The 1991 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 91st season and the 80th season at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers finished in a tie for second place in the American League East with a record of 84–78 (.519). They outscored their opponents 817 to 794. The Tigers drew 1,641,661 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1991, ranking 12th of the 14 teams in the American League.
Offseason November 26, 1990: John Shelby was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.John Shelby at Baseball Reference December 3, 1990: Bill Gullickson was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.Bill Gullickson at Baseball Reference December 3, 1990: Buddy Groom was drafted by the Tigers from the Chicago White Sox in the 1990 minor league draft.Buddy Groom at Baseball Reference January 11, 1991: Jeff Robinson was traded by the Tigers to the Baltimore Orioles for Mickey Tettleton.Mickey Tettleton at Baseball Reference January 21, 1991: Skeeter Barnes was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.Skeeter Barnes at Baseball Reference March 19, 1991: Torey Lovullo was traded by the Tigers to the New York Yankees for Mark Leiter.Torey Lovullo at Baseball Reference
Regular season In 1991, Cecil Fielder led all of baseball in home runs (44) and RBIs (133) for the second consecutive season. Once again, he finished second in the MVP voting. The MVP award was given to Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. Angry over missing out on the honor for the second straight season, Fielder lashed out at the voters, going so far as to accuse them of racism in their selection of Ripken, who was white. During the season, Bill Gullickson would be the last pitcher to win at least 20 games in one season for the Tigers in the 20th century.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.99, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Opening Day lineup
DH Tony Phillips LF Lloyd Moseby SS Alan Trammell 1B Cecil Fielder 2B Lou Whitaker RF Rob Deer C Mickey Tettleton 3B Travis Fryman CF Milt Cuyler
Notable transactions April 5, 1991: Scott Lusader was selected off waivers from the Tigers by the New York Yankees.Scott Lusader at Baseball Reference June 3, 1991: Kevin Morgan was drafted by the Tigers in the 30th round of the 1991 Major League Baseball draft.Kevin Morgan at Baseball Reference June 11, 1991: Jeff Kaiser was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.Jeff Kaiser at Baseball Reference August 5, 1991: John Moses was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.John Moses at Baseball Reference August 13, 1991: John Shelby was released by the Tigers. August 25, 1991: John Moses was released by the Tigers.
Roster 1991 Detroit Tigers Roster Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
Manager
Coaches
Player stats = Indicates team leader
= Indicates league leader Batting
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 154 501 132 .263 31 89 1B 162 624 163 .261 44* 133 2B 138 470 131 .279 23 78 3B 149 557 144 .259 21 91 SS 101 375 93 .248 9 55 LF 74 260 68 .262 6 35 CF 154 475 122 .257 3 33 RF 134 448 80 .179 25 64 DH 97 337 72 .214 11 38 Tied with Jose Canseco (OAK) for league lead
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 146 564 160 .284 17 72 86 194 46 .237 7 29 75 159 46 .289 5 17 60 151 35 .232 1 16 53 143 22 .154 3 8 Scott Livingstone 44 127 37 .291 2 11 Mark Salas 33 57 5 .088 1 7 16 30 5 .167 0 0 13 21 1 .048 0 1 Shawn Hare 9 19 1 .053 0 0 Johnny Paredes 16 18 6 .333 0 0 Tony Bernazard 6 12 2 .167 0 0 Rich Rowland 4 4 1 .250 0 1
Pitching
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 35 226.1 20* 9 3.90 91 Walt Terrell 35 218.2 12 14 4.24 80 33 217.1 13 12 3.77 107 Scott Aldred 11 57.1 2 4 5.18 35 Tied with Scott Erickson (MIN) for league lead.
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 38 134.2 9 7 4.21 103 38 88.2 3 6 4.57 29 Dan Gakeler 31 73.2 1 4 5.74 43 Dan Petry 17 54.2 2 3 4.94 18 Steve Searcy 16 40.2 1 2 8.41 32 Rusty Meacham 10 27.2 2 1 5.20 14 Kevin Ritz 11 15.1 0 3 11.74 9
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 60 10 2 21 50 2.88 61 68 5 7 8 28 4.59 52 47 3 2 2 16 4.06 47 11 1 0 0 0 6.75 6 10 0 1 2 4 9.00 4 7 0 1 0 3 14.85 1 6 0 0 0 4 9.64 3 4 0 0 0 1 3.38 4
Awards and honors Mickey Tettleton, AL Silver Slugger Award at catcher Cecil Fielder, AL Silver Slugger Award at first base
League top ten finishers Rob Deer MLB leader in strikeouts (175) #8 in AL in bases on balls (89) #9 in AL in at bats per home run (17.9)
Cecil Fielder Finished 2nd in AL MVP voting behind Cal Ripken Jr. MLB leader in home runs (44) MLB leader in RBIs (133) MLB leader in games played (162) #2 in AL in at bats per home run (11.2) #3 in AL in strikeouts (151) #6 in AL in total bases (320) #6 in AL in extra base hits (69) #8 in AL in plate appearances (712) #9 in AL in slugging percentage (.513) #9 in AL in runs scored (102) #10 in AL in runs created (110)
Travis Fryman #4 in AL in strikeouts (149)
Paul Gibson #7 in AL in games (68)
Bill Gullickson Finished 8th in AL Cy Young Award voting MLB leader in wins (20) AL leader in games started (35) #4 in AL in win percentage (.690) #4 in AL in bases on balls per 9 innings pitched (1.75) #7 in AL in earned runs allowed (98)
Mike Henneman #9 in AL in games finished (50)
Walt Terrell AL leader in hits allowed (257) #3 in AL in earned runs allowed (103) #4 in AL in losses (14) #5 in AL in complete games (8) #6 in AL in shutouts (2)
Mickey Tettleton #2 in AL in bases on balls (101) #4 in AL in at bats per home run (16.2) #6 in AL in home runs (31) #7 in AL in strikeouts (131)
Players ranking among top 100 all time at position The following members of the 1991 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their position, as ranked by The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract: Lou Whitaker: 13th best second baseman of all time Alan Trammell: 9th best shortstop of all time
Farm system
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997
Notes
References
1991 Detroit Tigers Regular Season Statistics at Baseball Reference Detroit Tigers at Baseball Almanac