1977 Detroit Tigers season

Last updated • 5 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

1977  Detroit Tigers
League American League
Division East
Ballpark Tiger Stadium
City Detroit, Michigan
Owners John Fetzer
General managers Jim Campbell
Managers Ralph Houk
Television WWJ-TV
(George Kell, Larry Osterman, Joe Pellegrino, Al Kaline)
Radio WJR
(Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey)
  1976 Seasons 1978  

The 1977 Detroit Tigers finished in fourth place in the American League East with a record of 74–88, 26 games behind the New York Yankees. They were outscored by their opponents 751 to 714. The Tigers drew 1,359,856 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1977, ranking 7th of the 14 teams in the American League.

Contents

Offseason

Regular season

With 212 hits, 100 runs scored, and a .325 batting average, center fielder Ron LeFlore was the team's most valuable player, and the recipient of the "Tiger of the Year" award. First baseman Jason Thompson led the team with 31 home runs and 105 RBIs, and second baseman Tito Fuentes was the team's only other .300 hitter, with a .309 batting average and 190 hits. Designated hitter Rusty Staub also had a .278 batting average, 173 hits, 22 home runs, and 101 RBIs. Rookie Steve Kemp (the first pick in the 1976 amateur draft) hit .257 with 18 home runs and 88 RBIs.

The rookie sensation of 1976, Mark Fidrych pitched in 1977 (2.89 ERA), but tendinitis limited "The Bird" to 11 games. The pitching star of 1977 for Detroit was rookie Dave Rozema who went 15–7 with a 3.09 ERA and finished eighth in the American League Cy Young Award voting.

1977 also saw the debut of Steve Kemp (debut April 7, 1977), Dave Rozema (debut April 11, 1977), Jack Morris (debut July 26, 1977), Lance Parrish (debut September 5, 1977), Alan Trammell (debut September 9, 1977), and Lou Whitaker (debut September 9, 1977).

Season standings

AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 100620.61755–2645–36
Baltimore Orioles 97640.60254–2743–37
Boston Red Sox 97640.60251–2946–35
Detroit Tigers 74880.4572639–4235–46
Cleveland Indians 71900.44128½37–4434–46
Milwaukee Brewers 67950.4143337–4430–51
Toronto Blue Jays 541070.33545½25–5529–52

Record vs. opponents


Sources:
TeamBALBOSCALCWSCLEDETKCMILMINNYYOAKSEATEXTOR
Baltimore 6–85–65–511–412–34–711–46–48–78–27–34–610–5
Boston 8–67–33–78–79–65–59–64–68–78–310–16–412–3
California 6–53–78–76–44–66–95–57–84–75–109–65–106–4
Chicago 5–57–37–86–44–68–76–510–53–710–510–56–98–3
Cleveland 4–117–84–64–68–73–711–42–93–127–37–32–99–5
Detroit 3–126–96–46–47–83–810–55–56–95–55–62–810–5
Kansas City 7–45–59–67–87–38–38–210–55–59–611–48–78–2
Milwaukee 4–116–95–55–64–115–102–83–88–75–57–35–58–7
Minnesota 4–66–48–75–109–25–55–108–32–88–67–88–79–1
New York 7–87–87–47–312–39–65–57–88–29–26–47–39–6
Oakland 2–83–810–55–103–75–56–95–56–82–97–82–137–3
Seattle 3–71–106–95–103–76–54–113–78–74–68–79–64–6
Texas 6–44–610–59–69–28–27–85–57–83–713–26–97–4
Toronto 5–103–124–63–85–95–102–87–81–96–93–76–44–7

