1993 Detroit Tigers season

Last updated

1993  Detroit Tigers
League American League
Division East
Ballpark Tiger Stadium
City Detroit, Michigan
Owners Mike Ilitch
General managers Jerry Walker
Managers Sparky Anderson
Television WDIV-TV
(George Kell, Al Kaline)
PASS
(Jim Price, Jim Northrup)
Radio WJR
(Rick Rizzs, Bob Rathbun, Ernie Harwell)
  1992 Seasons 1994  

The 1993 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 93rd season and the 82nd season at Tiger Stadium. The team wasn't expected to do much after a sixth-place finish the previous season. The pitching staff was riddled with inconsistencies, but the Tigers were in first place as late as June 25 before a 10-game losing streak ended their hopes of a turnaround. This would be the Tigers last winning season of the 20th century, the next time the team finished with the winning record was 2006, by then the team had been playing in Comerica Park for 7 years.

Contents

Overview

At the heart of the team were three stars left over from the championship team of 1984: 36-year-old second baseman Lou Whitaker, 36-year-old outfielder Kirk Gibson (who had returned to Detroit during the 1992 offseason), and 35-year-old shortstop Alan Trammell. There was also the All-Star slugger Cecil Fielder at first base who, true to form, clubbed 30 home runs and drove in a team-high 117 RBIs; promising young shortstop Travis Fryman batted an even .300 and paced the team with 182 hits; and catcher Chad Kreuter enjoyed the best season of his career, setting career-highs in homers (15), average (.286) and runs batted in (51).

Tony Phillips, a versatile switch hitter, could play just about anywhere in the field and even DH, but he mostly ended up in the outfield. A patient leadoff man, Phillips set the table for the Tigers' offense. He got on base any way he could, with a base hit, drawing a walk or getting hit by a pitch more than 300 times; thus, he scored 113 runs while hitting for a .313 average. Mickey Tettleton was equally flexible. He caught, played first, and also saw duty in the outfield and at DH when needed. With power from both sides of the plate, Tettleton did serious damage, hitting 32 homers, driving in 110 runs, and drawing 109 walks.

Though the team may often be overlooked in the long, storied history of the Tigers' franchise (perhaps due to being in the midst of the team's leanest years), they were as powerful a lineup as the Tigers had ever seen, and for several weeks they lit up the American League, scoring runs at an eye-popping rate. With a lineup built around patience and swing-for-the-fences power, the Tigers got off to a remarkable start in tallying runs. In their home opener, they pummeled the Oakland Athletics by the score of 20–4. In that game Fryman had five RBIs, Tettleton plated four, and Fielder went 4-for-4 as the Tigers pounded out 18 hits and drew twelve walks. Four days later against the Mariners, the Tigers won 20–3, this time behind 20 hits and ten more walks. The next day Detroit won, 8–7. But that was just the beginning. When the club went on the road to face the Twins for a three-game series in late April, Detroit pounded their way to victories by the scores of 12–4, 17–1, and 16–5. In the series, Detroit finished with 46 hits and drew 22 walks while hitting 11 homers and 23 extra-base hits. [1]

On April 23, the Tigers were in first place and they would stay there for two months. Over the first six weeks of the season, the vaunted Tiger lineup was averaging 812 runs per game, on pace to score more than 1,300 runs. This would have shattered the modern-day record held by the 1894 Baltimore Orioles, who scored 1,171 runs. [2]

On June 20, the Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7–3, putting them at 43–25, good for first in the East with a two-game lead over second-place and defending World Champion Toronto. However, the team immediately went on a 10-game losing streak, during which they were outscored 80–31. The Tigers never recovered and finished in a tie for third place in the American League East with Baltimore.

Even with their success, the pitching continued to struggle, as evidenced by numerous high-scoring affairs against other top-tier teams such as the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees.

The Tigers lead the American League in runs scored (899), walks (765), on-base percentage (.362), and on base-plus slugging (.796).

The 85 victories were the most by the team in five years and would also mark the Tigers' last winning season until 2006.

