The Thursday Fungo

Tigers’ Opening Day Record, 1977-1994

The wheelhouse of The Daily Fungo is the Ralph Houk, Les Moss and Sparky Anderson years. So, through that narrow lens in the Tigers’ much broader history, let’s look at how the teams from 1977 through 1994 opened their respective seasons.

* Indicates I was at the game.

Year	Opening Day	Score	Pitchers
1977	April 7 Home Boxscore	Royals 7 Tigers 4	W: Paul Splittorff L: Dave Roberts Save: Mark Littell
1978	April 7 Home Boxscore	Tigers 6 Blue Jays 2	W: Mark Fidrych L: Dave Lemanczyk
1979	April 7* Home Boxscore	Rangers 8 Tigers 2	W: Ferguson Jenkins L: Dave Rozema
1980	April 10 Away Boxscore	Tigers 5 Royals 1	W: Jack Morris L: Dennis Leonard
1981	April 9* Home Boxscore	Tigers 6 Blue Jays 2	W: Jack Morris L: Joey McLaughlin
1982	April 9* Away Boxscore	Royals 4 Tigers 2	W: Larry Gura L: Jack Morris
1983	April 5 Away Boxscore	Tigers 11 Twins 3	W: Jack Morris L: Brad Havens
1984	April 3 Away Boxscore	Tigers 8 Twins 1	W: Jack Morris L: Albert Williams
1985	April 8 Home Boxscore	Tigers 5 Indians 4	W: Jack Morris L: Ernie Camacho Save: Willie Hernandez
1986	April 7* Home Boxscore	Tigers 6 Red Sox 5	W: Jack Morris L: Sammy Stewart Save: Willie Hernandez
1987	April 6* Home Boxscore	Yankees 2 Tigers 1 10 innings	W: Dave Righetti L: Jack Morris
1988	April 4 Away Boxscore	Tigers 5 Red Sox 3 10 innings	W: Jack Morris L: Lee Smith Save: Mike Henneman
1989	April 4 Away	Rangers 4 Tigers 0	W: Charlie Hough L: Jack Morris
1990	April 9 Away Boxscore	Red Sox 5 Tigers 2	W: Roger Clemens L: Jack Morris Save: Lee Smith
1991	April 8 Home Boxscore	Tigers 6 Yankees 4	W: Paul Gibson L: Greg Cadaret Save: Mike Henneman
1992	April 6 Home Boxscore	Blue Jays 4 Tigers 2	W: Jack Morris L: Bill Gullickson
1993	April 5 Away Boxscore	A’s 9 Tigers 4	W: Bob Welch L: Mike Moore Save: Dennis Eckersley
1994	April 4 Away Boxscore	Red Sox 9 Tigers 8	W: Scott Bankhead L: Storm Davis Save: Jeff Russell

The result? An even 9 and 9, with Jack Morris notching a 6-4 record — not counting his win against the Tigers on Opening Day 1992 as a member of the Blue Jays.

Birthdays

Craig Paquette and the late Jimmy Barrett

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 361 9/9 – Rarity: 69

See you tomorrow.