# 1979 Detroit Tigers season

The 1979 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 79th season and the 68th season at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers finished in fifth place in the American League East with a record of 85–76, 18 games behind the Orioles. 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. This season is most notable for both the Tigers' involvement in the infamous Disco Demolition Night, of which they were the visiting team to the Chicago White Sox and declared winners by forfeit, as well as for their mid-season hiring of Sparky Anderson as manager. Anderson would manage the Tigers through the end of the 1995 season, winning the 1984 World Series along with two American League Eastern Division titles in 1984 and 1987.

## Offseason

* March 20, 1979: Steve Dillard was traded by the Tigers to the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later. The Cubs completed the deal by sending Ed Putman to the Tigers on March 24.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Baltimore Orioles | 102 | 57 | .642 | — | 55‍–‍24 | 47‍–‍33 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 95 | 66 | .590 | 8 | 52‍–‍29 | 43‍–‍37 |
| Boston Red Sox | 91 | 69 | .569 | 11½ | 51‍–‍29 | 40‍–‍40 |
| New York Yankees | 89 | 71 | .556 | 13½ | 51‍–‍30 | 38‍–‍41 |
| Detroit Tigers | 85 | 76 | .528 | 18 | 46‍–‍34 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 81 | 80 | .503 | 22 | 47‍–‍34 | 34‍–‍46 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 53 | 109 | .327 | 50½ | 32‍–‍49 | 21‍–‍60 |

### Record vs. opponents

1979 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 8–5 | 9–3 | 8–3 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 5–6 | 8–4 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 11–2 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–4 |
| California | 3–9 | 7–5 | — | 9–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 3–8 | 6–5 | 4–9 | — | 6–6 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 11–2 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 5–8 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 8–5 |
| Detroit | 6–7 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 6–6 | — | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 5–7 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 9–3 |
| Milwaukee | 5–8 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 10–3 |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 4–9 | 11–1 |
| New York | 6–5 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 5–7 | — | 9–3 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 9–4 |
| Oakland | 4–8 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 4–9 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | — | 8–5 | 2–11 | 4–8 |
| Seattle | 2–10 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 5–8 | — | 6–7 | 8–4 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 2–11 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 11–2 | 7–6 | — | 7–5 |
| Toronto | 2–11 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 1–11 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 25, 1979: The Tigers traded a player to be named later to the Cincinnati Reds for Champ Summers. The Tigers completed the deal by sending Sheldon Burnside to the Reds on October 25.
* June 5, 1979: University of Michigan football quarterback Rick Leach was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 1st round (13th pick) of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft.
* July 20, 1979: Rusty Staub was traded by the Tigers to the Montreal Expos 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.

### 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
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Lance Parrish | 143 | 493 | 136 | .276 | 19 | 65 |
| 1B | Jason Thompson | 145 | 492 | 121 | .246 | 20 | 79 |
| 2B | Lou Whitaker | 127 | 423 | 121 | .286 | 3 | 42 |
| 3B | Aurelio Rodríguez | 106 | 343 | 87 | .254 | 5 | 36 |
| SS | Alan Trammell | 142 | 460 | 127 | .276 | 6 | 50 |
| LF | Steve Kemp | 134 | 490 | 156 | .318 | 26 | 105 |
| RF | Jerry Morales | 129 | 440 | 93 | .211 | 14 | 56 |
| CF | Ron LeFlore | 148 | 600 | 180 | .300 | 9 | 57 |
| DH | Rusty Staub | 68 | 246 | 58 | .236 | 9 | 40 |

#### 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 |
| Champ Summers | 90 | 246 | 77 | .313 | 20 | 51 |
| John Wockenfuss | 87 | 231 | 61 | .264 | 15 | 46 |
| Lynn Jones | 95 | 213 | 63 | .296 | 4 | 26 |
| Tom Brookens | 60 | 190 | 50 | .263 | 4 | 21 |
| Mark Wagner | 75 | 146 | 40 | .274 | 1 | 13 |
| Phil Mankowski | 42 | 99 | 22 | .222 | 0 | 8 |
| Al Greene | 29 | 59 | 8 | .136 | 3 | 6 |
| Ed Putman | 21 | 39 | 9 | .231 | 2 | 4 |
| Kirk Gibson | 12 | 38 | 9 | .237 | 1 | 4 |
| Dave Stegman | 12 | 31 | 6 | .194 | 3 | 5 |
| Dave Machemer | 19 | 26 | 5 | .192 | 0 | 2 |
| Tim Corcoran | 18 | 22 | 5 | .227 | 0 | 6 |
| Rick Peters | 10 | 19 | 5 | .263 | 0 | 2 |
| Dan Gonzales | 7 | 18 | 4 | .222 | 0 | 2 |
| Milt May | 6 | 11 | 3 | .273 | 0 | 3 |

### 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 |
| Jack Morris | 27 | 197.2 | 17 | 7 | 3.28 | 113 |
| Milt Wilcox | 33 | 196.1 | 12 | 10 | 4.35 | 109 |
| Dan Petry | 15 | 98.0 | 6 | 5 | 3.95 | 43 |
| Dave Rozema | 16 | 97.1 | 4 | 4 | 3.51 | 33 |
| Bruce Robbins | 10 | 46.0 | 3 | 3 | 3.91 | 22 |
| Mark Fidrych | 4 | 14.2 | 0 | 3 | 10.43 | 5 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Jack Billingham | 35 | 158.0 | 10 | 7 | 3.30 | 59 |
| Pat Underwood | 27 | 121.2 | 6 | 4 | 4.59 | 83 |
| Steve Baker | 21 | 84.0 | 1 | 7 | 6.64 | 54 |
| Kip Young | 13 | 43.2 | 2 | 2 | 6.39 | 22 |
| Mike Chris | 13 | 39.0 | 3 | 3 | 6.92 | 31 |

#### 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 |
| Aurelio López | 61 | 10 | 5 | 21 | 49 | 2.41 | 106 |
| John Hiller | 43 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 30 | 5.22 | 46 |
| Dave Tobik | 37 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 19 | 4.33 | 48 |
| Sheldon Burnside | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6.33 | 13 |
| Bruce Taylor | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4.82 | 8 |
| Fernando Arroyo | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8.25 | 7 |

## Awards and honors

* Steve Kemp, Tiger of the Year Award, from Detroit baseball writers

### All-Stars

* Steve Kemp, reserve

### League top ten finishes

Steve Kemp
* #4 in AL in OPS (.939)
* #8 in AL in batting average (.318)
Ron LeFlore
* #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
* #3 in AL in saves (21)
* #5 in AL in games finished (49)
Jack Morris
* #4 in AL in Adjusted ERA+ (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
* #4 in AL in times caught stealing (14)
Milt Wilcox
* #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 in 2001:
* Lance Parrish: 19th best catcher of all time (played 12 games as a rookie)
* Lou Whitaker: 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: 91st best third baseman of all time
* Ron LeFlore: 80th best center fielder of all time

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Evansville Triplets | American Association | Jim Leyland |
| AA | Montgomery Rebels | Southern League | Dennis Sommers |
| A | Lakeland Tigers | Florida State League | Fred Hatfield |
| Rookie | Bristol Tigers | Appalachian League | Joe Lewis |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Evansville