# 1991 Detroit Tigers season

The 1991 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 91st season and the 80th season at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers finished in a tie for second place in the American League East with a record of 84–78 (.519). They outscored their opponents 817 to 794. The Tigers drew 1,641,661 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1991, ranking 12th of the 14 teams in the American League.

## Offseason

* November 26, 1990: John Shelby was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.
* December 3, 1990: Bill Gullickson was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.
* December 3, 1990: Buddy Groom was drafted by the Tigers from the Chicago White Sox in the 1990 minor league draft.
* January 11, 1991: Jeff Robinson was traded by the Tigers to the Baltimore Orioles for Mickey Tettleton.
* January 21, 1991: Skeeter Barnes was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.
* March 19, 1991: Torey Lovullo was traded by the Tigers to the New York Yankees for Mark Leiter.

## Regular season

* In 1991, Cecil Fielder led all of baseball in home runs (44) and RBIs (133) for the second consecutive season. Once again, he finished second in the MVP voting. The MVP award was given to Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. Angry over missing out on the honor for the second straight season, Fielder lashed out at the voters, going so far as to accuse them of racism in their selection of Ripken, who was white.
* During the season, Bill Gullickson would be the last pitcher to win at least 20 games in one season for the Tigers in the 20th century.

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 91 | 71 | .562 | — | 46‍–‍35 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Boston Red Sox | 84 | 78 | .519 | 7 | 43‍–‍38 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Detroit Tigers | 84 | 78 | .519 | 7 | 49‍–‍32 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 83 | 79 | .512 | 8 | 43‍–‍37 | 40‍–‍42 |
| New York Yankees | 71 | 91 | .438 | 20 | 39‍–‍42 | 32‍–‍49 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 67 | 95 | .414 | 24 | 33‍–‍48 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Cleveland Indians | 57 | 105 | .352 | 34 | 30‍–‍52 | 27‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1991 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 8–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 3–10 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 9–3 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 4–8 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 9–4 |
| California | 6–6 | 8–4 | — | 8–5 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 1–12 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–8 | — | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 6–7 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 7–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 2–10 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 4–8 | 1–12 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 6–7 | — | 8–4 | 4–9 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 8–4 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | — | 9–3 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 7–6 | 5–7 |
| Milwaukee | 10–3 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 3–9 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–7 |
| Minnesota | 8–4 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 10–2 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | — | 10–2 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 6–7 | 4–8 |
| New York | 8–5 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 2–10 | — | 6–6 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 9–3 | 4–8 | 12–1 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 6–6 | — | 6–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 |
| Seattle | 8–4 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 10–2 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 4–9 | 9–3 | 7–6 | — | 5–8 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 3–9 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 8–5 | — | 6–6 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 12–1 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

DH Tony Phillips LF Lloyd Moseby SS Alan Trammell 1B Cecil Fielder 2B Lou Whitaker RF Rob Deer C Mickey Tettleton 3B Travis Fryman CF Milt Cuyler

### Notable transactions

* April 5, 1991: Scott Lusader was selected off waivers from the Tigers by the New York Yankees.
* June 3, 1991: Kevin Morgan was drafted by the Tigers in the 30th round of the 1991 Major League Baseball draft.
* June 11, 1991: Jeff Kaiser was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.
* August 5, 1991: John Moses was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.
* August 13, 1991: John Shelby was released by the Tigers.
* August 25, 1991: John Moses was released by the Tigers.

### 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 | Mickey Tettleton | 154 | 501 | 132 | .263 | 31 | 89 |
| 1B | Cecil Fielder | 162 | 624 | 163 | .261 | 44 | 133 |
| 2B | Lou Whitaker | 138 | 470 | 131 | .279 | 23 | 78 |
| 3B | Travis Fryman | 149 | 557 | 144 | .259 | 21 | 91 |
| SS | Alan Trammell | 101 | 375 | 93 | .248 | 9 | 55 |
| LF | Lloyd Moseby | 74 | 260 | 68 | .262 | 6 | 35 |
| CF | Milt Cuyler | 154 | 475 | 122 | .257 | 3 | 33 |
| RF | Rob Deer | 134 | 448 | 80 | .179 | 25 | 64 |
| DH | Pete Incaviglia | 97 | 337 | 72 | .214 | 11 | 38 |

