1977 Detroit Tigers season
The 1977 Detroit Tigers finished in fourth place in the American League East with a record of 74–88, 26 games behind the New York Yankees. They were outscored by their opponents 751 to 714. The Tigers drew 1,359,856 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1977, ranking 7th of the 14 teams in the American League.Offseason
With 212 hits, 100 runs scored, and a.325 batting average, center fielder Ron LeFlore was the team's most valuable player, and the recipient of the "Tiger of the Year" award. First baseman Jason Thompson led the team with 31 home runs and 105 RBIs, and second baseman Tito Fuentes was the team's only other.300 hitter, with a.309 batting average and 190 hits. Designated hitter Rusty Staub also had a.278 batting average, 173 hits, 22 home runs, and 101 RBIs. Rookie Steve Kemp hit.257 with 18 home runs and 88 RBIs.
The rookie sensation of 1976, Mark Fidrych pitched in 1977, but tendinitis limited "The Bird" to 11 games. The pitching star of 1977 for Detroit was rookie Dave Rozema who went 15–7 with a 3.09 ERA and finished eight in the American League Cy Young Award voting.
1977 also saw the debut of Steve Kemp, Dave Rozema, Jack Morris, Lance Parrish, Alan Trammell, and Lou Whitaker.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
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | | 115 | 397 | 99 | .249 | 12 | 46 |
| 1B | | 158 | 585 | 158 | .270 | 31 | 105 |
| 2B | | 151 | 615 | 190 | .309 | 5 | 51 |
| 3B | | 96 | 306 | 67 | .219 | 10 | 32 |
| SS | | 125 | 350 | 69 | .197 | 2 | 28 |
| CF | | 154 | 652 | 212 | .325 | 16 | 57 |
| LF | | 151 | 552 | 142 | .257 | 18 | 88 |
| RF | | 132 | 450 | 118 | .262 | 21 | 61 |
| DH | | 158 | 623 | 173 | .278 | 22 | 101 |
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 |
| 94 | 286 | 79 | .276 | 3 | 27 |
| 75 | 222 | 51 | .230 | 8 | 23 |
| 53 | 164 | 45 | .274 | 9 | 25 |
| 55 | 103 | 29 | .282 | 3 | 15 |
| 61 | 72 | 6 | .083 | 0 | 2 |
| 22 | 48 | 7 | .146 | 1 | 3 |
| 12 | 46 | 9 | .196 | 3 | 7 |
| 19 | 43 | 8 | .186 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | 32 | 8 | .250 | 0 | 2 |
| 14 | 25 | 2 | .080 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | 24 | 6 | .250 | 2 | 2 |
| 1 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
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 |
| 28 | 218.1 | 15 | 7 | 3.09 | 92 |
| 38 | 209.1 | 8 | 18 | 4.17 | 60 |
| 22 | 129.1 | 4 | 10 | 5.15 | 46 |
| 11 | 81 | 6 | 4 | 2.89 | 42 |
| 14 | 66.1 | 3 | 5 | 5.70 | 27 |
| 7 | 45.2 | 1 | 1 | 3.74 | 28 |
| 5 | 14.1 | 0 | 2 | 12.56 | 4 |
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 | SO |
| 32 | 132.7 | 5 | 7 | 4.41 | 58 |
| 37 | 126 | 7 | 8 | 4.79 | 91 |
| 20 | 106.3 | 6 | 2 | 3.64 | 82 |
| 8 | 27.1 | 2 | 1 | 5.27 | 13 |
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 |
| 44 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 34 | 3.15 | 58 |
| 45 | 8 | 14 | 7 | 27 | 3.56 | 115 |
| 30 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 4.83 | 49 |
| 19 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 3.38 | 19 |
Awards and honors
Award winners
Ron LeFlore
- Tiger of the Year Award from the Detroit baseball writers
- Finished 20th in AL MVP voting
Dave Rozema
Jason Thompson
- Finished 21st in AL MVP voting
All-Stars
Jason Thompson, reserveLeague top ten finishers
Fernando Arroyo
Mark Fidrych
Tito Fuentes
- AL leader in innings played at second base
- AL leader in putouts at second base
- AL leader in double plays at second base
- AL leader in errors at second base
- AL leader in complete games at second base
- #2 in AL in singles
- #8 in AL in hits
- #8 in AL in triples
- #9 in AL in sacrifice hits
Steve Kemp
- AL leader in games in left field
- AL leader in complete games in left field
- AL leader in innings played in left field
Ron LeFlore
- AL leader in assists by a center fielder
- #2 in AL in hits
- #2 in AL in singles
- #2 in AL in at bats
- #2 in AL in singles
- #2 in AL in times caught stealing
- #4 in AL in plate appearances
- #4 in AL in strikeouts
- #5 in AL in batting average
- #5 in AL in stolen bases
- #5 in AL in total bases
- #6 in AL in Power/Speed Number
- #8 in AL in triples
- #8 in AL in times on base
- #9 in AL in runs scored
- #9 in AL in outs
- #10 in AL in runs created
Dave Rozema
Rusty Staub
- #1 in AL in times grounded into double plays
- #2 in AL in outs
- #3 in AL in sacrifice flies
- #5 in AL in plate appearances
- #7 in AL in at bats per strikeout
- #8 in AL in doubles
Jason Thompson
- #6 in AL in home runs
- #6 in AL in sacrifice flies
- #8 in AL in RBIs
Alan Trammell
- Youngest player in the AL
Players ranking among top 100 all time at position
The following members of the 1977 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
- Lou Whitaker: 13th best second baseman of all time
- Alan Trammell: 9th best shortstop of all time
- Aurelio Rodríguez: 91st best third baseman of all time
- Ron LeFlore: 80th best center fielder of all time
- Ben Oglivie: 64th best left fielder of all time
- Willie Horton: 55th best left fielder of all time
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Montgomery, Lakeland, Bristol
