It was on this day in 1984 that Guillermo “Willie” Hernández won the American League Cy Young Award. He would also win the American Leagues MVP award that year. He is among just 11 pitchers to win the Cy Young and MVP in the same year. He was just one of many players who were a part of the Detroit Tigers magical season.
Hernández put up some great numbers that season. He had a 9-3 record and 32 saves in 33 chances in 1984, with a 1.92 ERA over 80 games and 140⅓ innings. He would go on to have an excellent postseason and got the final out of the clinching Game 5 of the ’84 World Series by coaxing a short fly ball to left field from Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, setting off a celebration.
Willie became only the third player to win MVP honors, the Cy Young Award and World Series in the same season, joining Sandy Koufax (1963) and (Fellow Detroit Tiger) Denny McLain (1968).
Willie was so fun to watch. I was always fascinated watching his screwball in slow motion during the games. What a pitch!!
Hernández was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. He sadly passed away on November 20, 2023 at age 69.
First, I’d like to thank those who have already reached out to me about the devastating Tigers loss last night. It certainly was a very exciting game, but not the outcome I had hoped for.
Early in the season, when they were hot, people kept saying “The Tigers will be in and win the World Series this year.” I absolutely hate when people make bold predictions so early. I’m not superstitious, but I feel like those things always come back to bite us.
To lead the division almost all the way through the season only to slump and give it away in the final weeks hurts. I wonder what happened to the pitching coaches or batting coaches at the end. Something had to be up for such a massive collapse.
I had hoped that the win over the Guardians would be the spark to ignite the team. I can’t help but wonder how it would have gone if the first couple games had been home instead of away. The crowd and fans were such an important factor early on.
Skubal did well. He was hot. Why do managers not let pitchers go more than 100 pitches anymore? The Tigers of my youth – Jack Morris, Dan Petry, Dave Rozema and so many more pitched complete games all the time. I don’t get it.
AJ Hinch said “He emptied his tank” and that’s why they pulled him after 6 innings. I don’t know if that is true, but it doesn’t matter. Maybe he was done. Maybe they relied too much on him. You can’t do that. It’s a team effort and others have to come through.
The heart of the order, and the guys who were so productive during the season – Torres, Green, Torkelson and Keith all were hitless. Torkelson struck out 4 of his 6 at bats! Sometimes I wonder what they are looking at!
With all that being said, I’m still happy we even got some postseason play. For a while, it looked like we wouldn’t. I can only hope that we do what we need to in the off season to avoid the mistakes of this season.
I woke up for work yesterday happy to see that the Tigers beat the Mariners 9-3 to tie up the series. The “winner take all” game #5 happens Friday night.
In what I read, the bats came alive after being down 3-0. This is good to hear as some of the bats had cooled down toward the end of the season. I truly hope that they will get everything together to beat Seattle. They are playing away, so they need to strike early and often to quiet the home crowd. My fingers remain crossed.
If they can take the series on Friday, they will go on to the ALCS and play Toronto, who have already secured their spot there. They beat the Yankees 5-2. The Blue Jays haven’t been to the ALCS since 2016. I won’t lie, I am glad to see the Yankees out of it. Toronto has a good team this year and if the Tigers advance, the series will be a good one to watch. Both teams are hungry to head to the World Series.
I heard that the national announcers were poking fun at Tiger fans during the broadcast today and yesterday. There were a lot of open seats in the stadium, so they were saying a bunch of junk about it. Let’s face it, the MLB makes it pretty hard for fans when you schedule games in the middle of the day on a workday.
I know I have to let my bosses know at least a month ahead of time to take time off. I’m sure that I am not the only person who can’t just decide to take a personal day at the last minute. They really need to do better about scheduling these games later.
After an almost 5 hour rain delay, my Tigers dropped game 3 of the ALDS. The Mariners beat them 8-4 yesterday. If they lose this afternoon, they are done. If they win, they still have to take game 5. I am still hopeful for them to advance to the ALCS. I doesn’t look good, though.
The stats are in Seattle’s favor. In all best-of-five postseason series tied 1-1, the Game 3 winner has advanced 47 out of 66 times (71.2%). Moreover, in Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format, teams playing Game 4 on the road with a 2-1 lead have advanced 23 out of 34 times (67.7%), closing the series in Game 4 on 19 of those occasions.
On Saturday, my daughter was out on the soccer field again. I had a talk with her beforehand. I told her that if the coach wanted her out on the field, she couldn’t say “I need a break” and not play. That being said, she played a lot this week.