Notable transactions

Roster

1977 Detroit Tigers
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Game log

Regular season

1977 regular season game log: 74–88 (Home: 39–42; Away: 35–46)
April: 8–12 (Home: 2–5; Away: 6–7)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
1April 7 Royals
2April 9 Royals
3April 10 Royals
8April 15@ Royals
9April 16@ Royals
10April 17@ Royals
11April 18@ Red Sox
12April 19@ Red Sox
13April 20@ Red Sox
14April 21@ Red Sox
April 22 Orioles Postponed (Rain)(Makeup date: September 7)
April 23 Orioles Postponed (Rain)(Makeup date: September 8)
15April 24
(1)
Orioles
16April 24
(2)
Orioles
17April 26 White Sox
18April 27 White Sox
19April 29@ Twins
20April 30@ Twins
May: 10–14 (Home: 4–9; Away: 6–5)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
21May 1@ Twins
22May 3 Rangers
May 4 Rangers Postponed (Rain)(Makeup date: August 5)
26May 10 Twins
27May 11 Twins
33May 17@ Rangers
34May 18@ Rangers
35May 20@ White Sox
36May 21@ White Sox
37May 22@ White Sox
June: 16–12 (Home: 11–4; Away: 5–8)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
63 June 20 Yankees W 2–1 Fidrych (4–2) Gullett (6–3)2:3347,23628–35 W1
64 June 21 Yankees W 5–2 Crawford (1–1) Guidry (5–3)2:0718,27229–35 W2
65 June 22 Yankees L 11–12 Lyle (3–2) Foucault (3–4) Clay (1)2:4418,12929–36 L1
70June 27 Red Sox
71June 28 Red Sox
72June 29 Red Sox
July: 12–17 (Home: 6–4; Away: 6–13)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
73 July 1@ Yankees W 5–1 Rozema (7–3) Torrez (8–7)2:0722,87635–38 W5
74 July 2@ Yankees L 4–6 Lyle (6–2) Hiller (4–9)2:1420,82535–39 L1
75 July 3
(1)
@ Yankees L 0–2 Guidry (6–4) Arroyo (5–6)2:1535–40 L2
76 July 3
(2)
@ Yankees W 10–6 Foucault (4–4) Tidrow (6–3)2:4742,54936–40 W1
77July 4@ Orioles
78July 4
(1)
@ Orioles
79July 5
(2)
@ Orioles
80July 6@ Orioles
81July 8 White Sox
82July 9 White Sox
83July 10 White Sox
86July 13@ Royals
87July 14@ Royals
48th All-Star Game in Bronx, New York
92July 21 Royals
93July 22 Royals
94July 23 Royals
97July 26@ White Sox
98July 27@ White Sox
99July 29@ Rangers
100July 30@ Rangers
101July 31@ Rangers
August: 17–12 (Home: 9–9; Away: 8–3)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
102August 3@ Twins
103August 4@ Twins
104August 5
(1)
Rangers
105August 5
(2)
Rangers
106August 6 Rangers
107August 6 Rangers
112August 12 Twins
113August 13 Twins
114August 14 Twins
117 August 17 Yankees L 5–7 Figueroa (12–8) Arroyo (6–13) Lyle (17)2:4226,71854–63 L2
118 August 18 Yankees L 4–5 Hunter (8–7) Crawford (4–5) Lyle (18)2:3127,56454–64 L3
September: 10–20 (Home: 7–11; Away: 3–9)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
135September 5
(1)
Orioles
136September 5
(2)
Orioles
137September 6 Orioles
138September 7
(1)
Orioles
139September 7
(2)
Orioles
140September 8 Orioles
141September 9
(1)
@ Red Sox
142September 9
(2)
@ Red Sox
143September 10@ Red Sox
144September 11@ Red Sox
148 September 16 Yankees L 4–5 Gullett (12–4) Arroyo (7–17)2:2718,01669–79 L1
149 September 17 Yankees L 4–9 Tidrow (11–4) Crawford (7–7)2:3017,65669–80 L2
150 September 18 Yankees L 5–6 Guidry (15–6) Sykes (5–6) Lyle (24)2:1112,67269–81 L3
153September 22 Red Sox
154September 23 Red Sox
155September 24 Red Sox
156September 25 Red Sox
157September 27@ Orioles
158September 28@ Orioles
159September 29@ Orioles
160 September 30@ Yankees W 5–2 Hiller (8–14) Guidry (16–7)2:3128,20073–87 W1
October: 1–1 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–1)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
161 October 1@ Yankees W 10–7 Taylor (1–0) McCall (0–1)2:4750,05474–87 W2
162 October 2@ Yankees L 7–8 Thomas (3–6) Foucault (7–7)2:3518,77874–88 L1
Legend:       = Win       = Loss       = Postponement
Bold = Tigers team member

