The 1978 Detroit Tigers

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...

finished in fifth place in the American League East

American League East

The American League Eastern Division is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions . This division was created before the start of the 1969 season along with the Western Division...

 with a record of 88-74, 13½ games behind the Yankees

1978 New York Yankees season

The 1978 New York Yankees season was the 76th season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 100-63, finishing one game ahead of the Boston Red Sox to win their third American League East title. The two teams were tied after 162 games, leading to a one-game playoff, which the Yankees...

. They outscored their opponents 714 to 653.

Offseason

• January 10, 1978: Chris Codiroli
  Chris Codiroli
  Christopher Allen Codiroli , is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1982–1988 and 1990.-Teams:* Oakland Athletics 1982-1987* Cleveland Indians 1988...
  
   was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 1978 Major League Baseball Draft
  1978 Major League Baseball Draft
  -First round selections:The following are the first round picks in the 1978 Major League Baseball draft.- Background :In 1978, four players made the jump from amateur baseball to the major leagues, including Arizona State third baseman Bob Horner, who was selected number one overall by the Atlanta...
  
  .
• January 30, 1978: Tito Fuentes
  Tito Fuentes
  Rigoberto "Tito" Fuentes Peat is a retired second baseman who played for 13 seasons in the Major Leagues between 1965 and 1978...
  
   was purchased from the Tigers by the Montreal Expos
  Washington Nationals
  The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
  
  .

Regular season

The Tigers drew 1,714,893 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1978, ranking 5th of the 14 teams in the American League.

Notable transactions

• June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball Draft
  1978 Major League Baseball Draft
  -First round selections:The following are the first round picks in the 1978 Major League Baseball draft.- Background :In 1978, four players made the jump from amateur baseball to the major leagues, including Arizona State third baseman Bob Horner, who was selected number one overall by the Atlanta...
  
  
  • Kirk Gibson
    Kirk Gibson
    Kirk Harold Gibson is a former Major League Baseball player and currently the manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. As a player, Gibson was an outfielder who batted and threw left-handed...
    
     was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round (12th pick).
  • Jerry Ujdur
    Jerry Ujdur
    Gerald Raymond Ujdur is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Ujdur pitched in all or part of five seasons from through ....
    
     was drafted by the Tigers in the 4th round.

Roster

1978 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers		Catchers Infielders		Outfielders Other batters		Manager Coaches

Starters by position

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		105	352	88	.250	10	37
1B		153	589	169	.287	26	79
2B		139	484	138	.285	3	58
3B		134	385	102	.265	7	43
SS		139	448	120	.268	2	34
LF		159	582	161	.277	15	79
CF		155	666	198	.297	12	62
RF		116	324	86	.265	1	27
DH		162	642	175	.273	24	121

Other batters

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
	85	288	63	.219	14	41
	88	222	61	.275	4	20
	71	187	53	.283	7	22
	53	151	40	.265	3	8
	56	130	29	.223	0	7
	39	109	26	.239	0	6
	10	28	7	.250	0	2
	8	14	4	.286	1	3

Starting pitchers

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	35	233.2	17	11	4.12	92
	29	215.1	13	12	3.76	132
	28	209.1	9	12	3.14	57
	30	201.2	15	8	3.88	59
	14	105.2	6	7	2.81	49
	3	22	2	0	2.45	10

Other pitchers

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	28	106	3	5	4.33	48
	22	93.2	6	6	3.94	58
	15	63.1	2	4	4.55	39

Relief pitchers

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
	51	9	4	14	46	2.34	74
	24	2	4	4	15	3.13	18
	20	2	3	0	10	4.35	24
	10	0	0	0	6	3.07	9
	5	0	0	0	4	3.75	11
	2	0	0	0	1	8.31	1
	2	0	0	0	1	9.00	3
	1	0	0	0	1	0.00	0

Awards and honors

Lou Whitaker

• AL Rookie of the Year Award

Ron LeFlore

Ron LeFlore

Ronald LeFlore is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He played six seasons with the Detroit Tigers before being traded to the Montreal Expos, retiring as a Chicago White Sox in . He stole 455 bases in his career, and was an American League All-Star selection in 1976...

• Tiger of the Year Award, from Detroit baseball writers

League top ten finishers

Steve Kemp

Steve Kemp

Steven F. Kemp is a former Major League Baseball outfielder from 1977 to 1986 and 1988. He is of Armenian heritage.-Professional career:...

