April 6, 1984 – Tigers 3, White Sox 2 (3-0)

The Tigers drew first blood , as they scored three runs before the White Sox even batted. Dave Bergman came up with a big two run, two out single to give the Tigers that three run lead. Of course they would have never known that all those runs would be very important, as they’d get only three more hits the rest of the way.

Milt Wilcox pitched seven quality innings, giving up only four hits and one run in seven innings. He did walk four, and one of those, drawn by Harold Baines, was the only player to score on him.

And then the Tigers got a minor scare in eighth. Pitching in his third consecutive game, Willie Hernandez gave up one run in the eighth, but slammed the door shut in the ninth, givng the Tigers their third straight win and Hernandez his first save of the season.

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Twenty four hours ago, had I predicted that the Tiger’s wouldn’t just win their first game, but that they’d take Roy Halladay deep three different times, driving him out of the game well behind on his home turf, where he’s owned the Tigers, you would have said I was nuts.

Had I further predicted that Jason Johnson, along with three relievers, would shutout the Jays, I probably would have been fit to be institutionalized.

And sometimes, reality is much more bizarre then fiction. Because that’s just what the Tigers did today. Ivan Rodriguez, Carlos Pena, and Rondell White all went yard, and Jason Johnson pitched 6 shutout innings, getting out of a couple of jams.

And with one game, like the Lions at the beginning of the year, people are excited. This probably doesn’t mean the Tigers will finish .500, but it’s something to build on. Some people say that you’re only as good as your last game. And if that’s the case, the Tigers are looking pretty good.

Last year, it took the Tigers seven games to score their seventh run.

And the last times the Tigers had a shutout on the season opener was before even I was born. Mickey Lolich, the MVP of the 1968 World Series, shut the Washington Senators out in the season opener for the Tigers. The year was 1970, and the Tigers went on to win 79 games.

And I’ll be posting the 1984 Tigers diary under a different category, so for those of you just coming to keep up on what that great Tiger team is up to, I’ll have a seperate link to that section.

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April 3, 1984 – Detroit 8, Twins 1 (1-0)

Jack Morris was about as impressive as a pitcher could be in an opening day appearance, pitching seven innings, while giving up only one run on five hits. All while striking out eight. The Tigers drew first blood in the third with a one run double by Howard Johnson, and a one run single by Tram. After scoring these two runs, the Tigers would never look back, as the only dent the Twins would be able to make was in the second half of the inning, when Twins put one on the board.

And what would become an trend all season, Aurilio Lopez pitched a perfect eighth, and Willie (Guillermo) Hernandez pitched a perfect ninth. It wouldn’t always be those same innings, but those two guys were the anchor of a great pen, and you’ll be seeing their names pop up quite often.

April 4, 1984 – Day Off (1-0)

April 5, 1984 – Tigers 7, Twins 3 (2-0)

Dan Petry gave up the lead early in this one (two runs in the second), but the Tigers bounced back by scoring one in the third and three in the fourth. Petry calmed, and ended up going seven. Willie Hernandez then did the job by pitching perfect eight and nine innings. Alan Trammell and Kirk Gibson led the way on offense. Both hit homeruns (Gibby’s was a three run shot to put the Tigers up for good in the fourth), and Tram went three for four.

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The Tigers open up the season today at 1:05 and is the first game to kick off the day. The Tiger’s will face Roy Halladay, last year’s Cy Young winner, so it will be no small chore to get going on the right end of the win/loss column. Jason Johnson opens for Detroit.

If one wanted to, in this area, you could begin watching that game at 1 pm, and continue watching baseball (assuming they have cable), until approximately 1:30 am.

And of course I’ll be at work. Sigh.

For those of you who are fortunate enough to be at home watching the games, or even better, at a game, think of me while you’re having a beer. I envy you.

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Nate Cornejo looked good when he started, keeping the ball away from the hitters, but eventually would give up 5 2/3 runs in 5 innings in the final game of the spring. The fact that the Yankees have already played two regular season games, and now had to come back and play Detroit in one final spring game, borders on the bizarre. In the end, they would play to a 7-7 ten inning tie.

Chris Shelton made the team, which I’m happy to see. The number one Rule 5 player taken from the Pirates, Shelton had an impressive spring, but looked to be set to go back to Pittsburgh, until Tram decided send backup catcher Mike DeFelice down to the minors.

But, the Tiger’s open up tomorrow. I’ll be at work, so I’ll miss all of it. Last year I was very sick the weekend before opening day (No really, I was sick), and took what will be tomorrow off last year. Being able to watch 3 different games was pretty cool (I don’t have MLB Ticket) and made the bed rest more tolerable.

And I missed the first few days, but I’ll catch up now. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the 1984 Tigers, so as the Tigers go through their season, I’ll also be adding a diary of the last Championship team.

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In a pretty unusual game, the Tigers lost to the Indians 13-11 this afternoon. Each team had 15 hits, and there were six errors (four by Detroit). And even though it’s April Fools and this sounds bizarre, but Ivan Rodriguez forgot/misplaced his catcher’s helmet, forcing Tram to move him to DH and reshuffle the lineup.

Nate Robertson threw a fair game, pitching six innings, giving up six hits and two walks, while striking out 5. He gave up four runs, but only one was earned. The pen struggle, as both Jamie Walker and Al Levine had rough outings.

The Tigers also made a trade today. I keep going back and forth on this one. I like Cody Ross, so I was disappointed. Then I figure, with the Tigers having quite a few options at the corner outfield spot, he is expendable. Then I flipped back again when I took a closer look at Steve Colyer, and didn’t neccesarily like what I saw. The only thing I can imagine is that Robertson is going to get the fifth spot in the rotation, so Tram wanted another left handed arm in the pen. Of course the Tigers will get a player to be named later, so it’s hard to tell until we find out who that is.

Greg Norton made the club. Norton can play both corner infield spots, and will be able to spot in the outfield. The downside to this is Chris Shelton now looks like a long shot, which is disappointing after the spring he’s had.

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