| 1981 Detroit Tigers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Division | East | |||
| Ballpark | Tiger Stadium | |||
| City | Detroit,Michigan | |||
| Record |
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| Divisional place |
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| 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) | |||
| ||||
The1981Detroit Tigers season was the team's 81st season as a member of theAmerican League. Games were suspended for 50 days due to the1981 Major League Baseball strike, causing asplit season. The Tigers finished the first half of the season in fourth place in theAmerican 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 atTiger Stadium, ranking fifth of the 14 teams in the American League.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Brewers | 62 | 47 | .569 | — | 28–21 | 34–26 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 59 | 46 | .562 | 1 | 33–22 | 26–24 |
| New York Yankees | 59 | 48 | .551 | 2 | 32–19 | 27–29 |
| Detroit Tigers | 60 | 49 | .550 | 2 | 32–23 | 28–26 |
| Boston Red Sox | 59 | 49 | .546 | 2½ | 30–23 | 29–26 |
| Cleveland Indians | 52 | 51 | .505 | 7 | 25–29 | 27–22 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 37 | 69 | .349 | 23½ | 17–36 | 20–33 |
| AL East First Half Standings | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 34 | 22 | .607 | — |
| Baltimore Orioles | 31 | 23 | .574 | 2 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 31 | 25 | .554 | 3 |
| Detroit Tigers | 31 | 26 | .544 | 3+1⁄2 |
| Boston Red Sox | 30 | 26 | .536 | 4 |
| Cleveland Indians | 26 | 24 | .520 | 5 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 16 | 42 | .276 | 19 |
| AL East Second Half Standings | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Brewers | 31 | 22 | .585 | — |
| Boston Red Sox | 29 | 23 | .558 | 1+1⁄2 |
| Detroit Tigers | 29 | 23 | .558 | 1+1⁄2 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 28 | 23 | .549 | 2 |
| Cleveland Indians | 26 | 27 | .491 | 5 |
| New York Yankees | 25 | 26 | .490 | 5 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 21 | 27 | .438 | 7+1⁄2 |
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 | — | 2–2 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 4–2 | 6–7 | 5–3 | 2–4 | 6–0 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 5–2 |
| Boston | 2–2 | — | 2–4 | 5–4 | 7–6 | 6–1 | 3–3 | 6–7 | 2–5 | 3–3 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 3–6 | 4–0 |
| California | 6–6 | 4–2 | — | 6–7 | 7–5 | 3–3 | 0–6 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 2–8 | 6–4 | 2–4 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 6–3 | 4–5 | 7–6 | — | 2–5 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–4 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 2–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–2 | — | 1–5 | 4–4 | 3–6 | 2–1 | 7–5 | 3–2 | 8–4 | 2–2 | 4–2 |
| Detroit | 7–6 | 1–6 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 5–1 | — | 3–2 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 3–7 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 9–3 | 6–4 |
| Kansas City | 3–5 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 0–2 | 4–4 | 2–3 | — | 4–5 | 9–4 | 2–10 | 3–3 | 6–7 | 3–4 | 5–3 |
| Milwaukee | 4–2 | 7–6 | 3–4 | 1–4 | 6–3 | 8–5 | 5–4 | — | 9–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 4–5 | 6–4 |
| Minnesota | 0–6 | 5–2 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 3–9 | — | 3–3 | 2–8 | 3–6–1 | 5–8 | 5–1 |
| New York | 6–7 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–3 | 10–2 | 3–3 | 3–3 | — | 4–3 | 2–3 | 5–4 | 2–3 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 5–7 | 8–2 | 6–7 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 8–2 | 3–4 | — | 6–1 | 4–2 | 10–2 |
| Seattle | 2–4 | 3–9 | 4–6 | 3–3 | 4–8 | 1–5 | 7–6 | 2–2 | 6–3–1 | 3–2 | 1–6 | — | 5–8 | 3–3 |
| Texas | 1–2 | 6–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 3–9 | 4–3 | 5–4 | 8–5 | 4–5 | 2–4 | 8–5 | — | 6–2 |
| Toronto | 2–5 | 0–4 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 2–4 | 4–6 | 3–5 | 4–6 | 1–5 | 3–2 | 2–10 | 3–3 | 2–6 | — |
| 1981 Detroit Tigers roster | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders Other batters | Manager Coaches | ||||||
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 | 96 | 348 | 85 | .244 | 10 | 46 |
| 1B | Richie Hebner | 78 | 226 | 51 | .226 | 5 | 28 |
| 2B | Lou Whitaker | 109 | 335 | 88 | .263 | 5 | 36 |
| 3B | Tom Brookens | 71 | 239 | 58 | .243 | 4 | 25 |
| SS | Alan Trammell | 105 | 392 | 101 | .258 | 2 | 31 |
| LF | Steve Kemp | 105 | 372 | 103 | .277 | 9 | 49 |
| CF | Al Cowens | 85 | 253 | 66 | .261 | 1 | 18 |
| RF | Kirk Gibson | 83 | 290 | 95 | .328 | 9 | 40 |
| DH | John Wockenfuss | 70 | 172 | 37 | .215 | 9 | 25 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirk Gibson | 83 | 290 | 95 | .328 | 9 | 40 |
| Rick Peters | 63 | 207 | 53 | .256 | 0 | 15 |
| Lynn Jones | 71 | 174 | 45 | .259 | 2 | 19 |
| Champ Summers | 64 | 165 | 42 | .255 | 3 | 21 |
| Ron Jackson | 31 | 95 | 27 | .284 | 1 | 12 |
| Stan Papi | 40 | 93 | 19 | .204 | 3 | 12 |
| Rick Leach | 54 | 83 | 16 | .193 | 1 | 11 |
| Mick Kelleher | 61 | 77 | 17 | .221 | 0 | 6 |
| Bill Fahey | 27 | 67 | 17 | .254 | 1 | 9 |
| Darrell Brown | 16 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Duffy Dyer | 2 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |
Note: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Morris | 25 | 198.0 | 14 | 7 | 3.05 | 97 |
| Milt Wilcox | 24 | 166.1 | 12 | 9 | 3.03 | 79 |
| Dan Petry | 23 | 141.0 | 10 | 9 | 3.00 | 79 |
| Dan Schatzeder | 17 | 71.1 | 6 | 8 | 6.06 | 20 |
| Jerry Ujdur | 4 | 14.0 | 0 | 0 | 6.43 | 5 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Rozema | 28 | 104.0 | 5 | 5 | 3.63 | 46 |
| Howard Bailey | 9 | 36.2 | 1 | 4 | 7.36 | 17 |
| George Cappuzzello | 18 | 33.2 | 1 | 1 | 3.48 | 19 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Saucier | 38 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 23 | 1.65 | 23 |
| Aurelio López | 29 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 3.64 | 53 |
| Dave Tobik | 27 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 2.69 | 32 |
| Dennis Kinney | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.82 | 3 |
| Larry Rothschild | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1.59 | 1 |
| Dave Rucker | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6.75 | 2 |
1981 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The following members of the 1981 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their position, as ranked byThe Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract:
