# 1985 Detroit Tigers season

The 1985 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 85th season and the 74th season at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers entered the season as the reigning World Series champions. The 1985 Detroit Tigers finished in third place in the American League East with a record of 84–77 (.522), 15 games behind the Blue Jays. The Tigers outscored their opponents 729 to 688. The Tigers drew 2,286,609 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1983, ranking 3rd of the 14 teams in the American League.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 99 | 62 | .615 | — | 54‍–‍26 | 45‍–‍36 |
| New York Yankees | 97 | 64 | .602 | 2 | 58‍–‍22 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Detroit Tigers | 84 | 77 | .522 | 15 | 44‍–‍37 | 40‍–‍40 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 83 | 78 | .516 | 16 | 45‍–‍36 | 38‍–‍42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 81 | 81 | .500 | 18½ | 43‍–‍37 | 38‍–‍44 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 71 | 90 | .441 | 28 | 40‍–‍40 | 31‍–‍50 |
| Cleveland Indians | 60 | 102 | .370 | 39½ | 38‍–‍43 | 22‍–‍59 |

### Record vs. opponents

1985 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 1–12 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 4–8 |
| Boston | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 4–8–1 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 |
| California | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 5–7 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | 8–4–1 | 5–8 | — | 10–2 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 3–9 |
| Cleveland | 5–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 2–10 | — | 5–8 | 2–10 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–9 |
| Detroit | 7–6 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 6–7 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 10–2 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 3–10 | 6–7 | 7–5 |
| Milwaukee | 4–9 | 8–5 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 4–9 | 4–8 | — | 9–3 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 8–3 | 4–9 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 6–7 | 3–9 | — | 3–9 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 4–8 |
| New York | 12–1 | 8–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | — | 7–5 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–5 | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Seattle | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 5–8 | — | 6–7 | 2–10 |
| Texas | 2–10 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 3–10 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–6 | — | 3–9 |
| Toronto | 8–4 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 9–3 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 5, 1985: Roger Mason was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the San Francisco Giants for Alejandro Sánchez.
* June 3, 1985: 1985 Major League Baseball draft
** Scott Lusader was drafted by the Tigers in the 6th round.
** Mark Lee was drafted by the Tigers in the 15th round.
** Andy Stankiewicz was drafted by the Tigers in the 18th round, but did not sign.
** John Smoltz was drafted by the Tigers in the 22nd round. Player signed September 22, 1985.

### 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 | 140 | 549 | 150 | .273 | 28 | 98 |
| 1B | Darrell Evans | 151 | 505 | 125 | .248 | 40 | 94 |
| 2B | Lou Whitaker | 152 | 609 | 170 | .279 | 21 | 73 |
| 3B | Tom Brookens | 156 | 485 | 115 | .237 | 7 | 47 |
| SS | Alan Trammell | 149 | 605 | 156 | .258 | 13 | 57 |
| RF | Kirk Gibson | 154 | 581 | 167 | .287 | 29 | 97 |
| CF | Chet Lemon | 145 | 517 | 137 | .265 | 18 | 68 |
| LF | Larry Herndon | 137 | 442 | 108 | .244 | 12 | 37 |
| DH | Johnny Grubb | 78 | 155 | 38 | .245 | 5 | 25 |

#### 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 |
| Nelson Simmons | 75 | 251 | 60 | .239 | 10 | 33 |
| Bárbaro Garbey | 86 | 237 | 61 | .257 | 6 | 29 |
| Dave Bergman | 69 | 140 | 25 | .179 | 3 | 7 |
| Alejandro Sánchez | 71 | 133 | 33 | .248 | 6 | 12 |
| Marty Castillo | 57 | 84 | 10 | .119 | 2 | 5 |
| Bob Melvin | 41 | 82 | 18 | .220 | 0 | 4 |
| Chris Pittaro | 28 | 62 | 15 | .242 | 0 | 7 |
| Doug Flynn | 32 | 51 | 13 | .255 | 0 | 2 |
| Mike Laga | 9 | 36 | 6 | .167 | 2 | 6 |
| Doug Baker | 15 | 27 | 5 | .185 | 0 | 1 |
| Scotti Madison | 6 | 11 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
| Jim Weaver | 12 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Rusty Kuntz | 5 | 5 | 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 | 35 | 257.0 | 16 | 11 | 3.33 | 191 |
| Dan Petry | 34 | 238.2 | 15 | 13 | 3.36 | 109 |
| Walt Terrell | 34 | 229.0 | 15 | 10 | 3.85 | 130 |
| Frank Tanana | 20 | 137.1 | 10 | 7 | 3.34 | 107 |
| Milt Wilcox | 8 | 39.0 | 1 | 3 | 4.85 | 20 |

