Just before the 1984 season began, the Detroit Tigers acquired Willie Hernandez and Dave Bergman from the Philadelphia Phillies for Glenn Wilson and John Wockenfuss. It may not have seemed like a huge deal at the time, but it turned out to be one of the best trades in Tigers history.
Coming into 1984, Hernandez was a 29-year-old southpaw who’d had a solid, if not spectacular, seven-year career, mostly as a reliever. He’d spent most of that time with the Chicago Cubs before they traded him to the Phillies during the 1983 season.