Republican President Ronald Reagan was reelected after defeating Democratic candidate Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro, who was the first female Vice Presidential candidate to represent a major party.
Doctor's replaced the ailing heart of an infant girl known as "Baby Fae" with that of a baboon's at Loma Linda University Medical Center in California. Although she died twenty-one days later of organ failure, doctors discovered that she hadn't rejected the heart as many had expected. That gave hope to the doctors and inspired continued research to find a cure for neonatal heart disease.
James Huberty gunned down twenty-one children and adults in a McDonalds restaurant in San Ysidro, California before being shot dead by the police at the scene. The incident was one of the worst mass murders in U.S. history.
On May 9th, Harold Baines hit a 420-foot homerun in the twenty-fifth inning to give the White Sox a 7-6 victory over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers. The eight hour and six minute marathon set an all-time record for the most innings ever played in an American League game as well as the longest game ever in the Major Leagues.
Sparky Anderson's Detroit Tigers echoed the glory days of Cobb as they dominated the American League with a 104-58 record and one-hundred eighty-seven home runs. Lance Parrish hit thirty-three home runs and ninety-eight RBIs while batting .237, Kirk Gibson added twenty-seven round-trippers and ninety-one RBIs plus a .282 average and Alan Trammell led the team with the top average of .314. Jack Morris anchored the Tigers' pitching staff with a 19-11 record and Guillermo Hernandez tallies thirty-two saves in thirty-three opportunities.
On the 17th Anniversary of his first round-tripper, Reggie Jackson launched a Bud Black fastball into the right field stands for his five-hundredth career homer. He was the thirteenth player ever to reach that mark following Willie McCovey in 1978. Unfortunately, "Mr. October" and his Anaheim Angels fell 10-1 to the visiting Kansas City Royals.
Pete Rose, then with the Montreal Expos, played in his 3,309th Major League game on June 29th beating Carl Yastrzemski's record as well as his former team the Cincinnati Reds (7-3).
At Fulton County Stadium, the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres erupted in a ten-minute brawl over a pitching duel that resulted in sixteen major ejections by the officials. Several Major League umpires stated that it was the worst disgrace ever witnessed on a baseball diamond and that it clearly set the game back fifty years in the minds of many fans.
The Chicago Cubs finally won their first title (of any kind) since 1945 after they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 for the National League East.
Due to a strike by the Major League umpires, the first game of the National League Championship Series was called by college replacement officials. The labor dispute was predominately over a pool of $340,000 that the regulars wanted distributed to all umps, including those that were not working the post-season.
"The Natural," an instant classic based on the novel by Bernard Malamud, debuted on the big screen with Robert Redford starring as Roy Hobbs, an aging slugger with the New York Knights. The climatic finale is still considered one of the greatest scenes ever filmed on a baseball diamond.
Al Schacht, better known as "The Clown Prince of Baseball" died on July 14th at the age of ninety-one. The former Washington Senators pitcher turned top hat jester had entertained the crowd before twenty-five World Series and eighteen All-Star Games.
Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth warned the city of Chicago that he would move all future playoff games involving the Cubs to St. Louis unless outdoor lights were installed at Wrigley Field.