She was so proud of herself. She scored two goals this week. Of course, she was very generous in that one of those goals was for the other team.
I felt so bad for her. They had her in goalie during one period. When they scored on her, she dropped to her knees and cried. She felt so bad that she let the ball get by her. The coach had to kneel down next to her and tell her it was ok. After holding up the game for about 5 minutes, she was up again and playing.
I love that Andrew’s school posts pictures on their app. I will often ask what he did at school and he’ll say, “I don’t remember.” Having the occasional picture helps to see what they are working on.
They are working on the letter A this week. He came home and had to practice on the white board.
The A on the top right is what we drew as a guide. He’s getting it.
Last week was my first week back on midnights. I did better than I thought. I didn’t feel tired until the last couple hours of my last night. This is week 2 and I hope it goes as well as last week.
My Detroit Tigers beat Cleveland IN Cleveland Thursday to advance to the American League Divisional Series. Today, they will take on the Seattle Mariners in game one of a 5 game series. The Mariners are a good team, and it is going to be a tough series.
In a conversation I had with my dad this week, he felt that if the Tigers went on to play the Mariners, they wouldn’t do well. I know that he was extremely disappointed with the way they played at the end of the season. That may be why he believes this. I, however, am thinking positive.
I am going to hope that their win over Cleveland will be motivation to play better baseball. I hope that it brings back the energy that they felt in the first half of the season. Just like we had a slump, the Mariners can still have one, right? It’s a game after all.
Yogi Berra is credited with saying, “It ain’t over, till it’s over.” The next 5 games are extremely important.
I am hoping to see the Detroit Tigers advance in the playoffs. My heart aches at the collapse of the team at the end of the season. To be up 15 games and not show up for the end of the season is just unbelievable.
Instead of thinking about that, I was reminded of a happy Detroit Tiger Memory. Darrell Evans played a huge part on the 1984 team that would go on to win the World Series. He would often play first base, and occasionally he would be in the DH spot.
In 1973, he hit 41 home runs for the Atlanta Braves. At 38 years old, in 1985 Evans led the MLB in home runs with 40. As a matter of fact, it was on this day in 1985 that he hit his 40th home run. By doing so, he became the first in MLB history to have a 40-homer season in both the American and the National Leagues.
Baseball historian Bill James called Evans “the most underrated player in baseball history.” I would agree. He was the 22nd player in MLB history to hit 400 home runs and the second to hit at least 100 home runs with three different teams. His 1,605 walks ranked eighth in MLB history at the time of his retirement, and he drew 90 or more walks in eight separate seasons (reaching 100+ walks five times).
Perhaps featuring a World Series champ today will bring the Tigers luck? One can hope
It was on this day in 1983 that George Kell was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Growing up, George was the broadcast partner of Al Kaline for the Detroit Tigers TV games from 1965-1996. He reminded me a lot of Ernie Harwell in that he always sounded friendly and had plenty of stories. He actually broadcast some radio games with Ernie. He had quite a career as a player, too.
He began his career with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1943. He moved to the Detroit Tigers in 1946 and went on to play for the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles. In his career, Kell batted .306, with 78 home runs and 870 RBI’s, 881 runs scored, 2054 hits, 385 doubles, 50 triples, 51 stolen bases, a .414 slugging average, and 621 walks for a .367 on-base percentage. He posted a career .971 fielding percentage. Kell played 1,795 games, but he never played for a team that made the postseason or the World Series.
Other highlights:
10-time All-Star (1947–54, 1956–57)
Eight consecutive .300 seasons (1946–53)
AL batting champion, led the majors in batting average (1949)
Holds record of the fewest strikeouts for a batting champion (13, in 1949)
Twice led the league in hits and doubles (1950–51)
Hit for the cycle (June 2, 1950)
Had 6 hits in a game (September 20, 1946)
Top 10 in AL MVP vote (1947, 1949, 1950)
One of my favorite George Kell quotes is “Never let yourself get fooled by the same pitcher on the same pitch on the same day.”
The other great quote came on this day in 1983. During his Hall of Fame Induction speech he said, “I have suspected for a long time that George Kell has taken more from this great game than he would ever be able to put back. And now today I know that I am more deeply in debt than ever before.”
Kell died at age 86 in his sleep in his hometown of Swifton, Arkansas, on March 24, 2009. His legend lives on here in Michigan. One of the greats!
