Best baseball team of the 1980's

craig44 · May 18, 2016 9:21AM

So I thought it might be fun to get a discussion going about who you think the best team of the 80's was. I think I would say it was the Oakland A's of 1989. They had great starting pitching, a hof closer and a great offence albeit chemically enhanced.

What do you think??

Justacommeman · May 18, 2016 12:43PM

1984 Tigers

mark

garnettstyle · May 18, 2016 1:38PM

Of course the Michigan fan would say 1984 lol.

perkdog · May 18, 2016 10:52PM

89 Oakland had a great team for sure

craig44 · May 18, 2016 11:15PM

The tigers did have a dominant team that year with Morris at the top of the rotation

dallasactuary · May 19, 2016 12:23AM

This is painful coming from a Cardinal fan when they went to the Series 3 times during the decade and won 2 of them (yes, I count 1985 as a win - DIE, DON DENKINGER, DIE!!!!!), but the 1984 Tigers were clearly the best team of the decade.

Their best pitcher, of course, was Dan Petry, but their starting pitching, while very good, was not what made the team great. What made the team great was that they had no weaknesses: their hitting was the best in the league - they led in OPS+ and runs scored playing in a pitcher's park, their bullpen was lights out, their starting pitching was second or third best in the league behind Toronto and maybe Texas, and their defense was top 5.

The Tigers had no superstars and in all likelihood will have no HOFers. But Evans, Trammell and Whitaker were all HOF caliber players, and so was Kirk Gibson when he wasn't hurt. There was no star in the starting rotation, but neither was there any weak link. Take away Reggie Jackson, and the early 70's A's were very similar in this respect.

The Tigers had all but clinched their division by May 24th, with a record of 35-5. They went 69-53 from that point, but once the postseason arrived they swept the Royals and came within one bad pitch to Kurt Bevacqua of sweeping the Padres. If there had been some meaningful incentive to win more games in the regular season, I think they might have set the record.

augustaman · May 19, 2016 12:27AM

1986 Mets? Fun to watch and won their division by over 20 games.

Justacommeman · May 19, 2016 1:02AM

Dallas, what I remember most about that remarkable season was after 63 games Toronto was 41-22 yet they trailed the Tigers by 6 games. They were so strong up the middle with Parrish, Lemon, Whitaker and Trammel. Their pitching while not spectatucular was deep.

mark

MCMLVTopps · May 19, 2016 2:49AM

It is with great humility that I can say the Red Sox of the 80s was at best...paltry. Therefore, the Red Sox can easily be eliminated from consideration in this thread.

The most painful year was of course the 1986 WS and...dare I say?...Buckner ball.

The 1989 team hit the buzz saw of the powerful Oakland A's, losing 0-4 in the ALCS.

garnettstyle · May 19, 2016 6:38AM

Dodgers were the team of the 80's. 81 team was loaded and beat Reggie Jackson and company. And the 88 team whipped those mighty A's.

Justacommeman · May 19, 2016 6:46AM

Originally posted by: garnettstyle

Dodgers were the team of the 80's. 81 team was loaded and beat Reggie Jackson and company. And the 88 team whipped those mighty A's.

Pick a year and a team. It wasn't a best team of the 80's question ( and the Dodgers certainly weren't the best of that decade)

mark

Tabe · May 19, 2016 9:22AM

"No weaknesses" is a great way to describe the '84 Tigers. They had the best catcher in the majors, best or second-best defensive CF (who also put up 135 OPS+), the best double-play combination, terrific bullpen, pretty good starting rotation, solid pretty much everywhere else. #1 in runs scored and #1 in fewest runs allowed.

And they capped it all off with dominant wins in the ALCS and World Series, including my all-time favorite home run with Kirk Gibson's homer off Goose Gossage.

dallasactuary · May 19, 2016 2:51PM

I don't know a quick way to check if this is a record - although I'd bet it is - but at least for the 1980's no other World Series winning team came close to the Tigers in one odd respect. The best starting pitcher on the Tigers - Dan Petry - had an ERA+ of 121. The closest team to them by that measure was the 1986 Mets, whose best pitcher - Bob Ojeda - had an ERA+ of 140. Every winning team in the 80's had at least one starter with an ERA+ of 140 or better, except the 1984 Tigers.

grote15 · May 19, 2016 3:09PM

Gotta go with the '86 Mets. What an amazing postseason that was!

garnettstyle · May 19, 2016 7:32PM

80's
Team of the decade - Dodgers - 2 Championships, 4 division titles
Best team - 1986 Mets - 667 winning percentage

70's
Team of the decade - Red legs
Best team - 1979 Pirates

Best baseball team of the 1980's

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