1989 Detroit Tigers season

The Detroit Tigers' 1989 season was a season in American baseball. The Tigers finished 59–103 and in last place in the AL East. It was the team's first losing season since 1977, the worst record in the Major Leagues, as well as (at the time) the franchise's second-worst season ever in terms of both losses (103) and win percentage (.364). It was also (at the time) the franchise's worst full 162-game season (those marks would be surpassed in 1996, 2003, and 2019).

1989 Detroit Tigers
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Tom Monaghan
General manager(s)Bill Lajoie
Manager(s)Sparky Anderson
Local televisionWDIV-TV
(George Kell, Al Kaline)
PASS
(Larry Osterman, Jim Northrup)
Local radioWJR
(Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey)
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Offseason Roster Moves at a glance

Spring Training

March 12: The first telecast of the 1989 season came on Sunday, March 12 when the Tigers played the Texas Rangers at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland. George Kell and Al Kaline were the announcers. WDIV had changed their opening graphics and music with this airing and discontinued referring to the year in their opening graphics. Instead of following the previous pattern calling the broadcast "Tigers '89," they were now designated as "Tiger Baseball Network."[9]

March 23: The Tigers make three separate trades with the stated goal to address an aging roster. Long-time fan favorite Tom Brookens is traded to the New York Yankees for pitcher Charles Hudson. Brookens, 35, and his teammates were surprised by the trade and was quoted as saying the he “spent more time in limbo than some dancers.” [10] Teammate Jack Morris was incensed, telling the media “they (Tiger management) talk about loyalty. They crapped on Tommy for nine years, then they trade him.” Alan Trammell was more philosophical saying, “I thought in the back of my mind he’d be a Tiger all his life. That’s gone now.”[11]

The other trades saw pitcher Eric King (baseball) traded to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Kenny Williams (baseball) and utility player Luis Salazar traded to the San Diego Padres for infielder Mike Brumley (infielder). King, 24, apparently, was in Tiger manager Sparky Anderson’s doghouse for a subpar 1988 season, despite pitching very well during Spring Training (3-0, 1.96 ERA). Anderson claimed at the time that Williams, 25 was “key” despite hitting .147 during Spring Training at the time of the trade. Salazar, 33, had a strong first half of the 1988 season with Detroit, and played seven different positions, but Brumley, 25, was considered a younger switch-hitting version.[12]

General Manager Bill Lajoie said the trade “gives us some added speed and also adds youth to the roster. We’ll now start the season with a balanced club. Williams and Brumley are every scout’s dream. They’re young players with tools.”[13][14]


March 27: In a surprise announcement, Torey Lovullo is named the Opening Day first baseman by manager Sparky Anderson. Lovullo, a 24-year old switch hitting rookie, wins the job due his versatility (he plays all four infield positions in Spring Training) and a prolonged slump by veteran Keith Moreland, who was expected to be the first baseman after being traded for Walt Terrell. When Spring Training began, the general consensus was the Tiger roster was set. This announcement, along with Anderson’s insistence that Lovullo was “the new heart of the lineup” and get 500 at-bats in the upcoming season was newsworthy. [15]

Regular season

May

May 11: The Tigers travel to Toledo, Ohio for an exhibition game against their AAA minor-league affiliate the Toledo Mud Hens. The Mud Hens defeated the Tigers 3-1 before 10,322 at Ned Skelton Stadium. Former Tiger and Mud Hen manager John Wockenfuss pitches five scoreless innings in relief allowing just three hits. The 40-year old Wockenfuss was primarily a catcher in his 12-year major league career and took to the mound because the Mud Hens were coming off a doubleheader the day before and had another one scheduled the following day. This game further highlighted the Tigers worst start in 35 years.[16]

May 19: Manager Sparky Anderson left the club on the direction of team doctor Clarence Livingood due to physical exhaustion. Livingood told the press that Anderson was suffering from extreme stress to the point where he was unable to sleep. At the time, the Tigers were 14-24, last place in the American League East and had the worst record in Major League Baseball. Coach Dick Tracewski was named interim manager in Anderson’s absence.[17]

May 23: Pitcher Jack Morris is placed on the disabled list for the first time in his career. Morris had complained of soreness following a 7-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians on May 22. Morris became the fourth Tiger pitcher to be placed on the DL so far this season. Morris was in the midst of the worst start of his career with a 2-7 record with a 4.94 ERA. To replace him on the roster, the Tigers called up pitcher Mike Schwabe from AA London.[18]

July

Relief pitcher Mike Henneman is the only Tiger to be named to the American League All Star team on July 6. At the announcement of his selection, Henneman is 5-2 with 2 saves and a 3.21 ERA. Despite eight pitchers appearing in the game, Henneman and Chuck Finley of the California Angels do not see action.[19][20][21]

August

In the early morning hours of Saturday, August 19, pitcher Charles Hudson, driving drunk, slammed his mother in-law’s Mercury Cougar into a telephone pole in the Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills, Michigan. He spent a day and a half in intensive care with a broken left leg, right ankle and his right knee needed reconstructive surgery. A month later, Hudson was sentenced to one year’s probation after pleading guilty to driving while impaired. Investigators said his blood alcohol level the night of the accident was 0.11. Under Michigan law, 0.10 was considered the legal limit.[22]

