1978 Detroit Tigers

86-76 • .531 Win% • 5th in AL E

The 1978 Detroit Tigers went 86-76 (.531) finishing 5th in the AL E division. The club scored 714 runs, allowed 653, and played home games at Tiger Stadium. Team leaders included Jason Thompson (26 HR, 96 RBI) and Jim Slaton (17-11, 4.12 ERA).

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
L (Losses):
Games charged to the pitcher of record when the opposing team took a lead it never surrendered.
RS (Runs Scored (team)):
Total runs a team scored across the season.
RA (Runs Allowed):
Total runs a team allowed across the season.

Data updated

📊 Season Record

86 Wins
76 Losses
.531 Win %
5th Rank
714 R 653 RA
Diff +61

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⚡ Quick Stats

714 Runs Scored
653 Runs Allowed
+61 Run Diff
1,714K Attendance

📈 vs. 1978 AL Average

Batting Avg .271 4% above the 1978 league average (.261)
OBP .338 4% above the 1978 league average (.326)
SLG .391 2% above the 1978 league average (.384)
Team ERA 3.64 3% better than the 1978 league average (3.76)
Runs Scored 714 5% above the 1978 league average (679 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumTiger Stadium
📅
Home Games 81
👥
Total Attendance 1,714,843
📊
Avg per Game 21,170

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1978

Batting Avg

1 Ron LeFlore 0.297 2 Jason Thompson 0.287 3 Lou Whitaker 0.285 4 John Wockenfuss 0.283 5 Steve Kemp 0.277

Home Runs

1 Jason Thompson 26 2 Rusty Staub 24 3 Steve Kemp 15 4 Lance Parrish 14 5 Ron LeFlore 12

RBI

1 Rusty Staub 121 2 Jason Thompson 96 3 Steve Kemp 79 4 Ron LeFlore 62 5 Lou Whitaker 58
1978 Detroit Tigers — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Ron LeFlore 155 666 126 198 30 3 12 62 65 104 68 0.297
Rusty Staub 162 642 75 175 30 1 24 121 76 35 3 0.273
Jason Thompson 153 589 79 169 25 3 26 96 74 96 0 0.287
Steve Kemp 159 582 75 161 18 4 15 79 97 87 2 0.277
Lou Whitaker 139 484 71 138 12 7 3 58 61 65 7 0.285
Alan Trammell 139 448 49 120 14 6 2 34 45 56 3 0.268
Aurelio Rodriguez 134 385 40 102 25 2 7 43 19 37 0 0.265
Milt May 105 352 24 88 9 0 10 37 27 26 0 0.250
Tim Corcoran 116 324 37 86 13 1 1 27 24 27 3 0.265
Lance Parrish 85 288 37 63 11 3 14 41 11 71 0 0.219
Phil Mankowski 88 222 28 61 8 0 4 20 22 28 2 0.275
John Wockenfuss 71 187 23 53 5 0 7 22 21 14 0 0.283
Mickey Stanley 53 151 15 40 9 0 3 8 9 19 0 0.265
Steve Dillard 56 130 21 29 5 2 0 7 6 11 1 0.223
Mark Wagner 39 109 10 26 1 2 0 6 3 11 1 0.239
Charlie Spikes 10 28 1 7 1 0 0 2 2 6 0 0.250
Dave Stegman 8 14 3 4 2 0 1 3 1 2 0 0.286
Fernando Arroyo 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Steve Baker 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Jack Billingham 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Sheldon Burnside 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Jim Crawford 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Mark Fidrych 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Steve Foucault 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Ed Glynn 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
John Hiller 51 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Jack Morris 28 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Dave Rozema 28 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Jim Slaton 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Bob Sykes 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Bruce Taylor 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Dave Tobik 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Milt Wilcox 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Kip Young 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1978

ERA

1 John Hiller 2.34 2 Kip Young 2.81 3 Steve Foucault 3.13 4 Dave Rozema 3.14 5 Milt Wilcox 3.76

Wins

1 Jim Slaton 17 2 Jack Billingham 15 3 Milt Wilcox 13 4 John Hiller 9 5 Dave Rozema 9

Strikeouts

1 Milt Wilcox 132 2 Jim Slaton 92 3 John Hiller 74 4 Jack Billingham 59 5 Bob Sykes 58
1978 Detroit Tigers — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Jim Slaton 17 11 4.12 35 34 0 233.2 235 107 85 92
Milt Wilcox 13 12 3.76 29 27 0 215.1 208 90 68 132
Dave Rozema 9 12 3.14 28 28 0 209.1 205 73 41 57
Jack Billingham 15 8 3.88 30 30 0 201.2 218 87 65 59
Jack Morris 3 5 4.33 28 7 0 106.0 107 51 49 48
Kip Young 6 7 2.81 14 13 0 105.2 94 33 30 49
Bob Sykes 6 6 3.94 22 10 2 93.2 99 41 34 58
John Hiller 9 4 2.34 51 0 15 92.1 64 24 35 74
Steve Baker 2 4 4.55 15 10 0 63.1 66 32 42 39
Jim Crawford 2 3 4.35 20 0 0 39.1 45 19 19 24
Steve Foucault 2 4 3.13 24 0 4 37.1 48 13 21 18
Mark Fidrych 2 0 2.45 3 3 0 22.0 17 6 5 10
Ed Glynn 0 0 3.07 10 0 0 14.2 11 5 4 9
Dave Tobik 0 0 3.75 5 0 0 12.0 12 5 3 11
Fernando Arroyo 0 0 8.31 2 0 0 4.1 8 4 0 1
Sheldon Burnside 0 0 9.00 2 0 0 4.0 4 4 2 3
Bruce Taylor 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0

👥 Roster (34)

Fernando Arroyo Steve Baker Jack Billingham Sheldon Burnside Tim Corcoran Jim Crawford Steve Dillard Mark Fidrych Steve Foucault Ed Glynn John Hiller Steve Kemp +22 more

34 players

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The 1978 Detroit Tigers in brief

The record for the 1978 Detroit Tigers reads 86 wins and 76 losses, good for 5th in the AL East. Runs came in at 714 scored against 653 allowed (+61). The team batting average of .271 was 4% above the 1978 league mark of .261. The staff ERA of 3.64 was 3% better than the league average of 3.76. The home park, Tiger Stadium, recorded 1,714,843 in attendance, about 21,170 a game.

The home run leader was Jason Thompson, who hit 26. Rusty Staub led in RBI with 121. On the mound, Jim Slaton won 17 games to lead the staff. Milt Wilcox struck out 132, the most on the club. John Hiller closed out 15 saves.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1978 Detroit Tigers

What was the 1978 Detroit Tigers record?
The 1978 Detroit Tigers finished 86-76 (.531 win pct).
Who led the 1978 Detroit Tigers in home runs?
Jason Thompson led the 1978 Detroit Tigers with 26 home runs.
What was the 1978 Detroit Tigers team ERA?
The 1978 Detroit Tigers posted a team ERA of 3.64.
Did the 1978 Detroit Tigers win the World Series?
No. The 1978 Detroit Tigers did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1978 Detroit Tigers play?
The 1978 Detroit Tigers played home games at Tiger Stadium.
Who led the 1978 Detroit Tigers in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Jason Thompson (26 HR, 96 RBI) and Jim Slaton (17-11, 4.12 ERA).
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