1978 Detroit Tigers season


The 1978 Detroit 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

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

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
PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C10535288.2501037
1B153589169.2872679
2B139484138.285358
3B134385102.265743
SS139448120.268234
LF159582161.2771579
CF155666198.2971262
RF11632486.265127
DH162642175.27324121

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
8528863.2191441
8822261.275420
7118753.283722
5315140.26538
5613029.22307
3910926.23906
10287.25002
8144.28613

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
35233.217114.1292
29215.113123.76132
28209.19123.1457
30201.21583.8859
14105.2672.8149
322202.4510

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
28106354.3348
2293.2663.9458
1563.1244.5539

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; GF = Games finished; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGWLSVGFERASO
519414462.3474
24244153.1318
20230104.3524
1000063.079
500043.7511
200018.311
200019.003
100010.000

Awards and honors

Lou Whitaker
Ron LeFlore
Jason Thompson, reserve

League top ten finishers

Steve Kemp
Ron LeFlore
Dave Rozema
Jim Slaton
Rusty Staub
Jason Thompson
Milt Wilcox
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: