Tag: Carl Willis

Aug. 6, 1984: Doubleheader Madness Begins

Thanks to April rainouts, the Tigers and Red Sox played back-to-back doubleheaders in Boston. These follow the schedule doubleheader against the Royals on Aug. 5.

Game 1: Tigers 9 – Red Sox 6

Rescheduled from the April 15 rainout.

W: Aurelio López – L: Bob Ojeda (9-9) – S: Willie Hernández (23) | Boxscore

Record: 73-39 — 8.5 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • A classic 198o’s slugfest: 16 runs on 31 hits.
  • Dan Petry started and last 42/3 innings and gave up six runs on 11 hits and two walks.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Fenway Park
  • Umpires: HP – Jim McKean, 1B – Durwood Merrill, 2B – Dan Morrison, 3B – Tim Welke
  • Time of Game: 3:17

Game 2: Red Sox 10 – Tigers 2

W: Roger Clemens (6-4) – L: Carl Willis (0-2) | Boxscore

Record: 73-39 — 8.5 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • Yikes. The Red Sox battered three Tigers pitchers — primarily starter Willis and relief man Doug Bair — for 15 hits.
  • Willis got only one batter out and it was a productive one for Jim Rice, who drove in the game’s first run. All told: 1/3 of an inning, five hits and four earned runs.
  • Bair pitched the next 42/3 innings and allowed five runs on six hits.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Fenway Park
  • Umpires: HP – Durwood Merrill, 1B – Dan Morrison, 2B – Tim Welke, 3B – Jim McKean
  • Time of Game: 2:55
  • Attendance: 31,055

See you tomorrow.

The Thursday Fungo: June 27

June 27, 1984: Yankees 5 – Tigers 4

W: Jay Howell (3-4) – L: Carl Willis (0-1) – Save: | Boxscore

Record: 53-20 — 10 games up on Toronto

Highlights

  • The Tigers had a 4-2 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth. Willis relieved starter Dave Rozema and gave up two hits and three runs.
  • Bárbaro Garbey drove in a pair, and the Tigers eked out just five hits.
  • The Yankees take two out of three in the series but the Tigers remain 10 games ahead of second-place Toronto.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Yankee Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Jim McKean, 1B – Tim McClelland, 2B – Larry Young, 3B – Marty Springstead
  • Time of Game: 2:36
  • Attendance: 30,428

Birthdays

Jim Johnson, Oscar Salazar, Nelson Simmons, Dick Marlowe, Gus Zernial, Lou Kretlow and Charlie Wheatley

See you tomorrow.

The Wednesday Fungo: June 19

June 19, 1984: Tigers 7 – Yankees 6

W: Aurelio López (6-0) – L: Ron Guidry (5-5) – S: Willie Hernández (12) | Boxscore

Record: 48-17 — 61/2 up on Toronto

Highlights

  • Carl Willis made his first big-league start: 41/3 innings, nine hits, four earned runs.
  • The Tigers took it to Ron Guidry: a dozen hits and seven earned runs over 71/3.
  • Lance Parrish‘s first-inning two-run homer opened the scoring.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Tiger Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Steve Palermo, 1B – Dave Phillips, 2B – Jerry Neudecker, 3B – John Hirschbeck
  • Time of Game: 2:49
  • Attendance: 41,192

Doug Flynn – IF #20

The Tigers signed veteran infielder Doug Flynn as a free agent on June 20, 1985, nine days after he was released by the Expos. Here are four things to know about his brief time in Detroit:

  • He debuted on June 22 against the Yankees, starting at second base and batting ninth. He singled off Ron Guidry in his first at bat, one of just four hits Guidry allowed.
  • Flynn’s final line as a Tiger: 32 games, 55 plate appearances, .255 average, no home runs and two RBI.
  • The Tigers re-signed him in the offseason, but released him near the end of Spring Training 1986.

Birthdays

Willis Roberts*, Jim Slaton and the late Eddie Cicotte.

*Roberts appeared in one game for the 1999 Tigers: 1.1 IP, three hits, four runs, one HBP.

See you tomorrow.

The Sunday Fungo: June 9

June 9, 1984: Orioles 4 – Tigers 0

W: Mike Flanagan (5-4) – L: Juan Berenguer (3-4)| Boxscore

Record: 41-14 — 51/2 games up on Toronto

Highlights

(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
  • The second time in a week that the Tigers were shutdown by the masterful Flanagan: a complete game, allowing seven hits, no walks and two strikeouts.
  • This was just the Tigers’ third shutout of the year.
  • Carl Willis made his major-league debut, pitching the final 21/3, giving up just one hit and a walk.

Miscellany

  • Venue: Memorial Stadium
  • Umpires: HP – Drew Coble, 1B – Jim Evans, 2B – Greg Kosc, 3B – Ted Hendry
    Time of Game: 2:41
    Attendance: 44,404

John Pacella #27 and #43

Here are a few things to know about John Pacella, who spent part of the year with the 1986 Tigers:

The Brooklyn-born right-hander made his major-league debut on Sept. 15, 1977, his 21st birthday, for the Mets against the Phillies.

Fast forward to Dec. 28, 1984 when the Tigers signed Pacella. He spent the ’85 season with the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate in Nashville posting a 7-7 mark with a 3.23 ERA. In 1986, he started the year with the Sounds notching a 7-6 record and 2.90 ERA before getting called up to Detroit.

His first Tigers appearance came on June 16 at Baltimore. He pitched 11/3 scoreless innings and earned the save. Pacella pitched four more times for the Tigers that year; his longest outing was 52/3 innings against the Yankees in which he allowed seven walks.

His final major-league appearance was on July 12, 1986, at Kansas City. He faced Greg Pryor in the bottom of the seventh and gave up an RBI single. The Tigers lost, 7-4.

Pacella started the 1987 season with Detroit’s new Triple-A club, the Toledo Mud Hens. On June 30, 1987, the Yokohama Bay Stars purchased his contract from Detroit. In 1988 he was back in the States pitching at the Triple-A level for the Brewers, Orioles and then, hey now, the Tigers.

After 19 professional seasons, six major league, 13 minor league, Pacella finished with a mark of 4-10, 5.73 ERA in the majors, 71-86, 3.94 in the minors.

Birthdays

The late Billy Baldwin

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 434 7/9: Rarity: 228

See you tomorrow.

Sept. 18, 1984: Tigers Clinch American League East Title

On this date in 1984, the Tigers clinched the American League East title, beating the Brewers 3-0.

Randy O’Neal pitched seven shutout innings, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out six. As he often did, Willie Hernandez earned a two-inning save, his 30th of the year.

Tom Brookens hit a solo homer off Brewers’ starter Bob McClure. Lance Parrish drove in Detroit’s other two runs.

If you want to take a deep dive into the ’84 club, pickup a copy of Detroit Tigers 1984: What a Start! What a Finish! from Amazon.com. (Disclosure: I wrote the bios of Rusty Kuntz, Johnny Grubb, Chet Lemon and Carl Willis that appear in the book.)