Boy this takes me back. Vividly remember going to the local blockbuster and renting this probably a dozen times over the course of my childhood, then coming home with and sitting down on the floor in front of the tv to watch with dad. Thanks for uploading it.
I had the great fortune to be at game 5 of this World Series on October 14 th,1984. I sat in the first few rows of the right field foul territory directly looking down on the visitors bullpen. Kirk Gibson’s second and game securing home run is still emblazoned in my mind traveling right in front of me into the right field upper deck. At the time he hit it, it seemed to travel in slow motion in my mind and remains that way as it gently dropped into the seats and set off bedlam inside the old ball yard. I was a mere 29 years old and was with two close friends and one of their fathers. It was one of the greatest sporting events I have ever attended.
Im from Canada. Our whole family are tiger fans for 50 years and on that day tigers won we had a packed living room and not a dry eye in house did we celebrate "Bless You Boys
10:20 is still the greatest defensive play that I have ever seen. Two absolutely perfect throws, on a rope, ending up perfectly in Castillo's mitt and he barely even has to move his arm to make the tag. Incredible throw and relay by Gibby and Sweet Lou.
That was the VERY BEST team, in the BEST ballpark, in MLB history. We only went to 2 games that year, watching Gibby smack TWO homers WAY UP into the LF upper deck in the SAME game. We followed every play of every game, called by Hall-of-famer Ernie Harwell, on WJR, for a once-in-a- lifetime baseball experience! The 84 Tigers set the best start, 35-5, a record which STILL stands. Sparky Anderson won World Series' in BOTH leagues, and masterfully managed the most OUTSTANDING lineup ever. Everybody played---no superstars or bench-warmers--ALL CHAMPIONS!!
Right before Larry Herndon caught the final out off Tony Gwynn you can hear the Tiger stadium crowd getting ready to erupt. That '84 Tigers team was awesome, They should have dominated the rest of the 80s.
I'm from Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Blue Jays) & I remember cheering for Detroit in this series. When the Jays got Jack Morris for the '92 World Series run I nearly lost my shit lol Note: I checked on this, why in the blue hell are so many Tiger greats NOT in the Hall of Fame?! Seriously? I know in the comments I've seen this far I'm not the only one who thinks this. Also, Kirk Gibson hitting a home run in the World Series at an important time. Gee, wonder if that would ever happen again (see World Series 1988, game 1).
great to see this, all these great names, nettles, gossage, garvey: i was in HS and my father and I followed this season closely, one of the last times my father and i were able to communicate, i will always have fond memories of 1984
Just an update. At the site of the old Tiger Stadium, Michigan and Trumbull avenues there is now a beautifully manicured ball field with some modest stands down each foul line. I believe the Police Athletic League built this terrific facility and it is mostly used by the high school teams in the city and surrounding suburbs. The neighborhood in this area has always been called Corktown as it was originally predominantly settled by people of Irish extraction and is the city’s oldest neighborhood. While never a rundown area, in the last few years the neighborhood has seen remarkable improvement and is now a prime destination area for those wanting to take in the downtown Detroit area and adjacent neighborhoods.
But when I replayed the Series with APBA Master Game the Padres won in 5 games. Having Kevin McReynolds in the lineup for the Padres in my replay really helped.
***** Shows you how inaccurate that game is. TIGERS had a monster season and was a no brainer that would win it all barring major injuries to key players.