#### 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 |
| Juan Berenguer | 31 | 95.0 | 5 | 6 | 5.59 | 82 |
| Randy O'Neal | 28 | 94.1 | 5 | 5 | 3.24 | 52 |
| Mickey Mahler | 3 | 20.2 | 1 | 2 | 1.74 | 14 |

#### 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 |
| Willie Hernández | 74 | 8 | 10 | 31 | 64 | 2.70 | 76 |
| Aurelio López | 51 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 22 | 4.80 | 53 |
| Bill Scherrer | 48 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 4.36 | 46 |
| Doug Bair | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6.24 | 30 |
| Chuck Cary | 16 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3.42 | 22 |
| Bob Stoddard | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6.75 | 11 |

## Players ranking among top 100 all time at position

The following members of the 1985 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
* Darrell Evans: 10th best third baseman of all time
* Alan Trammell: 9th best shortstop of all time
* Kirk Gibson: 36th best left fielder of all time
* Chet Lemon: 48th best center fielder of all time

## Award winners and league leaders

Tom Brookens
* AL leader in errors by a third baseman (23)
* #9 in AL in doubles (34)
Darrell Evans
* Tiger of the Year Award, by Detroit baseball writers
* MLB leader in home runs (40)
* MLB leader in at bats per home run (12.6)
* Finished 14th in AL MVP voting
* #4 in AL in intentional walks (12)
* #5 in AL in slugging percentage (.519)
* #7 in AL in bases on balls (85)
* #8 in AL in OPS (.875)
Kirk Gibson
* AL leader in errors by an outfielder (11)
* Finished 18th in AL MVP voting
* #2 in AL in Power/Speed Number (29.5)
* #2 in AL in intentional walks (16)
* #3 in AL in extra base hits (71)
* #4 in AL in sacrifice flies (10)
* #4 in AL in strikeouts (137)
* #6 in AL in slugging percentage (.518)
* #6 in AL in total bases (301)
* #6 in AL in runs created (118)
* #7 in AL in OPS (.882)
* #7 in AL in doubles (37)
* #8 in AL in strikeouts (30)
* #9 in AL in home runs (29)
* #10 in MLB in total bases (301)
* #10 in MLB in doubles (37)
* #10 in MLB in runs created (118)
Willie Hernández
* AL All Star Team, pitcher
* #2 in MLB in games finished (64)
* #3 in AL in saves (31)
* #3 in AL in games (74)
Chet Lemon
* #5 in AL in times hit by pitch (10)
Jack Morris
* AL All Star Team, starting pitcher
* AL leader in wild pitches (15)
* #2 in AL in shutouts (4)
* #2 in AL in bases on balls allowed (110)
* #3 in AL in strikeouts (191)
* #4 in AL in hits allowed per 9 innings pitched (7.42)
* #4 in AL in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (6.69)
* #5 in AL in complete games (13)
* #10 in MLB in batters faced (1077)
Lance Parrish
* AL Gold Glove Award, catcher
* AL All Star Team, catcher
Dan Petry
* AL All Star Team, pitcher
* #3 in AL in hits allowed per 9 innings (7.16)
* #5 in AL in walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) (1.135)
Frank Tanana
* #3 in AL in strikeout to walk ratio (2.79)
* #5 in AL in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (6.66)
Walt Terrell
* #4 in AL in shutouts (3)
Alan Trammell
* AL All Star Team, shortstop
* #7 in AL in sacrifice hits (11)
* #8 in AL in outs (480)
* #9 in AL in sacrifice flies (9)
Lou Whitaker
* AL Gold Glove Award, second base
* AL Silver Slugger Award, second base
* AL All Star Team, starting second baseman
* #7 in AL in triples (8)
* #9 in AL in plate appearances (701)
* #9 in AL in runs created (107)
* #9 in AL in times on base (252)
* #10 in AL in runs (102)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Nashville Sounds | American Association | Lee Walls, Leon Roberts, and Gordon Mackenzie |
| AA | Birmingham Barons | Southern League | Gordon Mackenzie, Mark DeJohn, Frank Franchi, and Jerry Grote |
| A | Lakeland Tigers | Florida State League | Jerry Grote and Moby Benedict |
| Rookie | Bristol Tigers | Appalachian League | Tom Burgess |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Bristol