But the main thing you need to know about what was going on in May 1984...
The Tigers were really good
You know how everybody was going crazy over the Chicago Cubs' start to the 2016 season? At this point in 1984. the Detroit Tigers were 35-8. And that was after getting swept by the Seattle Mariners. They were 35-5 after their first 40 games. Sparky Anderson, manager of the 1984 Tigers, wrote in his book Sparky! that he never worried more during a season than he did during 1984. The Tigers weren't supposed to be that good. Sure, they were good, but breaking all the records they did? Sparky thought they'd get figured out eventually, but they kept getting the lucky breaks and rode it all the way to the World Series Championship. Sparky never won another title with the Tigers, he didn't build a dynasty like he did in Cincinnati, but he had that one special year where everything came together.
But yeah, if a team was going 35-5 in 2016 it'd be almost as big a deal as the Golden State Warriors' start to their season. And hey, unlike the Warriors, the Tigers closed the deal without any drama. They swept the Royals in the ALCS & won the World Series in five games, leaving no doubt over who was the dominant team in 1984, and one of the most dominant teams of all time in a single season.
The closest team in baseball to Detroit at this point was the Toronto Blue Jays, who were five games behind. The National League was a mess, with eight teams within 3.5 games of each other & the Cubs sitting on top at 26-18.
Dwight Gooden was on his way to a Rookie of the Year award. On May 11 he beat the Dodgers 2-0 throwing a complete game with 11 strikeouts. Fernado Valenzuela was the Dodgers starter & struck out eight in eight innings. The other rookie of note, though he didn't win the ROTY award in the American League, was Twins outfielder Kirby Puckett, who would go on to a Hall of Fame career.
So what were the Reds doing on the day I was born?
Funny you should ask. They were in Chicago finishing a three-game series with the Cubs. Mario Soto, the 24-22 Reds' ace, was on the mound facing off against Cubs' third baseman Ron Cey in the bottom of the second inning with runners on first & third. Cey hit a shot that wrapped around the foul pole and was called a home run by the third base umpire. The Reds argued the call, complete with Mario Soto bumping the umpire and getting himself ejected. After the umpires had a conference, the call was changed to "foul ball". Watching the grainy WGN footage, their camera angle was pretty unhelpful, so maybe it's a good thing that instant replay wasn't a thing in 1984.
Dayn Perry wrote a wonderful recap of the event last February and broke down the YouTube clip second by second. (Best part is Perry's pointing out that Jim Frey looks like Gorilla Monsoon. The resemblance is uncanny.) The Reds argued the original call, complete with Mario Soto bumping the umpire. The video's well worth watching if you've got half an hour. We start with Cubs players, managers and coaches arguing with the umpires, Harry Caray & Steve Stone arguing over the call (Stone, the Cubs' analyst, thought the ball was foul. Caray liked the original call.), Cubs' third base coach Don Zimmer losing his mind, manager Jim Frey & shortstop Larry Bowa getting royally ticked over something an umpire said to them, Reds' manager Vern Rapp being called over for a conversation with the umpires, and after twenty minutes or so, a fight finally breaks out between the Reds & Cubs. Mario Soto was charging the umpires, (I assume he had been told he was ejected and wanted to state his opinion on that.) Don Zimmer runs towards Soto, Reds catcher Brad Gulden, who was trying to keep Soto from causing more problems with the umpires, intercepts Zimmer, takes him down, and all hell breaks loose. Soto nearly goes into the crowd with a bat after a fan throws a beer at him. Eventually things settled down & the Reds wound up winning the game 4-3. The Cubs had the best record in the NL (not by much), but were reeling after getting swept by the Reds in their home park. They ended up making it to the NLCS, so they got over it.
Also notable was Dennis Eckersley making his National League debut with the Cubs as the starting pitcher, they acquired him & Mike Brumley from the Red Sox in exchange for Bill Buckner. This was before Eck became one of baseball's most famous closers & Buckner became one of baseball's most famous goats. At the time it made perfect sense, trust me.
The Reds' starting lineup on May 27, 1984:
1. Gary Redus, LF
2. Eddie Milner, CF
3. Dan Driessen, 1B
4. Dave Parker, RF
5. Brad Gulden, C
6. Wayne Krenchicki, 3B
7. Ron Oester, 2B
8. Tom Foley, SS
9. Mario Soto, P
Nick Esasky was the normal third baseman & Dave Concepcion was still the starting shortstop as the last remaining member of the Great Eight in the regular Reds starting lineup (Johnny Bench had retired after the 1983 season), they got Sunday off. Tony Perez was back with the Reds in 1984 as a backup, and Pete Rose would return in September as player-manager.
Vern Rapp was manager of the Reds for less than a season. He got the job because a Boston radio station did a gag on him retiring as Expos 1st base coach...let's let Wikipedia take it from here:
WHDH also conducted a telephone interview with Sheldon Bender, vice-president of player personnel for the Cincinnati Reds. Until the station called, Bender was unaware that Rapp was leaving the Expos. Bender suggested Rapp at a meeting the next day at which the Reds' bosses were discussing whether to fire Manager Russ Nixon. One thing led to another, and Rapp received a surprise phone call from (Bob) Howsam, who had returned from his own retirement to try to arrest the declining fortunes of the Reds.
