Tuesday, September 24, marked the 40th anniversary of the Chicago Cubs’ National League East Division title — their first title of any kind since the pennant-winning season of 1945.
I observed the special day in Cubs history by joining a Zoom meeting with the Emil Rothe Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research. The chapter based in Chicago invited former players Bob Denier, Jody Davis and Warren Brusstar and trainer Tony Garofalo to discuss their recollections of that magical season, which ended in a loss to the San Diego Padres in the five-game National League Championship Series on October 7, 1984.
My parents attended that game in Pittsburgh on Monday, September 24, when the Cubs defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 behind the two-hit pitching of Rick Sutcliffe. As a result, I have their two ticket stubs, a program and a scorecard from the game. They also saved newspaper clippings about the game.
Center fielder Dernier was one-half of the “Daily Double” that also included second baseman Ryne Sandberg. The Cubs obtained Dernier, outfielder Gary “Sarge” Matthews and reliever Porfi Altamirano from the Philadelphia Phillies at the end of spring training in 1984, one of several moves general manager Dallas Green made with his former team, the Phillies. Dernier responded with 45 stolen bases, the most since Johnny Evers in 1907; the first Gold Glove by a Cubs’ outfielder; and a lead-off home run in the first game of the NLCS at Wrigley Field on October 2, 1984.
“In June we gathered at the ballpark [Wrigley Field] and at Ryno’s [Ryne Sandberg’s] statue. It was great to see a lot of the guys. Obviously, it brought up a lot of memories, said Dernier, wearing a “Ryno strong” hat in honor of Sandberg who has been battling prostate cancer.
Davis started in the New Mets’ organization and was obtained by the Cubs in the Rule 5 draft on December 8, 1980, from the St. Louis Cardinals, who had just landed free agent catcher Darrell Porter to go along with Ted Simmons, Steve Swisher and Terry Kennedy. Davis caught at least 125 games for the Cubs from 1982 to 1987 and became a favorite of broadcaster Harry Caray. In 1984 alone, the Georgia native played in 150 games, slugged 19 home runs and drove in 94 runs, becoming the only catcher in franchise history other than Gabby Hartnett to collect at least 90 RBIs in a single season.
“Going back to ’84, we were fightin’ the Mets to win the division, and I’m lookin’ at those guys, and they’re all my minor-league teammates,” Davis said. “If the Mets hadn’t traded me to the Cardinals, that would have been my team. I’d caught a lot of those Met pitchers in the minor leagues. It really helped me a lot that season.”
Brusstar was with the Phillies’ organization from 1974 until August 30, 1982, when his contract was purchased by the Chicago White Sox. After appearing in 10 games for the White Sox, Brusstar and pitcher Steve Trout were traded to the Cubs for infielders Scott Fletcher and Pat Tabler and pitchers Randy Martz and Dick Tidrow.
Brusstar told SABR members he felt like he was back home when was traded to the ex-Phillies-laden Cubs on January 26, 1983. “I felt like I was home again when I got to the Cubs. We had strong ties in Philadelphia. I felt way more comfortable there [with the Cubs] than I ever did with the White Sox. I enjoyed playing for the White Sox. It was fun playing in the American League and seeing the different ballparks. Career-wise, I was much better off in Chicago with the Cubs. The chance to play in Wrigley Field — what a thrill. I got to play in Wrigley Field for three years.”
Brusstar was an integral part of the Cubs’ bullpen 1983, 1984 and 1985. In 1984 alone, Brusstar appeared in 41 games, had a 3.11 earned run average and finished 16 games. On Tuesday night, he noted that the Cubs’ all right-handed bullpen headed by Lee Smith was able to get left-handed hitters out as well as right-handed batters. (Starter Trout was the only left-hander on the pitching staff in 1984.)
Trainer Tony Garofalo started working for the Cubs in 1977 when he was 26-years-old. He remembers 1984 as “a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” The 1982 Cardinals such as Keith Hernandez and Tommy Herr were his teammates in the minor leagues. Bob Kennedy brought Garofalo to Chicago when he came to the Cubs in 1977.
“I was the luckiest guy in ’84 because I had a bunch of players who you had to tie down to keep them off the field,” he said. “There are many, many hours that Jody and I spent together. You couldn’t keep him out of there. [Rick] Sutcliffe and all the pitchers were great to work with. In my 52 years as an athletic trainer, I never was around a group of athletes who were so dedicated. They worked hard, and they played hard. And they had good results. Just a couple of bad breaks kept us from going to the World Series.”
Spring training in 1984 was rough, Garofalo recalled.
“We won three games that entire spring,” the former Cubs trainer said. “After that trade was made [for Dernier and Gary Matthews], you could see the whole attitude change in the clubhouse.”
Both Dernier and Brusstar have fond recollections of former Phillies coach and Cubs manager Lee Elia, whose tirade against the fans in 1983 cost him his managerial job.
“Having grown up in the Phillies’ organization, Lee [Elia] was the third base coach when I went up to the big-league club in 1980,” Dernier said. “Then him and Dallas [Green] both left, if I’m not mistaken. We all loved Lee Elia. He was one of those guys … a real tough guy with a soft heart. He was one of our favorites.”
“Yah,” Brusstar said. “It was hard to see what happened to him in 1983, but he was putting up with a lot of stuff. He backed the players everywhere he went. He was a players’ manager and a great third base coach.”
“Lee was one of us,” Davis concurred. “We’d won it in ’84 if Lee had been there. Lee was in our foxhole from Day 1. I don’t think Jim [Frey, who succeeded Elia] was fighting for us quite like Lee was fighting for us.”
In fact, Garofalo called Elia the “best manager” he worked for in the 10 years he was with the Cubs.
