May 2, 1984: Red Sox 5 – Tigers 4
W: Mike Brown (1-2) – L: Juan Berenguer (1-1) – Save: Bob Stanley (4) | Boxscore
Record: 19-3
Highlights
- A pair of two-run homers off Berenguer, one by Dwight Evans, the other by Jim Rice, gave the Red Sox a 4-0 lead in the third. Boston tacked on a run in the fifth to go up 5-0.
- The Tigers scratched back with a run in the sixth and eighth, and then two in the ninth off Stanley.
- Kirk Gibson went 4 for 5 with a double, triple and an RBI.
- Dave Bergman had a 3 for 4 day and drive in a run.
Miscellany
- Venue: Tiger Stadium
- Umpires: HP – Rocky Roe, 1B – Larry Barnett, 2B – Dale Ford, 3B – Ken Kaiser
- Time of Game: 2:33
- Attendance: 23,085
Darrell Evans #41
Before Pudge Rodriguez and Magglio Ordoñez, the Tigers’ big splash in the free agent market came on Dec. 17, 1983, when they signed 36-year-old* slugger Darrell Evans.
*He turned 37 in May 1984.
As most seasoned Tigers fans remember, the club’s leadership, or at least GM Jim Campbell — whose opinion was the only one that mattered — hated free agency. In fact, Campbell hated paying for his own free agent players and loved to trade them before their walk year. He certainly wasn’t going to spend on someone else’s players.
That changed in 1983 when Evans chose a Detroit offer which was, of course, lower than those of the Yankees, Giants and other clubs that tried to sign, or in the case of San Francisco, re-sign him. The allure of joining a team poised to win right away made Detroit the choice.
As we’ve covered, in his first game as a Tiger, April 3, 1984, Evans homered of the Twins’ Keith Comstock, a three-run jack, and Detroit was off to the races. A week later, on Opening Day in Detroit, he homered in his first Tiger Stadium at bat, an upper-deck blast off the Rangers’ Dave Stewart.
He’d hit only 14 more home runs in 1984, but quickly became a fan favorite. In 1985, he hit 40 homers, 29 in ’86 and then 34, at age 40!, in 1987. Even in 1988, his final year in Detroit, at age 41, he hit 22.
In five seasons with the Tigers, Evans hit 141 of his career 414 home runs. In 1989, he finished his career where it began: with the Atlanta Braves.
Birthdays
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Neftali Feliz, Mark Johnson, Jim Walewander, Keith Moreland, Steve Grilli and the late Gates Brown
Today’s Grid
⚾️ Immaculate Grid 396 8/9 – Rarity: 129
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See you tomorrow.
As they had in Toronto nine days earlier, the two veteran pitchers sparkled. The Jays grabbed an early 1-0 lead. The Tigers countered with a 
The Tigers turned to 
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