Sports Talk “60″

This was just going to be another luncheon at Comerica Park for the fantasy camp send off to Lakeland, Florida. Only this time, Kevin and I were  going to interview former Tiger, Dave Bergman. There are two luncheon’s a year, at the COPA, for  those of us who still long to wear a Tiger uniform and spend the weekend playing ball under the lights of a major league ballpark with former stars of our childhood.

When you think about the magical 1984 season for the Detroit Tigers, “hard working blue collar team” comes to mind. The 1984 Tigers cruised to a franchise-record 104 victories, besting their previous record of 103 set in 1968. Starting off at a 35-5 pace they easily won the Division, winning by a staggering 15 games over the Toronto Blue Jays. One of the players on that team was Dave Bergman. He played in the majors for a total of nineteen seasons; nine of those seasons were in Detroit. He also had a stint with the New York Yankees, Houston Astros, San Francisco Giants and a brief stay with the Philadelphia Phillies before he and pitcher Willie Hernandez were sent to the Tigers for John Wockenfuss and Glenn Owens.

Many Tiger fans will remember June 4th, 1984. It was the Monday Night Game of the Week, Roy Lee Jackson was on the mound for the Blue Jays and there were two men on base with two outs in the 11th inning. Bergman had a count of 3-2 and proceeded to foul off seven more pitches, for a thirteen pitch at bat. After seven minutes at the plate Bergman picked up a low pitch and slammed it into the upper deck of Tiger Stadium for a three-run walk-off home run.

That win was the start of a crucial run for the Tigers. Bergman commented that, “Toronto was only five games behind us at that point and was playing like the second best team in the league”. I remember watching the game and with every pitch I was on the edge of my seat, much as I was today, listening to Bergman re-tell the event.

I know he is always asked about this game, but for the past few days, leading up to this interview, I couldn’t wait to ask him about it. I was wondering how to bring it up when I started with some general housekeeping questions. I started out with the ever popular, “What was you greatest accomplishment as a player”? He smiled and simply said that playing nineteen years, doing his job and staying healthy were all important to him.

I followed up with wanting to know who were the toughest pitchers he had faced during his playing days. As I was expecting to hear names like Nolan Ryan, Jack Morris, Roger Clemens he threw me a curve ball and said, “Yes”. I was sitting there dumbfounded when he explained. He told me that every pitcher that throws the ball is tough. Some days they have their stuff and some days they don’t.

It was during that last question that he started telling of the night he fouled off seven pitches during his thirteen at bat performance. Without me even asking the question, here it was, out on the table. He said he knew that was what Tiger fans remember Dave Bergman for. I didn’t tell him that he was wrong, but I had a notebook of Dave Bergman questions about key things that he had done in his career as a Tiger. Fans still crave information about every player on that 1984 team.

I then asked him about the no-hitter he broke up in 1989 against Nolan Ryan. He told me that Center Fielder, Gary Pettis, had robbed him of two hits earlier. Bergman said he told Sparky that he was going to sit and wait for a curve ball on his last at bat. True to his word, on Ryan’s second pitch Bergman broke up the no hitter with two outs in the ninth.

In the ‘84 season he was put in as a defensive replacement and made two, not so routine, plays to help Jack Morris maintain a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox. In the Bergman fashion he smiled and tossed the credit to Morris and the team. During this interview I could see the passion he had for the game which is a passion that he still has. He extends that passion to the kids he helps. Bergman sponsors numerous teams in the Detroit area and he also spends many a day helping them understand the fundamentals of the game.

Every year he attends the fantasy camp in Lakeland, Florida along other former Tiger players. These former Tigers do this for the love of the game and so their grown-up fans can get to wear the Olde English “D”, dust off their cleats and live a dream for one week a year.

Another passion Bergman shares is that of  the Joe Niekro Foundation. A long time friend, Joe Niekro lost his life, unexpectedly, to a cerebral aneurysm in 2006. The foundation is committed to the awareness and funding of brain aneurysm research, treatment and education of this silent killer of many.  I would like you to visit the website

As I was wrapping up, I was truly impressed with the professionalism this man has, his true passion for the game, his passion for teaching others and his respect for the men and coaches he worked with. I was captivated for thirty minutes, learning about players I grew up watching. I have interviewed former Tigers and posted articles before and this was one of my favorites.

Nineteen years in the majors and this town was lucky to have him for nine seasons. He helped give this town a World Series Championship in ‘84 and a division title in ‘87. He is still here, and giving back to Detroit. My last question was how did he think the game has changed since his playing days? With another smile he simply said “the game is the same, just the faces change”.