| 2000 Detroit Tigers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Division | Central | |||
| Ballpark | Comerica Park | |||
| City | Detroit,Michigan | |||
| Owners | Mike Ilitch | |||
| General managers | Randy Smith | |||
| Managers | Phil Garner | |||
| Television | WKBD (Frank Beckmann,Al Kaline) Fox Sports Detroit (Josh Lewin,Kirk Gibson,Tom Paciorek) | |||
| Radio | Detroit Tigers Radio Network (Ernie Harwell,Jim Price,Dan Dickerson) | |||
| ||||
The2000 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 100th season and their first season atComerica Park, after having played atTiger Stadium since1912, at the corner ofMichigan Avenue and Trumbull Avenue (also site of their previous stadiums since 1896).
Honored 2000 Harry Heilmann OF: 1914–29 Heinie | Honored 2000 Hughie Jennings M: 1907–20 Sam | Honored 2000 Mickey Cochrane C: 1934–37 M: 1934–38 George Kell 3B: 1946-52 | Honored 2000 Ernie Harwell Broadcaster: 1960–2002 | Honored 2000 |
Groundbreaking for a new ballpark to replace Tiger Stadium for the Detroit Tigers was held on October 29, 1997, and the new stadium was opened to the public in 2000. At the time of construction, the scoreboard in left field was the largest inMajor League Baseball.[6] In December 1998, Comerica Bank agreed to pay US$66 million over 30 years for the naming rights for the new ballpark. Upon its opening, there was some effort to try to find a nickname for the park, with the abbreviationCoPa suggested by many,[7] but that nickname has not gained widespread acceptance.
The first game atComerica Park was held on Tuesday, April 11, 2000, with 39,168 spectators attending on a cold snowy afternoon. Grounds people had to clear snow off the field from the night before. The Tigers defeated theSeattle Mariners by a score of 5–2. The winningpitcher, like in thefinal game at Tiger Stadium wasBrian Moehler.
The Tigers were involved in a pair ofbench-clearing brawls in a 14–6 loss to theChicago White Sox atComiskey Park on April 22. Both were fueled bypitchers hitting batters. The tensions began in the sixth inning withCarlos Lee andJeff Weaver who continued to jaw with Lee after being subbed out. A retaliatory pitch thrown byJim Parque toDean Palmer one inning later in the seventh began the first brawl which moved into shallow right field and includedKeith Foulke beingpunched byBobby Higginson and sustaining acut under his lefteye that needed fivestitches to close. Four batters afterTanyon Sturtze hitDeivi Cruz in the ninth, the second brawl erupted whenBob Howry did likewise toShane Halter. Among the eleven ejections were the Tigers' Weaver, Palmer,Robert Fick,Danny Patterson andDoug Brocail and White Sox's Sturtze, Howry,Magglio Ordóñez,Bill Simas, managerJerry Manuel and bench coachJoe Nossek.[8]
In the harshest penalty for a brawl in MLB history, a combined 16 members of the Tigers and White Sox were suspended for a total of 82 games five days later on April 27.[9] Tigers coachJuan Samuel incurred the longest at 15 for throwing punches rather than serving as a peacemaker, while the opposing managers Manuel andPhil Garner each received eight. Palmer was also assessed eight for participating in the second brawl despite having already been ejected. Other suspended Tigers were Higginson and Fick for five each, Brocail for four andJuan Encarnación,Karim García andLuis Polonia for three. Ordóñez was the White Sox player receiving the longest suspension at five, while Lee, Parque, Foulke, Sturtze and Howry got three each.[10]
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago White Sox | 95 | 67 | .586 | — | 46–35 | 49–32 |
| Cleveland Indians | 90 | 72 | .556 | 5 | 48–33 | 42–39 |
| Detroit Tigers | 79 | 83 | .488 | 16 | 43–38 | 36–45 |
| Kansas City Royals | 77 | 85 | .475 | 18 | 42–39 | 35–46 |
| Minnesota Twins | 69 | 93 | .426 | 26 | 36–45 | 33–48 |
| Team | ANA | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TB | TEX | TOR | NL | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anaheim | — | 7–5 | 5–4 | 4–6 | 3–6 | 5–5 | 6–6 | 7–3 | 5–5 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 12–6 | ||
| Baltimore | 5–7 | — | 5–7 | 4–6 | 5–4 | 6–4 | 3–7 | 6–3 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 3–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 7–11 | ||
| Boston | 4–5 | 7–5 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–6 | 8–2 | 6–7 | 5–5 | 5–5 | 6–6 | 7–3 | 4–8 | 9–9 | ||
| Chicago | 6–4 | 6–4 | 5–7 | — | 8–5 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 6–3 | 7–5 | 6–4 | 5–5 | 5–5 | 12–6 | ||
| Cleveland | 6–3 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 | — | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 5–5 | 6–6 | 7–2 | 8–2 | 6–4 | 8–4 | 13–5 | ||
