Willie Hern¨˘ndez, MVP & WS champ in '84 with Tigers, passes
Tigers great Guillermo "Willie" Hern¨˘ndez died Monday. He was 69.?
One of the many great Puerto Rican players throughout Major League Baseball history, Hern¨˘ndez was a dominant closer in Detroit who won both the American League Most Valuable Player Award and Cy Young Award for the 1984 World Series champion Tigers.
The left-hander had a 13-year MLB career and was a three-time All-Star for the Tigers from 1984-86. He helped lead Detroit to a World Series title -- still the franchise's most recent -- in his first season with the team.?
Hern¨˘ndez recorded a career-high 32 saves with a 1.92 ERA and 112 strikeouts in that 1984 season. He pitched 140 1/3 innings, all in relief, and led the Majors with 80 appearances and 68 games finished.?
In the postseason, Hern¨˘ndez finished off two of the Tigers' three wins in their ALCS sweep of the Royals, notching a save in Game 3. He picked up two more saves in Detroit's World Series victory over the Padres, including the clinching Game 5 at Tiger Stadium.
Thanks to his performance that season, Hern¨˘ndez became one of only 11 pitchers to win both the Cy Young and MVP Award?in the same year.
Born on Nov. 14, 1954, in Aguada, Puerto Rico, Hern¨˘ndez was first signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1973. But he was selected by the Cubs in the Rule 5 Draft in 1976 and began his big league career with Chicago the next year, making his MLB debut on April 9, 1977.
After seven seasons in Chicago, Hern¨˘ndez was traded back to Philadelphia in 1983, where he pitched for one year before being traded to the Tigers before the 1984 season. Hern¨˘ndez pitched his final six Major League seasons in Detroit, which is where he became a star reliever thanks to his screwball and cutter.
Hern¨˘ndez finished his MLB career with a 70-63 record and 147 saves in 744 games. He had a 3.38 career ERA and 788 strikeouts in 1,044 2/3 innings pitched.