Still, Dernier said he had no problems with Frey. “I just looked at Jim as the guy who would write my name at the top of the [lineup] card and we’ll get along just fine. That’s how I looked at him back then.”
Davis said he had no problems with Frey either. “I bet Jim said 10 words to me the whole time he was there, but he wrote my name on the lineup card every day, which is all I wanted.”
Frey, was “a tough guy to work for,” Garofalo said. “I remember the first meeting I had with him he said, ‘I just don’t like athletic trainers.’ And he said, ‘I’m not going to listen to anything you tell me or what the doctors tell me. I’m going to listen to my players before I listen to you. He basically called me ‘a necessary evil.’ Needless to say, I did not have very good relationship with him.”
“Today, the thinking about the right and wrong things to do toward the players’ health is a little sounder,” Dernier added. “Back then, there were a lot of days I should have said something.”
The Cubs were 7-37 on artificial turf in 1983, according to Brusstar. After the season, Green engineered the trade for Dernier and Matthews, “which changed the whole dynamic,” Brusstar said. “All of a sudden, plays were made in the outfield that weren’t made the year before.”
The Cubs opened on the West Coast and got off to a good start in 1984.
“All of a sudden you start believing in yourselves. A lot of us had played together and we’d won everywhere we’d been. So, we were used to winning. That’s what Dallas [Green] brought over there. He’d do anything for any of his players. He was very committed to us, and we were very committed to him,” Brusstar said. “He brought [manager] Lee [Elia] and [coaches] John [Vukovich] and Reuben [Amaro Sr.] in [from Philadelphia]. They called us the Chillies because we were the Phillies West. If we went out somewhere, 15 or 18 of us would go out together. We enjoyed being around each other.” Billy Connors, Johnny Oates and Don Zimmer rounded out the coaching staff.
“Everybody in that clubhouse wanted to win a game that day. It’s hard to believe it’s been that many years, but I wouldn’t trade it for nothin’,” Davis added.
The highlight of the season for Davis was his grand slam home run against the Mets on September 14 at Wrigley Field. “If I get a single up the middle, I thought to myself, we’ll have a five-run lead. I just missed it, and it went into the stands,” he recalled much to the delight of his former teammates. “The fans kept getting louder and louder as I ran around the bases.”
Davis remembers celebrating in the visitors’ clubhouse on the night the Cubs clinched the East Division title in Pittsburgh and being called back out to the field at the request of the Chicago fans. “We went out there and saw [TV station] WGN on the big screen in the outfield. There were 10 blocks blocked off around Wrigley Field. We’re in Pittsburgh by ourselves that night.”
“I remember we left the ballpark about midnight, and somebody said, ‘There’s a guy that’s from Chicago that has his bar, restaurant open for us all night.’ Somehow I got over to that bar and was there until about 4 o’clock in the morning. Mike Palmer was my assistant, and I told him the next day, ‘You’re in charge. I’m in no condition to do anything tonight.’ It was a party,” Garofalo recalled about the post-game celebration.
“The city really, really shed that 39-year blanket that night and took the monkey off the ’69 team,” Dernier said. “We felt that pride. The sports fans had been waiting for that, right? That was a huge night for Chicago sports fans.”
Garofalo was hoping the Cubs would clinch the division the previous day in St. Louis where his father was in the liquor business. “My dad got all the champagne donated for our celebration and we were ready to celebrate. But the Mets won that day to spoil our celebration in St. Louis,” he said. “So we get to Pittsburgh, and I remember two things: running out to the mound after we clinched, looking up, and Brusstar coming over the top of me and jumping onto the pile [of players]; then sitting on the mound, drinking champagne, smoking cigars and watching the celebration.”
Dernier remembered losing 11 pounds during the previous day’s doubleheader in St. Louis that was played on 100-degree artificial turf. Despite the heat, the Cubs swept the Cardinals, 8-1 and 4-2, to improve their record to 92-63, giving them a six-and-a-half game lead.
Dernier said he felt like he was going to a Beatles concert before Game 1 of the NLCS.
“On the previous Sunday, we were in the locker room [after the game] and Dallas [Green] came down and said we had to get back on the field. We had to do a curtain call because the fans were going crazy,” Garofalo said. “Some guys were in the shower; some were half-way dressed. Everybody put their clothes back on and went out to the field. We had to walk around the field because people would not leave. It was crazy.”
The Cubs won the first two NLCS games in Chicago, 13-0, and 4-2. At that point, they needed only one more win in San Diego to clinch the best-of-five-game series and advance to the World Series. “We felt like we should have won it,” Dernier said referring to the NLCS. “Game 4 was the one that maybe got away. We had them down 3-0 in Game 5 with our horse on the hill. We had that one [bad] inning, and things kind of went south.
“Our team won 96 games [that year]. We had the best record in the National League, and we earned home-field advantage in the playoffs. But they didn’t give it to us,” Dernier added. “I would have played at any place in Chicago because I felt our fans had earned that. Because of television, no lights [at Wrigley Field], we were forced to play two games, then fly to San Diego, play the next day and then have a day off. Well, who decided that? We should have won a game at Jack Murphy [Stadium], but we just didn’t get it done.”
The NLCS expanded to best-of-seven games the next year.
Some of those players from the ’84 team are deceased. They include Bill Buckner, George Frazier, Jay Johnstone, Tom Veryzer, Gary Woods, Scott Sanderson, Frey and the entire coaching staff.
Steve Dunn’s latest book, Pug, Fireball and Company: 116 Years of Professional Baseball in Des Moines, Iowa, has many references to the Chicago Cubs. The book recounts the history of the sport in Des Moines dating back to the first game in 1887. The Iowa Cubs have been the triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs since 1982. For more information about the book or to order a copy, go to pugfireballandcompany.com.
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