# 1989 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season

The 1989 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season was the 32nd season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 40th overall. The Tiger-Cats finished in first place in the East Division with a 12–6 record and played in the 77th Grey Cup game. The team lost the highest scoring Grey Cup game in the trophy's history to the Saskatchewan Roughriders by a score of 43–40. Tony Champion set a franchise record for most touchdowns in one season with 15 and was the team's nominee for Most Outstanding Player. Paul Osbaldiston nearly matched his franchise record for most converts in a single season. Osbaldiston had 47 converts, two fewer than he scored in 1988.

## Offseason
### CFL Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School |
| 2 | 11 | Curtis Bell | WR | Washington |
| 2 | 12 | Ernie Schramayr | FB | Purdue |
| 3 | 19 | Wayne Drinkwalter | LB | Thunder Bay Giants |
| 4 | 27 | Mark Brus | TB | Tulsa |
| 5 | 35 | Steve Blyth | DT | San Diego State |
| 6 | 43 | Sam Loucks | TB | McMaster |
| 7 | 51 | Pete Buchanan | LB | Nebraska |
| 8 | 59 | Bill Scollard | P | Saint Mary's |

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| B | June 28 | vs. Ottawa Rough Riders | W 41–7 | 1–0 |
| C | July 5 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 23–16 | 2–0 |

## Regular season
### Season standings

East Divisionviewtalkedit :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | PF | PA | Div | Stk | |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 24 | 519 | 517 | 9–1 | W4 | Details |
| Toronto Argonauts | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 14 | 369 | 428 | 5–5 | L2 | Details |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 14 | 408 | 462 | 3–7 | L7 | Details |
| Ottawa Rough Riders | 16 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 426 | 630 | 3–7 | W2 | Details |

### Season schedule

| Week | Game | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Week | Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | 1 | July 12 | at Toronto Argonauts | W 24–15 | 1–0 | | |
| 2 | 2 | July 20 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 28–22 | 2–0 | | |
| 3 | 3 | July 28 | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 34–17 | 3–0 | | |
| 4 | 4 | Aug 4 | vs. BC Lions | W 44–38 | 4–0 | | |
| 5 | 5 | Aug 10 | at Calgary Stampeders | L 8–40 | 4–1 | | |
| 6 | 6 | Aug 18 | vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 46–40 | 5–1 | | |
| 7 | 7 | Aug 23 | at Edmonton Eskimos | L 14–37 | 5–2 | | |
| 7 | 8 | Aug 28 | vs. Calgary Stampeders | L 22–34 | 5–3 | | |
| 8 | 9 | Sept 4 | vs. Toronto Argonauts | W 23–18 | 6–3 | | |
| 9 | 10 | Sept 10 | at Ottawa Rough Riders | L 23–40 | 6–4 | | |
| 10 | 11 | Sept 17 | vs. Ottawa Rough Riders | W 52–34 | 7–4 | |
| 11 | 12 | Sept 22 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 20–19 | 8–4 | | |
| 12 | 13 | Sept 29 | vs. Edmonton Eskimos | L 12–33 | 8–5 | | |
| 13 | 14 | Oct 6 | at BC Lions | L 27–46 | 8–6 | | |
| 14 | 15 | Oct 15 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 29–21 | 9–6 | | |
| 15 | 16 | Oct 22 | at Ottawa Rough Riders | W 32–22 | 10–6 | | |
| 16 | 17 | Oct 29 | vs. Toronto Argonauts | W 45–14 | 11–6 | | |
| 17 | 18 | Nov 4 | at Toronto Argonauts | W 36–27 | 12–6 | | |

## Postseason
### Schedule

| Round | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Round | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| East Final | Nov 19 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 14–10 | 1–0 | | |
| Grey Cup | Nov 26 | vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 40–43 | 1–1 | | |

### Grey Cup

| Teams | 1 Q | 2 Q | 3 Q | 4 Q | Final |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 13 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 40 |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 1 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 43 |

## Awards and honours

* Jerry Keeling was elected into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame as a Player on June 3, 1989.
* CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Rocky DiPietro (SB)
* CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award – Stephen Jordan (DB)

### 1989 CFL All-Stars

* Tony Champion, Wide Receiver
* Rocky DiPietro, Slotback
* Miles Gorrell, Offensive Tackle
* Jason Riley, Offensive Guard