It’s the first day of summer, but “the boys of summer” have been playing for sometime. As a long time Detroit Tigers fan, I have to admit that I am enjoying their season so far. They’ve really had some players come through. Both offensively and defensively they have done quite well.
In all of baseball, both American and National Leagues, they remain the best team.
The Cubs are sitting at .608 (45-29) followed by the Dodgers at .605 (46-30). I am excited for the rest of the season.
I say all of that as an intro into my Friday Photo Flashback. I truly do not know how old I am in the photo. If I had to guess I would say maybe three-ish.
I am not sure if the yellow tint to this photo is because of age or just the way the camera film was developed. I spent a long time looking at this picture. It cannot be the back yard of the first house we lived in because there would have been a field behind me if it was. So, I think that this was taken in my Grandma D’s back yard. The reason I say that is because of the privacy fence along the back of the yard.
There was a cemetery directly behind my grandma’s house. There was a gate where you could actually walk out into it, if desired. It always freaked me out a bit. I also remember her having rose bushes and other plants against the fence that is behind me in the picture. At some point, the owners of that house put up a privacy fence there. I remember that because I recall it being there when I would cut her grass.
I have no idea whose baseball mitt that is. It could be my dad’s because he played softball with some guys he worked with and there is a softball in it. It might also be his because he is sitting on the grass in front of me. I remember him wearing many of those “fishing” hats. I’m sure they have a name, but I always called them fishing hats. Eventually, I would have my own collection of them that I would wear.
That boy in the photo would dream about being a baseball pitcher. I would spend hours throwing the ball to my friends and my dad, who would call the balls and strikes. Even though the dream never came true, I still love a good game of catch. Sadly, my shoulder won’t allow me to throw like I used to.
Rest assured, though, if my kids were to ask me to toss the ball around, I’d have my mitt on in a heartbeat.
This is sort of a continuation of the Music of My Life feature. It focused on music from 1970-2025. It featured tunes that have special meaning to me, brought back a certain memory or a tune that I just really like. I found that with the first three decades, there were songs that I didn’t feature. So I sat down with my original lists and selected some songs that “bubbled under,” so to speak.
I figured a good way to present them was to focus on a decade. 10 years = 1 song per year = 10 songs. Last week I featured the 80’s. This week 10 more 80’s tunes before we move on to the 90’s. So, let’s check out a few “Decade Extras.”
1980
While I was never a truck driver, we certainly listened to Eddie Rabbitt’s Drivin’ My Life Away a lot while driving my my folks. I’m sure it was one of the songs my dad had recorded on 8-track to listen to on our drives up north.
This song was the first song that really made Eddie a crossover artist. The song went to number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. I Love A Rainy Night followed and hit #1 on the Hot 100, Country and Adult Contemporary Charts. Step By Step and You and I followed in 1981 and 1982 as crossover hits.
It is one of many Eddie Rabbitt songs I love.
Driving My Life Away
1981
Originally done by Tommy James and the Shondells, Mony Mony was covered by Billy Idol. Billy first released his version as a single in 1981, his first as a solo artist after leaving the band Generation X. His live version of the song went to #1 in 1987.
It was a big song at weddings and schools dances. However, it quickly made many school’s “Do Not Play” list. Why? It became popular for kids to shout “hey, hey, what, get laid, get f–ked” during the instrumental break in the chorus. I found this out the hard way at a school prom. I had a lot of requests for the song and when I played it the kids went crazy. When they shouted out the vulgar chant, it only took seconds for a teacher to come up and tell me to turn it off. Apparently, the chant is still shouted at Billy’s concerts.
Weird Al Yankovic did a parody of Billy’s version called “Alimony” on his Even Worse album in 1988.
Mony Mony
1982
It took two releases for the next song to get noticed. I can still remember going to the record store and buying Built For Speed by the Stray Cats. Rock This Town was such a cool thing to hear on the radio for me. My dad played a lot of Rockabilly stuff for me growing up, so I had to go get this album.
When Stray Cat Strut was first released in August of 1982, it didn’t even crack the Hot 100. I think it stopped at #109. Then Rock This Town was released and the band got noticed. The record company decided to re-release Stray Cat Strut and this time it debuted at #43 and went all the way to #3.
Michigan Trivia: Detroiters may remember that WRIF’s (101 FM) JJ and the Morning Crew a parody of this called “Fat Cat Strut.”
