1978 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)	Ralph Houk
Local television	WWJ-TV (George Kell, Mike Barry, Joe Pellegrino, Al Kaline)
Local radio	WJR (Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey)
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The 1978 Detroit Tigers finished in fifth place in the American League East with a record of 88-74, 13½ games behind the Yankees. They outscored their opponents 714 to 653.

Offseason[edit]

• January 10, 1978: Chris Codiroli was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 1978 Major League Baseball Draft.^[1]
• January 30, 1978: Tito Fuentes was purchased from the Tigers by the Montreal Expos.^[2]

Regular season[edit]

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

Season standings[edit]

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB
New York Yankees	100	63	.613	--
Boston Red Sox	99	64	.607	1
Milwaukee Brewers	93	69	.574	6.5
Baltimore Orioles	90	71	.559	9
Detroit Tigers	86	76	.531	13.5
Cleveland Indians	69	90	.434	29
Toronto Blue Jays	59	102	.366	40

Record vs. opponents[edit]

1978 American League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	7–8	4–6	8–1	9–6	7–8	2–8	7–8	5–5	6–9	11–0	9–1	7–4	8–7
Boston	8–7	—	9–2	7–3	7–8	12–3	4–6	10–5	9–2	7–9	5–5	7–3	3–7	11–4
California	6–4	2–9	—	8–7	6–4	4–7	9–6	5–5	12–3	5–5	9–6	9–6	5–10	7–3
Chicago	1–8	3–7	7–8	—	8–2	2–9	8–7	4–7	8–7	1–9	7–8	7–8	11–4	4–6
Cleveland	6–9	8–7	4–6	2–8	—	5–10	5–6	5–10	5–5	6–9	4–6	8–1	1–9	10–4
Detroit	8–7	3–12	7–4	9–2	10–5	—	4–6	7–8	4–6	4–11	6–4	8–2	7–3	9–6
Kansas City	8–2	6–4	6–9	7–8	6–5	6–4	—	6–4	7–8	6–5	10–5	12–3	7–8	5–5
Milwaukee	8–7	5–10	5–5	7–4	10–5	8–7	4–6	—	4–7	10–5	9–1	5–5	6–4	12–3
Minnesota	5–5	2–9	3–12	7–8	5–5	6–4	8–7	7–4	—	3–7	9–6	6–9	6–9	6–4
New York	9–6	9–7	5–5	9–1	9–6	11–4	5–6	5–10	7–3	—	8–2	6–5	6–4	11–4
Oakland	0–11	5–5	6–9	8–7	6–4	4–6	5–10	1–9	6–9	2–8	—	13–2	6–9	7–4
Seattle	1–9	3–7	6–9	8–7	1–8	2–8	3–12	5–5	9–6	5–6	2–13	—	3–12	8–2
Texas	4–7	7–3	10–5	4–11	9–1	3–7	8–7	4–6	9–6	4–6	9–6	12–3	—	4–7
Toronto	7–8	4–11	3–7	6–4	4–10	6–9	5–5	3–12	4–6	4–11	4–7	2–8	7–4	—

Notable transactions[edit]

• June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Kirk Gibson was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round (12th pick).^[3]
  • Jerry Ujdur was drafted by the Tigers in the 4th round.^[4]

Roster[edit]

1978 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers 36 Fernando Arroyo 31 Steve Baker 41 Jack Billingham 42 Sheldon Burnside 28 Jim Crawford 20 Mark Fidrych 29 Steve Foucault 48 Ed Glynn 18 John Hiller 47 Jack Morris 19 Dave Rozema 21 Jim Slaton 27 Bob Sykes 32 Bruce Taylor 38 Dave Tobik 39 Milt Wilcox 37 Kip Young		Catchers 12 Milt May 13 Lance Parrish Infielders  7 Steve Dillard  2 Phil Mankowski  4 Aurelio Rodríguez 30 Jason Thompson  3 Alan Trammell  5 Mark Wagner  1 Lou Whitaker		Outfielders 25 Tim Corcoran 33 Steve Kemp  8 Ron LeFlore 34 Charlie Spikes 24 Mickey Stanley 22 Dave Stegman 14 John Wockenfuss Other batters 10 Rusty Staub		Manager 35 Ralph Houk Coaches 26 Gates Brown 52 Fred Gladding 51 Fred Hatfield 50 Jim Hegan 53 Dick Tracewski

Player stats[edit]

Batting[edit]

Starters by position[edit]

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	105	352	88	.250	10	37
1B	Thompson, JasonJason Thompson	153	589	169	.287	26	79
2B	Whitaker, LouLou Whitaker	139	484	138	.285	3	58
3B	Rodríguez, AurelioAurelio Rodríguez	134	385	102	.265	7	43
SS	Trammell, AlanAlan Trammell	139	448	120	.268	2	34
LF	Kemp, SteveSteve Kemp	159	582	161	.277	15	79
CF	LeFlore, RonRon LeFlore	155	666	198	.297	12	62
RF	Corcoran, TimTim Corcoran	116	324	86	.265	1	27
DH	Staub, RustyRusty Staub	162	642	175	.273	24	121

