1979 Detroit Tigers season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 Detroit Tigers 1979 American League East Tiger Stadium Detroit, Michigan John Fetzer Jim Campbell Les Moss, Dick Tracewski, Sparky Anderson WDIV-TV(George Kell, Mike Barry, Al Kaline) WJR(Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey) The 1979 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 79th season and the 68th season at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers finished in fifth place in the American League East with a record of 85–76, 18 games behind the Orioles. They outscored their opponents 770 to 738. The Tigers drew 1,630,929 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1979, ranking 7th of the 14 teams in the American League. This season is most notable for both the Tigers' involvement in the infamous Disco Demolition Night, of which they were the visiting team to the Chicago White Sox and declared winners by forfeit, as well as for their mid-season hiring of Sparky Anderson as manager. Anderson would manage the Tigers through the end of the 1995 season, winning the 1984 World Series along with two American League Eastern Division titles in 1984 and 1987. Offseason March 20, 1979: Steve Dillard was traded by the Tigers to the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later. The Cubs completed the deal by sending Ed Putman to the Tigers on March 24.Ed Putman at Baseball-Reference Regular season Season standings Record vs. opponents DET Notable transactions May 25, 1979: The Tigers traded a player to be named later to the Cincinnati Reds for Champ Summers. The Tigers completed the deal by sending Sheldon Burnside to the Reds on October 25.Champ Summers at Baseball-Reference June 5, 1979: University of Michigan football quarterback Rick Leach was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 1st round (13th pick) of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft.Rick Leach at Baseball-Reference July 20, 1979: Rusty Staub was traded by the Tigers to the Montreal Expos for a player to be named later and cash. The Expos completed the deal by sending Randy Schafer (minors) to the Tigers on December 3.Rusty Staub at Baseball-Reference Roster 1979 Detroit Tigers Roster Pitchers 36 Fernando Arroyo 31 Steve Baker 41 Jack Billingham 42 Sheldon Burnside 43 Mike Chris 20 Mark Fidrych 18 John Hiller 29 Aurelio López 47 Jack Morris 46 Dan Petry 48 Bruce Robbins 19 Dave Rozema 32 Bruce Taylor 38 Dave Tobik 40 Pat Underwood 39 Milt Wilcox 37 Kip Young Catchers 12 Milt May 13 Lance Parrish 12 Ed Putman Infielders 16 Tom Brookens  9 Dave Machemer  2 Phil Mankowski 32 Rick Peters  4 Aurelio Rodríguez 30 Jason Thompson  3 Alan Trammell  5 Mark Wagner  1 Lou Whitaker 14 John Wockenfuss Outfielders 25 Tim Corcoran 23 Kirk Gibson 34 Dan Gonzales 21 Al Greene 35 Lynn Jones 33 Steve Kemp  8 Ron LeFlore 27 Jerry Morales 22 Dave Stegman 24 Champ Summers Other batters 10 Rusty Staub Manager 7,11 Sparky Anderson 54 Les Moss 53 Dick Tracewski Coaches 51 Ed Brinkman 26 Gates Brown 50 Billy Consolo 52 Johnny Grodzicki 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 143 493 136 .276 19 65 1B Jason Thompson Jason Thompson (first baseman, born 1954) 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 baseball 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 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 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 Mark Wagner (shortstop) 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 Tim Corcoran (first baseman) 18 22 5 .227 0 6 Rick Peters Rick Peters (baseball) 10 19 5 .263 0 2 Dan Gonzales 7 18 4 .222 0 2 Milt May 6 11 3 .273 0 3 Pitching 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 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 baseball 10 46.0 3 3 3.91 22 Mark Fidrych 4 14.2 0 3 10.43 5 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 Jack Billingham 35 158.0 10 7 3.30 59 Pat Underwood 27 121.2 6 4 4.59 83 Steve Baker Steve Baker (baseball) 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 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 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 Bruce Taylor (baseball) 10 1 2 0 8 4.82 8 Fernando Arroyo 6 1 1 0 3 8.25 7 Awards and honors Steve Kemp, Tiger of the Year Award, from Detroit baseball writers All-Stars Steve Kemp, reserve League top ten finishes Steve Kemp #4 in AL in OPS (.939) #8 in AL in batting average (.318) Ron LeFlore #2 in MLB in stolen bases (78) #3 in AL in singles (139) #4 in AL in times caught stealing (14) #5 in AL in triples (10) #7 in AL in runs scored (110) Aurelio López #3 in AL in saves (21) #5 in AL in games finished (49) Jack Morris #4 in AL in Adjusted ERA+ (133) #5 in AL in ERA (3.28) #5 in AL in wins (17) #5 in AL win percentage (.708) #4 in AL in hits allowed per 9 innings (8.15) Bruce Robbins 3rd youngest player in the AL Alan Trammell #4 in AL in times caught stealing (14) Milt Wilcox #2 in MLB in hit batsmen (11) 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 in 2001: Lance Parrish: 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: 9th best shortstop of all time (played 19 games as a rookie) Aurelio Rodríguez: 91st best third baseman of all time Ron LeFlore: 80th best center fielder of all time Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Evansville Triplets American Association Jim Leyland AA Montgomery Rebels Southern League Dennis Sommers A Lakeland Tigers Florida State League Fred Hatfield Rookie Bristol Tigers Appalachian League Joe Lewis LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Evansville Notes 2 References Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 External links Baseball 1979 Detroit Tigers Regular Season Statistics at Baseball Reference Category:Detroit Tigers seasons Detroit Tigers season Detroit Tiger Category:1979 in Detroit