1984 Detroit Tigers (104-58)
Manager: Sparky Anderson
Between 1979 and 1983, the Tigers' young talent played better than .500 ball, but did not play good enough to scare Eastern Division rivals such as New York and Baltimore. In 1984, the Tigers simply exploded out of the gate. Players such as Kirk Gibson, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, and Jack Morris set a standard for all great Tigers teams to follow. Basically, the AL Eastern Division race ended on Opening Day as Detroit won 9 in a row. In that streak, Jack Morris no-hit the Chicago White Sox. After losing in the 10th game, the Tigers ended up with an amazing 35-5 record in their first 40 games. In the All-Star Game in San Francisco, six Tigers represented the American League. One of them was pitcher Guillermo "Willie" Hernandez, who came from a trade with Philadelphia. Hernandez won both the Cy Young Award and the MVP for his 9-3 record with 32 saves to his credit. The Tigers finished 1984 with a 104-58 record. They won the division 15 games over 2nd place Toronto.
In the ALCS, they met the Kansas City Royals, whose 84-78 record helped them win a weak AL Western Division. In game 1, the Tigers simply bashed the Royals 8-1 in Kansas City. Game 2 was forced into extras. In the 11th, John Grubb bashed a game-winning hit to give Detroit a 2-0 lead going back home. In the 3rd game, the Tigers would place the final nail in Kansas City's coffin as Chet Lemon came in to score. The Tigers would win their first AL Pennant since 1968.
The World Series was a David v. Goliath one as the powerful Tigers met a series debutante in the San Diego Padres. The Tigers were lucky because if the Padres did not win the NLCS, then they would face their hated rivals, the Chicago Cubs. Jack Morris shut down the young Pads 3-2 in Jack Murphy Stadium. However, Kurt Bevacqua hit a homer to help San Diego tie the series up going to Detroit. In the 3rd contest, 11 walks is all Detroit needed as they won 5-2. In game 4, Alan Trammell hit a pair of 2-run dingers to lead Detroit to a 3-1 lead. In game 5, Kirk Gibson started the game off with a home run. By the 8th, the Tigers had a 1-run lead. Kirk Gibson was at the plate. Padres' closer Goose Gossage argues with manager Dick Williams. Gossage wants to strike Gibson out instead of walking out. Gibson bets Tigers' manager Sparky Anderson 10 dollars that Gossage would win the argument. Gossage wins the argument, but Gibson gets the last laugh as he hits his 2nd homer of the game. As for the Tigers, they won that game to win their first World Title since 1968. Trammell earned MVP honors for his performance throughout the series. Sparky became the first manager to win a World Title in both leagues.