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

AL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Toronto Blue Jays 9567.58648334734
New York Yankees 8874.543750313843
Baltimore Orioles 8577.5251048333744
Detroit Tigers 8577.5251044374140
Boston Red Sox 8082.4941543383744
Cleveland Indians 7686.4691946353051
Milwaukee Brewers 6993.4262638433150

Record vs. opponents

TeamBALBOSCALCWSCLEDETKCMILMINNYYOAKSEATEXTOR
Baltimore 6–77–54–88–55–87–58–58–46–710–27–54–85–8
Boston 7–67–57–55–86–75–75–87–56–79–37–56–63–10
California 5–75–77–65–74–86–77–54–96–66–76–76–74–8
Chicago 8–45–76–79–37–56–79–310–34–87–69–48–56–6
Cleveland 5–88–57–53–96–77–58–54–86–78–43–97–54–9
Detroit 8–57–68–45–77–65–78–56–64–98–47–56–66–7
Kansas City 5–77–57–67–65–77–55–77–66–66–77–67–68–4
Milwaukee 5–88–55–73–95–85–87–57–54–97–54–84–85–8
Minnesota 4–85–79–43–108–46–66–75–74–88–54–97–62–10
New York 7–67–66–68–47–69–46–69–48–46–67–53–95–8
Oakland 2–103–97–66–74–84–87–65–75–86–69–45–85–7
Seattle 5–75–77–64–99–35–76–78–49–45–74–98–57–5
Texas 8–46–67–65–85–76–66–78–46–79–38–55–87–5
Toronto 8–510–38–46–69–47–64–88–510–28–57–55–75–7

Notable transactions

Roster

1993 Detroit Tigers
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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 Chad Kreuter 119374107.2861551
1B Cecil Fielder 154573153.26730117
2B Lou Whitaker 119383111.290967
SS Travis Fryman 151607182.3002297
3B Scott Livingstone 9830489.293239
LF Dan Gladden 9135695.2671356
CF Milt Cuyler 8224953.213019
RF Rob Deer 9032370.2171439
DH Kirk Gibson 116403105.2611362

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Tony Phillips 151566177.313757
Mickey Tettleton 152522128.24532110
Alan Trammell 112401132.3291260
Skeeter Barnes 8416045.281227
Chris Gomez 4612832.250011
Gary Thurman 758919.213013
Eric Davis 237519.253615
Danny Bautista 176119.31119
Rich Rowland 214610.21704

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Mike Moore 36213.21395.2289
David Wells 32187.01194.19139
John Doherty 32184.214114.4463
Bill Gullickson 28159.11395.3770

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Mark Leiter 27106.2664.7370
Tom Bolton 43102.2664.4766
Bill Krueger 3282.0643.4060
Sean Bergman 939.2145.6719

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Mike Henneman 6353242.6458
Bob MacDonald 683335.3539
Kurt Knudsen 303224.7829
Storm Davis 240243.0636
Dave Haas 201206.1117
Buddy Groom 190206.1415
Joe Boever 192132.7414
Greg Gohr 160005.9623
Mike Gardiner 100003.974
John Kiely 80207.713
Mike Munoz 80106.001
Dave Johnson 611012.967
Mark Grater 60005.404
John DeSilva 10009.000

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Toledo Mud Hens International League Joe Sparks
AA London Tigers Eastern League Tom Runnells
A Lakeland Tigers Florida State League Gerry Groninger
A Fayetteville Generals South Atlantic League Mark Wagner
A-Short Season Niagara Falls Rapids New York–Penn League Larry Parrish
Rookie Bristol Tigers Appalachian League Rubén Amaro, Sr.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Niagara Falls [8]

Notes

  1. 1993 Detroit Tigers schedule
  2. 1894 Baltimore Orioles season
  3. Bill Gullickson at Baseball Reference
  4. "Kirk Gibson Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  5. http: Steve Carter was//www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cartest01.shtml
  6. Joe Boever at Baseball Reference
  7. Eric Davis at Baseball Reference
  8. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

References