Hudson would later discuss how he began to drink as he struggled in his baseball career. He would not pitch in the major leagues again and the Tigers released him in November 1989.[23]

Notable transactions

Season standings
AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Toronto Blue Jays 8973 0.549 — 46–35 43–38
Baltimore Orioles 8775 0.537 2 47–34 40–41
Boston Red Sox 8379 0.512 6 46–35 37–44
Milwaukee Brewers 8181 0.500 8 45–36 36–45
New York Yankees 7487 0.460 14½ 41–40 33–47
Cleveland Indians 7389 0.451 16 41–40 32–49
Detroit Tigers 59103 0.364 30 38–43 21–60

Record vs. opponents
1989 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —6–76–66–67–610–36–67–64–88–55–76–69–37–6
Boston 7–6—4–87–58–511–24–86–76–67–67–55–76–65–8
California 6–68–4—8–55–711–14–97–511–26–65–87–66–77–5
Chicago 6–65–75–8—7–54–86–710–25–85–65–87–63–101–11
Cleveland 6–75–87–55–7—5–88–43–105–79–42–106–67–55–8
Detroit 3–102–111–118–48–5—6–66–75–76–74–84–84–82–11
Kansas City 6–68–49–47–64–86–6—8–47–66–67–69–48–57–5
Milwaukee 6–77–65–72–1010–37–64–8—9–38–55–77–55–76–7
Minnesota 8–46–62–118–57–57–56–73–9—6–66–77–65–89–3
New York 5–86–76–66–54–97–66–65–86–6—3–98–45–77–6
Oakland 7–55–78–58–510–28–46–77–57–69–3—9–48–57–5
Seattle 6–67–56–76–76–68–44–95–76–74–84–9—6–75–7
Texas 3–96–67–610–35–78–45–87–58–57–55–87–6—5–7
Toronto 6–78–55–711–18–511–25–77–63–96–75–77–57–5—

Roster
1989 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats
= Indicates team leader

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
CMike Heath122396104.2631043
1BDave Bergman137385103.268737
2BLou Whitaker148509128.2512885
3BRick Schu9826657.214721
SSAlan Trammell121449109.243543
LFFred Lynn11735385.2411146
CFGary Pettis119444114.257118
RFChet Lemon12741498.237747
DHKeith Moreland9031895.299535

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
Gary Ward10527569.251929
Matt Nokes8726867.250939
Kenny Williams9425853.205623
Mike Brumley9221242.198111
Doug Strange6419642.214114
Tracy Jones4615841.259326
Pat Sheridan5012029.242315
Scott Lusader4010326.25218
Torey Lovullo298710.11514
Al Pedrique316914.20305
Chris Brown175711.19304
Rob Richie194913.265110
Matt Sinatro13253.12001
Bill Bean9110.00000
Jeff Datz7102.20000

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
Frank Tanana33223.210143.58147
Doyle Alexander33223.06184.4495
Jack Morris24170.16144.86115
Jeff Robinson1678.0454.7340
Kevin Ritz1274.0464.3856
Brian Dubois636.0041.7513

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
Paul Gibson45132.0484.6477
Charles Hudson1866.2156.3523
Mike Schwabe1344.2246.0413
Mike Trujillo825.2125.9613
Steve Searcy822.1116.0411
David Palmer517.1037.7912
Randy Nosek25.10213.504
Dave Beard25.1025.061

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 Henneman6011483.7069
Frank Williams423313.6433
Willie Hernández3222155.7430
Edwin Núñez273414.1741
Brad Havens131205.5615
Ramón Peña80006.0012
Shawn Holman50001.809
Randy Bockus20005.062

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Toledo Mud Hens International League John Wockenfuss
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 Rick Magnante
Rookie Bristol Tigers Appalachian League Rubén Amaro, Sr.

[27]

Notes
  1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brownch02.shtml. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/DET/1989-transactions.shtml. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. Ray Knight at Baseball Reference
  4. "Randy Bockus Stats".
  5. Doyle Alexander at Baseball Reference
  6. Mark Huismann at Baseball Reference
  7. Tom Brookens at Baseball Reference
  8. Kenny Williams at Baseball Reference
  9. https://youtube/2k-7bR9KTqg. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. {{cite web}}: Empty citation (help)
  11. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=b0M2c_1WBrUC&dat=19890324&printsec=frontpage&hl=en. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=b0M2c_1WBrUC&dat=19890324&printsec=frontpage&hl=en. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/03/23/The-Detroit-Tigers-made-three-trades-Thursday-giving-up/7361606632400/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=b0M2c_1WBrUC&dat=19890324&printsec=frontpage&hl=en. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=b0M2c_1WBrUC&dat=19890328&printsec=frontpage&hl=en. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19890512&printsec=frontpage&hl=en. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19890520&printsec=frontpage&hl=en. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19890524&printsec=frontpage&hl=en. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19890707&printsec=frontpage&hl=en. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1989/B07110ALS1989.htm. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. https://www.espn.com/mlb/allstargame/history/results/_/year/1989. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  22. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-02-22-9502220025-story.html. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  23. John Harper (February 22, 1995). "A Crash-Course Cubbie". New York Daily News.
  24. . Rick Schu at Baseball Reference
  25. Tracy Jones at Baseball Reference
  26. "Keith Atherton Stats".
  27. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball". Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

References
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