Other batters[edit]

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
Parrish, LanceLance Parrish	85	288	63	.219	14	41
Mankowski, PhilPhil Mankowski	88	222	61	.275	4	20
Wockenfuss, JohnJohn Wockenfuss	71	187	53	.283	7	22
Stanley, MickeyMickey Stanley	53	151	40	.265	3	8
Dillard, SteveSteve Dillard	56	130	29	.223	0	7
Wagner, MarkMark Wagner	39	109	26	.239	0	6
Spikes, CharlieCharlie Spikes	10	28	7	.250	0	2
Stegman, DaveDave Stegman	8	14	4	.286	1	3

Pitching[edit]

Starting pitchers[edit]

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Slaton, JimJim Slaton	35	233.2	17	11	4.12	92
Wilcox, MiltMilt Wilcox	29	215.1	13	12	3.76	132
Rozema, DaveDave Rozema	28	209.1	9	12	3.14	57
Billingham, JackJack Billingham	30	201.2	15	8	3.88	59
Young, KipKip Young	14	105.2	6	7	2.81	49
Fidrych, MarkMark Fidrych	3	22	2	0	2.45	10

Other pitchers[edit]

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Morris, JackJack Morris	28	106	3	5	4.33	48
Sykes, BobBob Sykes	22	93.2	6	6	3.94	58
Baker, SteveSteve Baker	15	63.1	2	4	4.55	39

Relief pitchers[edit]

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
Hiller, JohnJohn Hiller	51	9	4	14	46	2.34	74
Foucault, SteveSteve Foucault	24	2	4	4	15	3.13	18
Crawford, JimJim Crawford	20	2	3	0	10	4.35	24
Glynn, EdEd Glynn	10	0	0	0	6	3.07	9
Tobik, DaveDave Tobik	5	0	0	0	4	3.75	11
Arroyo, FernandoFernando Arroyo	2	0	0	0	1	8.31	1
Burnside, SheldonSheldon Burnside	2	0	0	0	1	9.00	3
Taylor, BruceBruce Taylor	1	0	0	0	1	0.00	0

Awards and honors[edit]

Lou Whitaker

• AL Rookie of the Year Award

Ron LeFlore

• Tiger of the Year Award, from Detroit baseball writers

All-Stars[edit]

Jason Thompson, reserve

League top ten finishers[edit]

Steve Kemp

• #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

• 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

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

Jim Slaton

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

Rusty Staub

• #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

• #4 in AL in hit batsemen (8)

Players ranking among top 100 all time at position[edit]

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[edit]

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

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• 1978 Detroit Tigers Regular Season Statistics
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3. 

1978 MLB season by team AL East Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee New York Toronto AL West California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Seattle Texas NL East Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis NL West Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco 1978 MLB draft 1978 All-Star Game 1978 World Series

Detroit Tigers Based in Detroit, Michigan Franchise History Seasons Records No-hitters Award winners and league leaders Players Managers Owners and executives Opening Day starting pitchers Ballparks Boulevard Park Bennett Park Tiger Stadium Comerica Park Spring Training: Whittington Park Plant Field Bosse Field Henley Field Joker Marchant Stadium Culture Paws "Detroit Rock City" "The Bird" Magnum, P.I. Tiger Town For Love of the Game "The Singing Hot Dog Man" Lore 1910 Chalmers Award Disco Demolition Night 2009 AL Central tie-breaker 28-out perfect game Important figures Hall of Fame members Sparky Anderson Ty Cobb Mickey Cochrane Sam Crawford Charlie Gehringer Hank Greenberg Harry Heilmann Hughie Jennings Al Kaline George Kell Heinie Manush Hal Newhouser Frick Award recipient Ernie Harwell Minors Player overview AAA: Toledo Mud Hens AA: Erie SeaWolves A: Lakeland Flying Tigers West Michigan Whitecaps Connecticut Tigers Rookie: Gulf Coast League Tigers DSL Tigers Key personnel Owner: Mike Ilitch General Manager: Al Avila Manager: Brad Ausmus World Series championships (4) 1935 1945 1968 1984 League pennants (11) American League: 1907 1908 1909 1934 1935 1940 1945 1968 1984 2006 2012 Division titles (7) East: 1972 1984 1987 Central: 2011 2012 2013 2014 Wild card berths (1) 2006 Broadcasters TV: Fox Sports Detroit Mario Impemba Rod Allen Kirk Gibson Jack Morris Radio: Detroit Tigers Radio Network WXYT WXYT-FM Dan Dickerson Jim Price History: List of Detroit Tigers broadcasters   Seasons (116) 1900s 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910s 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920s 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930s 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940s 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016