aurelio Monteagudo are the only 3 players in MLB history to have the first name "Aurelio." Monteagudo was a AAAA-type player who compiled 132 IP and a 3-7 win-loss record over the 1963-1973 span for 4 different teams. Definitely not a well-known MLB player, but he was good enough to make it to the big leagues.
Anyway, Monteagudo also died in a car accident, just shy of his 47th birthday. Which means all 3 MLB players named Aurelio did in a car accident between the ages of 44-52.
Crazy anecdote.
November 22nd, 2023 at 6:12 PM ^
Well, we aren't exactly certain of Aurelio Lopez' date of birth. Allegedly he was born in '48. But more than one reporter went looking for reliable info on him and came up empty. It was suspected Aurelio lied about his age.
Dude was a character. Have always thought there was a great book to be written about Mexican baseball.
November 21st, 2023 at 7:27 PM ^
I may have this all wrong, but I think I remember Lopez's one blown save that season. If memory serves, Juan Berenguer started the game and was absolutely dealing, but got in a jam late. I remember it as him getting hit by a line drive and Sparky pulling him. Berenguer was furious. Lopez blew the game. I was 10 at the time, and it was one of those baseball moments that just sticks with you for a lifetime... even if the details get fuzzy.
RIP, Guillermo. We'll never have another like you!
November 21st, 2023 at 4:42 PM ^
The game changed in terms of usage and strategy. Set up guys and "loogies" (left hand, only one guy) didn't become a thing until the 90s. Guys like Goose Gossage and Rollie Fingers became stars in the 70s as RPs but they typically entered the game in the 7th or 8th inning. That's how they ate so many innings.
November 21st, 2023 at 3:41 PM ^
IIRC, his only blown save in 1984 was in the final week of the regular season, well after the Tigers had clinched the AL East.
November 21st, 2023 at 3:45 PM ^
Yep, ditto for Aurelio's one blown save. Both in the last week of the season.
November 21st, 2023 at 7:58 PM ^
AND, if I remember right, in that game he was brought in with a one-run lead, less than two outs (maybe NO outs), and a man on third. Just an incredibly difficult challenge. I was pissed at Sparky for that -- he would have had an absolutely perfect season otherwise!
November 21st, 2023 at 8:05 PM ^
Yep --- 1 out, runner on 3rd, 2-1 game. One sacrifice fly and one fly out later - a "blown save."
Of course, Willie did blow a save in Game 2 of the ALCS. That was legit (2 hits). Aurelio vs Quisenberry as it went to extras but Aurelio prevailed.
Tigers likely win the ALCS even with a Game 2 loss - but 5-game series ...... you never know. Happily, we never had to explore that untaken path.
November 21st, 2023 at 11:59 PM ^
Thank you for the memories of those games.
November 21st, 2023 at 3:38 PM ^
Watched that season from an apartment on N. Thayer, on a 10" black and white TV. Probably listened to more of the games on the radio, though.
I wonder if Bubba Helms is going to weigh in on this thread?
November 21st, 2023 at 7:55 PM ^
Bubba Helms is long dead - died ~20 years ago, suicide. Deadspin (old, GOOD Deadspin) link below. Sad story but worth reading: the dude never really had a chance unfortunately.
Not to go off on too much a tangent --- but among all the bad Devil's Nights in the 1970s and 1980s, 1984 was probably the worst. Just 16 days after the World Series title. The 1984 Tigers were a bright light for the city, but in other aspects the city was arguably at its lowest point post-riots.
https://deadspin.com/the-slow-sad-death-of-a-riots-symbol-5812647
November 21st, 2023 at 3:38 PM ^
Statement from the Detroit Tigers official twiXtter account:
Forever a champion.
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) November 21, 2023
Our thoughts are with the family, friends and teammates of former Tigers reliever Guillermo “Willie” Hernández. pic.twitter.com/ccsblKuTJp
November 21st, 2023 at 3:41 PM ^
He had a pacemaker installed in 2009 when he was 55, which strikes me as somewhat young for that procedure. I'd guess cause of death would be heart-related.
November 21st, 2023 at 4:14 PM ^
Guillermo! He was amazing in 84.
November 21st, 2023 at 4:17 PM ^
Lopez in the eighth, Hernandez in the ninth. 99 times out of 100, that was money.
RIP Willie
November 21st, 2023 at 4:26 PM ^
Anyone remember back in the day, Willie dumped a bucket of ice water on Mitch Albom after a write up he did? It might have been around 87 or 88.
RIP Guillermo
November 21st, 2023 at 4:27 PM ^
The trade that brought Willie to Detroit was Glenn Wilson and John Wockenfuss for Dave Bergman and Willie Hernandez.
