| 1984 American League Championship Series | ||||||||||
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| Dates | October 2–5 | |||||||||
| MVP | Kirk Gibson (Detroit) | |||||||||
| Umpires | Bill Deegan Jon Bible (1B, 3 games) Randy Cristal (2B, 3 games) Larry Zirdel (3B, Game 1) Harold Jordan (OF, Game 1) Mike O'Dell (OF, Game 1) Bob Jones (3B, Game 2) Rick Denny (OF, Game 2) Carl Nothnagel (OF, Game 2) Doug Cossey (3B, Game 3) Dick Runchey (OF, Game 3) Dick Zivic (OF, Game 3) | |||||||||
| Broadcast | ||||||||||
| Television | ABC | |||||||||
| TV announcers | Al Michaels,Howard Cosell andJim Palmer | |||||||||
| Radio | CBS WJR (DET) WIBW (KC) | |||||||||
| Radio announcers | CBS:Bill White andCurt Gowdy WJR:Ernie Harwell andPaul Carey WIBW:Denny Matthews andFred White | |||||||||
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The1984American League Championship Series was a semifinal matchup inMajor League Baseball's1984 postseason which matched the East Division championDetroit Tigers against the West Division championKansas City Royals. The Tigers took the series in a three-game sweep to advance to the1984 World Series against theSan Diego Padres; the Royals never held a lead in any inning of the series. The sixteenth edition of theALCS, it was the last to be played as a best-of-five, as both the American League and National League would change their League Championship Series to a best-of-seven format.
Due to astrike by major league umpires, the series was played using local and collegiate umpires, with former AL umpire and league supervisorBill Deegan working home plate for all three games, using the balloon-style outside chest protector which had been mandatory for all AL umpires prior to 1975 but was banned for new hires in 1977 (umpires on staff before 1977 were covered by agrandfather clause if they wished to continue using the outside protector).
The 1984 American League Championship Series ended in a sweep by the Tigers, although Games 2 and 3 were both close. Game 2 was decided in extra innings, and the Tigers clinched the pennant with a 1–0 victory in Game 3. Detroit never trailed in the series, and led in 26 of the 29 innings played (with the other three tied). The result wasn't that surprising given that the Royals won 20 fewer games during the season and had won theAL West by a mere three games over both theCalifornia Angels andMinnesota Twins.
The striking umpires originally scheduled to work the ALCS wereMarty Springstead (crew chief),Don Denkinger,Steve Palermo,Ken Kaiser,Greg Kosc andJohn Shulock (who was not a member of the Major League Umpires Association since he was hired by the AL during the 1979 MLUA strike).
Detroit won the series, 3–0.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 2 | Detroit Tigers – 8, Kansas City Royals – 1 | Royals Stadium | 2:42 | 41,973[1] |
| 2 | October 3 | Detroit Tigers – 5, Kansas City Royals – 3(11) | Royals Stadium | 3:37 | 42,019[2] |
| 3 | October 5 | Kansas City Royals – 0,Detroit Tigers – 1 | Tiger Stadium | 2:39 | 52,168[3] |
Tuesday, October 2, 1984, atRoyals Stadium inKansas City, Missouri
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Jack Morris (1–0) LP:Bud Black (0–1) Home runs: DET:Larry Herndon (1),Alan Trammell (1),Lance Parrish (1) KC: None | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Game 1 was a blowout in Kansas City, as the Tigers struck first whenLou Whitaker singled to lead off the game off ofBud Black, then scored onAlan Trammell's triple. One out later,Lance Parrish's sacrifice fly made it 2–0 Tigers. Leadoff home runs byLarry Herndon in the fourth and Trammell in the fifth made it 4–0 Tigers. In the seventh, Royals' right fielderPat Sheridan's error on Whitaker's line drive allowed him to reach second, then score on Trammell's single off ofMark Huismann. Tigers'Jack Morris pitched seven innings, allowing only one run in the seventh whenJorge Orta hit a leadoff triple and scored onDarryl Motley's groundout, withWillie Hernández pitching the final two innings. The Tigers added to their lead in the last two innings off of the Royals' bullpen.Barbaro Garbey led off the eighth with a single off of Huismann and scored onDarrell Evans's double, thenMarty Castillo's RBI single made it 7–1 Tigers.Lance Parrish's leadoff home run in the ninth off ofMike Jones capped the scoring at 8–1 as the Tigers took a 1–0 series lead.
Wednesday, October 3, 1984, atRoyals Stadium inKansas City, Missouri
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Aurelio López (1–0) LP:Dan Quisenberry (0–1) Home runs: DET:Kirk Gibson (1) KC: None | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Tigers took Game 2 in extra innings by a 5–3 score. In the top of the first,Lou Whitaker reached on an error off ofBret Saberhagen, then back-to-back one-out RBI doubles byKirk Gibson andLance Parrish put the Tigers up 2–0. Gibson's home run in the third made it 3–0 Tigers.Dan Petry pitched seven innings and gave up two runs (onJorge Orta's groundout in the fourth after a walk and single andDane Iorg's RBI single in the seventh with two on), but lost his chance at a win whenWillie Hernández surrendered the tying run in the eighth inning onHal McRae's RBI double after a leadoff single. Detroit's "Senor Smoke",Aurelio López, held the Royals scoreless in the ninth, tenth and eleventh innings for the win.Johnny Grubb hit a double offDan Quisenberry in the 11th inning to drive inDarrell Evans andRuppert Jones for the game winning runs.
Friday, October 5, 1984, atTiger Stadium inDetroit, Michigan
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Detroit | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 1 | 3 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Milt Wilcox (1–0) LP:Charlie Leibrandt (0–1) Sv:Willie Hernández (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The first postseason game at Tiger Stadiumin 12 years was a pitcher's duel betweenMilt Wilcox andCharlie Leibrandt. Leibrandt pitched a complete game, allowing only one run and three hits, while Wilcox gave up two hits and struck out eight Royals withWillie Hernández pitching the ninth inning for the save.Marty Castillo's 2nd inning groundout to drove inChet Lemon for game's lone run as the Tigers completed the three-game sweep and advanced to the World Series.
This was their first pennantin 16 years and the ninth in the team's history.
Had the ALCS gone the full five games, Game 5 on Sunday October 7, would have been a 1 p.m.ET time start instead of being inprime time. This would have happened because one of thepresidential debates betweenRonald Reagan andWalter Mondale was scheduled for that night. Accordingly,ABC planned to broadcast the debates instead of Game 5 in prime time.
1984 ALCS(3–0):Detroit Tigers overKansas City Royals
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Tigers | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 25 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas City Royals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total attendance: 136,160 Average attendance: 45,387 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||