Stray Cat Strut
1983
The Eurythmics are Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart who actually dated for a while. Lennox said in an interview that they wrote this song after the two had a huge fight. Dave came up with a beat, Annie improvised the synthesizer riff, and suddenly they realized they had a potential hit.
In an interview with songfacts.com, Stewart said “We thought we’d made something really special but we had no idea, really, the impact it would have. Neither did the record label, which didn’t even think it was a single.”
Three other songs from the album were released as singles in the UK before their label, RCA, finally issued “Sweet Dreams.” When they did, it took off, climbing to #2.
Songfacts says about the video:
The video presented Lennox with close-cropped orange hair and a tailored black suit, making it the first popular video presenting an androgynous female. The cow in the video was Dave Stewart’s idea – he was a big fan of surreal artists Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel. Said Stewart: “A few people were saying, ‘Dave, why the cow? Annie is so good looking.’ Those people should go buy a copy of Purple Cow by Seth Dogin, about how to make your business remarkable. It was written 20 years after I had the purple cow in our video – which certainly did the trick and made my whole life remarkable.”
The cow, while very eye-catching, posed a logistical problem because most studios can’t accommodate them. Eurythmics found a basement studio in London with an elevator big enough to transport the animal. Lennox recalls the shoot with the bovine walking around as being one of the more surreal experiences of her life.
This song used to drive my former sister-in-law crazy. I’m not sure why, but whenever I DJ’s a family party or an event that she was at, I always played this song.
Sweet Dreams Are Made of This
1984
The next song got it’s title from a 1979 movie. Time After Time is the name of a 1979 science fiction movie starring Malcolm McDowell as H.G. Wells, whose time machine is stolen by Jack The Ripper, who uses it to travel from 1893 to 1979. Wells follows him into the future and goes on a quest to stop him from killing.
Cyndi Lauper wrote the song with Rob Hyman of The Hooters. Hyman told Songfacts: “When she saw Time After Time, something clicked. She said, ‘I think I have a title.'”
Once the title was in place, they set about writing the song. Hyman explained: “I was sitting at the piano and just started banging out what would eventually be the chorus, hook, and the way we sing it. It almost had like a reggae feel, it was a little bouncier and a little more upbeat. We started getting off on that chorus, then the verse melodies started to appear.
It’s a deceptively simple song. The verses are just a little repeating three-note motif – almost like a nursery rhyme, a very simple song. Then we started to realize we were on to something. The mood of the lyrics came from both of us. I think Cyndi came in and really started the lyric flow, then all of the sudden we realized it wasn’t such a bouncy song, but it was a little more bittersweet and a little deeper in its feeling and a little more poignant, so the music started to change. We wrote a little bridge section and I think the last thing we really wrote was the chorus. We had ‘Time After Time,’ we just had to get the words that would surround it.”
This song surprised me. Compared to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and She Bop, this song was kind of deep. This one and True Colors really made me appreciate her talent.
Time After Time
1985
My Detroit Tigers are doing very well so far this season. I hope they keep it up! From 1985, here is a song that I have written about in the past Centerfield.
Centerfield
1986
My dad always played me classics from Elvis, Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly and Little Richard. I remember my dad coming home and saying, “Keith, you gotta hear this Little Richard song.” It was a song that was featured in the movie Down and Out in Beverly Hills with Richard Dreyfus.
Honestly, it sounded like something he could have done in the 50’s. Great Gosh A’Mighty must have been the cleaned up version for the film, because Little Richard also recorded a Great God Almighty version, too.
The song is always one I play on repeat on the iPod.
Great Gosh A’Mighty
1987
Randy Travis was one of the coolest country stars I’ve had the chance to meet. He was so down to earth and friendly. We talked about music, family and faith. It was like talking to an old friend.
I feel Forever and Ever, Amen is right up in the Top 10 best country songs of all time. It was written by two of the best songwriters in Nashville – Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz. The two had already wrote Randy’s hit “On the Other Hand,” and I love the story of how this one came to be.
Overstreet told Songfacts:
“I had played about 36 holes of golf that day, and Don says, ‘I’ve got this idea we have to write.’ His new fiancée’s little boy was learning the Lord’s Prayer, and he was going around saying ‘forever and ever amen’ after everything. He would say, ‘Mommy, I love you. Forever and ever, amen.’ So Don said, ‘We’ve got to write this.’ I said, ‘How about tomorrow?’ He says, ‘No, now.'”
