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1977 Detroit Tigers season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1977 Detroit Tigers
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkTiger Stadium
CityDetroit, Michigan
OwnersJohn Fetzer
General managersJim Campbell
ManagersRalph Houk
TelevisionWWJ-TV
(George Kell, Larry Osterman, Joe Pellegrino, Al Kaline)
RadioWJR
(Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey)
← 1976 Seasons 1978 →

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

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  • February 23, 1977: Tito Fuentes was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.[1]

Regular season

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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 .278 batting average, 173 hits, 22 home runs, and 101 RBIs. 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 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 eighth 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

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AL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 100 62 .617 — 55‍–‍26 45‍–‍36
Baltimore Orioles 97 64 .602 2½ 54‍–‍27 43‍–‍37
Boston Red Sox 97 64 .602 2½ 51‍–‍29 46‍–‍35
Detroit Tigers 74 88 .457 26 39‍–‍42 35‍–‍46
Cleveland Indians 71 90 .441 28½ 37‍–‍44 34‍–‍46
Milwaukee Brewers 67 95 .414 33 37‍–‍44 30‍–‍51
Toronto Blue Jays 54 107 .335 45½ 25‍–‍55 29‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

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1977 American League record

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 — 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

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Roster

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1977 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Game log

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Regular season

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1977 regular season game log: 74–88 (Home: 39–42; Away: 35–46)
April: 8–12 (Home: 2–5; Away: 6–7)
# Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
1 April 7 Royals
2 April 9 Royals
3 April 10 Royals
8 April 15 @ Royals
9 April 16 @ Royals
10 April 17 @ Royals
11 April 18 @ Red Sox
12 April 19 @ Red Sox
13 April 20 @ Red Sox
14 April 21 @ Red Sox
— April 22 Orioles Postponed (Rain) (Makeup date: September 7)
— April 23 Orioles Postponed (Rain) (Makeup date: September 8)
15 April 24
(1)		 Orioles
16 April 24
(2)		 Orioles
17 April 26 White Sox
18 April 27 White Sox
19 April 29 @ Twins
20 April 30 @ Twins
May: 10–14 (Home: 4–9; Away: 6–5)
# Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
21 May 1 @ Twins
22 May 3 Rangers
— May 4 Rangers Postponed (Rain) (Makeup date: August 5)
26 May 10 Twins
27 May 11 Twins
33 May 17 @ Rangers
34 May 18 @ Rangers
35 May 20 @ White Sox
36 May 21 @ White Sox
37 May 22 @ White Sox
June: 16–12 (Home: 11–4; Away: 5–8)
# Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
63 June 20 Yankees W 2–1 Fidrych (4–2) Gullett (6–3) — 2:33 47,236 28–35 W1
64 June 21 Yankees W 5–2 Crawford (1–1) Guidry (5–3) — 2:07 18,272 29–35 W2
65 June 22 Yankees L 11–12 Lyle (3–2) Foucault (3–4) Clay (1) 2:44 18,129 29–36 L1
70 June 27 Red Sox
71 June 28 Red Sox
72 June 29 Red Sox
July: 12–17 (Home: 6–4; Away: 6–13)
# Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
73 July 1 @ Yankees W 5–1 Rozema (7–3) Torrez (8–7) — 2:07 22,876 35–38 W5
74 July 2 @ Yankees L 4–6 Lyle (6–2) Hiller (4–9) — 2:14 20,825 35–39 L1
75 July 3
(1)		 @ Yankees L 0–2 Guidry (6–4) Arroyo (5–6) — 2:15 — 35–40 L2
76 July 3
(2)		 @ Yankees W 10–6 Foucault (4–4) Tidrow (6–3) — 2:47 42,549 36–40 W1
77 July 4 @ Orioles
78 July 4
(1)		 @ Orioles
79 July 5
(2)		 @ Orioles
80 July 6 @ Orioles
81 July 8 White Sox
82 July 9 White Sox
83 July 10 White Sox
86 July 13 @ Royals
87 July 14 @ Royals
48th All-Star Game in Bronx, New York
92 July 21 Royals
93 July 22 Royals
94 July 23 Royals
97 July 26 @ White Sox
98 July 27 @ White Sox
99 July 29 @ Rangers
100 July 30 @ Rangers
101 July 31 @ Rangers
August: 17–12 (Home: 9–9; Away: 8–3)
# Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
102 August 3 @ Twins
103 August 4 @ Twins
104 August 5
(1)		 Rangers
105 August 5
(2)		 Rangers
106 August 6 Rangers
107 August 6 Rangers
112 August 12 Twins
113 August 13 Twins
114 August 14 Twins
117 August 17 Yankees L 5–7 Figueroa (12–8) Arroyo (6–13) Lyle (17) 2:42 26,718 54–63 L2
118 August 18 Yankees L 4–5 Hunter (8–7) Crawford (4–5) Lyle (18) 2:31 27,564 54–64 L3
September: 10–20 (Home: 7–11; Away: 3–9)
# Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
135 September 5
(1)		 Orioles
136 September 5
(2)		 Orioles
137 September 6 Orioles
138 September 7
(1)		 Orioles
139 September 7
(2)		 Orioles
140 September 8 Orioles
141 September 9
(1)		 @ Red Sox
142 September 9
(2)		 @ Red Sox
143 September 10 @ Red Sox
144 September 11 @ Red Sox
148 September 16 Yankees L 4–5 Gullett (12–4) Arroyo (7–17) — 2:27 18,016 69–79 L1
149 September 17 Yankees L 4–9 Tidrow (11–4) Crawford (7–7) — 2:30 17,656 69–80 L2
150 September 18 Yankees L 5–6 Guidry (15–6) Sykes (5–6) Lyle (24) 2:11 12,672 69–81 L3
153 September 22 Red Sox
154 September 23 Red Sox
155 September 24 Red Sox
156 September 25 Red Sox
157 September 27 @ Orioles
158 September 28 @ Orioles
159 September 29 @ Orioles
160 September 30 @ Yankees W 5–2 Hiller (8–14) Guidry (16–7) — 2:31 28,200 73–87 W1
October: 1–1 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–1)
# Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
161 October 1 @ Yankees W 10–7 Taylor (1–0) McCall (0–1) — 2:47 50,054 74–87 W2
162 October 2 @ Yankees L 7–8 Thomas (3–6) Foucault (7–7) — 2:35 18,778 74–88 L1
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement
Bold = Tigers team member