Bender admitted "Vern wasn't a candidate for the job until the station called." Rapp decided that managing the Reds was worth unretiring for, and accepted the job on October 5. WHDH sent Rapp the cassette recording of what turned out to be a most momentous broadcast.
Yup, the Reds hired a guy because of a Boston radio show. Shocking how that didn't work out.
Soto was the Reds' best pitcher in the 1980s, but he had quite the temper and was pretty dirty when things got hairy. Soto was suspended for five games by NL President Chub Feeney (What a wonderful name. I think I'll use it when I get into the wrestling business.), but he didn't learn much from the punishment. June 16 he'd get in a fight in Atlanta with Claudell Washington and try to wing the baseball right at Washington's back while he was being restrained. Dunno what was in Soto's Wheaties that season, but he did win 18 games and racked up 13 complete games. Otherwise, things went downhill for the Reds after May 27 & the sweep of the Cubs. Their 46-70 record was the worst in baseball the rest of the season, and helps explain why Pete Rose was playing & managing at the end of the year instead of Vern Rapp managing & Tom Lawless playing. One can only hope that Reds management learns from this, and by the end of 2016 we'll see Bronson Arroyo back in a Reds uniform as a player-manager.
This concludes our look back at 1984. How will I celebrate my birthday & get out of writing about bad Reds baseball next year? Stay tuned...
Historical Accomplishment Of The Week
David Ross is a backup catcher for the Chicago Cubs. You're forgiven if you haven't heard of him, he has a lifetime .229 batting average and has never played more than 112 games in a season. That season was 2007, his second in Cincinnati. He wound up being the starting catcher with the Reds because the other options were luminaries such as Javier Valentin, Chad Moeller & Jason LaRue. Johnny Bench had more catching talent in his pinky finger than these schlubs combined, but that's beside the point.
Ross was released in August 2008, as playing time was being split between Valentin, Ryan Hanigan and the immortal Paul Bako. I'll be honest, I have no recollection of Paul Bako's time in Cincinnati, but I'm sure he was beloved by Reds fans everywhere. Ross was picked up by the Red Sox, hit .125 there in 8 games, then went to Atlanta for a few years, then Boston again, and now with the Cubs. He's one of those great "clubhouse presence" guys that's more valuable behind the scenes than he appears to outside observers.
So naturally everybody was happy on Friday when Ross hit his 100th home run as a major leaguer. At the age of 39, Ross became the oldest Cub to hit his 100th home run. He also became the first player who had never appeared at the plate more than 350 times in a season to hit 100 home runs. (Spoiler Alert: He's not going to appear at the plate 350 times this season.) It speaks well to the persistence of Ross that he's been able to stick in the league so long in spite of not having the best skills. It also speaks well to his likeability.
I'm happy that I was able to find a baseball player much older than me to write about this week. What can I say, I've been feeling old lately with all these young guns accomplishing things. Nice to see guys like Ross, Big Sexy & Ichiro doing stuff.
Three Series To Watch This Week
1. White Sox at Mets (Monday-Wednesday): Chris Sale vs. Matt Harvey on Monday afternoon could be the pitching matchup of the week. The Sox have trended downward lately, losing 3 out of 4 to the Indians and losing series before that to the Astros, Yankees & Rangers. Things in Kansas City didn't go much better, especially when the Sox blew a 6-run lead in the 9th inning on Saturday. Bad times. The Mets have been up and down lately, but any team with a pitching rotation like the one they have is going to be dangerous. Now it's young lefty Steven Matz that's looking like the next Steve Carlton. Dude's started out his career 11-1 with a 2.32 ERA. Ridiculous. He'll be pitching on Tuesday. Jacob deGrom on Wednesday. The Sox don't even have to deal with Thor and they gotta be feeling outmatched here.
2. Nationals at Phillies (Monday-Wednesday): The Phillies will be .500 or better at the end of May. Who saw that one coming? They were one of the prime examples of teams like the Braves & the Reds that weren't going to compete for anything and just lose and lose and lose, but here they are. Pete Mackanin is teaching these young kids how to play and they're winning some games at the same time? Impossible, say other tanking NL organizations. It might not last and they might end up in the cellar right next to the Braves when it's said and done, but at least they're having some fun along the way and playing some games that matter in June. The Nationals come into town this week, and will be looking for revenge after the Philles swept them in D.C. back in April. Should be fun for Philly fans. Attendance is up about 1,000 on the average from last year, so I think people there are noticing. Or they're having more bobblehead nights, one or the other.
3. Mariners at Rangers (Friday-Sunday): The Mariners, another team nobody expected anything out of this season, sit on top of the AL West as I write this, right in front of one of the teams they'll be playing this week. After taking two out of three from the Orioles, the Mariners were blessed with inferior competition from the Reds, the A's and the Twins. After a trip to San Diego they'll kick things up a notch with this series in Arlington.
Welp, that's all we have time for this week! Thanks for reading, and join us next time for more baseball fun!
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