By Woodrow Carroll
Fast starts by teams are a part of Major League Baseball (MLB).
After beating the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-1, on the road Sunday, April 16, the Tampa Bay Rays held a 14-2 record. That 14-2 figure was the best in MLB entering this week. In the National League, the Atlanta Braves entered this week with a League best record of 12-4.
Crossing the border proved to be rough for Tampa Bay last weekend. The Rays opened the this season by winning 13 straight games. That 13-game victory streak tied the record for most victories to open a MLB campaign. What followed were back-to-back defeats. Critics of the Rays’ fast start were quick to point out that 10 of the team’s first 13 games were at home.
As nice as that fast start was, history holds no great promise of success for the Rays in 2023.
Tampa Bays’ 13-game winning streak at the start matched the best season-opening start in the MLB,. The 1982 Atlanta Braves and the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers each was 13-0 before losing.. Just how valuable was that fast start? Well, neither the 1982 Braves, nor the 1987 Brewers won a championship those years. In fact, neither team reached the World Series those seasons.
The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers in seven games to lay claim to the 1982 World Series championship. Five years later, it was the Minnesota Twins over the Cardinals in seven games.
How about a more sustained fast start? Well, we have a couple at the MLB seasons to mention. The quick getaways largely paid off!
In 1946 the World War II years are in the past. The sporting public is clamoring for action from the national pastime. The Boston Red Sox faithful received action.
The 1946 Red Sox won 41 of their first 50 contests. Almost one-third of the way through what was then a 154-game season, the Red Sox were nine games in front in the AL.
From opening day onward, Boston led the AL standings in 1946. For all six months of action, April through September, the 1946’Red Sox played winning baseball each month.
With Ted Williams hitting .342 to lead the way, the 1946 Red Sox ended up with a 104-50 record and 12 games ahead in the AL.
The only discordant note was the 1946 World Series. In a well-played World Series by both teams, the Red Sox were edged by the Cardinals in seven games.
Hot start No. 2 belongs to the 1984 Detroit Tigers!
The 1984 Tigers stormed out to a 35-5 record and were in command in the Eastern Division of the American League. The Tigers were 18-2 in April and 19-7 in May. The rest of the season the team was on cruise control and finished with a 104-58 record.
Sparky Anderson managed the 1984 Tigers. Anderson, who managed Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine in the mid-1970s, didn’t have the same mix in Detroit that he had with the Reds. But, it was an interesting blend that knew how to win.
The 1984 Tigers had no 100 runs-batted-in man (RBI). Lance Parrish led the team in that with 98 RBIs. No pitching 20-game winner, either with Jack Morris’ 19-11 won-loss record a team high. Relief pitching for the 1984; Tigers might have been the key. Relievers, Willie Hernandez and Aurelio Lopez, put together a combined 19-4 won-loss record.
The postseason for the 1984 Tigers went ever so smoothly. The Tigers bounced AL West champion, Kansas City, three straight in the AL divisional series. In the World Series against the San Diego Padres, the Tigers won, four games to one.
Tampa Bay has been solid in recent seasons. The franchise reached the World Series in both 2008 and 2020 only to come up short.
It might be the Rays’ season. We shall see!