1977 Detroit Tigers season

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1977 Detroit Tigers
Major league affiliations
Location
1977 Information
Owner(s) John Fetzer
Manager(s) Ralph Houk
Local television WWJ-TV
(George Kell, Larry Osterman, Joe Pellegrino, Al Kaline)
Local radio WJR
(Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey)

The 1977 Detroit Tigers finished in fourth place in the American League Eastern Division with a record of 74-88, 26 games behind the 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.

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 tendonitis 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).

Contents

[edit] Season standings

East Division W L GB Pct.
New York Yankees 100 62 -- .617
Baltimore Orioles 97 64 2.5 .602
Boston Red Sox 97 64 2.5 .602
Detroit Tigers 74 88 26 .457
Cleveland Indians 71 90 28.5 .441
Milwaukee Brewers 67 95 33 .414
Toronto Blue Jays 54 107 45.5 .327


[edit] Roster

1977 Detroit Tigers roster
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Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

[edit] Regular season player stats

[edit] Batting

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
Milt May 115 397 99 .249 12 46
Jason Thompson 158 585 158 .270 31 105
Tito Fuentes 151 615 190 .309 5 51
Aurelio Rodriguez 96 306 67 .219 10 32
Tom Veryzer 125 350 69 .197 2 28
Ron LeFlore 154 652 212 .325 16 57
Steve Kemp 151 552 142 .257 18 88
Ben Oglivie 132 450 118 .262 21 61
Rusty Staub 158 623 173 .278 22 101
Phil Mankowski 94 286 79 .276 3 27
Mickey Stanley 75 222 51 .230 8 23
John Wockenfuss 53 164 45 .274 9 25
Tim Corcoran 55 103 29 .282 3 15
Chuck Scrivener 61 72 6 .083 0 2
Lance Parrish 12 46 9 .196 3 7
Alan Trammell 19 43 8 .186 0 0
Lou Whitaker 11 32 8 .250 0 2

Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included

[edit] Pitching

[edit] 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
Fernando Arroyo 38 209.3 8 18 4.17 60
Dave Rozema 28 218.3 15 7 3.09 92
Dave Roberts 22 129.3 4 10 5.15 46
Bob Sykes 32 132.7 5 7 4.41 58
Milt Wilcox 20 106.3 6 2 3.64 82
Mark Fidrych 11 81.0 6 4 2.89 42
Vern Ruhle 14 66.3 3 5 5.70 27
Jack Morris 7 45.7 1 1 3.74 28

[edit] 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
Steve Foucalt 44 7 7 13 34 3.15 58
John Hiller 45 8 14 7 27 3.56 115
Jim Crawford 37 7 8 1 12 4.79 91
Steve Grilli 30 1 2 0 13 4.83 49

[edit] 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:

[edit] Award winners and league leaders

Fernando Arroyo

  • #4 in AL in losses (18)

Mark Fidrych

  • AL All Star Team, pitcher

Tito Fuentes

  • AL leader in innings played at second base (1327)
  • AL leader in putouts at second base (379)
  • AL leader in double plays at second base (115)
  • AL leader in errors at second base (26)
  • AL leader in complete games at second base (144)
  • #2 in AL in singles (156)
  • #8 in AL in hits (190)
  • #8 in AL in triples (10)
  • #9 in AL in sacrifice hits (13)

Steve Kemp

  • AL leader in games in left field (148)
  • AL leader in complete games in left field (146)
  • AL leader in innings played in left field (1316)

Ron LeFlore

  • Tiger of the Year Award from the Detroit baseball writers
  • AL leader in assists by a center fielder (12)
  • Finished 20th in AL MVP voting
  • #2 in AL in hits (212)
  • #2 in AL in singles (156)
  • #2 in AL in at bats (652)
  • #2 in AL in singles (156)
  • #2 in AL in times caught stealing (19)
  • #4 in AL in plate appearances (698)
  • #4 in AL in strikeouts (121) (tied with Tito Fuentes)
  • #5 in AL in batting average (.325)
  • #5 in AL in stolen bases (39)
  • #5 in AL in total bases (310)
  • #6 in AL in Power/Speed Number (22.7)
  • #8 in AL in triples (10)
  • #8 in AL in times on base (253)
  • #9 in AL in runs scored (100)
  • #9 in AL in outs (475)
  • #10 in AL in runs created (110)

Dave Rozema

  • Finished 8th in the AL Cy Young Award voting
  • AL leader in bases on balls per 9 innings pitched (1.40)
  • #5 in AL in Adjusted ERA+ (138)
  • #6 in AL in strikeout to walk ratio (2.71)
  • #7 in AL in ERA (3.09)
  • #8 in AL in complete games (16)
  • #9 in AL in win percentage (.682)

Rusty Staub

  • #1 in AL in times grounded into double plays (27)
  • #2 in AL in outs (490)
  • #3 in AL in sacrifice flies (10)
  • #5 in AL in plate appearances (695)
  • #7 in AL in at bats per strikeout (13.3)
  • #8 in AL in doubles (34)

[[[Jason Thompson (baseball)|Jason Thompson]]

  • AL All Star Team, first base
  • Finished 21st in AL MVP voting
  • #6 in AL in home runs (31)
  • #6 in AL in sacrifice flies (9)
  • #8 in AL in RBIs (105)

Alan Trammell

  • Youngest player in the AL (19)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links