1979 Detroit Tigers season

1979 Detroit Tigers
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Tiger Stadium (since 1912)
Detroit, Michigan (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	John Fetzer
General manager(s)	Jim Campbell
Manager(s)	Les Moss, Dick Tracewski, Sparky Anderson
Local television	WDIV-TV (George Kell, Mike Barry, Al Kaline)
Local radio	WJR (Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey)
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The 1979 Detroit 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 the Tigers' involvement in Disco Demolition Night, of which they were the visiting team to the Chicago White Sox and declared winners by forfeit. Sparky Anderson was hired as manager in mid-June and would continue manage the Tigers through the end of the 1995 season.

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.^[1]

Regular season

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	102	57	0.642	—	55–24	47–33
Milwaukee Brewers	95	66	0.590	8	52–29	43–37
Boston Red Sox	91	69	0.569	11½	51–29	40–40
New York Yankees	89	71	0.556	13½	51–30	38–41
Detroit Tigers	85	76	0.528	18	46–34	39–42
Cleveland Indians	81	80	0.503	22	47–34	34–46
Toronto Blue Jays	53	109	0.327	50½	32–49	21–60

Record vs. opponents

1979 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	8–5	9–3	8–3	8–5	7–6	6–6	8–5	8–4	5–6	8–4	10–2	6–6	11–2
Boston	5–8	—	5–7	5–6	6–7	8–5	8–4	8–4	9–3	5–8	9–3	8–4	6–6	9–4
California	3–9	7–5	—	9–4	6–6	4–8	7–6	7–5	9–4	7–5	10–3	7–6	5–8	7–5
Chicago	3–8	6–5	4–9	—	6–6	3–9	5–8	5–7	5–8	4–8	9–4	5–8	11–2	7–5
Cleveland	5–8	7–6	6–6	6–6	—	6–6	6–6	4–9	8–4	5–8	8–4	7–5	5–7	8–5
Detroit	6–7	5–8	8–4	9–3	6–6	—	5–7	6–7	4–8	7–6	7–5	7–5	6–6	9–4
Kansas City	6–6	4–8	6–7	8–5	6–6	7–5	—	5–7	7–6	5–7	9–4	7–6	6–7	9–3
Milwaukee	5–8	4–8	5–7	7–5	9–4	7–6	7–5	—	8–4	9–4	6–6	9–3	9–3	10–3
Minnesota	4–8	3–9	4–9	8–5	4–8	8–4	6–7	4–8	—	7–5	9–4	10–3	4–9	11–1
New York	6–5	8–5	5–7	8–4	8–5	6–7	7–5	4–9	5–7	—	9–3	6–6	8–4	9–4
Oakland	4–8	3–9	3–10	4–9	4–8	5–7	4–9	6–6	4–9	3–9	—	8–5	2–11	4–8
Seattle	2–10	4–8	6–7	8–5	5–7	5–7	6–7	3–9	3–10	6–6	5–8	—	6–7	8–4
Texas	6–6	6–6	8–5	2–11	7–5	6–6	7–6	3–9	9–4	4–8	11–2	7–6	—	7–5
Toronto	2–11	4–9	5–7	5–7	5–8	4–9	3–9	3–10	1–11	4–9	8–4	4–8	5–7	—

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.^[2]
• 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.^[3]
• 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.^[4]

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

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	Parrish, LanceLance Parrish	143	493	136	.276	19	65
1B	Thompson, JasonJason Thompson	145	492	121	.246	20	79
2B	Whitaker, LouLou Whitaker	127	423	121	.286	3	42
3B	Rodríguez, AurelioAurelio Rodríguez	106	343	87	.254	5	36
SS	Trammell, AlanAlan Trammell	142	460	127	.276	6	50
LF	Kemp, SteveSteve Kemp	134	490	156	.318	26	105
RF	Morales, JerryJerry Morales	129	440	93	.211	14	56
CF	LeFlore, RonRon LeFlore	148	600	180	.300	9	57
DH	Staub, RustyRusty 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
Summers, ChampChamp Summers	90	246	77	.313	20	51
Wockenfuss, JohnJohn Wockenfuss	87	231	61	.264	15	46
Jones, LynnLynn Jones	95	213	63	.296	4	26
Brookens, TomTom Brookens	60	190	50	.263	4	21
Wagner, MarkMark Wagner	75	146	40	.274	1	13
Mankowski, PhilPhil Mankowski	42	99	22	.222	0	8
Putman, EdEd Putman	21	39	9	.231	2	4
Gibson, KirkKirk Gibson	12	38	9	.237	1	4
Corcoran, TimTim Corcoran	18	22	5	.227	0	6
Peters, RickRick Peters	10	19	5	.263	0	2

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
Wilcox, MiltMilt Wilcox	33	196.1	12	10	4.35	109
Morris, JackJack Morris	27	197.2	17	7	3.28	113
Rozema, DaveDave Rozema	16	97.1	4	4	3.51	33
Petry, DanDan Petry	15	98	6	5	3.95	43
Robbins, BruceBruce Robbins	10	46	3	3	3.91	22
Fidrych, MarkMark 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
Billingham, JackJack Billingham	35	158	10	7	3.30	59
Underwood, PatPat Underwood	27	121.2	6	4	4.59	83
Baker, SteveSteve Baker	21	84	1	7	6.64	54
Chris, MikeMike Chris	13	39	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
López, AurelioAurelio López	61	10	5	21	49	2.41	106
Hiller, JohnJohn Hiller	43	4	7	9	30	5.22	46
Tobik, DaveDave Tobik	37	3	5	3	19	4.33	48
Burnside, SheldonSheldon Burnside	10	1	1	0	2	6.33	13
Taylor, BruceBruce Taylor	10	1	2	0	8	4.82	8
Arroyo, FernandoFernando 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

Level	Team	League	Manager
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

1. Ed Putman at Baseball-Reference
2. Champ Summers at Baseball-Reference
3. Rick Leach at Baseball-Reference
4. Rusty Staub at Baseball-Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.

External links

• 1979 Detroit Tigers Regular Season Statistics