August 06, 2013 The 25th anniversary of Tigers reaching their all-time peak.
25 years ago today, the Tigers posted a milestone win in franchise history. No one knew it at the time, but it was a key moment for the club.
On Aug. 6, 1988, the Tigers topped the Red Sox, 4-2. So far, so what. That doesn?t mean much.
It was their fourth straight win, and pushed Detroit 23 games over .500. Okay now we?re getting at it. You see, 23 games over .500 (66-43) would be their high water mark on the season. They?d stumble the rest of the way, dropping 31 of their last 53.
That win on Aug. 6, 2013 gave Detroit an all-time cumulative franchise record 573 games over .500: 7,052 wins versus 6,479 losses. That?s the highest it?s ever been.
They?d tie that mark twice over the next week, but never surpass it. Then they stumbled down the stretch in 1988. A disastrous 1989 campaign would come next, as they dropped 103 games. The Tigers muddled about for the next several years, before collapsing with a 109-loss season in 1996. After a few more dismal seasons, the team lost 106 in 2002 and then staged their AL-record 119 loss season in 2003. Things have improved for them since then, but they are still a long way from 573 games.
After their weekend sweep over the White Sox, the Tigers stand 269 games over .500 (8,892-8,623), not even half of their peak.
Their low point in recent times was the end of the 2005 season. They stood at 8,221-8050, 171 games over .500. Thus from 1988 to 2005, they were 400 games under .500 (1,169-1,571), which is a .427 winning percentage. That?s like a team going 69-93 per season, which is an impressively bad stretch for a 17-year period.
The Tigers have been over .500 ever since early 1908. That makes sense. They were typically a very good team. They weren?t the Yankees, but then again the Tigers were the only team to never finish in last the entire first half of the 20th century.
That 1988 lineup still had a lot of the leaders of the 1984 world champions. Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell worked the middle infield, of course, and Chet Lemon was still in centerfield. And of course the manager was Sparky Anderson.
Given that it?s the day the franchise record peaked, the pitcher is an appropriate man ? Doyle Alexander. The Tigers got him in the 1987 pennant stretch in an all-time great win now versus win later trade. Alexander was a fantastic pitcher for the Tigers down the stretch, but to get him Detroit had to give up a young arm with a big upside: John Smoltz. So yeah, it makes sense that Alexander is the man on the mound for a win just as the sun starts to set on the Tigers for a generation. And that moment happened exactly 25 years ago today.
by Chris Jaffe for the Hardball Times