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C Milt May 11539799.2491246
1B Jason Thompson 158585158.27031105
2B Tito Fuentes 151615190.309551
3B Aurelio Rodríguez 9630667.2191032
SS Tom Veryzer 12535069.197228
CF Ron LeFlore 154652212.3251657
LF Steve Kemp 151552142.2571888
RF Ben Oglivie 132450118.2622161
DH Rusty Staub 158623173.27822101

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Phil Mankowski 9428679.276327
Mickey Stanley 7522251.230823
John Wockenfuss 5316445.274925
Tim Corcoran 5510329.282315
Chuck Scrivener 61726.08302
Mark Wagner 22487.14613
Lance Parrish 12469.19637
Alan Trammell 19438.18600
Lou Whitaker 11328.25002
Bruce Kimm 14252.08001
Bob Adams 15246.25022
Willie Horton 141.25000
Bob Molinaro 441.25000
Luis Alvarado 210.00000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Dave Rozema 28218.11573.0992
Fernando Arroyo 38209.18184.1760
Dave Roberts 22129.14105.1546
Mark Fidrych 1181.0642.8942
Vern Ruhle 1466.1355.7027
Jack Morris 745.2113.7428
Ray Bare 514.10212.564

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Bob Sykes 32132.2574.4158
Jim Crawford 37126.0784.7991
Milt Wilcox 20106.1623.6482
Ed Glynn 827.1215.2713

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; GF = Games finished; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGWLSVGFERASO
Steve Foucault 447713343.1558
John Hiller 458147273.56115
Steve Grilli 30120134.8349
Bruce Taylor 19102123.3819

Awards and honors

Award winners

Ron LeFlore

Dave Rozema

Jason Thompson

All-Stars

Jason Thompson , reserve

League top ten finishers

Fernando Arroyo

Mark Fidrych

Tito Fuentes

Steve Kemp

Ron LeFlore

Dave Rozema

Rusty Staub

Jason Thompson

Alan Trammell

Players ranking among top 100 all time at position

The following members of the 1977 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their position, as ranked by The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001:

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Evansville Triplets American Association Les Moss
AA Montgomery Rebels Southern League Eddie Brinkman
A Lakeland Tigers Florida State League Jim Leyland
Rookie Bristol Tigers Appalachian League Joe Lewis

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Montgomery, Lakeland, Bristol

Related Research Articles

The 1984 Detroit Tigers won the 1984 World Series, defeating the San Diego Padres, 4 games to 1. The season was their 84th since they entered the American League in 1901.

The 1961 Detroit Tigers won 101 games but finished in second place, eight games behind the Yankees. The team's 1961 record tied the 1934 Tigers team record of 101 wins, and only twice in team history have the Tigers won more games: 1968 and 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1921 Detroit Tigers season</span> Major League Baseball team season

The 1921 Detroit Tigers finished in sixth place in the American League, 27 games behind the Yankees, with a record of 71–82. Despite their sixth-place finish, the 1921 Tigers amassed 1,724 hits and a team batting average of .316—the highest team hit total and batting average in American League history. Detroit outfielders Harry Heilmann and Ty Cobb finished No. 1 and No. 2 in the American League batting race with batting averages of .394 and .389, and all three Detroit outfielders ranked among the league leaders in batting average and RBIs. As early proof of the baseball adage that "Good Pitching Beats Good Hitting", the downfall of the 1921 Tigers was the absence of good pitching. The team ERA was 4.40, they allowed nine or more runs 28 times, and only one pitcher had an ERA below 4.24.

The 1946 Detroit Tigers finished the season with a record of 92–62, twelve games behind the Boston Red Sox. The season was their 46th since they entered the American League in 1901.

The 1975 Detroit Tigers compiled a record of 57–102, the fifth worst season in Detroit Tigers history. They finished in last place in the American League East, 37½ games behind the Boston Red Sox. Their team batting average of .249 and team ERA of 4.27 were the second worst in the American League. They were outscored by their opponents 786 to 570.

