1981 Detroit Tigers season

Last updated

1981  Detroit Tigers
League American League
Division East
Ballpark Tiger Stadium
City Detroit, Michigan
Record
  • 1st half: 31–26 (.544)
  • 2nd half: 29–23 (.558)
  • Overall: 60–49 (.550)
Divisional place
  • 1st half: 4th (3+1⁄2 GB)
  • 2nd half: 2nd (tied; 1+1⁄2 GB)
Owners John Fetzer
General managers Jim Campbell
Managers Sparky Anderson
Television WDIV-TV
(George Kell, Al Kaline)
ONTV
(Larry Adderley, Hank Aguirre, Norm Cash)
Radio WJR
(Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey)
←  1980 Seasons 1982  →

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.

Contents

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

AL East 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Milwaukee Brewers 62470.569—28–2134–26
Baltimore Orioles 59460.562133–2226–24
New York Yankees 59480.551232–1927–29
Detroit Tigers 60490.550232–2328–26
Boston Red Sox 59490.5462½30–2329–26
Cleveland Indians 52510.505725–2927–22
Toronto Blue Jays 37690.34923½17–3620–33
AL East
First Half Standings		WLPct.GB
New York Yankees 3422.607—
Baltimore Orioles 3123.5742
Milwaukee Brewers 3125.5543
Detroit Tigers 3126.5443+1⁄2
Boston Red Sox 3026.5364
Cleveland Indians 2624.5205
Toronto Blue Jays 1642.27619
AL East
Second Half Standings		WLPct.GB
Milwaukee Brewers 3122.585—
Boston Red Sox 2923.5581+1⁄2
Detroit Tigers 2923.5581+1⁄2
Baltimore Orioles 2823.5492
Cleveland Indians 2627.4915
New York Yankees 2526.4905
Toronto Blue Jays 2127.4387+1⁄2

Record vs. opponents

1981 American League record

Sources:
TeamBALBOSCALCWSCLEDETKCMILMINNYYOAKSEATEXTOR
Baltimore —2–26–63–64–26–75–32–46–07–67–54–22–15–2
Boston 2–2—2–45–47–66–13–36–72–53–37–59–33–64–0
California 6–64–2—6–77–53–30–64–33–32–22–86–42–46–6
Chicago 6–34–57–6—2–53–32–04–12–45–77–63–32–47–5
Cleveland 2–46–75–75–2—1–54–43–62–17–53–28–42–24–2
Detroit 7–61–63–33–35–1—3–25–89–33–71–25–19–36–4
Kansas City 3–53–36–00–24–42–3—4–59–42–103–36–73–45–3
Milwaukee 4–27–63–41–46–38–55–4—9–33–34–22–24–56–4
Minnesota 0–65–23–34–21–23–94–93–9—3–32–83–6–15–85–1
New York 6–73–32–27–55–77–310–23–33–3—4–32–35–42–3
Oakland 5–75–78–26–72–32–13–32–48–23–4—6–14–210–2
Seattle 2–43–94–63–34–81–57–62–26–3–13–21–6—5–83–3
Texas 1–26–34–24–22–23–94–35–48–54–52–48–5—6–2
Toronto 2–50–46–65–72–44–63–54–61–53–22–103–32–6—

Notable transactions

Roster

1981 Detroit Tigers roster
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

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 Lance Parrish 9634885.2441046
1B Richie Hebner 7822651.226528
2B Lou Whitaker 10933588.263536
3B Tom Brookens 7123958.243425
SS Alan Trammell 105392101.258231
LF Steve Kemp 105372103.277949
CF Al Cowens 8525366.261118
RF Kirk Gibson 8329095.328940
DH John Wockenfuss 7017237.215925

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Kirk Gibson 8329095.328940
Rick Peters 6320753.256015
Lynn Jones 7117445.259219
Champ Summers 6416542.255321
Ron Jackson 319527.284112
Stan Papi 409319.204312
Rick Leach 548316.193111
Mick Kelleher 617717.22106
Bill Fahey 276717.25419
Darrell Brown 1641.25000
Duffy Dyer 200----00

Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Jack Morris 25198.01473.0597
Milt Wilcox 24166.11293.0379
Dan Petry 23141.01093.0079
Dan Schatzeder 1771.1686.0620
Jerry Ujdur 414.0006.435

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Dave Rozema 28104.0553.6346
Howard Bailey 936.2147.3617
George Cappuzzello 1833.2113.4819

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVGFERASO
Kevin Saucier 384213231.6523
Aurelio López 29523193.6453
Dave Tobik 2722192.6932
Dennis Kinney 600009.823
Larry Rothschild 500121.591
Dave Rucker 200026.752

Awards and honors

1981 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

League top ten finishers

Kirk Gibson

Steve Kemp

Jack Morris

Lance Parrish

Kevin Saucier

Alan Trammell

Lou Whitaker

Milt Wilcox

Players ranking among top 100 all time at position

The following members of the 1981 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their position, as ranked by The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract:

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Evansville Triplets American Association Jim Leyland
AA Birmingham Barons Southern League Roy Majtyka
A Lakeland Tigers Florida State League Ted Brazell
A Macon Peaches South Atlantic League Tom Kotchman
Rookie Bristol Tigers Appalachian League Joe Lewis

Notes

  1. ↑ Dennis Kinney at Baseball Reference
  2. ↑ Mike Sharperson at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ Jim Lentine at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ Chris Codiroli at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ Chuck Hensley at Baseball Reference
  6. ↑ Ron Jackson at Baseball Reference

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References

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