1981 Detroit Tigers

60-49 • .550 Win% • 3rd in AL E

The 1981 Detroit Tigers went 60-49 (.550) finishing 3rd in the AL E division. The club scored 427 runs, allowed 404, and played home games at Tiger Stadium. Team leaders included Lance Parrish (10 HR, 46 RBI) and Jack Morris (14-7, 3.05 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

60 Wins
49 Losses
.550 Win %
3rd Rank
427 R 404 RA
Diff +23

📁 Franchise Info

Detroit Tigers Active
→

⚡ Quick Stats

427 Runs Scored
404 Runs Allowed
+23 Run Diff
1,149K Attendance

📈 vs. 1981 AL Average

Batting Avg .256 equal to the 1981 league average (.256)
OBP .331 3% above the 1981 league average (.320)
SLG .367 1% below the 1981 league average (.372)
Team ERA 3.53 3% better than the 1981 league average (3.66)
Runs Scored 427 2% below the 1981 league average (437 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumTiger Stadium
📅
Home Games 55
👥
Total Attendance 1,149,744
📊
Avg per Game 20,904

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1981

Batting Avg

1 Kirk Gibson 0.328 2 Ron Jackson 0.284 3 Steve Kemp 0.277 4 Lou Whitaker 0.263 5 Al Cowens 0.261

Home Runs

1 Lance Parrish 10 2 Kirk Gibson 9 3 Steve Kemp 9 4 John Wockenfuss 9 5 Richie Hebner 5

RBI

1 Steve Kemp 49 2 Lance Parrish 46 3 Kirk Gibson 40 4 Lou Whitaker 36 5 Alan Trammell 31
1981 Detroit Tigers — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Alan Trammell 105 392 52 101 15 3 2 31 49 31 10 0.258
Steve Kemp 105 372 52 103 18 4 9 49 70 48 9 0.277
Lance Parrish 96 348 39 85 18 2 10 46 34 52 2 0.244
Lou Whitaker 109 335 48 88 14 4 5 36 40 42 5 0.263
Kirk Gibson 83 290 41 95 11 3 9 40 18 64 17 0.328
Al Cowens 85 253 27 66 11 4 1 18 22 36 3 0.261
Tom Brookens 71 239 19 58 10 1 4 25 14 43 5 0.243
Richie Hebner 78 226 19 51 8 2 5 28 27 28 1 0.226
Rick Peters 63 207 26 53 7 3 0 15 29 28 1 0.256
Lynn Jones 71 174 19 45 5 0 2 19 18 10 1 0.259
John Wockenfuss 70 172 20 37 4 0 9 25 28 22 0 0.215
Champ Summers 64 165 16 42 8 0 3 21 19 35 1 0.255
Ron Jackson 31 95 12 27 8 1 1 12 8 11 4 0.284
Stan Papi 40 93 8 19 2 1 3 12 3 18 1 0.204
Rick Leach 54 83 9 16 3 1 1 11 16 15 0 0.193
Mick Kelleher 61 77 10 17 4 0 0 6 7 10 0 0.221
Bill Fahey 27 67 5 17 2 0 1 9 2 4 0 0.254
Marty Castillo 6 8 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.125
Darrell Brown 16 4 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.250
Howard Bailey 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
George Cappuzzello 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Duffy Dyer 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Dennis Kinney 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Aurelio Lopez 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Jack Morris 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Dan Petry 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Larry Rothschild 5 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
Dave Rucker 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Kevin Saucier 38 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Dan Schatzeder 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Dave Tobik 27 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Jerry Ujdur 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Milt Wilcox 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1981

ERA

1 Kevin Saucier 1.65 2 Dave Tobik 2.69 3 Dan Petry 3.00 4 Milt Wilcox 3.03 5 Jack Morris 3.05

Wins

1 Jack Morris 14 2 Milt Wilcox 12 3 Dan Petry 10 4 Dan Schatzeder 6 5 Aurelio Lopez 5

Strikeouts

1 Jack Morris 97 2 Dan Petry 79 3 Milt Wilcox 79 4 Aurelio Lopez 53 5 Dave Rozema 46
1981 Detroit Tigers — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Jack Morris 14 7 3.05 25 25 0 198.0 153 67 78 97
Milt Wilcox 12 9 3.03 24 24 0 166.1 152 56 52 79
Dan Petry 10 9 3.00 23 22 0 141.0 115 47 57 79
Dave Rozema 5 5 3.63 28 9 3 104.0 99 42 25 46
Aurelio Lopez 5 2 3.64 29 3 3 81.2 70 33 31 53
Dan Schatzeder 6 8 6.06 17 14 0 71.1 74 48 29 20
Dave Tobik 2 2 2.69 27 0 1 60.1 47 18 33 32
Kevin Saucier 4 2 1.65 38 0 13 49.0 26 9 21 23
Howard Bailey 1 4 7.36 9 5 0 36.2 45 30 13 17
George Cappuzzello 1 1 3.48 18 3 1 33.2 28 13 18 19
Jerry Ujdur 0 0 6.43 4 4 0 14.0 19 10 5 5
Larry Rothschild 0 0 1.59 5 0 1 5.2 4 1 6 1
Dave Rucker 0 0 6.75 2 0 0 4.0 3 3 1 2
Dennis Kinney 0 0 9.82 6 0 0 3.2 5 4 4 3

👥 Roster (34)

Howard Bailey Tom Brookens Darrell Brown George Cappuzzello Marty Castillo Al Cowens Duffy Dyer Bill Fahey Kirk Gibson Richie Hebner Ron Jackson Lynn Jones +22 more

34 players

📂 Quick Links

📅 1981 Season 🏠 All DET Seasons

⏳ Browse Seasons

The 1981 Detroit Tigers in brief

A 60-49 record (.550) put the 1981 Detroit Tigers 3rd in the AL East. The run column shows 427 for and 404 against. Pitchers allowed 3.53 earned runs per nine innings, against a league figure of 3.66. The 1981 Detroit Tigers scored 2% fewer runs than the average club (427 against 437). The home park, Tiger Stadium, recorded 1,149,744 in attendance, about 20,904 a game.

Lance Parrish topped the Detroit Tigers with 10 home runs. Steve Kemp drove in a team-high 49 runs. On the mound, Jack Morris won 14 games to lead the staff. Kevin Saucier saved 13 games. The roster section lists 34 players who appeared for the club. Neighboring pages cover the 1980 season and the 1982 season.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1981 Detroit Tigers

What was the 1981 Detroit Tigers record?
The 1981 Detroit Tigers finished 60-49 (.550 win pct).
Who led the 1981 Detroit Tigers in home runs?
Lance Parrish led the 1981 Detroit Tigers with 10 home runs.
What was the 1981 Detroit Tigers team ERA?
The 1981 Detroit Tigers posted a team ERA of 3.53.
Did the 1981 Detroit Tigers win the World Series?
No. The 1981 Detroit Tigers did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1981 Detroit Tigers play?
The 1981 Detroit Tigers played home games at Tiger Stadium.
Who led the 1981 Detroit Tigers in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Lance Parrish (10 HR, 46 RBI) and Jack Morris (14-7, 3.05 ERA).
All Seasons