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

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.

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		96	348	85	.244	10	46
1B		78	226	51	.226	5	28
2B		109	335	88	.263	5	36
3B		71	239	58	.243	4	25
SS		105	392	101	.258	2	31
LF		105	372	103	.277	9	49
CF		85	253	66	.261	1	18
RF		83	290	95	.328	9	40
DH		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
	63	207	53	.256	0	15
	71	174	45	.259	2	19
	64	165	42	.255	3	21
	31	95	27	.284	1	12
	40	93	19	.204	3	12
	54	83	16	.193	1	11
	61	77	17	.221	0	6
Bill Fahey	27	67	17	.254	1	9
	16	4	1	.250	0	0
	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
	25	198.0	14	7	3.05	97
	24	166.1	12	9	3.03	79
	23	141.0	10	9	3.00	79
	17	71.1	6	8	6.06	20
	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
	28	104.0	5	5	3.63	46
	9	36.2	1	4	7.36	17
	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
	38	4	2	13	23	1.65	23
	29	5	2	3	19	3.64	53
	27	2	2	1	9	2.69	32
	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
#4 in AL in Power/Speed Number

Steve Kemp

#4 in AL in on-base percentage
#3 in AL in bases on balls
#3 in AL in times on base

Jack Morris

MLB leader in wins
MLB leader in bases on balls allowed
#2 in MLB in innings pitched
#2 in MLB in games started
#3 in AL in hits allowed per 9 innings pitched
#3 in MLB in complete games
#3 in MLB in batters faced
#6 in AL in home runs allowed
#9 in AL in earned runs allowed

Lance Parrish

#3 in AL in times grounded into double plays

Kevin Saucier

#5 in AL in saves

Alan Trammell

AL leader in sacrifice hits

Lou Whitaker

AL leader in games played
AL leader in games at second base
AL leader in innings at second base
AL leader in assists by a second baseman

Milt Wilcox

#5 in AL in games started
#5 in AL in hit batsmen

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