# 1978 Detroit Tigers season

The 1978 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 78th season and the 67th season at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers finished in fifth place in the American League East with a record of 86–76, 13½ games behind the Yankees. They outscored their opponents 714 to 653.
It was the franchise's first winning season since 1973 and would start a string of winning seasons that would not come to an end until 1989.

## Offseason

* January 10, 1978: Chris Codiroli was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 1978 Major League Baseball draft.
* January 30, 1978: Tito Fuentes was purchased from the Tigers by the Montreal Expos.

## Regular season

The Tigers drew 1,714,893 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1978, ranking 5th of the 14 teams in the American League.

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 100 | 63 | .613 | — | 55‍–‍26 | 45‍–‍37 |
| Boston Red Sox | 99 | 64 | .607 | 1 | 59‍–‍23 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 93 | 69 | .574 | 6½ | 54‍–‍27 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 90 | 71 | .559 | 9 | 51‍–‍30 | 39‍–‍41 |
| Detroit Tigers | 86 | 76 | .531 | 13½ | 47‍–‍34 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 69 | 90 | .434 | 29 | 42‍–‍36 | 27‍–‍54 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 59 | 102 | .366 | 40 | 37‍–‍44 | 22‍–‍58 |

### Record vs. opponents

1978 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 7–8 | 4–6 | 8–1 | 9–6 | 7–8 | 2–8 | 7–8 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 11–0 | 9–1 | 7–4 | 8–7 |
| Boston | 8–7 | — | 9–2 | 7–3 | 7–8 | 12–3 | 4–6 | 10–5 | 9–2 | 7–9 | 5–5 | 7–3 | 3–7 | 11–4 |
| California | 6–4 | 2–9 | — | 8–7 | 6–4 | 4–7 | 9–6 | 5–5 | 12–3 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 9–6 | 5–10 | 7–3 |
| Chicago | 1–8 | 3–7 | 7–8 | — | 8–2 | 2–9 | 8–7 | 4–7 | 8–7 | 1–9 | 7–8 | 7–8 | 11–4 | 4–6 |
| Cleveland | 6–9 | 8–7 | 4–6 | 2–8 | — | 5–10 | 5–6 | 5–10 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 4–6 | 8–1 | 1–9 | 10–4 |
| Detroit | 8–7 | 3–12 | 7–4 | 9–2 | 10–5 | — | 4–6 | 7–8 | 4–6 | 4–11 | 6–4 | 8–2 | 7–3 | 9–6 |
| Kansas City | 8–2 | 6–4 | 6–9 | 7–8 | 6–5 | 6–4 | — | 6–4 | 7–8 | 6–5 | 10–5 | 12–3 | 7–8 | 5–5 |
| Milwaukee | 8–7 | 5–10 | 5–5 | 7–4 | 10–5 | 8–7 | 4–6 | — | 4–7 | 10–5 | 9–1 | 5–5 | 6–4 | 12–3 |
| Minnesota | 5–5 | 2–9 | 3–12 | 7–8 | 5–5 | 6–4 | 8–7 | 7–4 | — | 3–7 | 9–6 | 6–9 | 6–9 | 6–4 |
| New York | 9–6 | 9–7 | 5–5 | 9–1 | 9–6 | 11–4 | 5–6 | 5–10 | 7–3 | — | 8–2 | 6–5 | 6–4 | 11–4 |
| Oakland | 0–11 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 8–7 | 6–4 | 4–6 | 5–10 | 1–9 | 6–9 | 2–8 | — | 13–2 | 6–9 | 7–4 |
| Seattle | 1–9 | 3–7 | 6–9 | 8–7 | 1–8 | 2–8 | 3–12 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 5–6 | 2–13 | — | 3–12 | 8–2 |
| Texas | 4–7 | 7–3 | 10–5 | 4–11 | 9–1 | 3–7 | 8–7 | 4–6 | 9–6 | 4–6 | 9–6 | 12–3 | — | 4–7 |
| Toronto | 7–8 | 4–11 | 3–7 | 6–4 | 4–10 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 3–12 | 4–6 | 4–11 | 4–7 | 2–8 | 7–4 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball draft
** Kirk Gibson was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round (12th pick).
** Jerry Ujdur was drafted by the Tigers in the 4th 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 | Milt May | 105 | 352 | 88 | .250 | 10 | 37 |
| 1B | Jason Thompson | 153 | 589 | 169 | .287 | 26 | 79 |
| 2B | Lou Whitaker | 139 | 484 | 138 | .285 | 3 | 58 |
| 3B | Aurelio Rodríguez | 134 | 385 | 102 | .265 | 7 | 43 |
| SS | Alan Trammell | 139 | 448 | 120 | .268 | 2 | 34 |
| LF | Steve Kemp | 159 | 582 | 161 | .277 | 15 | 79 |
| CF | Ron LeFlore | 155 | 666 | 198 | .297 | 12 | 62 |
| RF | Tim Corcoran | 116 | 324 | 86 | .265 | 1 | 27 |
| DH | Rusty Staub | 162 | 642 | 175 | .273 | 24 | 121 |