| Detroit | 5–5 | 4–6 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 7–6 | — | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 6–4 | 7–2 | 4–5 | 5–5 | 3–9 | 10–8 | ||
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 7–3 | 6–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | — | 7–5 | 2–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 5–5 | 3–7 | 4–6 | 8–10 | ||
| Minnesota | 3–7 | 3–6 | 2–8 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 5–7 | — | 5–5 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 4–6 | 8–4 | 5–4 | 7–11 | ||
| New York | 5–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 5–5 | 4–8 | 8–2 | 5–5 | — | 6–3 | 4–6 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 5–7 | 11–6 | ||
| Oakland | 8–5 | 8–4 | 5–5 | 3–6 | 6–6 | 4–6 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 3–6 | — | 9–4 | 7–2 | 5–7 | 7–3 | 11–7 | ||
| Seattle | 8–5 | 7–3 | 5–5 | 5–7 | 2–7 | 2–7 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 6–4 | 4–9 | — | 9–3 | 7–5 | 8–2 | 11–7 | ||
| Tampa Bay | 6–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 4–6 | 2–8 | 5–4 | 5–5 | 6–4 | 6–6 | 2–7 | 3–9 | — | 5–7 | 5–7 | 9–9 | ||
| Texas | 5–7 | 6–6 | 3–7 | 5–5 | 4–6 | 5–5 | 7–3 | 4–8 | 2–10 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 4–6 | 7–11 | ||
| Toronto | 7–5 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 5–5 | 4–8 | 9–3 | 6–4 | 4–5 | 7–5 | 3–7 | 2–8 | 7–5 | 6–4 | — | 9–9 | ||
| 2000 Detroit Tigers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
| Catchers Infielders | Outfielders
Other batters | Manager Coaches | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Higginson | 154 | 597 | 179 | .300 | 30 | 102 |
| Deivi Cruz | 156 | 583 | 176 | .302 | 10 | 82 |
| Juan Encarnación | 141 | 547 | 158 | .289 | 14 | 72 |
| Dean Palmer | 145 | 524 | 134 | .256 | 29 | 102 |
| Brad Ausmus | 150 | 523 | 139 | .266 | 7 | 51 |
| Damion Easley | 126 | 464 | 120 | .259 | 14 | 58 |
| Juan González | 115 | 461 | 133 | .289 | 22 | 67 |
| Luis Polonia | 80 | 267 | 73 | .273 | 6 | 25 |
| Shane Halter | 105 | 238 | 62 | .261 | 3 | 27 |
| Rich Becker | 92 | 238 | 58 | .244 | 7 | 34 |
| Tony Clark | 60 | 208 | 57 | .274 | 13 | 37 |
| Wendell Magee | 91 | 186 | 51 | .274 | 7 | 31 |
| José Macías | 73 | 173 | 44 | .254 | 2 | 24 |
| Robert Fick | 66 | 163 | 41 | .252 | 3 | 22 |
| Gregg Jefferies | 41 | 142 | 39 | .275 | 2 | 14 |
| Billy McMillon | 46 | 123 | 37 | .301 | 4 | 24 |
| Hal Morris | 40 | 106 | 33 | .311 | 1 | 8 |
| Javier Cardona | 26 | 40 | 7 | .175 | 1 | 2 |
| Karim García | 8 | 17 | 3 | .176 | 0 | 0 |
| Dusty Allen | 18 | 16 | 7 | .438 | 2 | 2 |
| Eric Munson | 3 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
| Rod Lindsey | 11 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Gabe Alvarez | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Pitcher Totals | 162 | 19 | 1 | .053 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 162 | 5644 | 1553 | .275 | 177 | 785 |
Note: Individual pitchers' batting statistics not included
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Weaver | 31 | 200.0 | 11 | 15 | 4.32 | 136 |
| Hideo Nomo | 32 | 190.0 | 8 | 12 | 4.74 | 181 |
| Brian Moehler | 29 | 178.0 | 12 | 9 | 4.50 | 103 |
| Dave Mlicki | 24 | 119.1 | 6 | 11 | 5.58 | 57 |
| Steve Sparks | 20 | 104.0 | 7 | 5 | 4.07 | 53 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willie Blair | 47 | 156.2 | 10 | 6 | 4.88 | 74 |
| C.J. Nitkowski | 67 | 109.2 | 4 | 9 | 5.25 | 81 |
| Adam Bernero | 12 | 34.1 | 0 | 1 | 4.19 | 20 |
| Mark Johnson | 9 | 24.0 | 0 | 1 | 7.50 | 11 |
| Dave Borkowski | 2 | 5.1 | 0 | 1 | 21.94 | 1 |
| = Indicates league leader |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Todd Jones | 67 | 64.0 | 2 | 4 | 42* | 3.52 | 67 |
| Matt Anderson | 69 | 74.1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4.72 | 71 |
| Danny Patterson | 58 | 56.2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3.97 | 29 |
| Doug Brocail | 49 | 50.2 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4.09 | 41 |
| Nelson Cruz | 27 | 41.0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3.07 | 34 |
| Jim Poole | 18 | 8.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7.27 | 5 |
| Allen McDill | 13 | 10.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.20 | 7 |
| Kevin Tolar | 5 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 3 |
| Brandon Villafuerte | 3 | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.38 | 1 |
| Erik Hiljus | 3 | 3.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.36 | 2 |
| Sean Runyan | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 1 |
| Masao Kida | 2 | 2.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.13 | 0 |
| Shane Halter | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 |
| Team Pitching Totals | 162 | 1443.1 | 79 | 83 | 44 | 4.71 | 978 |
