# 1983 Detroit Tigers season

The 1983 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 83rd season and the 72nd season at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers finished in second place in the American League East with a record of 92–70 (.568), six games behind the Orioles. The Tigers outscored their opponents 789 to 679. The Tigers drew 1,829,636 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1983, ranking 8th of the 14 teams in the American League.

## Offseason

* February 21, 1983: Dave Revering was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.
* March 15, 1983: Julio González was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.
* March 25, 1983: Stine Poole (minors) and cash were traded by Tigers to the Minnesota Twins for Sal Butera.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Baltimore Orioles | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 50‍–‍31 | 48‍–‍33 |
| Detroit Tigers | 92 | 70 | .568 | 6 | 48‍–‍33 | 44‍–‍37 |
| New York Yankees | 91 | 71 | .562 | 7 | 51‍–‍30 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 89 | 73 | .549 | 9 | 48‍–‍33 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 87 | 75 | .537 | 11 | 52‍–‍29 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Boston Red Sox | 78 | 84 | .481 | 20 | 38‍–‍43 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Cleveland Indians | 70 | 92 | .432 | 28 | 36‍–‍45 | 34‍–‍47 |

### Record vs. opponents

1983 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 11–2 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 7–6 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 |
| California | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 3–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 |
| Chicago | 5–7 | 6–6 | 10–3 | — | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 12–1 | 8–5 | 5–7 |
| Cleveland | 7–6 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 4–9 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 9–4 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 8–5 | — | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 6–7 |
| Kansas City | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 8–5–1 | 6–6 |
| Milwaukee | 2–11 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | — | 8–4 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–5 |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 4–8 | — | 4–8 | 4–9 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 5–7 |
| New York | 7–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 8–4 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 |
| Oakland | 4–8 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 4–8 | — | 9–4 | 2–11 | 6–6 |
| Seattle | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 1–12 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 4–8 |
| Texas | 3–9 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 5–8–1 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 11–2 | 7–6 | — | 4–8 |
| Toronto | 6–7 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–4 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 6, 1983: 1983 Major League Baseball draft
** Jeff Robinson was drafted by the Tigers in the 3rd round.
** D. J. Dozier was drafted by the Tigers in the 18th round, but did not sign.
* June 30, 1983: Pat Underwood was traded by the Tigers to the Cincinnati Reds for Wayne Krenchicki.

### 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 | 155 | 605 | 163 | .269 | 27 | 114 |
| 1B | Enos Cabell | 121 | 392 | 122 | .311 | 5 | 46 |
| 2B | Lou Whitaker | 161 | 643 | 206 | .320 | 12 | 72 |
| 3B | Tom Brookens | 138 | 332 | 71 | .214 | 6 | 32 |
| SS | Alan Trammell | 142 | 505 | 161 | .319 | 14 | 66 |
| CF | Chet Lemon | 145 | 491 | 125 | .255 | 24 | 69 |
| RF | Glenn Wilson | 144 | 503 | 135 | .268 | 11 | 65 |
| LF | Larry Herndon | 153 | 603 | 182 | .302 | 20 | 92 |
| DH | Kirk Gibson | 128 | 401 | 91 | .227 | 15 | 51 |

#### 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 |
| John Wockenfuss | 92 | 245 | 66 | .269 | 9 | 44 |
| Rick Leach | 99 | 242 | 60 | .248 | 3 | 26 |
| Johnny Grubb | 57 | 134 | 34 | .254 | 4 | 22 |
| Wayne Krenchicki | 59 | 133 | 37 | .278 | 1 | 22 |
| Marty Castillo | 67 | 119 | 23 | .193 | 2 | 16 |
| Howard Johnson | 27 | 66 | 14 | .212 | 3 | 5 |
| Lynn Jones | 49 | 64 | 17 | .266 | 0 | 6 |
| Mike Ivie | 12 | 42 | 9 | .214 | 0 | 7 |
| Bill Fahey | 19 | 22 | 6 | .273 | 0 | 2 |
| Julio González | 12 | 21 | 3 | .143 | 0 | 2 |
| Mike Laga | 12 | 21 | 4 | .190 | 0 | 2 |
| Sal Butera | 4 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Molinaro | 8 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Nahorodny | 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 |
| Jack Morris | 37 | 293.2 | 20 | 13 | 3.34 | 232 |
| Dan Petry | 38 | 266.1 | 19 | 11 | 3.92 | 122 |
| Milt Wilcox | 26 | 186.0 | 11 | 10 | 3.97 | 101 |
| Juan Berenguer | 37 | 157.2 | 9 | 5 | 3.14 | 129 |
| Glenn Abbott | 7 | 46.2 | 2 | 1 | 1.93 | 11 |

