1988 Detroit Tigers season

The 1988 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 88th season and the 77th season at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers, fresh off of losing the American League pennant to Minnesota Twins, were attempting to repeat, as American League East champions after winning the division on the final day of the previous season.

1988 Detroit Tigers
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Tiger Stadium
City	Detroit, Michigan
Owners	Tom Monaghan
General managers	Bill Lajoie
Managers	Sparky Anderson
Television	WDIV-TV (George Kell, Al Kaline) PASS (Larry Osterman, Jim Northrup)
Radio	WJR (Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey)
← 1987 Seasons 1989 →

The Tigers hit five grand slams, the most in MLB in 1988.^[1]

Offseason

• October 23, 1987: Dickie Noles was returned by the Tigers to the Chicago Cubs as part of an earlier agreement (Noles was loaned to the Tigers on September 22).^[2]
• March 23, 1988: Mark Huismann was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.^[3]
• March 24, 1988: Balvino Gálvez was traded by the Tigers to the Minnesota Twins for Billy Beane.^[4]

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Red Sox	89	73	.549	—	53‍–‍28	36‍–‍45
Detroit Tigers	88	74	.543	1	50‍–‍31	38‍–‍43
Milwaukee Brewers	87	75	.537	2	47‍–‍34	40‍–‍41
Toronto Blue Jays	87	75	.537	2	45‍–‍36	42‍–‍39
New York Yankees	85	76	.528	3½	46‍–‍34	39‍–‍42
Cleveland Indians	78	84	.481	11	44‍–‍37	34‍–‍47
Baltimore Orioles	54	107	.335	34½	34‍–‍46	20‍–‍61

Record vs. opponents

1988 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	4–9	5–7	4–7	4–9	5–8	0–12	4–9	3–9	3–10	4–8	7–5	6–6	5–8
Boston	9–4	—	8–4	7–5	8–5	6–7	6–6	10–3	7–5	9–4	3–9	6–6	8–4	2–11
California	7–5	4–8	—	9–4	8–4	5–7	5–8	3–9	4–9	6–6	4–9	6–7	8–5	6–6
Chicago	7–4	5–7	4–9	—	3–9	3–9	7–6	6–6	4–9	3–9	5–8	9–4	8–5	7–5
Cleveland	9–4	5–8	4–8	9–3	—	4–9	6–6	9–4	5–7	6–7	4–8	5–7	6–6	6–7
Detroit	8–5	7–6	7–5	9–3	9–4	—	8–4	5–8	1–11	8–5	4–8	9–3	8–4	5–8
Kansas City	12–0	6–6	8–5	6–7	6–6	4–8	—	3–9	7–6	6–6	8–5	7–5	7–6	4–8
Milwaukee	9–4	3–10	9–3	6–6	4–9	8–5	9–3	—	7–5	6–7	3–9	8–4	8–4	7–6
Minnesota	9–3	5–7	9–4	9–4	7–5	11–1	6–7	5–7	—	3–9	5–8	8–5	7–6	7–5
New York	10–3	4–9	6–6	9–3	7–6	5–8	6–6	7–6	9–3	—	6–6	5–7	5–6	6–7
Oakland	8–4	9–3	9–4	8–5	8–4	8–4	5–8	9–3	8–5	6–6	—	9–4	8–5	9–3
Seattle	5–7	6–6	7–6	4–9	7–5	3–9	5–7	4–8	5–8	7–5	4–9	—	6–7	5–7
Texas	6–6	4–8	5–8	5–8	6–6	4–8	6–7	4–8	6–7	6–5	5–8	7–6	—	6–6
Toronto	8–5	11–2	6–6	5–7	7–6	8–5	8–4	6–7	5–7	7–6	3–9	7–5	6–6	—

Notable transactions

• August 31, 1988: Rey Palacios and Mark Lee were traded by the Tigers to the Kansas City Royals for Ted Power^[5]
• August 31, 1988: The Tigers sent Chris Hoiles and players to be named later to the Baltimore Orioles for Fred Lynn^[6]

