2008 Detroit Tigers season

The Detroit Tigers 2008 season was the team's 108th season in Major League Baseball's American League. After being picked by many to win the AL Central Division and the World Series,[1][2] the Tigers started the season a disappointing 0–7 after being swept by the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox. Their first victory of the season came against the Boston Red Sox. The Tigers did not reach a .500 winning percentage until their 80th game of the season.

2008 Detroit Tigers
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record74–88 (.457)
Divisional place5th
Other information
OwnersMike Ilitch
General managersDave Dombrowski
ManagersJim Leyland
Local televisionFox Sports Detroit
(Mario Impemba, Rod Allen)
Local radioDetroit Tigers Radio Network
(Dan Dickerson, Jim Price)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
< Previous season     Next season >

Although they were eliminated from the pennant race by the season's final day (September 29), they nonetheless had to play a makeup game against the White Sox (who were trailing the Minnesota Twins by half a game), which Detroit had lost 8–2. The Tigers finished the season in last place in the AL Central, trailing the White Sox (who won the division by beating Minnesota in a one-game playoff the following day) by 14.5 games.

Despite the disappointing performance, the Tigers drew a franchise-record home attendance of 3,202,645 for the season. The team ranked third in the American League and eighth in Major League Baseball for home attendance in 2008.

Offseason
Main article: 2007 Detroit Tigers season

The Tigers started the offseason by trading prospects Jair Jurrjens and Gorkys Hernández to the Atlanta Braves for shortstop Édgar Rentería. Rentería took over the everyday shortstop job with Carlos Guillén moving to first base.

Reliever Joel Zumaya underwent surgery on October 31, 2007 for an AC joint reconstruction and was expected to miss half the 2008 season.[3]

The Tigers continued their offseason trading by acquiring Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Florida Marlins in exchange for highly touted prospects Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller, along with Mike Rabelo, Eulogio De La Cruz, Burke Badenhop and Dallas Trahern. Willis would sign a three-year, $29 million contract extension, while Cabrera would receive an eight-year, $152.3 million deal, the biggest contract in Tigers history.

During the offseason, the Tigers traded Omar Infante to the Chicago Cubs for Jacque Jones. They re-signed Todd Jones, and Kenny Rogers to one-year contracts. The Tigers also signed free agent Francisco Cruceta from the Texas Rangers organization to a one-year contract. Cruceta and Jacque Jones were eventually released during the season, and Todd Jones retired at the end of the season. The Tigers declined the option to sign Édgar Rentería at the end of the season.

Regular season

Season standings
AL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago White Sox 8974 0.546 — 54–28 35–46
Minnesota Twins 8875 0.540 1 53–28 35–47
Cleveland Indians 8181 0.500 7½ 45–36 36–45
Kansas City Royals 7587 0.463 13½ 38–43 37–44
Detroit Tigers 7488 0.457 14½ 40–41 34–47

Record vs. opponents
Team BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC LAA MIN NYY OAK SEA TB TEX TOR NL
Baltimore–6–124–54–44–35–33–63–37–110–58–23–154–56–1211–7
Boston12–6–4–35–15–26–11–84–39–96–46–38–109–19–911–7
Chicago5–43–4–11–712–612–65–59–102–55–45–14–63–31–712–6
Cleveland4–41–57–11–11–710–84–58–104–35–44–55–26–46–16–12
Detroit3–42–56–127–11–7–113–67–114–23–67–33–46–33–513–5
Kansas City3–51–66–128–1011–7–2–36–125–56–37–23–52–72–513–5
Los Angeles6–38–15–55–46–33–2–5–37–310–914–53–612–76–310–8
Minnesota3–33–410–910–811–712–63–5–4–65–55–43–35–50–614–4
New York11–79–95–23–42–45–53–76–4–5–17–211–73–49–910–8
Oakland5–04–64–54–56–33–69–105–51–5-10–93–67–124–610–8
Seattle2–83–61–55–43–72–75–144–52–79–10–3–48–115–49–9
Tampa Bay15–310–86–42–54–35–36–33–37–116–34–3–6–311–712–6
Texas5–41–93–34–63–67–27–125–54–312–711–83–6–4–410–8
Toronto12–69–97–11–65–35–23–66–09–96–44–57–114–4–8–10

