The 1978 Detroit Tigers finished in fifth place in the

American League East The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...

with a record of 86–76, 13½ games behind the

Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

. They outscored their opponents 714 to 653. It was the franchise's first winning season since

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

and would start a string of winning seasons that would not come to an end until

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

Offseason

* January 10, 1978:

Chris Codiroli Christopher Allen Codiroli (born March 26, 1958) is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues in 1982–1988 and 1990. In 144 career games, he had 38 wins, 47 losses, 312 strikeouts, and a 4.87 earned run average ...

was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round (11th pick) of the

1978 Major League Baseball draft In 1978, four American baseball players were promoted from amateur baseball to the major leagues, including Arizona State University third baseman Bob Horner, who was selected number one overall by the Atlanta Braves. Oakland High School pitc ...

. * January 30, 1978:

Tito Fuentes Rigoberto Fuentes Peat (born January 4, 1944) is a retired professional baseball player. He played for 13 seasons in the major leagues between 1965 and 1978, primarily as a second baseman. Fuentes played for most of his career with the San Fra ...

was purchased from the Tigers by the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

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:

Kirk Gibson Kirk Harold Gibson (born May 28, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He is currently a color commentator for the Detroit Tigers on Bally Sports Detroit and a special assistant for the Tigers. As a player, Gibson ...

was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round (12th pick). **

Jerry Ujdur Gerald Raymond Ujdur (born March 5, 1957) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Ujdur pitched in all or part of five seasons from through . Ujdur played college baseball for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. He was selected by the Detroit Tige ...

was drafted by the Tigers in the 4th round.Jerry Ujdur
at ''Baseball-Reference''

Roster

Player stats

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''

Other batters

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

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; GF = Games finished; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Awards and honors

Lou Whitaker Louis Rodman Whitaker Jr. (born May 12, 1957), nicknamed "Sweet Lou", is an American former professional baseball second baseman. Whitaker spent his entire career with the Detroit Tigers. From 1977 to 1995, he appeared in 2,390 games for the ...

* AL Rookie of the Year Award

Ron LeFlore Ronald LeFlore (born June 16, 1948) is an American former Major League Baseball center fielder. He played six seasons with the Detroit Tigers before being traded to the Montreal Expos. He retired with the Chicago White Sox in 1982. He stole 455 ...

* Tiger of the Year Award, from Detroit baseball writers

All-Stars

Jason Thompson, reserve

League top ten finishers

Steve Kemp Steven F. Kemp (born August 7, 1954) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Texas Rangers. Profession ...

* #3 in AL in bases on balls (97) * #4 in AL in times on base (259) * #5 in AL in games played (159)

* 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 David Scott Rozema ( ; born August 5, 1956) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1977 through 1986 for the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers. Listed at 6' 4", 185 lb., Rozema batted and threw right-handed. Early years ...

* #5 in MLB in bases on balls per 9 innings pitched (1.76)

Jim Slaton James Michael Slaton (born June 19, 1950) is a former pitcher with a 16-year career from 1971-1986. He played in the American League with the Milwaukee Brewers from 1971–1977 and 1979–1983, the Detroit Tigers in 1978 and 1986, and the Cal ...

* #4 in AL in hit batsmen (8) * #5 in AL in wild pitches (10)

Rusty Staub Daniel Joseph "Rusty" Staub (April 1, 1944 – March 29, 2018) was an American professional baseball player and television color commentator. He played in Major League Baseball for 23 seasons as a right fielder, designated hitter, and first basem ...

* #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 Milton Edward Wilcox (born April 20, 1950) is an American former baseball pitcher. He pitched for 16 years in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds (1970–1971), Cleveland Indians (1972–1974), Chicago Cubs (1975), Detroit Tigers (1977� ...

* #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 ''The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract'' is a reference book written by Bill James featuring an overview of professional baseball decade by decade, along with rankings of the top 100 players at each position. The original edition was publi ...

in 2001: *

Lance Parrish Lance Michael Parrish (born June 15, 1956), nicknamed "Big Wheel", is an American former baseball catcher who played Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1977 through 1995. Born in Pennsylvania, Parrish grew up in Southern California and excelled in ...

: 19th best catcher of all time (played 12 games as a rookie) *

: 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 Aurelio Rodríguez Ituarte, Jr. (December 28, 1947 – September 23, 2000), sometimes known by the nickname "Chi Chi", was a Mexicans, Mexican professional baseball player, who spent the bulk of his Major League Baseball, Major League career ...

: 91st best third baseman of all time *

: 80th best center fielder of all time

Farm system

References

External links

1978 Detroit Tigers Regular Season Statistics
{{Detroit Tigers Detroit Tigers seasons Detroit Tigers season Detroit Tiger 1978 in Detroit