1981 Detroit Tigers season
The 1981 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 81st season as a member of the American League. Games were suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, causing a split season. The Tigers finished the first half of the season in fourth place in the American League East, and the second half of the season tied for second place. Their overall record was 60 wins and 49 losses, and they outscored their opponents 427 to 404. The Tigers drew 1,149,144 fans to their home games at Tiger Stadium, ranking fifth of the 14 teams in the American League.
| 1981 Detroit Tigers | |
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| Results | |
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| Divisional place |
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| Other information | |
| Owners | John Fetzer |
| General managers | Jim Campbell |
| Managers | Sparky Anderson |
| Local television | WDIV-TV (George Kell, Al Kaline) ONTV (Larry Adderley, Hank Aguirre, Norm Cash) |
| Local radio | WJR (Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey) |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
Offseason
- December 12, 1980: Dave Stegman was traded by the Tigers to the San Diego Padres for Dennis Kinney.[1]
- January 13, 1981: Mike Sharperson was drafted by the Tigers in the 4th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.[2]
- March 29, 1981: Jim Lentine was released by the Tigers.[3]
Regular season
Season standings
| AL East | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Brewers | 62 | 47 | 0.569 | — | 28–21 | 34–26 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 59 | 46 | 0.562 | 1 | 33–22 | 26–24 |
| New York Yankees | 59 | 48 | 0.551 | 2 | 32–19 | 27–29 |
| Detroit Tigers | 60 | 49 | 0.550 | 2 | 32–23 | 28–26 |
| Boston Red Sox | 59 | 49 | 0.546 | 2½ | 30–23 | 29–26 |
| Cleveland Indians | 52 | 51 | 0.505 | 7 | 25–29 | 27–22 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 37 | 69 | 0.349 | 23½ | 17–36 | 20–33 |
| AL East First Half Standings |
W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 34 | 22 | .607 | — |
| Baltimore Orioles | 31 | 23 | .574 | 2 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 31 | 25 | .554 | 3 |
| Detroit Tigers | 31 | 26 | .544 | 3+1⁄2 |
| Boston Red Sox | 30 | 26 | .536 | 4 |
| Cleveland Indians | 26 | 24 | .520 | 5 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 16 | 42 | .276 | 19 |
| AL East Second Half Standings |
W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Brewers | 31 | 22 | .585 | — |
| Boston Red Sox | 29 | 23 | .558 | 1+1⁄2 |
| Detroit Tigers | 29 | 23 | .558 | 1+1⁄2 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 28 | 23 | .549 | 2 |
| Cleveland Indians | 26 | 27 | .491 | 5 |
| New York Yankees | 25 | 26 | .490 | 5 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 21 | 27 | .438 | 7+1⁄2 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 2–2 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 4–2 | 6–7 | 5–3 | 2–4 | 6–0 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 5–2 |
| Boston | 2–2 | — | 2–4 | 5–4 | 7–6 | 6–1 | 3–3 | 6–7 | 2–5 | 3–3 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 3–6 | 4–0 |
| California | 6–6 | 4–2 | — | 6–7 | 7–5 | 3–3 | 0–6 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 2–8 | 6–4 | 2–4 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 6–3 | 4–5 | 7–6 | — | 2–5 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–4 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 2–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–2 | — | 1–5 | 4–4 | 3–6 | 2–1 | 7–5 | 3–2 | 8–4 | 2–2 | 4–2 |
| Detroit | 7–6 | 1–6 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 5–1 | — | 3–2 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 3–7 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 9–3 | 6–4 |
| Kansas City | 3–5 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 0–2 | 4–4 | 2–3 | — | 4–5 | 9–4 | 2–10 | 3–3 | 6–7 | 3–4 | 5–3 |
| Milwaukee | 4–2 | 7–6 | 3–4 | 1–4 | 6–3 | 8–5 | 5–4 | — | 9–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 4–5 | 6–4 |
| Minnesota | 0–6 | 5–2 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 3–9 | — | 3–3 | 2–8 | 3–6–1 | 5–8 | 5–1 |
| New York | 6–7 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–3 | 10–2 | 3–3 | 3–3 | — | 4–3 | 2–3 | 5–4 | 2–3 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 5–7 | 8–2 | 6–7 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 8–2 | 3–4 | — | 6–1 | 4–2 | 10–2 |
| Seattle | 2–4 | 3–9 | 4–6 | 3–3 | 4–8 | 1–5 | 7–6 | 2–2 | 6–3–1 | 3–2 | 1–6 | — | 5–8 | 3–3 |
| Texas | 1–2 | 6–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 3–9 | 4–3 | 5–4 | 8–5 | 4–5 | 2–4 | 8–5 | — | 6–2 |
| Toronto | 2–5 | 0–4 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 2–4 | 4–6 | 3–5 | 4–6 | 1–5 | 3–2 | 2–10 | 3–3 | 2–6 | — |