"If I stole a base, it was to help us win a game, and I like to think that's what made me special." - Joe Morgan
1984 National League Player Review |
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Statistic | Name(s) | Team(s) | # | Top 25 |
Base on Balls | Gary Matthews | Chicago | 103 | Top 25 |
Batting Average | Tony Gwynn | San Diego | .351 | Top 25 |
Doubles | Tim Raines | Montreal | 38 | Top 25 |
Johnny Ray | Pittsburgh | |||
Hits | Tony Gwynn | San Diego | 213 | Top 25 |
Home Runs | Dale Murphy | Atlanta | 36 | Top 25 |
Mike Schmidt | Philadelphia | |||
On Base Percentage | Gary Matthews | Chicago | .417 | Top 25 |
RBI | Gary Carter | Montreal | 106 | Top 25 |
Mike Schmidt | Philadelphia | |||
Runs | Ryne Sandberg | Chicago | 114 | Top 25 |
Slugging Average | Dale Murphy | Atlanta | .547 | Top 25 |
Stolen Bases | Tim Raines | Montreal | 75 | Top 25 |
Total Bases | Dale Murphy | Atlanta | 332 | Top 25 |
Triples | Juan Samuel | Philadelphia | 19 | Top 25 |
Ryne Sandberg | Chicago | |||
Statistic | Name(s) | Team(s) | # | Top 25 |
1984 N.L. History | 1984 A.L. History | Year-by-Year History |
1984 National League Pitcher Review |
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Statistic | Name(s) | Team(s) | # | Top 25 |
Complete Games | Mario Soto | Cincinnati | 13 | Top 25 |
ERA | Alejandro Pena | Los Angeles | 2.48 | Top 25 |
Games | Ted Power | Cincinnati | 78 | Top 25 |
Saves | Bruce Sutter | St. Louis | 45 | Top 25 |
Shutouts | Joaquin Andujar | St. Louis | 4 | Top 25 |
Orel Hershiser | Los Angeles | |||
Alejandro Pena | Los Angeles | |||
Strikeouts | Dwight Gooden | New York | 276 | Top 25 |
Winning Percentage | Rick Sutcliffe | Chicago | .941 | Top 25 |
Wins | Joaquin Andujar | St. Louis | 20 | Top 25 |
Statistic | Name(s) | Team(s) | # | Top 25 |
1984 N.L. History | 1984 A.L. History | Year-by-Year History |
1984 National League Team Standings1984 All-Star Game | 1984 Team Standings | 1984 World Series |
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East | Team | Roster | W | L | WP | GB |
Chicago Cubs | 96 | 65 | .596 | 0 | |
New York Mets | 90 | 72 | .556 | 6½ | |
St. Louis Cardinals | 84 | 78 | .519 | 12½ | |
Philadelphia Phillies | 81 | 81 | .500 | 15½ | |
Montreal Expos | 78 | 83 | .484 | 18 | |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 75 | 87 | .463 | 21½ | |
West | Team | Roster | W | L | WP | GB |
San Diego Padres | 92 | 70 | .568 | 0 | |
Houston Astros | 80 | 82 | .494 | 12 | |
Atlanta Braves | 80 | 82 | .494 | 12 | |
Los Angeles Dodgers | 79 | 83 | .488 | 13 | |
Cincinnati Reds | 70 | 92 | .432 | 22 | |
San Francisco Giants | 66 | 96 | .407 | 26 | |
N.L. | Team | Roster | W | L | WP | GB |
National League Team Standings |
1984 National League Team ReviewHitting Statistics League Leaderboard |
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Statistic | Team | # |
Base on Balls | Chicago | 567 |
Batting Average | Philadelphia | .266 |
Doubles | Philadelphia | 248 |
Hits | San Francisco | 1,499 |
Home Runs | Philadelphia | 147 |
On Base Percentage | Philadelphia | .335 |
Runs | Chicago | 762 |
Slugging Average | Philadelphia | .407 |
Stolen Bases | St. Louis | 220 |
Triples | Houston | 67 |
1984 National League Team ReviewPitching Statistics League Leaderboard |
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Statistic | Team | # |
Complete Games | Los Angeles | 39 |
ERA | Pittsburgh | 3.11 |
Fewest Hits Allowed | San Diego | 1,327 |
Fewest Home Runs Allowed | Los Angeles | 76 |
Fewest Walks Allowed | Chicago | 442 |
Saves | St. Louis | 51 |
Shutouts | San Diego | 17 |
Strikeouts | Los Angeles | 1,033 |
Why did we choose a Joe Morgan quote for our page introduction? Because on the 24th of June he hit his two-hundred sixty-fifth career home run as a second baseman passing Rogers Hornsby for the all-time mark for that position.
On April 13, 1984, Pete Rose became the second player in major league history to record four-thousand career hits. Do you remember which pitcher gave up this significant hit? Do you know what kind of hit it was?
On September 12, 1984, Dwight Gooden of New York struck out sixteen Pittsburgh batters bringing his rookie season total to two-hundred forty-seven - passing the American League and previous major league leading Herb Score strikeout record of two-hundred forty-five.