Willie Hernández, 69; Detroit Tigers pitcher
Three-time All-Star relief pitcher Willie Hernández, who won the 1984 AL Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards for the World Series champion Detroit Tigers, has died. He was 69.
Mr. Hernández, who suffered from heart conditions after his playing career, died at his home in Sebring, Fla., The Detroit Free Press reported, citing La Primera Hora.
The left-handed Mr. Hernández had a 13-year career but is mostly known for his role as the closer on one of the most dominant teams in the past 40 years. The 1984 Tigers, led by Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, and Jack Morris, opened 35-5 and cruised to the AL East title with a 104-58 mark before sweeping Kansas City in the AL Championship Series and beating San Diego in a five-games World Series.
Mr. Hernández, who arrived in Detroit in a trade before the 1984 season began, had a 9-3 record and 32 saves in 33 chances that year, with a 1.92 ERA over 80 games and 140 1/3 innings. He is among just 11 pitchers to win the Cy Young and MVP in the same year, edging Kansas City’s Dan Quisenberry for Cy Young in 1984 and Minnesota’s Kent Hrbek for MVP.
Mr. Hernández would go on to have an excellent postseason and got the final out of the clinching Game 5, coaxing a short fly ball to left field from Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, setting off a celebration. The Tigers haven’t won a World Series since.
“He was our stud,” Trammell told the Detroit Free Press. “We certainly would not have won the championship without him. His control was pinpoint that year. He had an amazing screwball which hasn’t been thrown much in the history of the game. ... Willie was a friendly guy who got along with everyone.”
According to the Free Pres, only three players have won the MVP, Cy Young, and World Series in the same season: Sandy Koufax in 1963, Denny McLain in 1968 and Mr. Hernández in 1984.
Guillermo Hernández was born in Aguada, Puerto Rico, on Nov. 14, 1954. His ascent to baseball stardom couldn't have been predicted during 6 1/2 solid but unspectacular seasons with the Chicago Cubs that began in 1977. He was traded to Philadelphia during the 1983 season and pitched four scoreless innings in that year's World Series as the Phillies lost to Baltimore.
Detroit acquired Mr. Hernández and Dave Bergman, a defensive first baseman, from the Phillies for outfielder Glenn Wilson and catcher John Wockenfuss a few weeks before the 1984 season.
“It was fun to catch Willie, who had endless success that year,” former All Star catcher Lance Parrish told the Free Press. “He was so dominant. It didn’t take me long to get on the same page with him on how he liked to pick batters apart. It was fun to sit back there and watch him work because he had amazing command of everything.”
Mr. Hernandez would go on to make three straight All-Star teams from 1984-86.
He finished with a 70-63 record and a 3.38 ERA.
After a decline in performance led to fan booing, Mr. Hernández poured ice water from a bucket over Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom in March 1988 while the reporter was speaking with Tigers teammate Frank Tanana. The following month, he asked the team to have the public address announcer refer to him as Guillermo, and Mr. Hernández went by that for the rest of his career.
“Willie was so (expletive) cocky and he had a reason to be,” said former teammate Kirk Gibson. “His attitude was, ‘Bring it on.’ He had confidence and made sure everyone else did too and if you didn’t, he’d call you out.”
Funeral services are expected to take place in Aguada, Puerto Rico.