# 1981 Detroit Tigers season

The 1981 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 81st season as a member of the American League. Games were suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, causing a split season. The Tigers finished the first half of the season in fourth place in the American League East, and the second half of the season tied for second place. Their overall record was 60 wins and 49 losses, and they outscored their opponents 427 to 404. The Tigers drew 1,149,144 fans to their home games at Tiger Stadium, ranking fifth of the 14 teams in the American League.

## Offseason

* December 12, 1980: Dave Stegman was traded by the Tigers to the San Diego Padres for Dennis Kinney.
* January 13, 1981: Mike Sharperson was drafted by the Tigers in the 4th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.
* March 29, 1981: Jim Lentine was released by the Tigers.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 62 | 47 | .569 | — | 28‍–‍21 | 34‍–‍26 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 59 | 46 | .562 | 1 | 33‍–‍22 | 26‍–‍24 |
| New York Yankees | 59 | 48 | .551 | 2 | 32‍–‍19 | 27‍–‍29 |
| Detroit Tigers | 60 | 49 | .550 | 2 | 32‍–‍23 | 28‍–‍26 |
| Boston Red Sox | 59 | 49 | .546 | 2½ | 30‍–‍23 | 29‍–‍26 |
| Cleveland Indians | 52 | 51 | .505 | 7 | 25‍–‍29 | 27‍–‍22 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 37 | 69 | .349 | 23½ | 17‍–‍36 | 20‍–‍33 |
| AL East First Half Standings | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| New York Yankees | 34 | 22 | .607 | — |
| Baltimore Orioles | 31 | 23 | .574 | 2 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 31 | 25 | .554 | 3 |
| Detroit Tigers | 31 | 26 | .544 | 3+1⁄2 |
| Boston Red Sox | 30 | 26 | .536 | 4 |
| Cleveland Indians | 26 | 24 | .520 | 5 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 16 | 42 | .276 | 19 |
| AL East Second Half Standings | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 31 | 22 | .585 | — |
| Boston Red Sox | 29 | 23 | .558 | 1+1⁄2 |
| Detroit Tigers | 29 | 23 | .558 | 1+1⁄2 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 28 | 23 | .549 | 2 |
| Cleveland Indians | 26 | 27 | .491 | 5 |
| New York Yankees | 25 | 26 | .490 | 5 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 21 | 27 | .438 | 7+1⁄2 |

### Record vs. opponents

1981 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 2–2 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 4–2 | 6–7 | 5–3 | 2–4 | 6–0 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 5–2 |
| Boston | 2–2 | — | 2–4 | 5–4 | 7–6 | 6–1 | 3–3 | 6–7 | 2–5 | 3–3 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 3–6 | 4–0 |
| California | 6–6 | 4–2 | — | 6–7 | 7–5 | 3–3 | 0–6 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 2–8 | 6–4 | 2–4 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 6–3 | 4–5 | 7–6 | — | 2–5 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–4 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 2–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–2 | — | 1–5 | 4–4 | 3–6 | 2–1 | 7–5 | 3–2 | 8–4 | 2–2 | 4–2 |
| Detroit | 7–6 | 1–6 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 5–1 | — | 3–2 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 3–7 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 9–3 | 6–4 |
| Kansas City | 3–5 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 0–2 | 4–4 | 2–3 | — | 4–5 | 9–4 | 2–10 | 3–3 | 6–7 | 3–4 | 5–3 |
| Milwaukee | 4–2 | 7–6 | 3–4 | 1–4 | 6–3 | 8–5 | 5–4 | — | 9–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 4–5 | 6–4 |
| Minnesota | 0–6 | 5–2 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 3–9 | — | 3–3 | 2–8 | 3–6–1 | 5–8 | 5–1 |
| New York | 6–7 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–3 | 10–2 | 3–3 | 3–3 | — | 4–3 | 2–3 | 5–4 | 2–3 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 5–7 | 8–2 | 6–7 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 8–2 | 3–4 | — | 6–1 | 4–2 | 10–2 |
| Seattle | 2–4 | 3–9 | 4–6 | 3–3 | 4–8 | 1–5 | 7–6 | 2–2 | 6–3–1 | 3–2 | 1–6 | — | 5–8 | 3–3 |
| Texas | 1–2 | 6–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 3–9 | 4–3 | 5–4 | 8–5 | 4–5 | 2–4 | 8–5 | — | 6–2 |
| Toronto | 2–5 | 0–4 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 2–4 | 4–6 | 3–5 | 4–6 | 1–5 | 3–2 | 2–10 | 3–3 | 2–6 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 3, 1981: Chris Codiroli was released by the Tigers.
* April 3, 1981: Chuck Hensley was released by the Tigers.
* August 23, 1981: The Tigers traded a player to be named later to the Minnesota Twins for Ron Jackson. The Tigers completed the deal by sending Tim Corcoran to the Twins on September 4.