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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 Milt May 115 397 99 .249 12 46
1B Jason Thompson 158 585 158 .270 31 105
2B Tito Fuentes 151 615 190 .309 5 51
3B Aurelio Rodríguez 96 306 67 .219 10 32
SS Tom Veryzer 125 350 69 .197 2 28
CF Ron LeFlore 154 652 212 .325 16 57
LF Steve Kemp 151 552 142 .257 18 88
RF Ben Oglivie 132 450 118 .262 21 61
DH Rusty Staub 158 623 173 .278 22 101

Other batters

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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
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
Mark Wagner 22 48 7 .146 1 3
Lance Parrish 12 46 9 .196 3 7
Alan Trammell 19 43 8 .186 0 0
Lou Whitaker 11 32 8 .250 0 2
Bruce Kimm 14 25 2 .080 0 1
Bob Adams 15 24 6 .250 2 2
Willie Horton 1 4 1 .250 0 0
Bob Molinaro 4 4 1 .250 0 0
Luis Alvarado 2 1 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Dave Rozema 28 218.1 15 7 3.09 92
Fernando Arroyo 38 209.1 8 18 4.17 60
Dave Roberts 22 129.1 4 10 5.15 46
Mark Fidrych 11 81.0 6 4 2.89 42
Vern Ruhle 14 66.1 3 5 5.70 27
Jack Morris 7 45.2 1 1 3.74 28
Ray Bare 5 14.1 0 2 12.56 4

Other pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Bob Sykes 32 132.2 5 7 4.41 58
Jim Crawford 37 126.0 7 8 4.79 91
Milt Wilcox 20 106.1 6 2 3.64 82
Ed Glynn 8 27.1 2 1 5.27 13

Relief pitchers

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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 Foucault 44 7 7 13 34 3.15 58
John Hiller 45 8 14 7 27 3.56 115
Steve Grilli 30 1 2 0 13 4.83 49
Bruce Taylor 19 1 0 2 12 3.38 19

Awards and honors

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Award winners

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Ron LeFlore

  • Tiger of the Year Award from the Detroit baseball writers
  • Finished 20th in AL MVP voting

Dave Rozema

  • Finished 8th in the AL Cy Young Award voting

Jason Thompson

  • Finished 21st in AL MVP voting

All-Stars

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Jason Thompson, reserve

League top ten finishers

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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

  • AL leader in assists by a center fielder (12)
  • #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

  • 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

  • #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)

Players ranking among top 100 all time at position

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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:

  • 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
  • Ben Oglivie: 64th best left fielder of all time
  • Willie Horton: 55th best left fielder of all time (played one game for 1977 Tigers)

Farm system

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See also: Minor League Baseball
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

References

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  1. ^ Tito Fuentes page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Willie Horton page at Baseball Reference
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