# 1990 Detroit Tigers season

The 1990 Detroit Tigers season was the 90th season in franchise history. The Tigers finished in third place in the American League East, with a record of 79–83, which was a 20-win improvement on the dismal 1989 season. They scored 750 runs and allowed 754. Notably, Cecil Fielder hit 51 home runs, making him the (to date) only Tiger to hit at least 50 home runs in a season since Hank Greenberg in 1938.

## Offseason

* December 4, 1989: Steve Wapnick was drafted by the Tigers from the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1989 rule 5 draft.
* December 5, 1989: Tony Phillips was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.
* December 6, 1989: Bill Henderson (minors), Marcos Betances (minors), and Pat Austin (minors) were traded by the Tigers to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jim Lindeman and Matt Kinzer.
* December 7, 1989: Lloyd Moseby was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.
* December 8, 1989: Rick Schu was released by the Tigers.
* December 20, 1989: Willie Hernández was released by the Tigers.
* January 15, 1990: Cecil Fielder was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.
* January 15, 1990: Ed Romero was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.

## Regular season

* October 3, 1990: Cecil Fielder hit two home runs at Yankee Stadium to finish with 51 for the season. The 50th home run was hit off of Steve Adkins. Fielder was the first major leaguer since George Foster in 1977 to hit 50 home runs in a season. It was the 18th time that a major leaguer (and the 11th time that an American League player) hit 50 home runs in a season.

## Opening Day starters

* 3B Tony Phillips
* SS Alan Trammell
* 2B Lou Whitaker
* 1B Cecil Fielder
* CF Lloyd Moseby
* C Matt Nokes
* LF Gary Ward
* RF Chet Lemon
* DH Dave Bergman
* SP Jack Morris

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Red Sox | 88 | 74 | .543 | — | 51‍–‍30 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 86 | 76 | .531 | 2 | 44‍–‍37 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Detroit Tigers | 79 | 83 | .488 | 9 | 39‍–‍42 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Cleveland Indians | 77 | 85 | .475 | 11 | 41‍–‍40 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 76 | 85 | .472 | 11½ | 40‍–‍40 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 74 | 88 | .457 | 14 | 39‍–‍42 | 35‍–‍46 |
| New York Yankees | 67 | 95 | .414 | 21 | 37‍–‍44 | 30‍–‍51 |

### Record vs. opponents

1990 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 8–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 10–3 |
| California | 5–7 | 5–7 | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 10–2 | 7–6 | 10–2 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 5–7 |
| Cleveland | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 5–8 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 4–9 |
| Detroit | 7–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 3–8 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 4–8 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 5–7 |
| Milwaukee | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 4–9 | 10–3 | 8–4 | — | 4–8 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–6 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 8–4 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 3–9 |
| New York | 7–6 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 2–10 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 6–6 | — | 0–12 | 9–3 | 3–9 | 5–8 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 12–0 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Seattle | 9–3 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 4–9 | — | 7–6 | 6–6 |
| Texas | 4–8 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 6–7 | — | 7–5 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 3–10 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 1, 1990: Steve Wapnick was returned by the Tigers to the Toronto Blue Jays.
* June 4, 1990: Tony Clark was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round of the 1990 Major League Baseball draft.
* June 13, 1990: John Shelby was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.
* June 18, 1990: Kenny Williams was selected off waivers from the Tigers by the Toronto Blue Jays.
* June 18, 1990: Tracy Jones was traded by the Tigers to the Seattle Mariners for Darnell Coles.
* July 15, 1990: Ed Romero was released by the Detroit Tigers.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader
* = Indicates league leader

### 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 | Mike Heath | 122 | 370 | 100 | .270 | 7 | 38 |
| 1B | Cecil Fielder | 159 | 573 | 159 | .277 | 51 | 132 |
| 2B | Lou Whitaker | 132 | 472 | 112 | .237 | 18 | 60 |
| 3B | Tony Phillips | 152 | 573 | 144 | .251 | 8 | 55 |
| SS | Alan Trammell | 146 | 559 | 170 | .304 | 14 | 89 |
| LF | Gary Ward | 106 | 309 | 79 | .256 | 9 | 46 |
| CF | Lloyd Moseby | 122 | 431 | 107 | .248 | 14 | 51 |
| RF | Chet Lemon | 104 | 322 | 83 | .258 | 5 | 32 |
| DH | Dave Bergman | 100 | 205 | 57 | .278 | 2 | 26 |

