The 2000 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 100th season and their first season at Comerica Park, after having played at Tiger Stadium since 1912, at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Trumbull Avenue (also site of their previous stadiums since 1896).

Offseason November 2, 1999: Juan González was traded by the Texas Rangers with Danny Patterson and Gregg Zaun to the Detroit Tigers for Frank Catalanotto, Francisco Cordero, Bill Haselman, Gabe Kapler, Justin Thompson, and Alan Webb (minors). November 15, 1999: Luis Polonia was signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers. November 29, 1999: Mike Oquist was signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers. March 7, 2000: Gregg Zaun was sent to the Kansas City Royals by the Detroit Tigers as part of a conditional deal. March 13, 2000: Mike Oquist was released by the Detroit Tigers. March 26, 2000: Mike Oquist was signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.

Regular season On October 1, 2000, Dusty Allen hit a home run in the last at-bat of his career. Honored 2000HarryHeilmannOF: 1914–29 HeinieManushOF: 1923-27Honored 2000HughieJenningsM: 1907–20 SamCrawfordOF: 1903-17Honored 2000MickeyCochraneC: 1934–37M: 1934–38GeorgeKell3B: 1946-52Honored 2000ErnieHarwellBroadcaster:1960–2002Honored 2000

Comerica Park Groundbreaking for a new ballpark to replace Tiger Stadium for the Detroit Tigers was held on October 29, 1997, and the new stadium was opened to the public in 2000. At the time of construction, the scoreboard in left field was the largest in Major League Baseball. In December 1998, Comerica Bank agreed to pay US$66 million over 30 years for the naming rights for the new ballpark. Upon its opening, there was some effort to try to find a nickname for the park, with the abbreviation CoPa suggested by many, but that nickname has not gained widespread acceptance.

First game

The first game at Comerica Park was held on Tuesday, April 11, 2000, with 39,168 spectators attending on a cold snowy afternoon. Grounds people had to clear snow off the field from the night before. The Tigers defeated the Seattle Mariners by a score of 5–2. The winning pitcher, like in the final game at Tiger Stadium was Brian Moehler.

April 22 The Tigers were involved in a pair of bench-clearing brawls in a 14–6 loss to the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park on April 22. Both were fueled by pitchers hitting batters. The tensions began in the sixth inning with Carlos Lee and Jeff Weaver who continued to jaw with Lee after being subbed out. A retaliatory pitch thrown by Jim Parque to Dean Palmer one inning later in the seventh began the first brawl which moved into shallow right field and included Keith Foulke being punched by Bobby Higginson and sustaining a cut under his left eye that needed five stitches to close. Four batters after Tanyon Sturtze hit Deivi Cruz in the ninth, the second brawl erupted when Bob Howry did likewise to Shane Halter. Among the eleven ejections were the Tigers' Weaver, Palmer, Robert Fick, Danny Patterson and Doug Brocail and White Sox's Sturtze, Howry, Magglio Ordóñez, Bill Simas, manager Jerry Manuel and bench coach Joe Nossek."Tigers, White Sox Get Fighting Mad: 11 Tossed," The Washington Post, Sunday, April 23, 2000. Retrieved July 24, 2023.

In the harshest penalty for a brawl in MLB history, a combined 16 members of the Tigers and White Sox were suspended for a total of 82 games five days later on April 27."MLB Suspends 16 After Melee," The Associated Press (AP), Thursday, April 27, 2000. Retrieved July 24, 2023. Tigers coach Juan Samuel incurred the longest at 15 for throwing punches rather than serving as a peacemaker, while the opposing managers Manuel and Phil Garner each received eight. Palmer was also assessed eight for participating in the second brawl despite having already been ejected. Other suspended Tigers were Higginson and Fick for five each, Brocail for four and Juan Encarnación, Karim García and Luis Polonia for three. Ordóñez was the White Sox player receiving the longest suspension at five, while Lee, Parque, Foulke, Sturtze and Howry got three each.Newhan, Ross. "16 Suspended for 82 Games for Roles in Chicago Brawl," Los Angeles Times, Friday, April 28, 2000. Retrieved July 24, 2023.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions May 10, 2000: Rich Becker was signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers. July 31, 2000: Luis Polonia was released by the Detroit Tigers.

Roster 2000 Detroit Tigers Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting 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 RBIBobby Higginson 154597 179 .30030 102Deivi Cruz 156 583 176 .30210 82Juan Encarnación 141547 158 .28914 72Dean Palmer 145524 134 .25629 102Brad Ausmus 150 523 139 .2667 51Damion Easley 126 464 120 .259 1458Juan González 115 461 133 .28922 67Luis Polonia 80 267 73 .2736 25Shane Halter 105 238 62 .2613 27Rich Becker 92 238 58 .2447 34Tony Clark 60 208 57 .27413 37Wendell Magee 91 186 51 .2747 31José Macías 73 173 44 .2542 24Robert Fick 66 163 41 .2523 22Gregg Jefferies 41 142 39 .2752 14Billy McMillon 46 123 37 .3014 24Hal Morris 40 106 33 .3111 8Javier Cardona 26 40 7 .175 1 2Karim García 8 17 3 .176 0 0Dusty Allen 18 16 7 .438 2 2Eric Munson 3 5 0 .000 0 1Rod Lindsey 11 3 1 .333 0 0Gabe Alvarez 1 1 0 .000 0 0Pitcher totals162191.05300Team totals16256441553.275177785

Note: Individual pitchers' batting statistics not included

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 SOJeff Weaver 31200.0 1115 4.32 136Hideo Nomo 32190.0 812 4.74 181Brian Moehler 29178.0 129 4.50 103Dave Mlicki 24119.1 611 5.58 57Steve Sparks 20104.0 75 4.07 53

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 SOWillie Blair 47 156.2 10 6 4.88 74C.J. Nitkowski 67 109.2 4 9 5.25 81Adam Bernero 12 34.1 0 1 4.19 20Mark Johnson 9 24.0 0 1 7.50 11Dave Borkowski 2 5.1 0 1 21.94 1

Relief pitchers = Indicates league leader

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L SV ERA SOTodd Jones 67 64.02 4 42* 3.52 67Matt Anderson 6974.1 32 1 4.72 71Danny Patterson 5856.2 5 1 0 3.97 29Doug Brocail 4950.2 5 4 0 4.09 41Nelson Cruz 2741.0 5 2 0 3.07 34 Jim Poole 188.2 1 0 0 7.27 5Allen McDill 1310.0 0 0 0 7.20 7Kevin Tolar 5 3.0 0 0 0 3.00 3Brandon Villafuerte 3 4.1 0 0 0 10.38 1Erik Hiljus 3 3.2 0 0 0 7.36 2Sean Runyan 3 3.0 0 0 0 6.00 1Masao Kida 2 2.2 0 0 0 10.13 0Shane Halter 1 0.0 0 0 0 ---- 0Team Pitching Totals1621443.17983444.71978 Tied with Derek Lowe (Boston) for league lead

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

External links

2000 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference Tigers on Baseball Almanac