After the 1984 Detroit Tigers opened their season with a 35-5 start, local sportscaster Al Ackerman dubbed the team "Bless You Boys." When the Tigers clinched the ’84 American League pennant (after leading the AL East wire-to-wire), manager Sparky Anderson wrote the following in his journal: “I’ve waited for this day since they fired me in Cincinnati. I think they made a big mistake when they did that. Now no one will ever question me again.” The ’84 Tigers downed the Padres 4-1 to win the franchise’s fourth World Series, and Anderson’s journal was later published under the title Bless You Boys: Diary of the Detroit Tigers’ 1984 Season.

"...That's right...Bless You Boys! This is the year...Detroit is gonna party, Tiger fever is here...Bless you boys..."