At the start of spring training that year (84) Sparky had insisted that the Tigers could win the division if he had a solid left handed relief pitcher. GM Bill Lajoie worked the phones and pulled off the deal towards the end of spring training. Willie ends up appearing in nearly half of their games that season and impacted 41 wins. Also Bergman turned out to have a good glove at first base and if memory serves, had some timely hits along the way.
You know the rest...
November 21st, 2023 at 4:31 PM ^
I remember hearing George Kell say “Wockenfuss” like it was yesterday. He had that batting stance that always stood out too.
November 21st, 2023 at 4:35 PM ^
Spent many hours mimicking that batting stance as a kid. Also I'd listen to George Kell read the phone book if he were still around today... "Look out for the Kansas City ball club, they are playing pretty well right now".... Every team was that city/state ball club... Classic George Kell.
November 21st, 2023 at 5:40 PM ^
Met him once. Terribly nice man. I brought up a quirky fact about the year he won the batting title by a whisker over Ted Williams. He must have been told it by fans a thousand times, but his reaction was just as gracious and interested as if it were the first. Like Ernie Harwell, very much the southern gentleman.
Was also told by one ex-Tiger that George was incredibly tight with a buck. He could his daily meal allowance last a week. Growing up poor in rural Arkansas during the Depression, I'm sure he had practice.
November 22nd, 2023 at 6:14 PM ^
Wockenfuss' stance was one of the most imitated. Every kid had their Wockenfuss. Kinda like comedians doing Harry Carey or Christopher Walken.
November 21st, 2023 at 5:08 PM ^
Dave Bergman won an extra inning game on 6/4/84 with a 13 pitch at bat (with two outs) that ended with a three run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th. He started out 0-2.
This video has every pitch:
November 21st, 2023 at 6:10 PM ^
Thanks for that link. I watched that live, will never forget. Funny how back then their home run trot was always stoic.
November 21st, 2023 at 6:13 PM ^
Upper deck right field off Roy Lee Jackson. Friend of mine was at Bergman's house that night.
November 21st, 2023 at 6:13 PM ^
Bergman wasn't usually much of a hitter, but that's one of the greatest at-bats in Detroit Tigers history. And he hit it into the first few rows of the right field upper deck, my favorite place to watch a game at Tiger Stadium (not that I was there that night).
Thanks for posting it, it's been many years since I last saw the video footage. I remember very well watching it live on TV.
November 22nd, 2023 at 3:13 AM ^
I totally co-sign on that at bat being among the greatest of Tigers history. I'm pretty sure I watched that live as a 10 year old because I watched pretty much watched.all of the games on TV in 84 that were available. During my formative years I was ready to ride or die for Kell/Kaline and Harwell/Carey. Because those were the echos of my childhood.
November 21st, 2023 at 7:42 PM ^
Sparky said it was the greatest at bat he ever saw.
November 22nd, 2023 at 4:21 PM ^
Man, I was just thinking about that game. Awesome memories!
November 21st, 2023 at 6:12 PM ^
Friend of mine was at Bergman's house the night he hit the 2-run dinger off Roy Lee Jackson in that epic Monday Night Baseball game against the Jays that year. One of the all-time great at-bats.
November 21st, 2023 at 4:42 PM ^
1984 was the best year of my life and the Tigers were a huge part of it. Willie was dominant. RIP!
November 21st, 2023 at 8:04 PM ^
Funny that it was easily Bo's worst season (in large part because Harbaugh got injured early on in the season). Weird that when one was at its apex, one was at its nadir.
That 9-0 start, that 35-5 start .... You just knew it was special every single day.
Damn that was a good team. A few free agents (Evans), a few players acquired via trade, but so many home-grown stars. Whitaker. Trammell. Morris. Petry. Gibson. Brookens. Parrish.
God, remember when the Tigers could draft and develop superior players? Aside from Verlander, who was our last home-grown all-star?
November 21st, 2023 at 8:08 PM ^
Funny that it was easily Bo's worst season (in large part because Harbaugh got injured early on in the season). Weird that when one was at its apex, one was at its nadir.
That 9-0 start, that 35-5 start .... You just knew it was special every single day.
Damn that was a good team. A few free a VTgents (Evans), a few players acquired via trade, but so many home-grown stars. Whitaker. Trammell. Morris. Petry. Gibson. Brookens. Parrish.
God, remember when the Tigers could draft and develop superior players? Aside from Verlander, who was our last home-grown all-star?
November 21st, 2023 at 5:27 PM ^
The 80's were indeed great. Another sad passing today, Mars Williams, who played sax for the Waitresses and later the Psychedelic Furs.
November 21st, 2023 at 6:37 PM ^
I read sax as sex.