1981 Detroit Tigers season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 Detroit Tigers 1981 American League East Tiger Stadium Detroit, Michigan 1st half: 31–26 (.544) 2nd half: 29–23 (.558) Overall: 60–49 (.550) 1st half: 4th (3 1 2 GB) 2nd half: 2nd (tied; 1 1 2 GB) John Fetzer Jim Campbell Sparky Anderson WDIV-TV(George Kell, Al Kaline) ONTV(Larry Adderley, Hank Aguirre, Norm Cash) WJR(Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey) The 1981 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 81st season as a member of the American League. Games were suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, causing a split season. The Tigers finished the first half of the season in fourth place in the American 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 at Tiger Stadium, ranking fifth of the 14 teams in the American League. Offseason December 12, 1980: Dave Stegman was traded by the Tigers to the San Diego Padres for Dennis Kinney.Dennis Kinney at Baseball Reference January 13, 1981: Mike Sharperson was drafted by the Tigers in the 4th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.Mike Sharperson at Baseball Reference March 29, 1981: Jim Lentine was released by the Tigers.Jim Lentine at Baseball Reference Regular season Season standings Record vs. opponents DET Notable transactions April 3, 1981: Chris Codiroli was released by the Tigers.Chris Codiroli at Baseball Reference April 3, 1981: Chuck Hensley was released by the Tigers.Chuck Hensley at Baseball Reference August 23, 1981: The Tigers traded a player to be named later to the Minnesota Twins for Ron Jackson. The Tigers completed the deal by sending Tim Corcoran to the Twins on September 4.Ron Jackson at Baseball Reference Roster 1981 Detroit Tigers roster Roster Pitchers 60 Howard Bailey 41 George Cappuzzello 29 Aurelio López 47 Jack Morris 46 Dan Petry 42 Larry Rothschild 19 Dave Rozema 49 Dave Rucker 31 Kevin Saucier 36 Dan Schatzeder 45 Dave Tobik 28 Jerry Ujdur 39 Milt Wilcox Catchers 15 Duffy Dyer 17 Bill Fahey 13 Lance Parrish Infielders 16 Tom Brookens 12 Marty Castillo  2 Richie Hebner 15 Ron Jackson 18 Mick Kelleher  7 Rick Leach  9 Stan Papi  3 Alan Trammell  1 Lou Whitaker Outfielders 34 Darrell Brown 10 Al Cowens 23 Kirk Gibson 35 Lynn Jones 33 Steve Kemp 32 Rick Peters Other batters 24 Champ Summers 14 John Wockenfuss Manager 11 Sparky Anderson Coaches 26 Gates Brown 50 Billy Consolo 38 Roger Craig 51 Alex Grammas 53 Dick Tracewski 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 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 baseball 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 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 Kirk Gibson 83 290 95 .328 9 40 Rick Peters Rick Peters (baseball) 63 207 53 .256 0 15 Lynn Jones 71 174 45 .259 2 19 Champ Summers 64 165 42 .255 3 21 Ron Jackson baseball, born 1953 31 95 27 .284 1 12 Stan Papi 40 93 19 .204 3 12 Rick Leach Rick Leach (baseball) 54 83 16 .193 1 11 Mick Kelleher 61 77 17 .221 0 6 Bill Fahey 27 67 17 .254 1 9 Darrell Brown Darrell Brown (baseball) 16 4 1 .250 0 0 Duffy Dyer 2 0 0 ---- 0 0 Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included Pitching Starting pitchers 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 Other pitchers 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 Howard Bailey (baseball) 9 36.2 1 4 7.36 17 George Cappuzzello 18 33.2 1 1 3.48 19 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 SOKevin Saucier 38 4 2 13 23 1.65 23Aurelio López 29 5 2 3 19 3.64 53Dave Tobik 27 2 2 1 9 2.69 32Dennis 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 Awards and honors Kirk Gibson, Tiger of the Year Award, from Detroit baseball writers Alan Trammell, AL Gold Glove Award, shortstop 1981 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Jack Morris, starter, pitcher League top ten finishers Kirk Gibson #3 in AL in batting average (.328) #4 in AL in Power/Speed Number (11.8) Steve Kemp #4 in AL in on-base percentage (.389) #3 in AL in bases on balls (70) #3 in AL in times on base (174) Jack Morris MLB leader in wins (14) (tied with four others) MLB leader in bases on balls allowed (78) #2 in MLB in innings pitched (198) #2 in MLB in games started (25) #3 in AL in hits allowed per 9 innings pitched (6.95) #3 in MLB in complete games (15) #3 in MLB in batters faced (798) #6 in AL in home runs allowed (14) #9 in AL in earned runs allowed (67) Lance Parrish #3 in AL in times grounded into double plays (16) Kevin Saucier #5 in AL in saves (13) Alan Trammell AL leader in sacrifice hits (16) Lou Whitaker AL leader in games played (109) AL leader in games at second base (108) AL leader in innings at second base (918-1/3) AL leader in assists by a second baseman (354) Milt Wilcox #5 in AL in games started (24) #5 in AL in hit batsmen (6) Players ranking among top 100 all time at position The following members of the 1981 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their position, as ranked by The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract: Lance Parrish: 19th best catcher of all time Lou Whitaker: 13th best second baseman of all time Alan Trammell: 9th best shortstop of all time Kirk Gibson: 36th best left fielder of all time Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Evansville Triplets American Association Jim Leyland AA Birmingham Barons Southern League Roy Majtyka A Lakeland Tigers Florida State League Ted Brazell A Macon Peaches South Atlantic League Tom Kotchman Rookie Bristol Tigers Appalachian League Joe Lewis Notes 2 References Baseball Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 1981 Detroit Tigers Regular Season Statistics at Baseball Reference Category:Detroit Tigers seasons Detroit Tigers season Detroit Tiger Category:1981 in Detroit