Game log
Legend
Tigers win Tigers loss Game postponed
2008 Game Log (74–88)
March (0–1)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1March 31Royals5 – 4 (11)Núñez (1–0)Bautista (0–1)Soria (1)44,9340–1
April (13–14)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
2April 2Royals4–0Bannister (1–0)Rogers (0–1)32,3480–2
3April 3Royals4–1Greinke (1–0)Bonderman (0–1)Soria (2)32,7350–3
4April 4White Sox8–5Logan (1–0)Grilli (0–1)Jenks (2)34,5690–4
5April 5White Sox5–3Floyd (1–0)Miner (0–1)Jenks (3)42,3810–5
6April 6White Sox13–2Buehrle (1–0)Verlander (0–1)35,2300–6
7April 8@ Red Sox5–0Matsuzaka (2–0)Rogers (0–2)36,5670–7
8April 9@ Red Sox7–2Bonderman (1–1)Lester (1–2)37,1901–7
9April 10@ Red Sox12–6Wakefield (1–0)Robertson (0–1)Papelbon (3)37,6121–8
10April 11@ White Sox5–2López (1–0)Contreras (0–1)Jones (1)26,0942–8
11April 12@ White Sox7–0Floyd (2–0)Verlander (0–2)29,6492–9
12April 13@ White Sox11–0Vázquez (2–1)Rogers (0–3)26,2942–10
13April 14Twins11–9Beltrán (1–0)Neskek (0–1)Jones (2)32,0023–10
14April 15Twins6–5Rapada (1–0)Crain (0–1)Jones (3)30,9014–10
15April 16@ Indians13–2Galarraga (1–0)Sabathia (0–3)17,6445–10
16April 17@ Indians11–1Carmona (2–1)Verlander (0–3)21,5475–11
17April 18@ Blue Jays8–4Rogers (1–3)Accardo (0–3)24,2946–11
18April 19@ Blue Jays3–2McGowan (1–1)Bonderman (1–2)Ryan (2)31,0526–12
19April 20@ Blue Jays5–3Burnett (2–1)Robertson (0–2)Accardo (4)30,1396–13
20April 21@ Blue Jays5–1Galarraga (2–0)Marcum (2–1)25,2877–13
21April 22Rangers10–2Verlander (1–3)Padilla (2–2)33,6298–13
22April 23Rangers19–6Rapada (2–0)Francisco (0–1)34,2459–13
23April 24Rangers8–2Miner (1–1)Jennings (0–4)39,05810–13
24April 25Angels4–3Santana (4–0)Robertson (0–3)Rodríguez (10)40,38010–14
25April 26Angels6–4López (2–0)O'Day (0–1)Jones (4)42,06811–14
26April 27Angels6–2Weaver (2–3)Verlander (1–4)36,34711–15
27April 29@ Yankees6–4Rogers (2–3)Hughes (0–4)Jones (5)49,19412–15
28April 30@ Yankees6–2Bonderman (2–2)Pettitte (3–3)49,51313–15
May (10–17)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
29May 1@ Yankees8–4Robertson (1–3)Albaladejo (0–1)50,99314–15
30May 2@ Twins11–1Hernández (4–1)Galarraga (2–1)33,62814–16
31May 3@ Twins4–1Bass (1–0)Verlander (1–5)Nathan (10)28,98514–17
32May 4@ Twins7–6Guerrier (2–1)Miner (1–2)Nathan (11)29,82114–18
33May 5Red Sox6–3Matsuzaka (5–0)Bonderman (2–3)Papelbon (10)39,47814–19
34May 6Red Sox5–0Wakefield (3–1)Robertson (1–4)38,56414–20
35May 7Red Sox10–9Jones (1–0)Papelbon (2–1)38,06215–20
36May 8Red Sox5–1Beckett (4–2)Verlander (1–6)38,95215–21
37May 9Yankees6–5Rogers (3–3)Igawa (0–1)44,06216–21
38May 10Yankees5–2Rasner (2–0)Bonderman (2–4)Rivera (10)44,58016–22
–May 11YankeesPostponed (rain) – Rescheduled for September 1
39May 13@ Royals3–2Núñez (3–0)Cruceta (0–1)Soria (9)11,70316–23
40May 14@ Royals2–0Hochevar (3–2)Verlander (1–7)Soria (10)14,05316–24
