"The Roar Of 84" 1984 World Series Champions

Main article: 1984 Detroit Tigers season
As in 1968, the Tigers' next World Series season would be preceded by a disappointing second-place finish, as the 1983 Tigers won 92 games to finish six games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East.

The first major news of the 1984 season actually came in late 1983, when broadcasting magnate John Fetzer, who had owned the club since 1957, sold the team to Domino's Pizza founder and CEO Tom Monaghan.[16] The sale of the franchise caught everyone by surprise, as the negotiations culminating in the sale of the franchise were conducted in total secrecy. There were no rumors or even speculation that Fetzer had put the franchise up for sale.

The 1984 team got off to a 9-0 start highlighted by Jack Morris tossing a nationally-televised no-hitter against Chicago in the fourth game of the season. They stayed hot for most of the year, posting a 35-5 record over their first forty games and cruising to a franchise-record 104 victories. The Tigers led the division from opening day until the end of the regular season and finished a staggering 15 games ahead of the second-place Toronto Blue Jays. Closer Willie Hernández, acquired from the 1983 NL champion Philadelphia Phillies in the offseason, won both the AL Cy Young and AL Most Valuable Player awards, a rarity for a relief pitcher.

1984 ALCS

Main article: 1984 American League Championship Series
The Tigers faced the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series, which would prove to be no contest, not surprising given the fact the Royals won 20 fewer games during the season. In Game 1, Alan Trammell, Lance Parrishand Larry Herndon went deep to crush the Royals 8–1 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium). In Game 2, the Tigers scored twice in the 11th inning when Johnny Grubb doubled off Royals closer Dan Quisenberry en route to a 5–3 victory. The Tigers completed the sweep at Tiger Stadium in Game 3. Marty Castillo's third-inning RBI fielder's choice would be all the help Detroit would need. Milt Wilcox outdueled Charlie Leibrandt, and after Hernandez got Darryl Motley to pop out to preserve the 1–0 win, the Tigers were returning to the World Series.

1984 World Series

Main article: 1984 World Series
In the NLCS, a San Diego rally from 2–0 down prevented a fifth Cubs-Tigers series and meant the Tigers would open the 1984 World Series against the San Diego Padres in Trammell's hometown.

In Game 1, Larry Herndon hit a two-run home run that gave the Tigers a 3–2 lead. Morris pitched a complete game with 2 runs on 8 hits, and Detroit drew first blood. The Padres evened the series the next night despite pitcher Ed Whitsonbeing chased after pitching two-thirds of an inning and giving up three runs on five Tiger hits. Tiger starter Dan Petry exited the game after four and one-third innings when Kurt Bevacqua's three-run homer gave San Diego a 5–3 lead they would hold onto.

When the series shifted to the Motor City, the Tigers took command. In Game 3, a two-out rally in the second inning led to four runs and the yanking of Padre starter Tim Lollar after one and two-thirds innings. The Padres, plagued by poor starting pitching throughout the series, never recovered and lost 5–2. Eric Show continued the parade of bad outings in Game 4, getting bounced after two and two-thirds innings after giving up home runs to Series MVP Trammell in his first two at-bats. Trammell's homers held up with the help of another Morris complete game, and the Tigers held a commanding lead.

In Game 5, Gibson's two-run shot in the first inning would be the beginning of another early end for the Padres' starter Mark Thurmond. Though the Padres would pull back even at 3–3, chasing Dan Petry in the fourth inning in the process, the Tigers retook the lead on a Rusty Kuntz sacrifice fly (actually a pop-out to retreating second baseman Alan Wiggins that the speedy Gibson was able to score on), and doubled it on a solo homer by Parrish.

A "Sounds of the Game" video was made during the Series by MLB Productions and played on TV a number of times since then. When Kirk Gibson came to bat in the eighth inning with runners on second and third and the Tigers clinging to a 5–4 lead, a situation that might call for San Diego reliever Goose Gossage to pitch around him, Padres manager Dick Williams was summoned to the mound. Anderson was seen and heard yelling to Gibson, "He don't want to walk you!" and making a swing-the-bat gesture.[17] As Anderson had suspected, Gossage threw a 1–0 fastball on the inside corner, and Gibson was ready. He launched a hard smash into Tiger Stadium's right field upper deck, effectively clinching the game and the series.

Aurelio López pitched 2-1/3 innings of relief without putting a runner on base for the win. Despite allowing a rare run in the top of the 8th inning, Willie Hernandez got the save as Tony Gwynn flied out to Larry Herndon to end the game, sending Detroit into a wild victory celebration.
The Tigers led their division wire-to-wire, from opening day and every day thereafter, culminating in the World Series championship. This had not been done in the major leagues since the 1927 New York Yankees. With the win Sparky Anderson became the first manager to win the World Series in both leagues.

