'We came up together': '84 Tigers look back on journey to WS title

DETROIT -- As members of the 1984 Tigers gathered at Comerica Park on Saturday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their World Series title, they reconnected bonds that in many cases began when they were teammates in the Tigers farm system, from Alan Trammell and Lance Parrish to Tom Brookens and Jack Morris.

As the current Tigers -- a team that has seen a slew of promotions from Triple-A Toledo this season -- watched from the dugout, they had at least that connectivity in common, even as they try to build the individual and team success to go with it.

“Most of us came through the Minor Leagues together,” Parrish said, “so we formed a very strong bond early on. Brookie and I, Tram and I, a lot of guys played in the Minor Leagues and developed in this organization. And obviously when we got to the big leagues, we hooked up with guys like Larry [Herndon] and others, but it didn’t take long for anybody that joined this ballclub to become part of the brotherhood. I know that term is thrown around a lot, but it really is a true definition of what we represent.

“You work together, you sweat together, you bleed together. You’re working to accomplish a goal, and we were able to do it in ’84. It was very satisfying from that perspective, but it was nice to be able to enjoy that kind of a year with that kind of success with these kind of guys, for me. I always feel extremely close to all of them when we get together.”

Parrish was the Tigers’ first-round pick in 1974, bypassing a chance to play at UCLA and turning pro out of high school, and made his Major League debut three years later at age 21. Brookens was a January pick the following year, followed by Lou Whitaker in the fifth round that June. Then Trammell, Morris and Dan Petry were part of one of the greatest single-season Draft hauls in 1976, followed two years later by Kirk Gibson with the 12th overall pick.

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They made their way to Detroit from 1977 through 1979, but it took time -- and some other moves -- for them to develop and build a championship club.

“There’s a trust,” Herndon said, “a trust in your guys that when they’re up there, they’re going to get this thing done. When I came and joined these guys [in 1982], they were a fantastic team already, but you could see the trust. It’s sort of elementary to say, but they pull for you. You had that feeling that you came to the ballpark, there’s a trust that you can’t really measure unless you’ve been on a true championship team.”

Trammell seconded that.

“We came up together,” Trammell said. “The trust, it doesn’t happen overnight. It took a little while for that all to happen.”

The two groups came together in the Tigers’ dugout Saturday. While the ’84 Tigers readied for their introductions in a pregame ceremony, the current Tigers were wide-eyed. Some, like Trammell, Parrish, Morris, Gibson and Petry, are familiar faces to them already from their work in the organization.

Others like Chet Lemon were known from their work in youth baseball, particularly to fellow Florida resident Kerry Carpenter, who spent several minutes at the dugout railing to chat.

It was a wonderful connection of generations, two teams 40 years apart but similar in their roots.

“There’s really no way of telling how long it’s going to take,” Parrish said, “when do they get to championship status or caliber. But I think they’re headed in the right direction. I see improvement all the time, and I see the progress. …

“We had some pretty good young players. It just so happens that we all came into our own at the same time, and then we added to that puzzle and we became a much stronger ballclub. So eventually, that’s going to happen with this ballclub. And I think that Mr. [Chris] Ilitch is going to go out and allow some free agents to be purchased that are going to be impact guys that are going to help transform this ballclub from where they’re at right now to be a championship caliber club.”