The 1984 Tigers were sensational. They led wire-to-wire and rolled through the postseason with just one loss. It became a summer for the ages, and represents the franchise's most recent World Series championship.
Alan Trammell, Jack Morris and manager Sparky Anderson are in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Lou Whitaker's induction is long overdue. Kirk Gibson, Lance Parrish, Chet Lemon and Dan Petry were solid.
Yet, the star of stars was relief pitcher Willie Hernandez. Acquired in a spring training trade from the Phillies, Hernandez won the MVP and Cy Young awards as the ultimate late-inning leverage reliever. Hernandez was 9-3 with a 1.92 ERA. He threw 140-plus innings in 80 appearances. Hernandez had 32 saves in 33 attempts.
However, the magic didn't continue. Hernandez was lustily booed out of town a few years later after getting lit up like a pinball machine, destroying a clubhouse stereo with a bat because the noise interrupted his phone call, dumping a bucket of water on columnist Mitch Albom and saying very publicly, "(expletive) the fans."
Now, it may sound like Willie, who later preferred to be called by his given name, Guillermo, was a crusty sort. Not really. He was likable and mostly jovial. He was more impulsive than vindictive. Hernandez wasn't the type to curse the Tigers' bullpen upon his departure.
But, perhaps, the baseball gods have done so in honor of his brilliant '84 campaign.
The Tigers seem to making progress lately, but one element which falls under the category of, "We'll believe it when we see it," is the bullpen.
The sight of every Tigers' reliever not named Michael Fulmer is cringeworthy. It's more a reflex as a result of the past than anything against Gregory Soto, Jose Cisnero, Kyle Funkhouser, Joe Jimenez, Daniel Norris, Derek Holland or Tyler Alexander. Old habits die hard.
The Tigers have established a tradition. It is summed up by the nickname given to their all-time saves' leader Todd Jones by none other the great Ernie Harwell.
"Roller Coaster."
The Tigers drafted college relievers Matt Anderson (first overall) and Ryan Perry in the first round. Both fizzled out quickly, Anderson suffering an arm injury the same day he was involved in an octopus toss for charity. At least he stayed away from guitar hero, unlike Joel Zumaya.
Joe Nathan made an obscene gesture toward fans, Fernando Rodney fired a ball deep into the stands and Ugueth Urbina spent many years in a Venezuelan prison after retiring for attacking workers on his ranch with machetes and attempting to set them on fire.
Jose Valverde, aka Papa Grande, took the roller coaster reference into the realm of the old Demon Drop ride at Cedar Point. Troy Percival, Fernando Rodriguez and Nathan rank among the top dozen all-time in saves. All of their ERAs were two-to-three runs higher with the Tigers than when they were with other American League clubs, though.The Tigers were so desperate for bullpen help they traded Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez to the Yankees for Kyle Farnsworth. Ah, that didn't work, like it didn't during the much-traveled reliever's first stint in Detroit a few years earlier.
Gosh, the memories. Phil Coke sprinting in from the bullpen. Jose Veras hanging that breaking ball to Shane Victorino at Fenway. Joba Chamberlain drilling Derek Jeter with a pitch. Joaquin Benoit yielding that damn grand slam to Big Papi. At least the Tigers got JaCoby Jones back in a trade deadline deal for Jokim Soria…
Thing about '84 is it wasn't just Hernandez, but also Aurelio Lopez. "Señor Smoke" was 10-1 with 14 saves. It was like every time he entered the game, the Tigers would rally to take the lead.
It was as if the Tigers used all their bullpen goodwill forever in '84.
The Tigers' starting pitching lately has been really good. Spencer Turnbull, Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal have come around nicely. Tigers' top position player prospects such as Dillion Dingler, Riley Greene, Daniel Cabrera and Spencer Torkelson have been rolling in the minor leagues.
But what seems to be missing are relievers. The Tigers' bullpen has a 5.16 ERA, third-worst in MLB. The Tigers' bullpen has a 1.5 WHIP, second-highest in MLB.
Willie Hernandez's revenge? It depends on whether you believe in voodoo.
Whatever, AG (After Guillermo), the Tigers' bullpen has not been nearly the same.
That's a fact that won't likely change anytime soon.
