The 1979

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

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 85-76, 18 games behind the

Orioles Oriole or Orioles may refer to: Animals * Old World oriole, colorful passerine birds in the family Oriolidae * New World oriole, a group of birds in the family Icteridae Music * The Orioles, an R&B and doo-wop group of the late 1940s and early ...

. They outscored their opponents 770 to 738. The Tigers drew 1,630,929 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1979, ranking 7th of the 14 teams in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

. This season is most notable for both the Tigers' involvement in the infamous

Disco Demolition Night Disco Demolition Night was a Major League Baseball (MLB) promotion on Thursday, July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, that ended in a riot. At the climax of the event, a crate filled with disco records was blown up on the field ...

, of which they were the visiting team to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

and declared winners by forfeit, as well as for their mid-season hiring of

Sparky Anderson George Lee "Sparky" Anderson (February 22, 1934 – November 4, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player, coach, and manager. He managed the National League's Cincinnati Reds to the 1975 and 1976 championships, then added a third t ...

as manager. Anderson would manage the Tigers through the end of the 1995 season, winning the

1984 World Series The 1984 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1984 season. The 81st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Detroit Tigers and the Nationa ...

along with two American League Eastern Division titles in 1984 and

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

Offseason

* March 20, 1979: Steve Dillard was traded by the Tigers to the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

for a player to be named later. The Cubs completed the deal by sending

Ed Putman Eddy William Putman is a former Major League Baseball catcher. He played parts of three seasons in the major leagues between and . He played mostly behind the plate, but also played some first base and third base A third baseman, abbreviated ...

to the Tigers on March 24.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* May 25, 1979: The Tigers traded a player to be named later to the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

for

Champ Summers John Junior "Champ" Summers (June 15, 1946 – October 11, 2012) was a Major League Baseball outfielder and first baseman for six teams during his eleven-year career that spanned from 1974 to 1984. Summers played with the Oakland Athletics, Chic ...

. The Tigers completed the deal by sending

Sheldon Burnside Sheldon John Burnside (born December 22, 1954) is a former Major League Baseball player who pitched for the Detroit Tigers and the Cincinnati Reds. Burnside was born in South Bend, Indiana but moved to the Greater Toronto Area at about five mont ...

to the Reds on October 25. * June 5, 1979:

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Rick Leach Rick Leach (born December 28, 1964) is a former professional tennis player and a coach from the United States. A doubles specialist, he won five Grand Slam doubles titles (three at the Australian Open, one at Wimbledon, and one at the US Open) ...

was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 1st round (13th pick) of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft. * July 20, 1979:

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 ...

was traded by the Tigers to 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 ...

for a player to be named later and cash. The Expos completed the deal by sending Randy Schafer (minors) to the Tigers on December 3.Rusty Staub
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

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 ...

, Tiger of the Year Award, from Detroit baseball writers

All-Stars

, reserve

League top ten finishes

* #4 in AL in OPS (.939) * #8 in AL in batting average (.318)

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 ...

* #2 in MLB in stolen bases (78) * #3 in AL in singles (139) * #4 in AL in times caught stealing (14) * #5 in AL in triples (10) * #7 in AL in runs scored (110)

Aurelio López Aurelio Alejandro López Rios (September 21, 1948 – September 22, 1992) was a Mexican professional baseball player. After pitching for several years in the Mexican League, he spent eleven seasons (1974, 1978–87) with four teams in Majo ...

* #3 in AL in saves (21) * #5 in AL in games finished (49)

Jack Morris John Scott Morris (born May 16, 1955) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1977 and 1994, mainly for the Detroit Tigers. Morris won 254 games throughout his career. Armed ...

* #4 in AL in

Adjusted ERA+ Adjusted ERA+, often simply abbreviated to ERA+ or ERA plus, is a pitching statistic in baseball. It adjusts a pitcher's earned run average (ERA) according to the pitcher's ballpark (in case the ballpark favors batters or pitchers) and the ERA of ...

(133) * #5 in AL in ERA (3.28) * #5 in AL in wins (17) * #5 in AL win percentage (.708) * #4 in AL in hits allowed per 9 innings (8.15) Bruce Robbins * 3rd youngest player in the AL

Alan Trammell Alan Stuart Trammell ( ; born February 21, 1958) is an American former professional baseball shortstop, manager and coach and member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a player. His entire 20-year playing career in Major League Baseball ( ...

* #4 in AL in times caught stealing (14)

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� ...

* #2 in MLB in hit batsmen (11)

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) *

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 ...

: 13th best second baseman of all time (played 11 games as a rookie) *

: 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

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Evansville

Notes

References

External links

1979 Detroit Tigers Regular Season Statistics at Baseball Reference
{{Detroit Tigers Detroit Tigers seasons Detroit Tigers season Detroit Tiger 1979 in Detroit