#### 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 |
| Dave Rozema | 29 | 105.0 | 8 | 3 | 3.43 | 63 |
| Larry Pashnick | 12 | 37.2 | 1 | 3 | 5.26 | 17 |
| Jerry Ujdur | 11 | 34.0 | 0 | 4 | 7.15 | 13 |
| Dave Rucker | 4 | 9.0 | 1 | 2 | 17.00 | 6 |

#### 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 | 57 | 9 | 8 | 18 | 46 | 2.81 | 90 |
| Howard Bailey | 33 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 4.88 | 21 |
| Doug Bair | 27 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 3.88 | 39 |
| Dave Gumpert | 26 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 2.64 | 14 |
| John Martin | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 7.43 | 11 |
| Pat Underwood | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8.71 | 2 |
| Bob James | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11.25 | 4 |

## Award winners and league leaders

Kirk Gibson
* #2 in AL in triples (9)
* #10 in AL in Power/Speed Number (14.5)
Larry Herndon
* #2 in AL in triples (9)
* #8 in AL in hits (182)
* #10 in AL in at bats (603)
* #10 in AL in total bases (288)
Chet Lemon
* AL leader in times hit by pitch (20)
Aurelio López
* AL All Star Team, pitcher
Jack Morris
* AL leader in strikeouts (232)
* AL leader in innings pitched (293-2/3)
* AL leader in wild pitches (18)
* AL leader in batters faced (1204)
* #2 in AL in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (7.11)
* #2 in AL in games started (37)
* #2 in AL in complete games (20)
* #2 in AL in strikeout to walk ratio (2.80)
* #4 in AL in wins (20)
* #4 in AL in walks plus hits per innings pitched (WHIP) (1.158)
* #4 in AL in hits allowed (257)
* #5 in AL in home runs allowed (30)
Lance Parrish
* AL Gold Glove Award, catcher
* AL Silver Slugger Award, catcher
* AL All Star Team, catcher
* AL leader in runners caught stealing (54)
* AL leader in sacrifice flies (13)
* Finished 9th in AL MVP voting
* #3 in doubles (42)
* #3 in AL in extra base hits (72)
* #4 in AL in RBIs (114)
* #6 in AL in outs (479)
* #8 in AL in total bases (292)
* #9 in AL in home runs (27)
* #9 in AL in at bats (605)
* #9 in AL in strikeouts (106)
* #9 in AL in times grounded into double plays (21)
Dan Petry
* AL leader in games started (38)
* AL leader in home runs allowed (37)
* #2 in AL in earned runs allowed (116)
* #2 in AL in wild pitches (12)
* #3 in AL in innings pitched (266-1/3)
* #3 in AL in bases on balls allowed (99)
* #3 in AL in batters faced (1115)
* #5 in AL in wins (19)
* #5 in AL in hits allowed (256)
Alan Trammell
* AL Gold Glove Award, shortstop
* AL leader in sacrifice hits (15)
* Finished 15th in AL MVP voting
* #4 in AL in batting average (.319)
* #5 in AL in Power/Speed Number (19.1)
* #8 in AL in on-base percentage (.385)
* #9 in AL in times caught stealing (10)
Lou Whitaker
* AL Gold Glove Award, second baseman
* AL Silver Slugger Award, second baseman
* AL All Star Team, second baseman
* AL leader in games played at second base (160)
* Tiger of the Year Award, by Detroit baseball writers
* Finished 8th in AL MVP voting
* #2 in AL in plate appearances (720)
* #2 in AL in singles (148)
* #2 in AL in times on base (273)
* #3 in AL in batting average (.320)
* #3 in AL in hits (206)
* #3 in AL in at bats (643)
* #4 in AL in games (161)
* #5 in AL in runs created (114)
* #7 in AL in total bases (294)
* #7 in AL in doubles (40)
* #7 in AL in sacrifice flies (8)
* #9 in AL in times caught stealing (10)
Milt Wilcox
* #4 in AL in wild pitches (10)

### Players ranking among top 100 all time at position

The following members of the 1983 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their position, as ranked by The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract:
* 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
* Kirk Gibson: 36th best left fielder of all time

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Evansville Triplets | American Association | Gordon Mackenzie |
| AA | Birmingham Barons | Southern League | Roy Majtyka |
| A | Lakeland Tigers | Florida State League | Ted Brazell |
| Rookie | Bristol Tigers | Appalachian League | Boots Day |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Birmingham