This Date In Royals History--1984 Edition: July 4
Bret Saberhagen cancels Cleveland's Fourth of July party as the Royals win, and All-Star starters are announced.
A day after the Royals allowed 15 runs, Bret Saberhagen put a damper on Cleveland’s Fourth of July party with seven shutout innings as the Royals picked up a 4-0 win over the Indians on Wednesday afternoon at Cleveland Stadium.
Saberhagen held the Indians to five hits and no walks while striking out three. He earned his third win of the season and lowered his ERA to 3.05.
“I concentrated today on throwing to each hitter’s weakness. I threw the ball on each hitter pretty much where I wanted to.”--Saberhagen, quoted by the Associated Press, July 5, 1984
“He’s got excellent control for such a young guy. You have to say, ‘How old is he?’”--Royals manager Dick Howser, quoted by the Associated Press, July 5, 1984
The Royals’ offense got all their scoring done early. Willie Wilson started the game with a single off Cleveland starter Steve Comer. Pat Sheridan followed with a double to score Wilson. Groundouts by George Brett and Dane Iorg brought Sheridan home for a 2-0 lead.
Then Kansas City added two more runs in the second. Comer retired the first two hitters but Buddy Biancalana and U L Washington both singled. Wilson tripled, driving in two runs and increasing the lead to 4-0.
Saberhagen took it from there, retiring 10 in a row at one point. Mel Hall snapped that streak with a double to start the fifth, and he moved up to third on Jerry Willard’s groundout. But Saberhagen struck out George Vukovich, then got Brook Jacoby on a fly ball, and Cleveland’s best scoring chance of the game was thwarted. Dan Quisenberry worked around a one-out single in the eighth to finish off the win.
With the victory, the Royals improved to 37-41. They also moved up to fourth place in the AL West, four games behind California.
Off the field, one Royal got some good news. Brett was named as the starter at third base for the American League in the All-Star Game, scheduled for July 10 in San Francisco. Brett’s total of 1,504,542 votes easily outpaced California’s Doug DeCinces, who had 800,441. In fact, Brett led all AL players in voting, earning his ninth straight start in the Midsummer Classic.
“It makes you feel good. But I don’t think it’s fair to other guys that I missed seven weeks and was picked to start. Sometimes a guy is having a good year and doesn’t get picked. There’s a lot of things that have happened in my career that make me a popular player–the pine-tar home run, hemorrhoids in the (1980) World Series, and four playoffs. It’s a popularity contest.”--Brett, quoted by the Associated Press, July 5, 1984
Four AL players were selected by the fans for starting spots for the first time. Not surprisingly, three of them were from the Detroit Tigers, dominating the league with a 55-25 mark. Catcher Lance Parrish, second baseman Lou Whitaker, and center fielder Chet Lemon joined Brett in the lineup. Also making his first start was Baltimore shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. More familiar names in the AL squad included outfielder Reggie Jackson and first baseman Rod Carew of California and outfielder Dave Winfield from New York. Carew would be making his 18th straight start, Jackson 11th, and Winfield fourth. Baltimore manager Joe Altobelli was scheduled to name the pitchers and reserves later in the week.
For the National League, Los Angeles first baseman Steve Garvey was the leading vote-getter in either league. He was joined in the lineup by catcher Gary Carter of Montreal, second baseman Ryne Sandberg of Chicago, shortstop Ozzie Smith of St. Louis, and third baseman Mike Schmidt of Philadelphia. The outfielder winners were Dale Murphy of Atlanta, Darryl Strawberry of New York, and Tony Gwynn of San Diego. It was the first All-Star nod for Sandberg, Strawberry, and Gwynn. Philadelphia manager Paul Owens would also select his pitchers and reserves later in the week.
Box score and play-by-play: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE198407040.shtml
1984 baseball news: New York Yankees pitcher Phil Niekro became the ninth in major-league history to record 3,000 strikeouts. The knuckleballer got Larry Parrish of Texas in the fourth inning of New York’s 5-0 win. Niekro also earned his 279th career win in the victory.
Today’s birthday: Fred Rico (1944)
Ah, Bret Saberhagen...
Two Cy Youngs on his resume. Pretty good career.