41May 15@ Royals8–4Meche (3–5)Rogers (3–4)34,73416–25
42May 16@ D-backs4–3Haren (5–2)Miner (1–3)Peña (1)33,53116–26
43May 17@ D-backs3–2Galarraga (3–1)Scherzer (0–2)Jones (6)48,80417–26
44May 18@ D-backs4–0Johnson (4–1)Robertson (1–4)38,79317–27
45May 20Mariners12–8Verlander (2–7)Silva (3–3)Jones (7)39,46318–27
46May 21Mariners9–4Rogers (4–4)Washburn (2–6)36,49519–27
47May 22Mariners9–2Bonderman (3–4)Batista (3–6)Dolsi (1)40,16620–27
48May 23Twins9–4Slowey (1–4)Galarraga (3–2)40,73220–28
49May 24Twins19–3Robertson (2–4)Bonser (2–6)41,13721–28
50May 25Twins6–1Perkins (2–1)Cruceta (0–2)42,41321–29
51May 26@ Angels1–0Arredondo (1–0)Dolsi (0–1)41,03121–30
52May 27@ Angels3–2Santana (7–2)López (2–1)36,56921–31
53May 28@ Angels6–2Galarraga (4–2)Saunders (8–2)42,19122–31
54May 30@ Mariners7–4Robertson (3–5)Silva (3–5)Jones (8)34,01923–31
55May 31@ Mariners5–0Hernández (3–5)Verlander (2–8)33,44123–32
June (19–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
56June 1@ Mariners7–5Miner (2–3)Putz (2–3)38,61024–32
57June 2@ Athletics3–2Street (1–1)Cruceta (0–3)11,77224–33
58June 3@ Athletics5–4Gaudin (5–3)Seay (0–1)10,87124–34
59June 4@ Athletics10–2Duchscherer (5–4)Robertson (3–6)19,25824–35
60June 6Indians4–2Byrd (3–5)Verlander (2–9)Borowski (5)40,99024–36
61June 7Indians8–4Miner (3–3)Kobayashi (3–3)Jones (9)42,19325–36
62June 8Indians5–2Galarraga (5–2)Sowers (0–1)Jones (10)39,94126–36
63June 9Indians8–2Lee (10–1)Willis (0–1)38,44026–37
64June 10White Sox6–4Robertson (4–6)Contreras (6–4)Jones (11)38,29527–37
65June 11White Sox4–1Verlander (3–9)Vázquez (6–5)38,69328–37
66June 12White Sox2–1Jones (2–0)Dotel (3–3)40,29729–37
67June 13Dodgers5–0Galarraga (6–2)Lowe (4–6)Dolsi (2)40,43030–37
68June 14Dodgers12–7Bonine (1–0)Penny (5–9)42,34831–37
69June 15Dodgers5–4Robertson (5–6)Park (2–2)Jones (12)41,18932–37
70June 16@ Giants8–6Yabu (3–3)Dolsi (0–2)33,31732–38
71June 17@ Giants5–1Rogers (5–4)Sánchez (6–4)33,63633–38
72June 18@ Giants7–2Galarraga (7–2)Zito (2–11)38,19434–38
73June 20@ Padres6–2Bell (5–3)Rodney (0–1)40,68334–39
74June 21@ Padres7–5Robertson (6–6)Baek (1–2)Jones (13)34,74935–39
75June 22@ Padres5–3Verlander (4–9)Wolf (5–6)Jones (14)28,77936–39
76June 24Cardinals8–4Looper (9–5)Rogers (5–5)44,44636–40
77June 25Cardinals8–7Jones (3–0)McClellan (0–3)40,09137–40
78June 26Cardinals3–2Seay (1–1)Parisi (0–4)41,02238–40
79June 27Rockies7–1Bonine (2–0)Jiménez (2–8)40,84239–40
80June 28Rockies7–6Dolsi (1–2)Fuentes (1–3)42,72940–40
81June 29Rockies4–3Rogers (6–5)Reynolds (2–6)Jones (15)41,30541–40
82June 30@ Twins5–4Fossum (1–0)Guerrier (4–3)Zumaya (1)22,19642–40
July (13–13)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
83July 1@ Twins6–4Baker (5–2)Robertson (6–7)Nathan (23)23,75442–41
84July 2@ Twins7–0Blackburn (7–4)Bonine (2–1)30,10242–42
