COMMENTARY | As I watch the Detroit Tigers close in on a rare World Series appearance, I remember exactly where I was when the Tigers baseball team clinched the championship. I was in the right field stands as a wide-eyed 14-year-old, living the dream of so many kids.
The story all began with my father, a long-suffering Chicago Cubs fan from Kenosha, Wisconsin. In 1984, the Chicago Cubs won the National League East, their first playoff appearance in decades. As the Cubbies won the first two games of the playoffs against the San Diego Padres, dad called me on over. With a smile, he revealed his big surprise: “I got us two tickets to Game 4 of the World Series in Detroit.” So why would we go to Detroit? It was the birthplace of my mom. It was where my grandfather lived.
As the Cubs had been making their improbable bid for glory the Detroit Tigers were making their own drive toward a rare World Series appearance, their first since 1968. The Tigers won 35 of their first 40 games, and ran away with the American League East. They easily swept the Kansas City Royals in three games, and were due to host Games 3 and 4, and perhaps a Game 5.
Sadly for my dad, the Cubs collapsed, dropping the next three games in one of the biggest collapses in playoff history to the Padres, led by veteran free agents like Steve Garvey and Graig Nettles, and a young hitting star in Tony Gwynn. So it was the Tigers against the Padres. It was known as the fast food series, as the Domino’s Pizza CEO owned the Tigers while the Kroc family of McDonald’s fame controlled the Padres. The first two games were split in San Diego, both games won in dramatic fashion. On our flight to Detroit, the Tigers took Game 3.
Game 4 on October 13 found us behind first base on a Saturday afternoon. It featured Tigers ace and Game 1 winner Jack Morris on the mound against Eric Show. We waved a cardboard cut-out of a Tiger resembling Tony from Frosted Flakes as the Tigers as Alan Trammell belted two home runs with Lou Whitaker aboard to take Game 4. The crowd was a little tense and nervous, as the game remained close, but pumped at the end as Morris held the Padres in check enough to win 4-2.
Afterwards, I thought it was the most amazing sports day ever. I had seen an actual World Series game. Nothing could top that. But that night, my dad presented me with my second biggest sports surprise. “Would you like to go to Game 5 tomorrow night with us?” Would I?
Game 5 on October 14 was a little different. The crowd seemed even more confident as the Tigers now had a 3-1 game lead. One more would clinch the World Series. And sure enough, the Tigers jumped out to an early lead. But then, the San Diego Padres clawed their way back, knocking out the Tigers starter Dan Petry, tying the game at three runs apiece, Detroit fans got tense. They remembered how the Padres came back to defeat the Cubs.
All throughout the game, two African-American fans behind us (perhaps another father and son) went on and on about the game. The younger one was from Detroit, but the older one was from San Diego. They had a funny exchange all throughout the game. “You just wait!” the older San Diego fan went on and on. “They’re gonna bring in the Goose!”
The Goose was Richard “Goose” Gossage, the famed formed New York Yankees relief pitcher (a recent Hall-of-Fame inductee) whose fastball could top 100 mph. And while the Tigers nudged ahead with a run on a sacrifice fly and a home run by Lance Parrish, the Padres made it a one-run game with a Kurt Bevacqua home run.
Goose Gossage took the mound in the eighth. With two runners on, Kirk Gibson came to the plate. Gossage grooved one of his fastballs, but Gibson crushed the ball. From the back of the right field lower deck, I watched the ball fly through the air. But where would it land. I watched right fielder Tony Gwynn’s shoulders slumped as the ball disappeared into the deck above us. It was pure pandemonium.
The young African-American slapped the older man from San Diego on the back. “Bringing in the Goose was the best thing that ever happened!” The Detroit Tigers had won, 8-4.
The end of the game was somewhat marred by the fans that rushed the field to tear up the Tiger Stadium turf (pelting us in the stands), a riot that broke out that injured dozens and led to a death. But nothing could ever ruin that memory in my mind. And as I watch a replay of the Tigers-Yankees game with my son the other night, I hope I’ll get the chance to repay the favor my dad game me some day.
John A. Tures is an associate professor of political science at LaGrange College in LaGrange, Ga.
Reference:
- www.1984tigers.com/
- www.detroitnews.com/article/20121013/OPINION03/210130329
- www.detroitnews.com/article/20121014/SPORTS0104/210140362/1129/rss15
