MVP & Cy Young Profile: Willie Hernandez, 1984

Pitcher, Detroit Tigers

AKA Guillermo Hernandez

Age:  29

1^st season with Tigers

Bats – Left, Throws – Left

Height: 6’3”    Weight: 180

Prior to 1984:

A native of Aguada, Puerto Rico, Hernandez played first base and in the outfield in high school. Playing semi-pro baseball the summer after he graduated from high school, he tried pitching with excellent results and was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1973 for a $25,000 bonus. Initially assigned to Spartanburg of the Class A Western Carolinas League in 1974, Hernandez was utilized as a starting pitcher and went 11-11 with a 2.75 ERA and 179 strikeouts over 190 innings pitched. In addition, he led the league with 26 starts and 13 complete games. Advancing to Reading of the Class AA Eastern League in 1975, Hernandez was 8-2 with a 2.97 ERA when promoted to the Toledo Mud Hens of the Class AAA International League, where he started 13 games and compiled a 6-4 record with a 3.26 ERA. Still in Class AAA in 1976 with Oklahoma City of the American Association, his record was 8-9 with a disappointing 4.53 ERA. Exposed to the Rule 5 draft following the season, he was selected by the Chicago Cubs. Hernandez joined Chicago’s bullpen in 1977 and appeared in 67 games, accumulating 110 innings and 78 strikeouts while recording four saves, a 3.03 ERA, and an 8-7 record. The record was 8-2 in 1978, although his ERA climbed to 3.77 in 59.2 innings pitched over 54 games. He struck out 38 batters and recorded three saves. Hernandez endured a disappointing 1979 season in which he appeared in 51 games and produced a 5.01 ERA and 4-4 record. In 1980 he appeared in 53 games, starting seven of them, and was 1-9 with a 4.40 ERA. He was back in Class AAA in 1981 with Iowa of the American Association, where he started 8 of his 18 games and went 4-5 with a 3.89 ERA and two saves. Recalled to the Cubs following the resolution of the players’ strike, he was back exclusively in the bullpen and appeared in 12 games, two in which he recorded saves, and compiled a 3.95 ERA. Hernandez followed up with a solid year in 1982 in which he appeared in 75 games and compiled a 4-6 record with a 3.00 ERA and 54 strikeouts over 75 innings with 10 saves. To a standard repertoire that included a “sneaky” fastball, curve, slider, and changeup, in 1983 he added a screwball and cut fastball which added significantly to his effectiveness. In May, he was traded to the Phillies where he performed well as a lefthanded setup man for closer Al Holland and produced an 8-4 tally in 63 games for the Phillies with a 3.29 ERA and 7 saves. Philadelphia went on to win the NL pennant and Hernandez continued to perform well in the postseason which concluded with defeat in the World Series. The Tigers, looking for a lefthander to complement their star right-handed reliever, Aurelio Lopez, swung a late March deal with the Phillies prior to the 1984 season in order to obtain Hernandez.

1984 Season Summary

Appeared in 80 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 80 [1]

Games Started – 0

Complete Games – 0

Wins – 9

Losses – 3

PCT - .750 [Non-qualifying]

Saves – 32 [3]

Shutouts – 0

Innings Pitched – 140.1

Hits – 96

Runs – 30

Earned Runs – 30

Home Runs – 6

Bases on Balls – 36

Strikeouts – 112

ERA – 1.92 [Non-qualifying]

Hit Batters – 4

Balks – 0

Wild Pitches – 2

League-leading games pitched were +8 ahead of runner-up Dan Quisenberry

Midseason Snapshot: 4-0, ERA - 2.15, G – 40, SV – 16, SO - 69 in 75.1 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 6 (in 3.2 IP) vs. California 8/16

Fielding

Chances – 19

Put Outs – 5

Assists – 14

Errors – 0

DP – 1

Pct. - 1.000

Postseason Pitching: (ALCS vs. Detroit – 3 G, World Series vs. San Diego – 3 G)

G – 6,GS – 0,CG – 0, Record – 0-0 PCT – .000, SV – 3, ShO – 0, IP – 9.1, H – 7, R – 2, ER – 2, HR – 1 BB – 1, SO – 3, ERA – 1.93, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 0

Awards & Honors:

AL MVP: BBWAA

AL Cy Young Award:BBWAA

AL Pitcher of the Year: Sporting News

All-Star

Top 5 in AL MVP Voting:

Willie Hernandez, Det. 339 pts. – 16 of 28 first place votes, 78% share

Kent Hrbek, Min.: 247 pts. – 5 first place votes, 63% share

Dan Quisenberry, KC: 235 pts. – 5 first place votes, 60% share

Eddie Murray, Balt.: 197 pts. – 2 first place votes, 50% share

Don Mattingly, NYY: 113 pts. – 29% share

AL Cy Young voting (Top 5):

Willie Hernandez, Det.: 88 pts. – 12 of 28 first place votes, 63% share

Dan Quisenberry, KC: 71 pts. – 9 first place votes, 51% share

Bert Blyleven, Clev.: 45 pts. – 4 first place votes, 32% share

Mike Boddicker, Balt.: 41 pts. – 3 first place votes, 29% share

Dan Petry, Det.: 3 pts. – 2% share

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Tigers went 104-58 to finish first in the AL Eastern Division by 15 games over the Toronto Blue Jays. The pitching staff led the league in ERA (3.49), saves (51), fewest hits allowed (1358), and fewest runs allowed (643). The Tigers got off to a 35-5 start and coasted to the AL East title. The bullpen tandem of Hernandez and Aurelio Lopez was a combined 19-4 with 46 saves while Hernandez blew only one save opportunity all year. Won ALCS over the Kansas City Royals, 3 games to 0. Won World Series over the San Diego Padres, 4 games to 1.

Aftermath of ‘84:

Hernandez followed up with another solid season in 1985 and endured booing from the disappointed home fans because the Tigers failed to repeat and the All-Star lefthanded closer wasn’t as dominant as in ’84, going 8-10 with a 2.70 ERA and 31 saves while appearing in 74 games. The situation worsened in 1986 as Hernandez appeared in 64 games and compiled an 8-7 record with 24 saves and a 3.55 ERA. He blew 5 of 13 save opportunities in 1987 as two stints on the disabled list caused him to lose his closer role and he finished at 3-4 with a 3.67 ERA and 8 saves. In 1988, Hernandez, preferring to be called by his given first name of Guillermo rather than Willie, bounced back with a season in which he appeared in 63 games and went 6-5 with 10 saves and a 3.06 ERA. Suffering from a sore elbow in 1989 he was 2-2 in 32 games with a 5.74 ERA and 15 saves. Released by the Tigers in the offseason, Hernandez never returned to the major leagues although there were several abortive attempts at a comeback over the next several years. Overall for his major league career, Hernandez appeared in 744 games and posted a 70-63 record with 147 saves, a 3.38 ERA, and 788 strikeouts over 1044.2 innings pitched. In his six years with Detroit he appeared in 358 games and was 36-31 with a 2.98 ERA and 384 strikeouts. He relieved in ten postseason games and registered three saves with no decisions and 7 strikeouts over 13.2 innings. He was a three-time All-Star.

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.

Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major league.