• #3 in AL in bases on balls (97)
• #4 in AL in times on base (259)
• #5 in AL in games played (159)

Ron LeFlore

Ron LeFlore

Ronald LeFlore is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He played six seasons with the Detroit Tigers before being traded to the Montreal Expos, retiring as a Chicago White Sox in . He stole 455 bases in his career, and was an American League All-Star selection in 1976...

• MLB leader in runs scored (126)
• AL leader in stolen bases (68)
• AL leader in singles (153)
• #2 in AL in hits (198)
• #2 in AL in runs created (105)
• #2 in MLB in at bats (666)
• #2 in MLB in plate appearances (741)
• #3 in MLB in times on base (267)
• #3 in AL in outs (501)
• #4 in AL in Power/Speed Number (20.4)
• #5 in AL in times caught stealing (16)

Dave Rozema

Dave Rozema

David Scott Rozema , nicknamed "Rosey", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher.-Early years and 1977 rookie season:...

• #5 in MLB in bases on balls per 9 innings pitched (1.76)

Jim Slaton

Jim Slaton

James Michael Slaton was a pitcher with a 16 year career from 1971-1986. He played in the American League with the Milwaukee Brewers from 1971–1977 and 1979–1983, the Detroit Tigers in 1978 and 1986, and the California Angels from 1984-1986.Slaton played high school baseball at Antelope Valley...

• #4 in AL in hit batsemen (8)
• #5 in AL in wild pitches (10)

Rusty Staub

Rusty Staub

Daniel Joseph "Rusty" Staub is an American former Major League Baseball right fielder, designated hitter, and first baseman. He enjoyed a 23-year baseball career with 5 different teams...

• #2 in MLB in RBIs (121)
• #2 in MLB in games played (162)
• #2 in AL in sacrifice flies (11)
• #2 in AL in at bats per strikeout (18.3)
• #2 in AL in outs (505)
• #3 in AL in at bats (642)
• #3 in MLB in plate appearances (734)
• #3 in MLB in times grounded into double plays (24)
• #4 in AL total bases (279)
• #5 in AL in hits (175)
• #5 in AL in times on base (254)

Jason Thompson

• #4 in AL in runs created (104)
• #5 in AL in total bases (278)

Milt Wilcox

Milt Wilcox

Milton Edward Wilcox was a pitcher who had a sixteen-year career from 1970 to 1975, 1977–1986. He played for the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs of the National League and the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners of the American League...

• #4 in AL in hit batsemen (8)

Players ranking among top 100 all time at position

The following members of the 1979 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their position, as ranked by The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract

The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract

The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract is a reference-type book written by Bill James featuring an overview of baseball decade by decade, along with rankings of the top 100 players at each position. The original edition was published in 1985 by Villard Books, followed by The New Bill James...

 in 2001:

• Lance Parrish
  Lance Parrish
  Lance Michael Parrish, aka "Big Wheel", is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Detroit Tigers , Philadelphia Phillies , California Angels , Seattle Mariners , Cleveland Indians , Pittsburgh Pirates , and the Toronto Blue Jays...
  
  : 19th best catcher of all time (played 12 games as a rookie)
• Lou Whitaker: 13th best second baseman of all time (played 11 games as a rookie)
• Alan Trammell
  Alan Trammell
  Alan Stuart Trammell is a retired American baseball shortstop of the Detroit Tigers from to . Trammell, nicknamed "Tram", played his entire career with the Tigers, highlighted by a World Series championship in and an American League East division championship in . Although his arm was not...
  
  : 9th best shortstop of all time (played 19 games as a rookie)
• Aurelio Rodríguez
  Aurelio Rodríguez
  Aurelio Rodríguez Ituarte, Jr. , was a third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the California Angels , Washington Senators , Detroit Tigers , San Diego Padres , New York Yankees , Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles...
  
  : 91st best third baseman of all time
• Ron LeFlore
  Ron LeFlore
  Ronald LeFlore is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He played six seasons with the Detroit Tigers before being traded to the Montreal Expos, retiring as a Chicago White Sox in . He stole 455 bases in his career, and was an American League All-Star selection in 1976...
  
  : 80th best center fielder of all time

Farm system