The 1937 Detroit Tigers finished in second place in the American League with a record of 89–65. The team finished 13 games behind the New York Yankees. Their winning percentage of .578 ranks as the 15th best season in Detroit Tigers history.

The 1996 Detroit Tigers had a record of 53–109 for what was, at the time, the most losses (109) and worst winning percentage (.327) in team history—both of which have since been surpassed twice by the 2003 and 2019 teams.

The 1979 Detroit Tigers finished in fifth place in the American League East with a record of 85–76, 18 games behind the Orioles. They outscored their opponents 770 to 738. The Tigers drew 1,630,929 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1979, ranking 7th of the 14 teams in the American League. This season is most notable for both the Tigers' involvement in the infamous Disco Demolition Night, of which they were the visiting team to the Chicago White Sox and declared winners by forfeit, as well as for their mid-season hiring of Sparky Anderson as manager. Anderson would manage the Tigers through the end of the 1995 season, winning the 1984 World Series along with two American League Eastern Division titles in 1984 and 1987.

The 1971 Detroit Tigers finished in second place in the American League East with a 91–71 record, 12 games behind the Orioles. They outscored their opponents 701 to 645. They drew 1,591,073 fans to Tiger Stadium, the second highest attendance in the American League.

The 1981 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 81st season as a member of the American League. Games were suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, causing a split season. The Tigers finished the first half of the season in fourth place in the American League East, and the second half of the season tied for second place. Their overall record was 60 wins and 49 losses, and they outscored their opponents 427 to 404. The Tigers drew 1,149,144 fans to their home games at Tiger Stadium, ranking fifth of the 14 teams in the American League.

The 1991 Detroit Tigers finished in a tie for second place in the American League East with a record of 84–78 (.519). They outscored their opponents 817 to 794. The Tigers drew 1,641,661 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1991, ranking 12th of the 14 teams in the American League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1976 Detroit Tigers season</span> Major League Baseball team season

The 1976 Detroit Tigers season was the 76th season for the Detroit Tigers competing in Major League Baseball as a member of the American League. In their third season under manager Ralph Houk, the Tigers compiled a 74–87 record and finished in fifth place in the American League East, 24 games behind the New York Yankees. The team improved by 17 wins over its 1975 performance for the largest improvement by any team in the American League. The team played its home games at Tiger Stadium and attracted 1,467,020 fans, ranking fourth of the 12 teams in the American League.

The 1974 Detroit Tigers compiled a record of 72–90. They finished in last place in the American League East, 19 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. They were outscored by their opponents 768 to 620.

The 1973 Detroit Tigers compiled a record of 85–77. They finished in third place in the AL East, 12 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. They were outscored by their opponents 674 to 642.

The 1980 Detroit Tigers finished in fifth place in the American League East with a record of 84–78, 19 games behind the Yankees. They outscored their opponents 830 to 757. The Tigers drew 1,785,293 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1980, ranking 7th of the 14 teams in the American League. This was Sparky Anderson's first full season as Tigers manager.

The 1978 Detroit Tigers finished in fifth place in the American League East with a record of 86–76, 13½ games behind the Yankees. They outscored their opponents 714 to 653.

The 1982 Detroit Tigers finished in fourth place in the American League East with a record of 83–79 (.512), 12 games behind the AL Champion Brewers. The Tigers outscored their opponents 729 to 685. The Tigers drew 1,636,058 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1982, ranking 7th of the 14 teams in the American League.

The 1983 Detroit Tigers finished in second place in the American League East with a record of 92–70 (.568), six games behind the Orioles. The Tigers outscored their opponents 789 to 679. The Tigers drew 1,829,636 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1983, ranking 8th of the 14 teams in the American League.

The Tigers entered the season as the reigning World Series champions. The 1985 Detroit Tigers finished in third place in the American League East with a record of 84–77 (.522), 15 games behind the Blue Jays. The Tigers outscored their opponents 729 to 688. The Tigers drew 2,286,609 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1983, ranking 3rd of the 14 teams in the American League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1992 Detroit Tigers season</span> Major League Baseball team season

The Detroit Tigers' 1992 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Detroit Tigers attempting to win the American League East.

References

  1. Tito Fuentes page at Baseball Reference
  2. Willie Horton page at Baseball Reference