#### 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 |
| Larry Sheets | 131 | 360 | 94 | .261 | 10 | 52 |
| Travis Fryman | 66 | 232 | 69 | .297 | 9 | 27 |
| John Shelby | 78 | 222 | 55 | .248 | 4 | 20 |
| Mark Salas | 74 | 164 | 38 | .232 | 9 | 24 |
| Tracy Jones | 50 | 118 | 27 | .229 | 4 | 9 |
| Matt Nokes | 44 | 111 | 30 | .270 | 3 | 8 |
| Darnell Coles | 52 | 108 | 22 | .204 | 1 | 4 |
| Scott Lusader | 45 | 87 | 21 | .241 | 2 | 16 |
| Kenny Williams | 57 | 83 | 11 | .133 | 0 | 5 |
| Ed Romero | 32 | 70 | 16 | .229 | 0 | 4 |
| Milt Cuyler | 19 | 51 | 13 | .255 | 0 | 8 |
| Jim Lindeman | 12 | 32 | 7 | .219 | 2 | 8 |
| Rich Rowland | 7 | 19 | 3 | .158 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnny Paredes | 6 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 0 | 0 |

### 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 | 36 | 249.2 | 15 | 18 | 4.51 | 162 |
| Frank Tanana | 34 | 176.1 | 9 | 8 | 5.31 | 114 |
| Dan Petry | 32 | 149.2 | 10 | 9 | 4.45 | 73 |
| Jeff Robinson | 27 | 145.0 | 10 | 9 | 5.96 | 76 |
| Walt Terrell | 13 | 75.1 | 6 | 4 | 4.54 | 30 |
| Brian Dubois | 12 | 58.1 | 3 | 5 | 5.09 | 34 |
| Kevin Ritz | 4 | 7.1 | 0 | 4 | 11.05 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| Steve Searcy | 16 | 75.1 | 2 | 7 | 4.66 | 66 |
| Lance McCullers | 9 | 29.2 | 1 | 0 | 2.73 | 20 |
| Urbano Lugo | 13 | 24.1 | 2 | 0 | 7.03 | 12 |
| Scott Aldred | 4 | 14.1 | 1 | 2 | 3.77 | 7 |
| Randy Nosek | 3 | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 7.71 | 3 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Mike Henneman | 69 | 94.1 | 8 | 6 | 22 | 3.05 | 50 |
| Paul Gibson | 61 | 97.1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3.05 | 56 |
| Jerry Don Gleaton | 57 | 82.2 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 2.94 | 56 |
| Edwin Núñez | 42 | 80.1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 2.24 | 66 |
| Clay Parker | 24 | 51.0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3.18 | 20 |
| Steve Wapnick | 4 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.43 | 6 |
| Mike Schwabe | 1 | 3.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.45 | 1 |
| Matt Kinzer | 1 | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16.20 | 1 |

## Awards and honors

* Cecil Fielder, Major League Home Run Champion (51)
* Cecil Fielder, American League RBI Champion (132)
* Cecil Fielder, Silver Slugger Award
MLB All-Star Game
* Cecil Fielder, first base, reserve
* Alan Trammell, shortstop, reserve

### Team leaders

* Home Runs – Cecil Fielder (51)
* Runs Batted In – Cecil Fielder (132)