### 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 | 96 | 348 | 85 | .244 | 10 | 46 |
| 1B | Richie Hebner | 78 | 226 | 51 | .226 | 5 | 28 |
| 2B | Lou Whitaker | 109 | 335 | 88 | .263 | 5 | 36 |
| 3B | Tom Brookens | 71 | 239 | 58 | .243 | 4 | 25 |
| SS | Alan Trammell | 105 | 392 | 101 | .258 | 2 | 31 |
| LF | Steve Kemp | 105 | 372 | 103 | .277 | 9 | 49 |
| CF | Al Cowens | 85 | 253 | 66 | .261 | 1 | 18 |
| RF | Kirk Gibson | 83 | 290 | 95 | .328 | 9 | 40 |
| DH | John Wockenfuss | 70 | 172 | 37 | .215 | 9 | 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 |
| Kirk Gibson | 83 | 290 | 95 | .328 | 9 | 40 |
| Rick Peters | 63 | 207 | 53 | .256 | 0 | 15 |
| Lynn Jones | 71 | 174 | 45 | .259 | 2 | 19 |
| Champ Summers | 64 | 165 | 42 | .255 | 3 | 21 |
| Ron Jackson | 31 | 95 | 27 | .284 | 1 | 12 |
| Stan Papi | 40 | 93 | 19 | .204 | 3 | 12 |
| Rick Leach | 54 | 83 | 16 | .193 | 1 | 11 |
| Mick Kelleher | 61 | 77 | 17 | .221 | 0 | 6 |
| Bill Fahey | 27 | 67 | 17 | .254 | 1 | 9 |
| Darrell Brown | 16 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Duffy Dyer | 2 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |
Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included

### 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 | 25 | 198.0 | 14 | 7 | 3.05 | 97 |
| Milt Wilcox | 24 | 166.1 | 12 | 9 | 3.03 | 79 |
| Dan Petry | 23 | 141.0 | 10 | 9 | 3.00 | 79 |
| Dan Schatzeder | 17 | 71.1 | 6 | 8 | 6.06 | 20 |
| Jerry Ujdur | 4 | 14.0 | 0 | 0 | 6.43 | 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 |
| Dave Rozema | 28 | 104.0 | 5 | 5 | 3.63 | 46 |
| Howard Bailey | 9 | 36.2 | 1 | 4 | 7.36 | 17 |
| George Cappuzzello | 18 | 33.2 | 1 | 1 | 3.48 | 19 |

#### 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 |
| Kevin Saucier | 38 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 23 | 1.65 | 23 |
| Aurelio López | 29 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 3.64 | 53 |
| Dave Tobik | 27 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 2.69 | 32 |
| Dennis Kinney | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.82 | 3 |
| Larry Rothschild | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1.59 | 1 |
| Dave Rucker | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6.75 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

* Kirk Gibson, Tiger of the Year Award, from Detroit baseball writers
* Alan Trammell, AL Gold Glove Award, shortstop
1981 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
* Jack Morris, starter, pitcher

### League top ten finishers

Kirk Gibson
* #3 in AL in batting average (.328)
* #4 in AL in Power/Speed Number (11.8)
Steve Kemp
* #4 in AL in on-base percentage (.389)
* #3 in AL in bases on balls (70)
* #3 in AL in times on base (174)
Jack Morris
* MLB leader in wins (14) (tied with four others)
* MLB leader in bases on balls allowed (78)
* #2 in MLB in innings pitched (198)
* #2 in MLB in games started (25)
* #3 in AL in hits allowed per 9 innings pitched (6.95)
* #3 in MLB in complete games (15)
* #3 in MLB in batters faced (798)
* #6 in AL in home runs allowed (14)
* #9 in AL in earned runs allowed (67)
Lance Parrish
* #3 in AL in times grounded into double plays (16)
Kevin Saucier
* #5 in AL in saves (13)
Alan Trammell
* AL leader in sacrifice hits (16)
Lou Whitaker
* AL leader in games played (109)
* AL leader in games at second base (108)
* AL leader in innings at second base (918-1/3)
* AL leader in assists by a second baseman (354)
Milt Wilcox
* #5 in AL in games started (24)
* #5 in AL in hit batsmen (6)

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

The following members of the 1981 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 | Jim Leyland |
| AA | Birmingham Barons | Southern League | Roy Majtyka |
| A | Lakeland Tigers | Florida State League | Ted Brazell |
| A | Macon Peaches | South Atlantic League | Tom Kotchman |
| Rookie | Bristol Tigers | Appalachian League | Joe Lewis |