85July 3@ Mariners8–4Verlander (5–9)Silva (4–10)Rodney (1)22,52343–42
86July 4@ Mariners4–1Bédard (6–4)Rogers (6–6)Morrow (6)30,56443–43
87July 5@ Mariners3–2Batista (4–10)Rodney (0–2)Morrow (7)30,37343–44
88July 6@ Mariners2 – 1 (15)López (3–1)Burke (0–1)Jones (16)29,08344–44
89July 8Indians9–2Verlander (6–9)Sowers (0–5)40,44345–44
90July 9Indians8–6Jones (4–0)Lewis (0–3)41,06246–44
91July 10Twins7 – 6 (11)Guerrier (5–4)Dolsi (1–3)41,95246–45
92July 11Twins3–2Perkins (6–2)Galarraga (7–3)Nathan (26)42,35246–46
93July 12Twins6–5Baker (6–2)Robertson (6–8)Nathan (27)41,30146–47
94July 13Twins4–2Verlander (7–9)Blackburn (7–5)Jones (17)41,45347–47
95July 17@ Orioles6–5Rogers (7–6)Olson (6–5)Jones (18)23,22448–47
96July 18@ Orioles7–4Guthrie (6–7)Galarraga (7–4)Sherrill (29)29,11148–48
97July 19@ Orioles11 – 10 (10)Sherrill (3–4)Dolsi (1–4)31,52548–49
98July 20@ Orioles5–1Verlander (8–9)Burres (7–6)23,27849–49
99July 21@ Royals19–4Miner (4–3)Hochevar (6–8)14,13750–49
100July 22@ Royals7–1Rogers (8–6)Davies (3–2)22,07451–49
101July 23@ Royals7–1Galarraga (8–4)Greinke (7–7)16,59452–49
102July 25White Sox6–5Carrasco (1–0)Jones (4–1)Jenks (20)44,39352–50
103July 26White Sox7–6Danks (8–4)Verlander (8–10)Jenks (21)45,28052–51
104July 27White Sox6–4Miner (5–3)Vázquez (7–9)41,79053–51
105July 28@ Indians5–0Byrd (5–10)Rogers (8–7)24,68953–52
106July 29@ Indians8–5Galarraga (9–4)Ginter (1–2)30,62554–52
107July 30@ Indians14–12Fossum (2–0)Rincón (2–3)26,59655–52
108July 31@ Indians9–4Carmona (5–3)Verlander (8–11)34,18655–53
August (11–17)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
109August 1@ Rays5–2Balfour (3–1)Miner (5–4)Percival (24)26,40355–54
110August 2@ Rays9–3Sonnanstine (11–6)Rogers (8–8)36,04855–55
111August 3@ Rays6 – 5 (10)Miller (1–0)Rodney (0–3)33,43855–56
112August 5@ White Sox10 – 8 (14)Russell (4–0)Zumaya (0–1)35,37155–57
113August 6@ White Sox5–1Danks (9–4)Verlander (8–12)34,12455–58
114August 7@ White Sox8–3Miner (6–4)Vázquez (8–10)Rodney (2)36,38356–58
115August 8Athletics4–2Braden (3–2)Rogers (8–9)Ziegler (1)41,45756–59
116August 9Athletics10–2Galarraga (10–4)Meyer (0–1)41,30857–59
117August 10Athletics6–1Robertson (7–8)Smith (5–11)Rodney (3)40,74358–59
118August 11Blue Jays7–2Marcum (7–5)Verlander (8–13)39,71858–60
119August 12Blue Jays6–4Burnett (15–9)Zumaya (0–2)Ryan (23)39,79058–61
120August 13Blue Jays4–3Purcey (2–3)Rogers (8–10)League (1)39,07358–62
121August 14Blue Jays5–1Galarraga (11–4)Frasor (1–2)41,25959–62
122August 15Orioles11–2Cormier (2–3)Robertson (7–9)40,54659–63
123August 16Orioles5–3Verlander (9–13)Sarfate (4–3)Rodney (4)41,72760–63
124August 17Orioles16–8Cabrera (2–1)Fossum (2–1)40,58660–64
125August 18@ Rangers8–7Rogers (9–10)Francisco (2–5)Rodney (5)17,78661–64
126August 19@ Rangers11–3Galarraga (12–4)Padilla (12–7)18,47062–64