Observations...I watched the Tigers that whole season as a 13 year old. What...A...Team! Anybody who followed the Tigers remembers they were actually in a hitting slump for most of the playoffs. Frankly, the Padres were lucky to win a game. I'm glad Jack and Tram are in the HOF, now it's Sweet Lou and Gibby's turn. Garvey and Bavaqua always came off to me as douches. I'm sure they were great guys. It's amazing how Tony Gwynn was a no show in that highlight they showed above, he was such a great player. I used to pitch and didn't realize I must of got my pitching motion from Milt Wilcox (33:51)! That WS team might have been the last team to win with a three-man rotation. Darrel Evans was largely a no show for the series even though he was a monster during the regular season. I think they used Bergman at 1st because of the NL no DH. Evans still played a lot of 1b during the season and they would rotate the DH and bring Bergman in for defense late in the game. Tom Brookens was my hero! He could play any position better defensively than any player on the field. I was pissed they traded Howard Johnson. Chet Lemon taught a whole generation how to improperly catch a fly...one handed. The team was balanced left and right handed, you could't bring in a pitcher for the match-up against the Tigers. They had whatever they needed off the bench to counter anything you were doing. Mel's great, but he's no Ernie...Bless You Boys!
It would seem to me like Morris, Trammell and perhaps even Whitaker should be in the HOF. It seems like the modern Tigers are overlooked for HOF honors. They had some great players including Gibson as well.
i guess Im randomly asking but does any of you know a method to log back into an instagram account?? I somehow lost the password. I appreciate any tips you can give me!
@Watson Zaire Thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and Im in the hacking process now. Takes a while so I will get back to you later with my results.
A few of those players have passed since then, Eric Show, and Tony Gwynn, I remember the playoffs with the Cubs, we had Cub Busters T-shirts, I believe SD was down by 2 games in the playoffs and came back to win 3 in a row.
This was the Fast Food World Series, McDonald’s vs Domino’s Pizza. While San Diego Padres Owner Ray A. Kroc owned McDonald’s, Detroit Tigers Owner Tom Monahan Owned Domino’s Pizza.
This team was truly great for that season, leading MLB in runs scored and least runs against. I never thought 30 years later we wouldn't have another. Just as frustrating is the fact that while we were strong enough to recently make it to two WS in 7 seasons, we not only lost both, but played so ineptly that they HAVE to be amongst the very worst WS performances in history (especially in '06 despite winning a game).
The Dodgers are in the same position. Dodgers fans didn't think 1988 would be the last title, and since then has made the world series only once 2017, and blew it. Division titles, championship series, but blew it, just like the Tigers.
Just a thought: Going 35-5 is an .875 percentage. Tigers started the 84 season that way. In the post season, the Tigers went 7-1. Again, that is an .875 percentage. Was it really a fluke?
Yes. Where were they in 1985? Not saying the Tigers didn't have a HELL of a '84 season, but sometimes everything falls into place for you. Look at the 1954 Indians...They set a record with 111 regular season wins then got beat four straight by the New York Giants and Willie Mays. Any baseball fan would have bet his and his families lives that there was no way the Indians could be swept four straight by ANY team.
Oscar Robinson Not sure how you can call the '84 Tigers a fluke?!? Tigers were one of the more successful teams of the entire decade (winning another division title in '87).....Again fail to see how you call a team that wins 104 games and World title a fluke?!!
Ellsworth Schonfeld ....started 35-5. Finished 104-58. After the first 40 games they went 69-53 the rest of the way. Clearly the best team but not lights out
The Fast Food World Series former Padres owner Ray Kroc who also franchised McDonald’s passed away in January of 1984 competed against Detroit Tigers which was owned by Tom Monaghan who founded Domino’s in 1960
Tigers' batters decimated the Padres' starting pitching. IIRC, the combined ERA for the San Diego starters was over 13. Hard to win when you dig yourself into that deep a hole.
The 84 Tiger were a great club but honestly they should have won more. They did win the division in 87 with a great stretch run but Toronto's collapse was key to their division win
+Double Agents The NLCS back in those days played in a 2-3 format with each Division alternating and 1984 was the NL West's advantage, For the World Series, back then the NL and AL would alternate home field every other year, 1984 was the NL champion's year to host. So the Padres just lucked out because of how home field advantage was scheduled during that era.
After seeing this video, and having never seen it before, I can safely say here in 2024, 40 years after the fact that Sparky Anderson did in fact outmanage Dick Williams in this series. Also, anyone watching this might be interested to learn that Dan Petry (Detroit's game 2 starter) had a son who plays in the NHL as a defenseman and is quite a good one too, a great skater who produces points from the back end.
