This Date In Royals History--1984 Edition: May 23
A day off for the Royals, so let's check in on the standings around baseball.
The Royals had a day off for travel as they headed to Boston for three games. This was the start of a 10-game road trip, with stops in Texas and Minnesota.
It was also the last scheduled off-day for Kansas City until June 11, so with the Memorial Day weekend coming up, it seems like a good time to check out the standings around baseball.
Of course, the most amazing story in baseball was the Detroit Tigers, who won again on this date to improve to 35-5. That would be a 142-20 mark over a full season, which is obviously not sustainable. Still, the Tigers looked unstoppable. They already held an 8.5-game lead in the AL East over the Toronto Blue Jays, who themselves were an impressive 27-14. That would have given them the lead in the other three divisions. But with no wild-card, all the Jays could do was hope the Tigers would suffer major regression. The defending World Series champs, the Baltimore Orioles, were 23-20 and in third place, but with a 13.5-game deficit, it looked like they would need a miracle to get the chance to repeat. The other four teams in the East–in order of the standings, Milwaukee, Boston, New York, and Cleveland–were all under .500 and, given Detroit’s dominance, basically playing out the string.
In the AL West, the standings were tightly bunched, which is a polite way of saying there were a lot of mediocre teams. Only five games separated first-place California (23-22) from last-place Texas (17-26). The Angels were the only team at .500 or better. Minnesota, Chicago, Seattle, Oakland, and the Royals were all looking for the hot stretch that might put them in the lead.
In the NL East, the feel-good story of the summer was taking place in Chicago, where the Cubs had vaulted to first place with a 26-15 mark, good for a two-game lead on Philadelphia. At this time, the Cubs had not played in the postseason since losing the 1945 World Series; they hadn’t even had a winning record since 1972. New York, Montreal, and St. Louis were trying to hang in the race, at 4.5, 5.5, and 6.5 games back, respectively. Pittsburgh was already 9.5 games out.
Another good race was shaping up in the NL West, with Los Angeles just one game up on San Diego. Much like the AL West, this group had struggled to find any separation. The Dodgers were 25-21, the Padres 22-20, and the third-place Atlanta Braves were at .500 at 21-21. Cincinnati was just 2.5 games out of first despite being a game under .500. Houston and San Francisco brought up the rear; the Giants’ 16-25 mark gave them the majors’ lowest winning percentage.
1984 baseball news: The Oakland Athletics fired manager Steve Boros and pitching coach Ron Schueler shortly after the team’s 3-2 win over Baltimore. Boros, who had managed in the Royals’ system and been the first-base coach for Kansas City from 1976-1979, was in only his second season as Oakland’s skipper, with a 74-88 mark in 1983 and a 20-24 start to this season. Boros had gained some fame in baseball for his interest in advanced statistics and using a computer to analyze the data (that’s right, the franchise famous for its “Moneyball” approach 20 years or so later was not interested in a guy using an Apple II computer to better understand the game). Boros was replaced by Oakland coach Jackie Moore, and Schueler was replaced by Wes Stock.
Today’s birthdays: Ellie Rodriguez (1946), Carlos Febles (1976)
I knew the 84 Tigers were good- they won the WS after all- but from reading this blog and doing my own research for an unrelated article of my own, I'm finally starting to understand how ridiculously good they really were. I'm sure there are a few other candidates, but it's possible the Padres have had the misfortune of playing two of the most dominant teams ever (certainly in my lifetime) in their only two WS appearances. The 84 Tigers and 98 Yanks, that's a tough break.