Panzram
06-27-2004, 03:40 AM
Take it from Iffy, my hearties, 20 years from now, it'll seem like only yesterday that the upstart Pistons toppled the mighty L.A. Lakers in the NBA Finals. Larry Brown will be 83 then, Ben Wallace 49 and Darko Milicic, well, he'll still be a Young Turk. But tempus fugit, as they say, and 2024 is right around the corner.
That's Iffy's conclusion, anyway, when he stops to think it has been 20 years since the Roar of '84, since Sparky's boys raced off to a 35-5 start and didn't look back, dispatching the Royals in the playoffs and the Padres in the World Series with the nonchalance of Jack Nicholson when he procures a front-row seat at the Palace.
In Iffy's book, those Tabbies of yore and today's Pistons would share a page because each succeeded by playing as a team.
Sure, you'll recall Lance Parrish (33 homers, 98 RBIs) and Kirk Gibson (27 and 91) had big years, but neither was among the league leaders. More important, a bunch of players with 12 to 20 homers and 50 to 76 RBIs made the difference -- guys like Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Chet Lemon, Darrell Evans, Howard Johnson and Ruppert Jones. In fact, there wasn't a weak spot in the lineup.
The mound staff was likewise balanced. Jack Morris, Dan Petry and Milt Wilcox led the way with 19, 18 and 17 wins, and Aurelio Lopez was 10-1 out of the pen.
Of course, the difference-maker on the hill was Willie Hernandez, and Iffy happened to be in Lakeland the day Guillermo (as he chose to be called later) was acquired during spring training. He remembers telling the Freep's cub baseball beat man, Bill McGraw, that he regretted seeing Glenn Wilson and Johnny Wockenfuss go to the Phillies for Hernandez and Dave Bergman. Shows you what Iffy knows.
The Tabbies had no shortage of role players and clutch performers as well, most notably Tom Brookens, Marty Castillo, Johnny Grubb and Barbaro Garbey.
Iffy's favorite was Rusty Kuntz, who, many forget, drove in the winning run in the decisive Game 5 of the World Series.
Rusty was a 29-year-old journeyman when he joined the Tigers for the '84 season. He notched only two homers and 22 RBIs that year but had some big hits.
In June of '84, Iffy had the pleasure of following the Tigers to Milwaukee, where the once-mighty Brewers were wallowing well below .500 while the Tigers had surged to a 44-16 mark entering the three-game series.
The Tigers won all three, and Kuntz became the whipping boy of the Milwaukee faithful, not because of his heroics but because he personified the way the Tabbies beat opponents in those days, with punch from every part of the lineup and bench.
In case you've forgotten, Rusty drove in that winning run in the Series when Gibby tagged and scored on a pop fly to the second baseman, another hallmark of a winning team -- hustle.
So hustle on over to the CoPa and pay your respects to the hometown nine before another 20 years fly by.
That's Iffy's conclusion, anyway, when he stops to think it has been 20 years since the Roar of '84, since Sparky's boys raced off to a 35-5 start and didn't look back, dispatching the Royals in the playoffs and the Padres in the World Series with the nonchalance of Jack Nicholson when he procures a front-row seat at the Palace.
In Iffy's book, those Tabbies of yore and today's Pistons would share a page because each succeeded by playing as a team.
Sure, you'll recall Lance Parrish (33 homers, 98 RBIs) and Kirk Gibson (27 and 91) had big years, but neither was among the league leaders. More important, a bunch of players with 12 to 20 homers and 50 to 76 RBIs made the difference -- guys like Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Chet Lemon, Darrell Evans, Howard Johnson and Ruppert Jones. In fact, there wasn't a weak spot in the lineup.
The mound staff was likewise balanced. Jack Morris, Dan Petry and Milt Wilcox led the way with 19, 18 and 17 wins, and Aurelio Lopez was 10-1 out of the pen.
Of course, the difference-maker on the hill was Willie Hernandez, and Iffy happened to be in Lakeland the day Guillermo (as he chose to be called later) was acquired during spring training. He remembers telling the Freep's cub baseball beat man, Bill McGraw, that he regretted seeing Glenn Wilson and Johnny Wockenfuss go to the Phillies for Hernandez and Dave Bergman. Shows you what Iffy knows.
The Tabbies had no shortage of role players and clutch performers as well, most notably Tom Brookens, Marty Castillo, Johnny Grubb and Barbaro Garbey.
Iffy's favorite was Rusty Kuntz, who, many forget, drove in the winning run in the decisive Game 5 of the World Series.
Rusty was a 29-year-old journeyman when he joined the Tigers for the '84 season. He notched only two homers and 22 RBIs that year but had some big hits.
In June of '84, Iffy had the pleasure of following the Tigers to Milwaukee, where the once-mighty Brewers were wallowing well below .500 while the Tigers had surged to a 44-16 mark entering the three-game series.
The Tigers won all three, and Kuntz became the whipping boy of the Milwaukee faithful, not because of his heroics but because he personified the way the Tabbies beat opponents in those days, with punch from every part of the lineup and bench.
In case you've forgotten, Rusty drove in that winning run in the Series when Gibby tagged and scored on a pop fly to the second baseman, another hallmark of a winning team -- hustle.
So hustle on over to the CoPa and pay your respects to the hometown nine before another 20 years fly by.