For now, neither will make it, because they are victims of the WAR tyranny. WAR is a good statistic, and has greatly aided moneyball, but it is not as perfect as people believe. A mediocre pitcher like Rick Reuschel is rated among the greatest pitchers of all time (45th), yet a great pitcher like Morris is way down the line (164). Someone will eventually come along w/a better system. Until then, Morris and Trammel are screwed.
I should add a slight correction regarding the Tigers batters, because it is a mystery why they are *NOT* in the HOF. Current WAR now rates Trammel as the 11th best shortstop (as a comparison, the sure lock Jeter is 12th) and Whitaker as the 13th best 2B (Biggio is 15th). Judging by who has made it around them, both of them should be in the HOF. It is amazing in these days that neither is.
What the hell are you talking about? He wasn’t their best hitter. They had Nettles, Garvey, McReynolds and Gwynn. Gwynn won the NL batting title that year .351.
Motor City Man You better be glad that they didn't. I believe the 84'' Cubs would have won that series had they faced Detroit, and I'm not even a Cubs fan. I just believe they had better pitching than the Tigers. San Diego somehow found a way against them though, with a little help from a few errors (LEON DURHAM)
Joseph Bell Naw, the Cubs didn't go wire to wire in first place and start out 35-5. They couldn't even beat San Diego and you think they would have beat Detroit!!?? LOL
Motor City Man Going 35-5 in the first half of the season means absolutely nothing when it comes to post season. Yes I believe they would have beaten Detroit. I remember watching both teams that year and I can tell you without hesitation that Chicago was every bit as dominant in the NL as Detroit was in the AL and they didn't need to go 35-5 to do it. But as I said the regular season and the playoffs are two different animals and San Diego got some huge breaks against Chicago's pitching and took advantage so give them credit. But if you really want to get technical the 98' Yanks would have destroyed this Detroit team. Not only did they dominate the regular season in winning 114 games, they dominated the post season going 11-2 including two sweeps. Plus the fact that they had to win one more series than Detroit which makes it even more impressive. So let's see who's more dominant: 1984 Tigers 111-59 (REGULAR AND POST SEASON WINS AND LOSSES) or 1998 Yanks 125-50 (REGULAR AND POST SEASON WINS AND LOSSES) The numbers do not lie
Joseph Bell Never said the 98 Yankees wernt a great team. But thus was 1984 not 1998 are we going to talk about some teams in the 1800s next that had pitchers that won 50 games?? When it came to the playoffs the Cubs choked so no they wernt a better team than the Tigers who won it all.
Motor City Man I know you didn't say it, but I used this example to make a point. You're saying because the 1984 Cubs didn't go 35-5 to start the season that they weren't as dominant as Detroit and couldn't beat them. Am I correct? What I'm saying is that what teams do in the regular season has absolutely no bearing on the post season (CASE IN POINT THE 1984 CUBS) If that were true you may as well have handled the 1998 Yanks the trophy before the post season even started. I'm saying the Cubs were just as dominant that regular season as was Detroit. Had the two teams faced off in the World Series I believe Chicago would have won because they had better pitching. Just my opinion but it didn't happen of course so we'll never know
I was sooooooo dying for the Cubs to have defeated the padres....as everyone knows, they were up 2-0 in the NLCS and then blew it. The whole country was talking trash that the Cubs would win the World Series.... Gibby and Parrish would have hit 10 home runs at Wrigley. We would have humiliated them to the point that would have to disband their team.
I wish so bad that Tram had just done one back flip. Just a bit of flash, beyond his every day steadiness. He is a better overall player than Ozzie Smith. I would take him any day over Ozzie Smith. He should be in the HOF, compared to all the other SS in history. His 1987 season is light years better than Phil Rizzuto's MVP season. And Tram was robbed of that, because George Bell his 47 HR (he was a slug in the outfield). Yes, no love for Detroit ballplayers.