127August 20@ Rangers9–1Millwood (7–7)Robertson (7–10)19,40362–65
128August 22@ Royals4–3Verlander (10–13)Bannister (7–13)Rodney (6)18,36163–65
129August 23@ Royals4–0Miner (7–4)Davies (5–5)27,34664–65
130August 24@ Royals7–3Duckworth (1–0)Rogers (9–11)16,66364–66
131August 25Indians4 – 3 (10)Donnelly (1–0)Glover (1–3)Lewis (7)39,19664–67
132August 26Indians10–4Lee (19–2)Lambert (0–1)38,77464–68
133August 27Indians9–7Carmona (7–5)Verlander (10–14)38,51964–69
134August 29Royals6–3Miner (8–4)Davies (5–6)40,20665–69
135August 30Royals13–3Duckworth (2–0)Rogers (9–12)40,62365–70
136August 31Royals4–2Glover (2–3)Wells (0–1)Rodney (7)39,78266–70
September (8–18)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
137September 1Yankees13–9Bruney (2–0)Verlander (10–15)44,33666–71
138September 2Angels5–4Shields (6–4)Rodney (0–4)Rodríguez (54)35,32066–72
139September 3Angels9–6Farnsworth (2–2)Arredondo (7–2)Rodney (8)36,67167–72
140September 4Angels7–1Santana (15–5)Rogers (9–13)37,89067–73
141September 5@ Twins10–2Liriano (5–3)Galarraga (12–5)24,42467–74
142September 6@ Twins6–4Rapada (3–0)Guerrier (6–7)Rodney (9)42,60668–74
143September 7@ Twins7–5Lambert (1–1)Perkins (12–4)Rodney (10)31,23669–74
144September 8Athletics14–8Fossum (3–1)Gonzalez (1–4)37,98170–74
145September 9Athletics3–2Devine (5–1)Rodney (0–5)Ziegler (7)37,24070–75
146September 10Athletics5–2Street (6–5)Galarraga (12–6)Ziegler (8)37,19470–76
–September 12@ White SoxPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for September 13
–September 13@ White SoxPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for September 14
–September 13@ White SoxPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for September 29
147September 14@ White Sox4–2Vázquez (12–13)Verlander (10–16)N/A70–77
148September 14@ White Sox11–7Thornton (5–3)Seay (1–2)28,23870–78
149September 15@ Rangers11–8Francisco (3–5)Farnsworth (2–3)13,53670–79
150September 16@ Rangers5–4Wright (7–6)Rodney (0–6)14,65970–80
151September 17@ Rangers17–4García (1–0)Nippert (3–5)17,80871–80
152September 19@ Indians6–5Perez (4–3)Dolsi (1–5)33,73371–81
153September 20@ Indians6–3Sowers (4–8)Verlander (10–17)Lewis (11)36,86971–82
154September 21@ Indians10–5Lewis (3–0)Willis (0–2)36,95771–83
155September 22Royals6–2Meche (13–11)Miner (8–5)36,42871–84
156September 23Royals5–0Greinke (13–10)García (1–1)35,12171–85
157September 24Royals10–4Bannister (9–16)Robertson (7–11)35,89971–86
158September 25Rays7–5Galarraga (13–6)Kazmir (12–8)Rodney (11)36,25972–86
159September 26Rays6–4Verlander (11–17)Sonnanstine (13–9)Rodney (12)39,61773–86
160September 27Rays4–3López (4–1)Niemann (2–2)Rodney (13)40,75674–86
161September 28Rays8 – 7 (11)Jackson (14–11)Lambert (1–2)Hammel (2)40,37374–87
162September 29@ White Sox8–2Floyd (17–8)Galarraga (13–7)35,92374–88