## Fielder's 51 Home Runs

| Home Run | Game | Date | Inning | Location | Opposing Pitcher | Team |
| 1 | 6 | April 14 | 6th | Tiger Stadium | Dave Johnson | Baltimore Orioles |
| 2 | 9 | April 18 | 5th | Tiger Stadium | Clay Parker | New York Yankees |
| 3 | 13 | April 22 | 4th | Memorial Stadium | Jeff Ballard | Baltimore Orioles |
| 4 | 15 | April 24 | 9th | Metrodome | John Candelaria | Minnesota Twins |
| 5 | 18 | April 28 | 5th | Tiger Stadium | Paul Mirabella | Milwaukee Brewers |
| 6 | 18 | April 28 | 8th | Tiger Stadium | Tony Fossas | Milwaukee Brewers |
| 7 | 20 | April 30 | 9th | Tiger Stadium | Mark Knudson | Milwaukee Brewers |
| 8 | 26 | May 6 | 3rd | SkyDome | Jimmy Key | Toronto Blue Jays |
| 9 | 26 | May 6 | 5th | SkyDome | Jimmy Key | Toronto Blue Jays |
| 10 | 26 | May 6 | 7th | SkyDome | David Wells | Toronto Blue Jays |
| 11 | 27 | May 7 | 4th | County Stadium | Mark Knudson | Milwaukee Brewers |
| 12 | 28 | May 8 | 2nd | County Stadium | Jaime Navarro | Milwaukee Brewers |
| 13 | 30 | May 10 | 2nd | Tiger Stadium | Todd Stottlemyre | Toronto Blue Jays |
| 14 | 34 | May 15 | 7th | Arlington Stadium | Kevin Brown | Texas Rangers |
| 15 | 37 | May 18 | 7th | Comiskey Park | Ken Patterson | Chicago White Sox |
| 16 | 39 | May 20 | 4th | Comiskey Park | Greg Hibbard | Chicago White Sox |
| 17 | 42 | May 23 | 3rd | Tiger Stadium | Mike Jeffcoat | Texas Rangers |
| 18 | 45 | May 26 | 2nd | Tiger Stadium | Jerry Kutzler | Chicago White Sox |
| 19 | 50 | June 1 | 2nd | Kingdome | Matt Young | Seattle Mariners |
| 20 | 54 | June 6 | 2nd | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | Greg Swindell | Cleveland Indians |
| 21 | 54 | June 6 | 4th | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | Greg Swindell | Cleveland Indians |
| 22 | 54 | June 6 | 5th | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | Greg Swindell | Cleveland Indians |
| 23 | 61 | June 13 | 2nd | Tiger Stadium | John Farrell | Cleveland Indians |
| 24 | 62 | June 14 | 5th | Tiger Stadium | Sergio Valdez | Cleveland Indians |
| 25 | 65 | June 17 | 7th | Tiger Stadium | Chuck Finley | California Angels |
| 26 | 77 | June 30 | 5th | Royals Stadium | Storm Davis | Kansas City Royals |
| 27 | 80 | July 3 | 1st | Comiskey Park | Eric King | Chicago White Sox |
| 28 | 83 | July 6 | 4th | Tiger Stadium | Tom Gordon | Kansas City Royals |
| 29 | 87 | July 13 | 6th | Tiger Stadium | Bobby Witt | Texas Rangers |
| 30 | 92 | July 18 | 6th | Tiger Stadium | Greg Hibbard | Chicago White Sox |
| 31 | 95 | July 21 | 1st | Arlington Stadium | Mike Jeffcoat | Texas Rangers |
| 32 | 98 | July 24 | 3rd | Tiger Stadium | John Mitchell | Baltimore Orioles |
| 33 | 104 | July 30 | 4th | Yankee Stadium | Dave LaPoint | New York Yankees |
| 34 | 108 | August 3 | 2nd | Fenway Park | Greg Harris | Boston Red Sox |
| 35 | 111 | August 7 | 9th | Skydome | Jimmy Key | Toronto Blue Jays |
| 36 | 117 | August 13 | 1st | Cleveland Stadium | Jeff Shaw | Cleveland Indians |
| 37 | 120 | August 16 | 3rd | Tiger Stadium | Ron Robinson | Milwaukee Brewers |
| 38 | 121 | August 17 | 6th | Tiger Stadium | Tom Candiotti | Cleveland Indians |
| 39 | 122 | August 18 | 3rd | Tiger Stadium | Efrain Valdez | Cleveland Indians |
| 40 | 127 | August 25 | 1st | Tiger Stadium | Dave Stewart | Oakland Athletics |
| 41 | 127 | August 25 | 4th | Tiger Stadium | Dave Stewart | Oakland Athletics |
| 42 | 130 | August 29 | 8th | Kingdome | Matt Young | Seattle Mariners |
| 43 | 135 | September 3 | 6th | Tiger Stadium | Jimmy Key | Toronto Blue Jays |
| 44 | 137 | September 5 | 6th | Tiger Stadium | David Wells | Toronto Blue Jays |
| 45 | 139 | September 7 | 6th | County Stadium | Ted Higuera | Milwaukee Brewers |
| 46 | 145 | September 13 | 9th | Tiger Stadium | Mike Witt | New York Yankees |
| 47 | 148 | September 16 | 5th | Tiger Stadium | Mark Leiter | New York Yankees |
| 48 | 153 | September 23 | 2nd | Oakland Coliseum | Mike Moore | Oakland Athletics |
| 49 | 156 | September 27 | 8th | Tiger Stadium | Dennis Lamp | Boston Red Sox |
| 50 | 162 | October 3 | 4th | Yankee Stadium | Steve Adkins | New York Yankees |
| 51 | 162 | October 3 | 8th | Yankee Stadium | Alan Mills | New York Yankees |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Toledo Mud Hens | International League | John Wockenfuss and Tom Gamboa |
| AA | London Tigers | Eastern League | Chris Chambliss |
| A | Lakeland Tigers | Florida State League | Johnny Lipon |
| A | Fayetteville Generals | South Atlantic League | Gene Roof |
| A-Short Season | Niagara Falls Rapids | New York–Penn League | Juan López |
| Rookie | Bristol Tigers | Appalachian League | Ken Cunningham |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: London