1977 Detroit Tigers season

1977 Detroit Tigers
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) John Fetzer
General manager(s) Jim Campbell
Manager(s) Ralph Houk
Local television WWJ-TV
(George Kell, Larry Osterman, Joe Pellegrino, Al Kaline)
Local radio WJR
(Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey)
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The 1977 Detroit Tigers finished in fourth place in the American League East with a record of 74-88, 26 games behind the New York Yankees. They were outscored by their opponents 751 to 714. The Tigers drew 1,359,856 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1977, ranking 7th of the 14 teams in the American League.

Offseason

Regular season

With 212 hits, 100 runs scored, and a .325 batting average, center fielder Ron LeFlore was the team's most valuable player, and the recipient of the "Tiger of the Year" award. First baseman Jason Thompson led the team with 31 home runs and 105 RBIs, and second baseman Tito Fuentes was the team's only other .300 hitter, with a .309 batting average and 190 hits. Designated hitter Rusty Staub also had a solid season with a .278 batting average, 173 hits, 22 home runs, and 101 RBIs. Highly touted rookie Steve Kemp (the first pick in the 1976 amateur draft) hit .257 with 18 home runs and 88 RBIs.

The rookie sensation of 1976, Mark Fidrych pitched well in 1977 (2.89 ERA), but tendinitis limited "The Bird" to 11 games. The pitching star of 1977 for Detroit was rookie Dave Rozema who went 15-7 with a 3.09 ERA and finished eight in the American League Cy Young Award voting.

1977 also saw the debut of Steve Kemp (debut April 7, 1977), Dave Rozema (debut April 11, 1977), Jack Morris (debut July 26, 1977), Lance Parrish (debut September 5, 1977), Alan Trammell (debut September 9, 1977), and Lou Whitaker (debut September 9, 1977).

Season standings

AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 100 62 0.617 — 55–26 45–36
Baltimore Orioles 97 64 0.602 2½ 54–27 43–37
Boston Red Sox 97 64 0.602 2½ 51–29 46–35
Detroit Tigers 74 88 0.457 26 39–42 35–46
Cleveland Indians 71 90 0.441 28½ 37–44 34–46
Milwaukee Brewers 67 95 0.414 33 37–44 30–51
Toronto Blue Jays 54 107 0.335 45½ 25–55 29–52

Record vs. opponents

1977 American League Records

Sources:

Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore — 6–8 5–6 5–5 11–4 12–3 4–7 11–4 6–4 8–7 8–2 7–3 4–6 10–5
Boston 8–6 — 7–3 3–7 8–7 9–6 5–5 9–6 4–6 8–7 8–3 10–1 6–4 12–3
California 6–5 3–7 — 8–7 6–4 4–6 6–9 5–5 7–8 4–7 5–10 9–6 5–10 6–4
Chicago 5–5 7–3 7–8 — 6–4 4–6 8–7 6–5 10–5 3–7 10–5 10–5 6–9 8–3
Cleveland 4–11 7–8 4–6 4–6 — 8–7 3–7 11–4 2–9 3–12 7–3 7–3 2–9 9–5
Detroit 3–12 6–9 6–4 6–4 7–8 — 3–8 10–5 5–5 6–9 5–5 5–6 2–8 10–5
Kansas City 7–4 5–5 9–6 7–8 7–3 8–3 — 8–2 10–5 5–5 9–6 11–4 8–7 8–2
Milwaukee 4–11 6–9 5–5 5–6 4–11 5–10 2–8 — 3–8 8–7 5–5 7–3 5–5 8–7
Minnesota 4–6 6–4 8–7 5–10 9–2 5–5 5–10 8–3 — 2–8 8–6 7–8 8–7 9–1
New York 7–8 7–8 7–4 7–3 12–3 9–6 5–5 7–8 8–2 — 9–2 6–4 7–3 9–6
Oakland 2–8 3–8 10–5 5–10 3–7 5–5 6–9 5–5 6–8 2–9 — 7–8 2–13 7–3
Seattle 3–7 1–10 6–9 5–10 3–7 6–5 4–11 3–7 8–7 4–6 8–7 — 9–6 4–6
Texas 6–4 4–6 10–5 9–6 9–2 8–2 7–8 5–5 7–8 3–7 13–2 6–9 — 7–4
Toronto 5–10 3–12 4–6 3–8 5–9 5–10 2–8 7–8 1–9 6–9 3–7 6–4 4–7 —