1987 AL East Champions

Main article: 1987 Detroit Tigers season
After a pair of third-place finishes in 1985 and 1986, the 1987 Tigers faced lowered expectations – which seemed to be confirmed by an 11–19 start to the season. However, the team hit its stride thereafter and gradually gained ground on its AL East rivals, eventually finishing with the best record in the Majors. This charge was fueled in part by the acquisition of pitcher Doyle Alexander from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for minor league pitcher John Smoltz. Alexander started 11 games for the Tigers, posting a 9–0 record and a 1.53 ERA. Smoltz, a Lansing, Michigan native, went on to have a long and productive career, mostly with the Braves, winning the Cy Young Award in 1996. The Tigers won the division this year but possibly gave up some of their future. The Tigers had a great season but despite their improvement, they entered September neck-and-neck with the Toronto Blue Jays. The two teams would square off in seven hard-fought games during the final two weeks of the season. All seven games were decided by one run, and in the first six of the seven games, the winning run was scored in the final inning of play. At Exhibition Stadium, the Tigers dropped three in a row to the Blue Jays before winning a dramatic extra-inning showdown.

The Tigers entered the final week of the 1987 season 3.5 games behind. After a series against the Baltimore Orioles, the Tigers returned home trailing by a game and swept the Blue Jays. Detroit clinched the division in a 1–0 victory over Toronto in front of 51,005 fans at Tiger Stadium on Sunday afternoon, October 4. Frank Tanana went all nine innings for the complete game shutout, and outfielder Larry Herndon gave the Tigers their lone run on a second-inning home run. Detroit finished the season a Major League-best 98–64, two games ahead of Toronto.

In what would prove to be their last postseason appearance until 2006, the Tigers were upset in the 1987 American League Championship Series by the Minnesota Twins (who in turn won the World Series that year) four games to one. The Twins clinched the Series in Game 5 at Tiger Stadium, 9–5.

A new approach (1988–95)
Despite their 1987 division title victory, the Tigers proved unable to build on their success. The team lost Kirk Gibson to free agency in the offseason, but still spent much of 1988 in first place in the AL East. A late-season slump left the team in second at 88–74, one game behind division-winning Boston.
 

 

The Tigers playing against theTexas Rangers during a 1992 away game at Arlington Stadium.

In 1989, the team collapsed to a 59–103 record, worst in the majors. The franchise then attempted to rebuild using a power-hitting approach, with sluggers Cecil Fielder, Rob Deer and Mickey Tettletonjoining Trammell and Whitaker in the lineup (fitting for the team with the most 200+ home run seasons in baseball history).[18] In 1990, Fielder led the American League with 51 home runs (becoming the first player to hit 50 since George Foster in 1977, and the first AL player since Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle in 1961), and finished second in the voting for AL Most Valuable Player. He hit 44 home runs and collected 132 RBI in 1991, again finishing second in the AL MVP balloting, and would hit at least 28 HR in each of the next four seasons. Behind the hitting of Fielder and others, the Tigers improved by 20 wins in 1990 (79-83), and posted a winning record in 1991 (84–78). However, the team lacked quality pitching, despite Bill Gullickson's 20 wins in 1991, and its core of key players began to age, setting the franchise up for decline. Their minor league system was largely barren of talent as well, producing only a few everyday players (Travis Fryman, Bobby Higginson) during the 1990s. Adding insult to injury, the Tigers and radio station WJR announced in December, 1990, that they were not renewing the contract of long-time Hall of Fame play-by-play announcer Ernie Harwell, and that the 1991 season would be Harwell's last with the team. The announcement was met with resounding protests from fans, both in Michigan and around the baseball world.

1992 saw the Tigers win only 75 games, with Fielder being one of the few bright spots as he won the AL RBI title for a third straight season (124). But late in the season, Sparky Anderson won his 1,132nd game as a Tiger manager, passing Hughie Jennings for the most all-time wins in franchise history. Following the 1992 season, the franchise was sold to Mike Ilitch, the President and CEO of Little CaesarsPizza who also owns the Detroit Red Wings. Ilitch made it one of his first priorities to re-hire Ernie Harwell. The team also responded with an 85-77 season in 1993, but it would be their last winning season for a number of years.

On October 2, 1995, manager Sparky Anderson chose to not only end his career with the Tigers, but retire from baseball altogether.[19]

Declawed: The Randy Smith era (1996–2002)
From 1994 to 2005, the Tigers did not post a winning record. This was by far the longest sub-.500 stretch in franchise history; prior to this, the team had not gone more than four consecutive seasons without a winning record. The team's best record over that time was 79–83, recorded in 1997 and 2000. In 1996, the Tigers lost a then-team record 109 games, under new general manager Randy Smith, who served the team from 1996 to 2002.