Willie Hernández, closer for Tigers' 1984 World Series squad, dies at age 69
Former Tigers pitcher Guillermo "Willie" Hernández, who helped the Detroit Tigers win the 1984 World Series, has died at the age of 69, according to the ballclub.
In his stellar 1984 season, Hernández won both the American League MVP and Cy Young Awards, starting a string of three straight All-Star appearances. That season, as the Tigers' closer, he appeared in 80 games and had 32 saves and a career-best 112 strikeouts in a career-high 140.1 innings. He also had a career-best 1.92 earned-run average that season and finished 68 games.
"The Tigers are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Willie Hernández. A 13-year Major League veteran, including his final six seasons wearing the Olde English ‘D,’ Hernandez was a key member of the Tigers 1984 World Series championship team, earning American League MVP and Cy Young Award honors that season," The Tigers said in a statement Tuesday. "He was also selected to three AL All-Star teams during his six seasons in Detroit. Our thoughts are with the Hernández family, his friends and teammates."
Hernández died Monday night at his home in Sebring, Florida, his wife, Dulce Carrasco, told Primera Hora. She said her husband had battled heart issues for years.
In 2007, heart problems in his native Puerto Rico forced him to a Boston hospital for a procedure to have a pacemaker installed. “I passed away putting a pacemaker into my heart, and I wake up later on,” Hernandez told assembled media in 2019, when he threw out the ceremonial pitch of Opening Day in Detroit. “Because God’s got my heart, so nobody is going to bother my heart. No one is going to touch my heart.”
In 1984, that magical season was his first of six with the Tigers, and he finished his career in 1989, at the age of 34. Prior to his time in Detroit, Hernández spent six-plus seasons with the Chicago Cubs before being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, where he finished the '83 season.
“He came over so late in spring training that nobody really knew him,” teammate Dan Petry said in 2019. “He got kind of used to the team and what we were all about, then obviously Cy Young and MVP, so the rest is history.”
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Hernández will be remembered as the bullpen anchor for the Tigers' last world championship, in which he earned 78% of the MVP votes. He is one of three relievers in MLB history to win both the MVP and Cy Young in the same season. He was also the first Puerto Rican pitcher to win a Cy Young.
Hernández beat out Twins first baseman Kent Hrbek in the MVP race, getting 16 first-place votes to five apiece from Hrbek and Kansas City Royals closer Dan Quisenberry. He was the Tigers’ first MVP since right-hander Denny McLain won the award with the 1968 world champions. He would be the last until Justin Verlander won the award 27 seasons later, followed by back-to-back MVP awards from Miguel Cabrera.
It was a Hernandez signature two-inning save that closed Game 5 of the 1984 World Series, getting Tony Gwynn out on a short fly ball to Larry Herndon in left for the clincher, setting off pandemonium at Tiger Stadium.
Funeral services for Hernández will be held in Aguada, Puerto Rico, where he was born in 1954. Primera Hora reported that Hernández is survived by five children.
"Willie Hernández was a great teammate, and I’m terribly sorry to hear the news of his passing," former teammate Alan Trammell said in a statement. "I will never forget our team’s celebration together on the mound after he recorded the final out of the 1984 World Series. He will always be remembered as a World Series champion. My thoughts and prayers are with this family."