The 1978 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 78th season and the 67th season at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers finished in fifth place in the American League East with a record of 86–76, 13½ games behind the Yankees. They outscored their opponents 714 to 653.
It was the franchise's first winning season since 1973 and would start a string of winning seasons that would not come to an end until 1989.
Offseason January 10, 1978: Chris Codiroli was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 1978 Major League Baseball draft.Chris Codiroli at Baseball-Reference January 30, 1978: Tito Fuentes was purchased from the Tigers by the Montreal Expos.Tito Fuentes at Baseball-Reference
Regular season The Tigers drew 1,714,893 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1978, ranking 5th of the 14 teams in the American League.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball draft Kirk Gibson was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round (12th pick).Kirk Gibson at Baseball-Reference Jerry Ujdur was drafted by the Tigers in the 4th round.Jerry Ujdur at Baseball-Reference
Roster 1978 Detroit Tigers Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches
Player stats
= Indicates team 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 105 352 88 .250 10 37 1B 153 589 169 .287 26 79 2B 139 484 138 .285 3 58 3B 134 385 102 .265 7 43 SS 139 448 120 .268 2 34 LF 159 582 161 .277 15 79 CF 155 666 198 .297 12 62 RF 116 324 86 .265 1 27 DH 162 642 175 .273 24 121
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 85 288 63 .219 14 41 88 222 61 .275 4 20 71 187 53 .283 7 22 53 151 40 .265 3 8 56 130 29 .223 0 7 39 109 26 .239 0 6 10 28 7 .250 0 2 8 14 4 .286 1 3
Pitching
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 35 233.2 17 11 4.12 92 29 215.1 13 12 3.76 132 28 209.1 9 12 3.14 57 30 201.2 15 8 3.88 59 14 105.2 6 7 2.81 49 3 22.0 2 0 2.45 10
Other pitchers Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 28 106.0 3 5 4.33 48 22 93.2 6 6 3.94 58 15 63.1 2 4 4.55 39
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 51 9 4 14 46 2.34 74 24 2 4 4 15 3.13 18 20 2 3 0 10 4.35 24 10 0 0 0 6 3.07 9 5 0 0 0 4 3.75 11 2 0 0 0 1 8.31 1 2 0 0 0 1 9.00 3 1 0 0 0 1 0.00 0
Awards and honors Lou Whitaker AL Rookie of the Year Award
Ron LeFlore Tiger of the Year Award, from Detroit baseball writers
All-Stars Jason Thompson, reserve (Second career All-Star appearance)
League top ten finishers Steve Kemp #3 in AL in bases on balls (97) #4 in AL in times on base (259) #5 in AL in games played (159)
Ron LeFlore MLB leader in runs scored (126) AL leader in stolen bases (68) AL leader in singles (153) #2 in AL in hits (198) #2 in AL in runs created (105) #2 in MLB in at bats (666) #2 in MLB in plate appearances (741) #3 in MLB in times on base (267) #3 in AL in outs (501) #4 in AL in Power/Speed Number (20.4) #5 in AL in times caught stealing (16)
Dave Rozema #5 in MLB in bases on balls per 9 innings pitched (1.76)
Jim Slaton #4 in AL in hit batsmen (8) #5 in AL in wild pitches (10)
Rusty Staub #2 in MLB in RBIs (121) #2 in MLB in games played (162) #2 in AL in sacrifice flies (11) #2 in AL in at bats per strikeout (18.3) #2 in AL in outs (505) #3 in AL in at bats (642) #3 in MLB in plate appearances (734) #3 in MLB in times grounded into double plays (24) #4 in AL total bases (279) #5 in AL in hits (175) #5 in AL in times on base (254)
Jason Thompson #4 in AL in runs created (104) #5 in AL in total bases (278)
Milt Wilcox #4 in AL in hit batsmen (8)
Players ranking among top 100 all time at position The following members of the 1979 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
Farm system
References
External links 1978 Detroit Tigers Regular Season Statistics