The 1984
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
won the
1984 World Series, defeating the
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
, 4 games to 1. The season was their 84th since they entered the
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
in 1901.
It was the franchise's best season in terms of overall wins (104) and their best win percentage (.642) in a 162-game season. The Tigers led the
American League Eastern Division wire-to-wire, opening the season 9–0 and eventually topping out at 35–5 after 40 games. The team won its first Division title since
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
, their first AL Pennant since
1968 (and ninth overall) and the franchise's fourth (and most recent)
World championship
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
.
Detroit relief pitcher
Willie Hernández
Guillermo Hernández Villanueva (born November 14, 1954) is a Puerto Rican former baseball relief pitcher. He won both the American League Cy Young Award and the American League Most Valuable Player Award in 1984 after leading the Detroit Tig ...
won the
Cy Young Award
The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each fo