#### 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 |
| Lance Parrish | 85 | 288 | 63 | .219 | 14 | 41 |
| Phil Mankowski | 88 | 222 | 61 | .275 | 4 | 20 |
| John Wockenfuss | 71 | 187 | 53 | .283 | 7 | 22 |
| Mickey Stanley | 53 | 151 | 40 | .265 | 3 | 8 |
| Steve Dillard | 56 | 130 | 29 | .223 | 0 | 7 |
| Mark Wagner | 39 | 109 | 26 | .239 | 0 | 6 |
| Charlie Spikes | 10 | 28 | 7 | .250 | 0 | 2 |
| Dave Stegman | 8 | 14 | 4 | .286 | 1 | 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 |
| Jim Slaton | 35 | 233.2 | 17 | 11 | 4.12 | 92 |
| Milt Wilcox | 29 | 215.1 | 13 | 12 | 3.76 | 132 |
| Dave Rozema | 28 | 209.1 | 9 | 12 | 3.14 | 57 |
| Jack Billingham | 30 | 201.2 | 15 | 8 | 3.88 | 59 |
| Kip Young | 14 | 105.2 | 6 | 7 | 2.81 | 49 |
| Mark Fidrych | 3 | 22.0 | 2 | 0 | 2.45 | 10 |

#### 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 Morris | 28 | 106.0 | 3 | 5 | 4.33 | 48 |
| Bob Sykes | 22 | 93.2 | 6 | 6 | 3.94 | 58 |
| Steve Baker | 15 | 63.1 | 2 | 4 | 4.55 | 39 |

#### 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 |
| John Hiller | 51 | 9 | 4 | 14 | 46 | 2.34 | 74 |
| Steve Foucault | 24 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 3.13 | 18 |
| Jim Crawford | 20 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 4.35 | 24 |
| Ed Glynn | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3.07 | 9 |
| Dave Tobik | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3.75 | 11 |
| Fernando Arroyo | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8.31 | 1 |
| Sheldon Burnside | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9.00 | 3 |
| Bruce Taylor | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

Lou Whitaker
* AL Rookie of the Year Award
Ron LeFlore
* Tiger of the Year Award, from Detroit baseball writers

### All-Stars

Jason Thompson, reserve

### League top ten finishers

Steve Kemp
* #3 in AL in bases on balls (97)
* #4 in AL in times on base (259)
* #5 in AL in games played (159)
Ron LeFlore
* MLB leader in runs scored (126)
* AL leader in stolen bases (68)
* AL leader in singles (153)
* #2 in AL in hits (198)
* #2 in AL in runs created (105)
* #2 in MLB in at bats (666)
* #2 in MLB in plate appearances (741)
* #3 in MLB in times on base (267)
* #3 in AL in outs (501)
* #4 in AL in Power/Speed Number (20.4)
* #5 in AL in times caught stealing (16)
Dave Rozema
* #5 in MLB in bases on balls per 9 innings pitched (1.76)
Jim Slaton
* #4 in AL in hit batsmen (8)
* #5 in AL in wild pitches (10)
Rusty Staub
* #2 in MLB in RBIs (121)
* #2 in MLB in games played (162)
* #2 in AL in sacrifice flies (11)
* #2 in AL in at bats per strikeout (18.3)
* #2 in AL in outs (505)
* #3 in AL in at bats (642)
* #3 in MLB in plate appearances (734)
* #3 in MLB in times grounded into double plays (24)
* #4 in AL total bases (279)
* #5 in AL in hits (175)
* #5 in AL in times on base (254)
Jason Thompson
* #4 in AL in runs created (104)
* #5 in AL in total bases (278)
Milt Wilcox
* #4 in AL in hit batsmen (8)

### 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 | Les Moss |
| AA | Montgomery Rebels | Southern League | Eddie Brinkman |
| A | Lakeland Tigers | Florida State League | Jim Leyland |
| Rookie | Bristol Tigers | Appalachian League | Joe Lewis |