Player stats

Batting

Note: Pos. = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player Pos. G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Dusty RyanC154414.31827
Magglio OrdóñezRF146561178.31721103
Plácido Polanco2B141580178.307858
Mike Hessman3B12278.29657
Iván Rodríguez *C8230289.295532
Miguel Cabrera1B, 3B160616180.29237127
Carlos Guillén3B, 1B, LF113420120.2861054
Clete ThomasLF, CF, RF4011633.28419
Ramón SantiagoSS, 2B, 3B5812435.282418
Curtis GrandersonCF141553155.2802266
Édgar RenteríaSS138503136.2701055
Michael Hollimon2B, SS11236.26112
Jeff LarishDH, 1B, 3B4210427.260216
Matt JoyceLF, RF9224261.2521233
Marcus ThamesLF, DH, 1B10331676.2412556
Ryan RaburnLF, RF, 2B, 3B, CF9218243.236420
Gary SheffieldDH, LF11441894.2251957
Brent ClevlenLF, CF, RF11245.20801
Brandon IngeC, 3B, CF, LF11334771.2051151
Jacque Jones *LF247913.16515
Dane SardinhaC17447.15903
Pitcher Totals—162160.00000
Team Totals—16256411529.271200780

Note: Individual pitchers' batting statistics not included

Starting pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA SO
Armando Galarraga30178+2⁄31373.73126
Freddy García315114.2012
Jeremy Bonderman1271+1⁄3344.2944
Justin Verlander3320111174.84163
Eddie Bonine526+2⁄3215.409
Kenny Rogers30173+2⁄39135.7082
Nate Robertson28168+2⁄37116.35108
Dontrelle Willis824029.383

Relief pitchers
Player G IP W L SV HLD ERA SO
Jason Grilli *913+2⁄301013.2910
Denny Bautista *161901033.3210
Joel Zumaya2123+1⁄302153.4722
Aquilino López4878+2⁄341043.5561
Freddy Dolsi4247+2⁄315273.9729
Clay Rapada2521+1⁄330024.2215
Zach Miner (13 starts)4511885064.2762
Gary Glover *1820+1⁄311034.4315
Bobby Seay6056+1⁄3120134.4758
Francis Beltrán111310024.859
Fernando Rodney3840+1⁄3061354.9149
Todd Jones4541+2⁄3411804.9714
Francisco Cruceta1311+2⁄303015.4011
Casey Fossum3141+1⁄331065.6628
Chris Lambert (3 starts)820+2⁄312005.6615
Kyle Farnsworth *161601136.7518
Yorman Bazardo33000024.003
Team Pitching Totals1621445748834614.90991

* Statistics only include games with Tigers

Roster
2008 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Toledo Mud Hens International League Larry Parrish
AA Erie SeaWolves Eastern League Tom Brookens
A Lakeland Flying Tigers Florida State League Andy Barkett
A West Michigan Whitecaps Midwest League Joe DePastino
A-Short Season Oneonta Tigers New York–Penn League Ryan Newman
Rookie GCL Tigers Gulf Coast League Basilio Cabrera
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2008 Detroit Tigers season.

References
  1. "ESPN's expert predictions". March 30, 2008.
  2. "SI.com - 2008 MLB Scouting Reports". sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Archived from the original on March 26, 2008.
  3. Zumaya expected to miss half of '08 season after shoulder surgery
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