# 1988 Detroit Tigers season

The 1988 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 88th season and the 77th season at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers, fresh off of losing the American League pennant to Minnesota Twins, were attempting to repeat, as American League East champions after winning the division on the final day of the previous season.
The Tigers hit five grand slams, the most in MLB in 1988.

## Offseason

* October 23, 1987: Dickie Noles was returned by the Tigers to the Chicago Cubs as part of an earlier agreement (Noles was loaned to the Tigers on September 22).
* March 23, 1988: Mark Huismann was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.
* March 24, 1988: Balvino Gálvez was traded by the Tigers to the Minnesota Twins for Billy Beane.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Red Sox | 89 | 73 | .549 | — | 53‍–‍28 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Detroit Tigers | 88 | 74 | .543 | 1 | 50‍–‍31 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 87 | 75 | .537 | 2 | 47‍–‍34 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 87 | 75 | .537 | 2 | 45‍–‍36 | 42‍–‍39 |
| New York Yankees | 85 | 76 | .528 | 3½ | 46‍–‍34 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 78 | 84 | .481 | 11 | 44‍–‍37 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 54 | 107 | .335 | 34½ | 34‍–‍46 | 20‍–‍61 |

### Record vs. opponents

1988 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–7 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 0–12 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 10–3 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 2–11 |
| California | 7–5 | 4–8 | — | 9–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 7–4 | 5–7 | 4–9 | — | 3–9 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 9–4 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–3 | — | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 5–8 | 1–11 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 12–0 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–8 |
| Milwaukee | 9–4 | 3–10 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 9–3 | — | 7–5 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–6 |
| Minnesota | 9–3 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 6–7 | 5–7 | — | 3–9 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 |
| New York | 10–3 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 9–3 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 6–6 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 9–3 |
| Seattle | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–5 | 5–8 | 7–6 | — | 6–6 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 11–2 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — |

### Notable transactions

* August 31, 1988: Rey Palacios and Mark Lee were traded by the Tigers to the Kansas City Royals for Ted Power
* August 31, 1988: The Tigers sent Chris Hoiles and players to be named later to the Baltimore Orioles for Fred Lynn

#### Draft picks

* June 1, 1988: 1988 Major League Baseball draft
** Rico Brogna was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round (26th pick). Player signed June 18, 1988.
** Dave Haas was drafted by the Tigers in the 15th round.

### 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 | Matt Nokes | 122 | 382 | 96 | .251 | 16 | 53 |
| 1B | Ray Knight | 105 | 299 | 65 | .217 | 3 | 33 |
| 2B | Lou Whitaker | 115 | 403 | 111 | .275 | 12 | 55 |
| 3B | Tom Brookens | 136 | 441 | 107 | .243 | 5 | 38 |
| SS | Alan Trammell | 128 | 466 | 145 | .311 | 15 | 69 |
| LF | Pat Sheridan | 127 | 347 | 88 | .254 | 11 | 47 |
| CF | Gary Pettis | 129 | 458 | 96 | .210 | 3 | 36 |
| RF | Chet Lemon | 144 | 512 | 135 | .264 | 17 | 64 |
| DH | Darrell Evans | 144 | 437 | 91 | .208 | 22 | 64 |

#### 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 |
| Luis Salazar | 130 | 452 | 122 | .270 | 12 | 62 |
| Dave Bergman | 116 | 289 | 85 | .294 | 5 | 35 |
| Mike Heath | 86 | 219 | 54 | .247 | 5 | 18 |
| Jim Walewander | 88 | 175 | 37 | .211 | 0 | 6 |
| Larry Herndon | 76 | 174 | 39 | .224 | 4 | 20 |
| Dwayne Murphy | 49 | 144 | 36 | .250 | 4 | 19 |
| Fred Lynn | 27 | 90 | 20 | .222 | 7 | 19 |
| Jim Morrison | 24 | 74 | 16 | .216 | 0 | 6 |
| Torey Lovullo | 12 | 21 | 8 | .381 | 1 | 2 |
| Iván DeJesús | 7 | 17 | 3 | .176 | 0 | 0 |
| Scott Lusader | 16 | 16 | 1 | .063 | 1 | 3 |
| Billy Bean | 10 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Beane | 6 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 1 |
| Chris Bando | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting 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 |
| Jack Morris | 34 | 235.0 | 15 | 13 | 3.94 | 168 |
| Doyle Alexander | 34 | 229.0 | 14 | 11 | 4.32 | 126 |
| Walt Terrell | 29 | 206.1 | 7 | 16 | 3.97 | 84 |
| Frank Tanana | 32 | 203.0 | 14 | 11 | 4.21 | 127 |
| Jeff Robinson | 24 | 172.0 | 13 | 6 | 2.98 | 114 |
| Steve Searcy | 2 | 8.0 | 0 | 2 | 5.63 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Eric King | 23 | 68.2 | 4 | 1 | 3.41 | 45 |
| Ted Power | 4 | 18.2 | 1 | 1 | 5.79 | 13 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Mike Henneman | 65 | 9 | 6 | 22 | 1.87 | 58 |
| Willie Hernández | 63 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 3.06 | 59 |
| Paul Gibson | 40 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2.93 | 50 |
| Don Heinkel | 21 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.96 | 30 |
| Mike Trujillo | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.11 | 5 |
| Mark Huismann | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.06 | 6 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Toledo Mud Hens | International League | Pat Corrales |
| AA | Glens Falls Tigers | Eastern League | John Wockenfuss |
| A | Lakeland Tigers | Florida State League | Johnny Lipon |
| A | Fayetteville Generals | South Atlantic League | Leon Roberts |
| Rookie | Bristol Tigers | Appalachian League | Rick Magnante |