#### 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 |
| Tony Phillips | 146 | 564 | 160 | .284 | 17 | 72 |
| Dave Bergman | 86 | 194 | 46 | .237 | 7 | 29 |
| Skeeter Barnes | 75 | 159 | 46 | .289 | 5 | 17 |
| Andy Allanson | 60 | 151 | 35 | .232 | 1 | 16 |
| John Shelby | 53 | 143 | 22 | .154 | 3 | 8 |
| Scott Livingstone | 44 | 127 | 37 | .291 | 2 | 11 |
| Mark Salas | 33 | 57 | 5 | .088 | 1 | 7 |
| Luis de los Santos | 16 | 30 | 5 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| John Moses | 13 | 21 | 1 | .048 | 0 | 1 |
| Shawn Hare | 9 | 19 | 1 | .053 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnny Paredes | 16 | 18 | 6 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Tony Bernazard | 6 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Rich Rowland | 4 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 1 |

### 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 |
| Bill Gullickson | 35 | 226.1 | 20 | 9 | 3.90 | 91 |
| Walt Terrell | 35 | 218.2 | 12 | 14 | 4.24 | 80 |
| Frank Tanana | 33 | 217.1 | 13 | 12 | 3.77 | 107 |
| Scott Aldred | 11 | 57.1 | 2 | 4 | 5.18 | 35 |

#### 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 |
| Mark Leiter | 38 | 134.2 | 9 | 7 | 4.21 | 103 |
| John Cerutti | 38 | 88.2 | 3 | 6 | 4.57 | 29 |
| Dan Gakeler | 31 | 73.2 | 1 | 4 | 5.74 | 43 |
| Dan Petry | 17 | 54.2 | 2 | 3 | 4.94 | 18 |
| Steve Searcy | 16 | 40.2 | 1 | 2 | 8.41 | 32 |
| Rusty Meacham | 10 | 27.2 | 2 | 1 | 5.20 | 14 |
| Kevin Ritz | 11 | 15.1 | 0 | 3 | 11.74 | 9 |

#### 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 |
| Mike Henneman | 60 | 10 | 2 | 21 | 50 | 2.88 | 61 |
| Paul Gibson | 68 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 28 | 4.59 | 52 |
| Jerry Don Gleaton | 47 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 4.06 | 47 |
| Dave Haas | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 6 |
| Jeff Kaiser | 10 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 9.00 | 4 |
| John Kiely | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 14.85 | 1 |
| Mike Munoz | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9.64 | 3 |
| Mike Dalton | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.38 | 4 |

## Awards and honors

* Mickey Tettleton, AL Silver Slugger Award at catcher
* Cecil Fielder, AL Silver Slugger Award at first base

### League top ten finishers

Rob Deer
* MLB leader in strikeouts (175)
* #8 in AL in bases on balls (89)
* #9 in AL in at bats per home run (17.9)
Cecil Fielder
* Finished 2nd in AL MVP voting behind Cal Ripken Jr.
* MLB leader in home runs (44)
* MLB leader in RBIs (133)
* MLB leader in games played (162)
* #2 in AL in at bats per home run (11.2)
* #3 in AL in strikeouts (151)
* #6 in AL in total bases (320)
* #6 in AL in extra base hits (69)
* #8 in AL in plate appearances (712)
* #9 in AL in slugging percentage (.513)
* #9 in AL in runs scored (102)
* #10 in AL in runs created (110)
Travis Fryman
* #4 in AL in strikeouts (149)
Paul Gibson
* #7 in AL in games (68)
Bill Gullickson
* Finished 8th in AL Cy Young Award voting
* MLB leader in wins (20)
* AL leader in games started (35)
* #4 in AL in win percentage (.690)
* #4 in AL in bases on balls per 9 innings pitched (1.75)
* #7 in AL in earned runs allowed (98)
Mike Henneman
* #9 in AL in games finished (50)
Walt Terrell
* AL leader in hits allowed (257)
* #3 in AL in earned runs allowed (103)
* #4 in AL in losses (14)
* #5 in AL in complete games (8)
* #6 in AL in shutouts (2)
Mickey Tettleton
* #2 in AL in bases on balls (101)
* #4 in AL in at bats per home run (16.2)
* #6 in AL in home runs (31)
* #7 in AL in strikeouts (131)

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

The following members of the 1991 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their position, as ranked by The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract:
* Lou Whitaker: 13th best second baseman of all time
* Alan Trammell: 9th best shortstop of all time

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Toledo Mud Hens | International League | Joe Sparks |
| AA | London Tigers | Eastern League | Gene Roof |
| A | Lakeland Tigers | Florida State League | Johnny Lipon |
| A | Fayetteville Generals | South Atlantic League | Gerry Groninger |
| A-Short Season | Niagara Falls Rapids | New York–Penn League | Gary Calhoun |
| Rookie | Bristol Tigers | Appalachian League | Juan López |