| 1979 Detroit Tigers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Division | East | |||
| Ballpark | Tiger Stadium | |||
| City | Detroit,Michigan | |||
| Owners | John Fetzer | |||
| General managers | Jim Campbell | |||
| Managers | Les Moss,Dick Tracewski,Sparky Anderson | |||
| Television | WDIV-TV (George Kell, Mike Barry,Al Kaline) | |||
| Radio | WJR (Ernie Harwell,Paul Carey) | |||
| ||||
The1979 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 79th season and the 68th season atTiger Stadium. The Tigers finished in fifth place in theAmerican League East with a record of 85–76, 18 games behind theOrioles. They outscored their opponents 770 to 738. The Tigers drew 1,630,929 fans toTiger Stadium in 1979, ranking 7th of the 14 teams in theAmerican League. This season is most notable for both the Tigers' involvement in the infamousDisco Demolition Night, of which they were the visiting team to theChicago White Sox and declared winners by forfeit, as well as for their mid-season hiring ofSparky Anderson as manager. Anderson would manage the Tigers through the end of the 1995 season, winning the1984 World Series along with two American League Eastern Division titles in 1984 and1987.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Orioles | 102 | 57 | .642 | — | 55–24 | 47–33 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 95 | 66 | .590 | 8 | 52–29 | 43–37 |
| Boston Red Sox | 91 | 69 | .569 | 11½ | 51–29 | 40–40 |
| New York Yankees | 89 | 71 | .556 | 13½ | 51–30 | 38–41 |
| Detroit Tigers | 85 | 76 | .528 | 18 | 46–34 | 39–42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 81 | 80 | .503 | 22 | 47–34 | 34–46 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 53 | 109 | .327 | 50½ | 32–49 | 21–60 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 8–5 | 9–3 | 8–3 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 5–6 | 8–4 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 11–2 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–4 |
| California | 3–9 | 7–5 | — | 9–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 3–8 | 6–5 | 4–9 | — | 6–6 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 11–2 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 5–8 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 8–5 |
| Detroit | 6–7 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 6–6 | — | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 5–7 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 9–3 |
| Milwaukee | 5–8 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 10–3 |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 4–9 | 11–1 |
| New York | 6–5 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 5–7 | — | 9–3 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 9–4 |
| Oakland | 4–8 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 4–9 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | — | 8–5 | 2–11 | 4–8 |
| Seattle | 2–10 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 5–8 | — | 6–7 | 8–4 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 2–11 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 11–2 | 7–6 | — | 7–5 |
| Toronto | 2–11 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 1–11 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — |
| 1979 Detroit Tigers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders
Other batters | Manager Coaches | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Lance Parrish | 143 | 493 | 136 | .276 | 19 | 65 |
| 1B | Jason Thompson | 145 | 492 | 121 | .246 | 20 | 79 |
| 2B | Lou Whitaker | 127 | 423 | 121 | .286 | 3 | 42 |
| 3B | Aurelio Rodríguez | 106 | 343 | 87 | .254 | 5 | 36 |
| SS | Alan Trammell | 142 | 460 | 127 | .276 | 6 | 50 |
| LF | Steve Kemp | 134 | 490 | 156 | .318 | 26 | 105 |
| RF | Jerry Morales | 129 | 440 | 93 | .211 | 14 | 56 |
| CF | Ron LeFlore | 148 | 600 | 180 | .300 | 9 | 57 |
| DH | Rusty Staub | 68 | 246 | 58 | .236 | 9 | 40 |
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champ Summers | 90 | 246 | 77 | .313 | 20 | 51 |
| John Wockenfuss | 87 | 231 | 61 | .264 | 15 | 46 |
| Lynn Jones | 95 | 213 | 63 | .296 | 4 | 26 |
| Tom Brookens | 60 | 190 | 50 | .263 | 4 | 21 |
| Mark Wagner | 75 | 146 | 40 | .274 | 1 | 13 |
| Phil Mankowski | 42 | 99 | 22 | .222 | 0 | 8 |
| Al Greene | 29 | 59 | 8 | .136 | 3 | 6 |
| Ed Putman | 21 | 39 | 9 | .231 | 2 | 4 |
| Kirk Gibson | 12 | 38 | 9 | .237 | 1 | 4 |
| Dave Stegman | 12 | 31 | 6 | .194 | 3 | 5 |
| Dave Machemer | 19 | 26 | 5 | .192 | 0 | 2 |
| Tim Corcoran | 18 | 22 | 5 | .227 | 0 | 6 |
| Rick Peters | 10 | 19 | 5 | .263 | 0 | 2 |
| Dan Gonzales | 7 | 18 | 4 | .222 | 0 | 2 |
| Milt May | 6 | 11 | 3 | .273 | 0 | 3 |
Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Morris | 27 | 197.2 | 17 | 7 | 3.28 | 113 |
| Milt Wilcox | 33 | 196.1 | 12 | 10 | 4.35 | 109 |
| Dan Petry | 15 | 98.0 | 6 | 5 | 3.95 | 43 |
| Dave Rozema | 16 | 97.1 | 4 | 4 | 3.51 | 33 |
| Bruce Robbins | 10 | 46.0 | 3 | 3 | 3.91 | 22 |
| Mark Fidrych | 4 | 14.2 | 0 | 3 | 10.43 | 5 |
Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Billingham | 35 | 158.0 | 10 | 7 | 3.30 | 59 |
| Pat Underwood | 27 | 121.2 | 6 | 4 | 4.59 | 83 |
| Steve Baker | 21 | 84.0 | 1 | 7 | 6.64 | 54 |
| Kip Young | 13 | 43.2 | 2 | 2 | 6.39 | 22 |
| Mike Chris | 13 | 39.0 | 3 | 3 | 6.92 | 31 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L= Losses; SV = Saves; GF = Games finished; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | GF | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurelio López | 61 | 10 | 5 | 21 | 49 | 2.41 | 106 |
| John Hiller | 43 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 30 | 5.22 | 46 |
| Dave Tobik | 37 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 19 | 4.33 | 48 |
| Sheldon Burnside | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6.33 | 13 |
| Bruce Taylor | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4.82 | 8 |
| Fernando Arroyo | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8.25 | 7 |
The following members of the 1979 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their position, as ranked byThe Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001:
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Evansville