Notable transactions

Roster

1977 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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 May, MiltMilt May 115 397 99 .249 12 46
1B Thompson, JasonJason Thompson 158 585 158 .270 31 105
2B Fuentes, TitoTito Fuentes 151 615 190 .309 5 51
3B Rodríguez, AurelioAurelio Rodríguez 96 306 67 .219 10 32
SS Veryzer, TomTom Veryzer 125 350 69 .197 2 28
CF LeFlore, RonRon LeFlore 154 652 212 .325 16 57
LF Kemp, SteveSteve Kemp 151 552 142 .257 18 88
RF Oglivie, BenBen Oglivie 132 450 118 .262 21 61
DH Staub, RustyRusty Staub 158 623 173 .278 22 101

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
Mankowski, PhilPhil Mankowski 94 286 79 .276 3 27
Stanley, MickeyMickey Stanley 75 222 51 .230 8 23
Wockenfuss, JohnJohn Wockenfuss 53 164 45 .274 9 25
Corcoran, TimTim Corcoran 55 103 29 .282 3 15
Scrivener, ChuckChuck Scrivener 61 72 6 .083 0 2
Wagner, MarkMark Wagner 22 48 7 .146 1 3
Parrish, LanceLance Parrish 12 46 9 .196 3 7
Trammell, AlanAlan Trammell 19 43 8 .186 0 0
Whitaker, LouLou Whitaker 11 32 8 .250 0 2
Kimm, BruceBruce Kimm 14 25 2 .080 0 1
Adams, BobBob Adams 15 24 6 .250 2 2
Horton, WillieWillie Horton 1 4 1 .250 0 0
Molinaro, BobBob Molinaro 4 4 1 .250 0 0
Alvarado, LuisLuis Alvarado 2 1 0 .000 0 0

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
Rozema, DaveDave Rozema 28 218.1 15 7 3.09 92
Arroyo, FernandoFernando Arroyo 38 209.1 8 18 4.17 60
Roberts, DaveDave Roberts 22 129.1 4 10 5.15 46
Fidrych, MarkMark Fidrych 11 81 6 4 2.89 42
Ruhle, VernVern Ruhle 14 66.1 3 5 5.70 27
Morris, JackJack Morris 7 45.2 1 1 3.74 28
Bare, RayRay Bare 5 14.1 0 2 12.56 4

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
Sykes, BobBob Sykes 32 132.7 5 7 4.41 58
Crawford, JimJim Crawford 37 126 7 8 4.79 91
Wilcox, MiltMilt Wilcox 20 106.3 6 2 3.64 82
Glynn, EdEd Glynn 8 27.1 2 1 5.27 13

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
Foucault, SteveSteve Foucault 44 7 7 13 34 3.15 58
Hiller, JohnJohn Hiller 45 8 14 7 27 3.56 115
Grilli, SteveSteve Grilli 30 1 2 0 13 4.83 49
Taylor, BruceBruce Taylor 19 1 0 2 12 3.38 19

Awards and honors

Award winners

Ron LeFlore

Dave Rozema

Jason Thompson

All-Stars

Jason Thompson, reserve

League top ten finishers

Fernando Arroyo

Mark Fidrych

Tito Fuentes

Steve Kemp

Ron LeFlore

Dave Rozema

Rusty Staub

Jason Thompson

Alan Trammell

Players ranking among top 100 all time at position

The following members of the 1977 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their position, as ranked by The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001:

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Evansville Triplets American Association Les Moss
AA Montgomery Rebels Southern League Eddie Brinkman
A Lakeland Tigers Florida State League Jim Leyland
Rookie Bristol Tigers Appalachian League Joe Lewis

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Montgomery, Lakeland, Bristol

Notes

References

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