They got together on Overstreet’s front porch that night and composed the song by candlelight. Confident it was a hit, they recorded a demo the next day and sent it to Travis, who made it the lead single to his second album, Always & Forever. It was indeed a hit, spending three weeks at the top of the Country chart, longer than any other song in 1987.
Forever and Ever, Amen
1988
Another cover song on the list – this time, a cover of Elvis Presley. I remember hearing Cheap Trick’s version of Don’t Be Cruel and loving it! I remember really digging the spots in the song where that running bass line can be heard. The key change was something that stood out for me.
I hate to diss on the King, but I almost love the Cheap Trick version a bit more. There is so much going on that really takes the song to another level – that drum beat, the fake cold ending, the guitar solo and so much more. I played the heck out of this 45
Don’t Be Cruel
1989
The final pick comes from the movie UHF from Weird Al Yankovic. In a recent Turntable Talk feature, I talked about the David Lee Roth video for Just a Gigolo. At the end of it, I wondered if Dave borrowed from the music video for UHF’s title song.
While the video for the song is hilarious and brilliant, the song itself is one of my favorites from Al. It is not a parody, rather an original. It is a song that sounds like something you would hear on the radio in ’89. It has an alternative rock feel to it.
It’s an underrated and often forgotten Al song
UHF
What a way to wrap up the 80’s! I hope you heard some tunes you liked, too. Next week we’ll move on to the 1990’s and see what songs bubbled under my original list. See you then!
Last Saturday, my wife left for work and called me just a minute or two after she left. She reminded me that the city was doing their “Trunk or Treat” event that night. I asked the kids if they wanted to go and all they had to hear was “candy,” and they were in!
It was a bit chilly that night, but we walked over and got in line. There was a big turn out. If I had to guess, I’d say at least 600 kids were there. They had two of the pavilions wrapped up in black tarps and they had mini haunted houses there. It was fun to listen to the screams from people in there.
They also had cider and doughnuts from one of the local orchards and the kids loved that. They had the parking lot lined up with cars that were decorated for the event. It took us about 40 minutes in line before it was our turn to actually “trunk or treat.” The first vehicle was one of the local fire trucks. Boy, did Andrew and Ella luck out!
Andrew was dressed as a firefighter. When he walked up to one of our local guys, he placed a handful of candy in his bucket. Then he reached in and put another handful in because they were now “brothers!” Ella got two handfuls, too because she was with him.
As a bonus, they made sure to let him sit in the truck, too!
Along the way, they had lemonade or hot chocolate for the kids, and coffee for parents. This made me very happy!
Some of the cars were really done up nice. There was one that was done up in a Star Wars Theme. They had a mechanical Yoda, R2-D2, and some folks dressed up. Andrew was a bit scared of the Stormtroopers, but Ella had to have a picture with “the man with the green light sword!”
I have to wonder if that night led to the kids getting sick. They both had runny noses Sunday night. Ella had a fever on Monday, so she missed school. On Tuesday, she had a cough and it was obvious that she didn’t feel well. She missed school again. We took her to the doctor and she has an ear infection, a sinus infection, and (because she sniffles instead of blowing her nose) she has the start of pneumonia.
Andrew still has the runny nose, but has not had a fever. That doesn’t mean he isn’t feeling sick. I can always tell when they are sick because the little things make them cry. It has been a cryfest all week! We’ve been heading to bed early every night in hopes that they will get some rest. On Monday night, Andrew was holding on to Bitsy and they both fell asleep while he was listening to music on his tablet.
October Baseball
I’m happy to see my Detroit Tigers playing October baseball. Yesterday, they shut out Cleveland 3-0 and now lead the ALDS 2-1. It’s a best of 5 series and it would be sweet for them to eliminate the Guardians at home tonight. Game time is 6:08pm ET. Go get ’em Tigers!!!
Florida
I have family and friends in Florida. I cannot even imagine having to go through yet another hurricane so soon. Milton is a monster and I pray that those who opted to stay make it through safely. The hurricanes are bad enough, but to hear that almost 20 tornadoes touched down before Milton even hit land.
I also have many friends in the Carolinas, Kentucky and Tennessee. The flooding and devastation left behind by it is heart wrenching. The loss of homes, animals, human life and entire cities is unbelievable. Tears flowed from my eyes as I watched the reports and the many videos.
I continue to pray for all the people who were affected by these natural disasters. I pray for the safety of those who remain in their homes and those who have lost everything. I pray they find comfort and strength to get through all of this.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 