Notable transactions
- April 3, 1981: Chris Codiroli was released by the Tigers.[4]
- April 3, 1981: Chuck Hensley was released by the Tigers.[5]
- August 23, 1981: The Tigers traded a player to be named later to the Minnesota Twins for Ron Jackson. The Tigers completed the deal by sending Tim Corcoran to the Twins on September 4.[6]
Roster
| 1981 Detroit Tigers roster | |||||||||
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| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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Manager
Coaches
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Player stats
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 | Lance Parrish | 96 | 348 | 85 | .244 | 10 | 46 |
| 1B | Richie Hebner | 78 | 226 | 51 | .226 | 5 | 28 |
| 2B | Lou Whitaker | 109 | 335 | 88 | .263 | 5 | 36 |
| 3B | Tom Brookens | 71 | 239 | 58 | .243 | 4 | 25 |
| SS | Alan Trammell | 105 | 392 | 101 | .258 | 2 | 31 |
| LF | Steve Kemp | 105 | 372 | 103 | .277 | 9 | 49 |
| CF | Al Cowens | 85 | 253 | 66 | .261 | 1 | 18 |
| RF | Kirk Gibson | 83 | 290 | 95 | .328 | 9 | 40 |
| DH | John Wockenfuss | 70 | 172 | 37 | .215 | 9 | 25 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirk Gibson | 83 | 290 | 95 | .328 | 9 | 40 |
| Rick Peters | 63 | 207 | 53 | .256 | 0 | 15 |
| Lynn Jones | 71 | 174 | 45 | .259 | 2 | 19 |
| Champ Summers | 64 | 165 | 42 | .255 | 3 | 21 |
| Ron Jackson | 31 | 95 | 27 | .284 | 1 | 12 |
| Stan Papi | 40 | 93 | 19 | .204 | 3 | 12 |
| Rick Leach | 54 | 83 | 16 | .193 | 1 | 11 |
| Mick Kelleher | 61 | 77 | 17 | .221 | 0 | 6 |
| Bill Fahey | 27 | 67 | 17 | .254 | 1 | 9 |
| Darrell Brown | 16 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Duffy Dyer | 2 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |
Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included
Starting 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Morris | 25 | 198.0 | 14 | 7 | 3.05 | 97 |
| Milt Wilcox | 24 | 166.1 | 12 | 9 | 3.03 | 79 |
| Dan Petry | 23 | 141.0 | 10 | 9 | 3.00 | 79 |
| Dan Schatzeder | 17 | 71.1 | 6 | 8 | 6.06 | 20 |
| Jerry Ujdur | 4 | 14.0 | 0 | 0 | 6.43 | 5 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Rozema | 28 | 104.0 | 5 | 5 | 3.63 | 46 |
| Howard Bailey | 9 | 36.2 | 1 | 4 | 7.36 | 17 |
| George Cappuzzello | 18 | 33.2 | 1 | 1 | 3.48 | 19 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Saucier | 38 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 23 | 1.65 | 23 |
| Aurelio López | 29 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 3.64 | 53 |
| Dave Tobik | 27 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 2.69 | 32 |
| Dennis Kinney | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.82 | 3 |
| Larry Rothschild | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1.59 | 1 |
| Dave Rucker | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6.75 | 2 |
Awards and honors
- Kirk Gibson, Tiger of the Year Award, from Detroit baseball writers
- Alan Trammell, AL Gold Glove Award, shortstop
1981 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
- Jack Morris, starter, pitcher
League top ten finishers
- #3 in AL in batting average (.328)
- #4 in AL in Power/Speed Number (11.8)
- #4 in AL in on-base percentage (.389)
- #3 in AL in bases on balls (70)
- #3 in AL in times on base (174)
- MLB leader in wins (14) (tied with four others)
- MLB leader in bases on balls allowed (78)
- #2 in MLB in innings pitched (198)
- #2 in MLB in games started (25)
- #3 in AL in hits allowed per 9 innings pitched (6.95)
- #3 in MLB in complete games (15)
- #3 in MLB in batters faced (798)
- #6 in AL in home runs allowed (14)
- #9 in AL in earned runs allowed (67)
- #3 in AL in times grounded into double plays (16)
- #5 in AL in saves (13)
- AL leader in sacrifice hits (16)
- AL leader in games played (109)
- AL leader in games at second base (108)
- AL leader in innings at second base (918-1/3)
- AL leader in assists by a second baseman (354)
- #5 in AL in games started (24)
- #5 in AL in hit batsmen (6)
Players ranking among top 100 all time at position
The following members of the 1981 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their position, as ranked by The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract:
- Lance Parrish: 19th best catcher of all time
- Lou Whitaker: 13th best second baseman of all time
- Alan Trammell: 9th best shortstop of all time
- Kirk Gibson: 36th best left fielder of all time
Farm system
Notes
- Dennis Kinney at Baseball Reference
- Mike Sharperson at Baseball Reference
- Jim Lentine at Baseball Reference
- Chris Codiroli at Baseball Reference
- Chuck Hensley at Baseball Reference
- Ron Jackson 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.
- 1981 Detroit Tigers Regular Season Statistics at Baseball Reference
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