Draft picks

• June 1, 1988: 1988 Major League Baseball draft
  • Rico Brogna was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round (26th pick). Player signed June 18, 1988.^[7]
  • Dave Haas was drafted by the Tigers in the 15th round.^[8]

Roster

1988 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers 19 Doyle Alexander 48 Paul Gibson 17 Don Heinkel 39 Mike Henneman 21 Willie Hernández 27 Mark Huismann 25 Eric King 47 Jack Morris 43 Ted Power 44 Jeff Robinson 49 Steve Searcy 26 Frank Tanana 35 Walt Terrell 36 Mike Trujillo		Catchers 10 Chris Bando  8 Mike Heath 33 Matt Nokes Infielders 14 Dave Bergman 16 Tom Brookens 30 Iván DeJesús 41 Darrell Evans 22 Ray Knight 23 Torey Lovullo  9 Jim Morrison  3 Alan Trammell 32 Jim Walewander  1 Lou Whitaker		Outfielders  4 Billy Bean 29 Billy Beane 31 Larry Herndon 34 Chet Lemon  7 Scott Lusader  9 Fred Lynn 40 Dwayne Murphy 24 Gary Pettis 12 Luis Salazar 15 Pat Sheridan		Manager 11 Sparky Anderson Coaches 50 Billy Consolo 51 Alex Grammas 56 Billy Muffett 28 Vada Pinson 53 Dick Tracewski

Player stats

= Indicates team 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	Matt Nokes	122	382	96	.251	16	53
1B	Ray Knight	105	299	65	.217	3	33
2B	Lou Whitaker	115	403	111	.275	12	55
3B	Tom Brookens	136	441	107	.243	5	38
SS	Alan Trammell	128	466	145	.311	15	69
LF	Pat Sheridan	127	347	88	.254	11	47
CF	Gary Pettis	129	458	96	.210	3	36
RF	Chet Lemon	144	512	135	.264	17	64
DH	Darrell Evans	144	437	91	.208	22	64

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
Luis Salazar	130	452	122	.270	12	62
Dave Bergman	116	289	85	.294	5	35
Mike Heath	86	219	54	.247	5	18
Jim Walewander	88	175	37	.211	0	6
Larry Herndon	76	174	39	.224	4	20
Dwayne Murphy	49	144	36	.250	4	19
Fred Lynn	27	90	20	.222	7	19
Jim Morrison	24	74	16	.216	0	6
Torey Lovullo	12	21	8	.381	1	2
Iván DeJesús	7	17	3	.176	0	0
Scott Lusader	16	16	1	.063	1	3
Billy Bean	10	11	2	.182	0	0
Billy Beane	6	6	1	.167	0	1
Chris Bando	1	0	0	----	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	34	235.0	15	13	3.94	168
Doyle Alexander	34	229.0	14	11	4.32	126
Walt Terrell	29	206.1	7	16	3.97	84
Frank Tanana	32	203.0	14	11	4.21	127
Jeff Robinson	24	172.0	13	6	2.98	114
Steve Searcy	2	8.0	0	2	5.63	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
Eric King	23	68.2	4	1	3.41	45
Ted Power	4	18.2	1	1	5.79	13

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Mike Henneman	65	9	6	22	1.87	58
Willie Hernández	63	6	5	10	3.06	59
Paul Gibson	40	4	2	0	2.93	50
Don Heinkel	21	0	0	1	3.96	30
Mike Trujillo	6	0	0	0	5.11	5
Mark Huismann	5	1	0	0	5.06	6

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Toledo Mud Hens	International League	Pat Corrales
AA	Glens Falls Tigers	Eastern League	John Wockenfuss
A	Lakeland Tigers	Florida State League	Johnny Lipon
A	Fayetteville Generals	South Atlantic League	Leon Roberts
Rookie	Bristol Tigers	Appalachian League	Rick Magnante

^[9]