1987 Detroit Tigers season

MLB yearly infobox
name = Detroit Tigers
season = 1987
misc =AL East Champs

current league = American League
y1 = 1901
division = Eastern Division
y2 = 1969
Uniform
ballpark = Tiger Stadium
y4 = 1912
city = Detroit, Michigan
y5 = 1901
owners = Tom Monaghan
genmanagers = Bill Lajoie
managers = Sparky Anderson
television = WDIV-TV
(George Kell, Al Kaline)
PASS
(Larry Osterman, Jim Northrup)
radio = WJR
(Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey)|The 1987 Detroit Tigers season saw the Tigers make a startling late-season comeback to win the American League Eastern Division. The Tigers finished with a record of 98 wins and 64 losses, two games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays. Detroit lost the American League Championship Series to the Minnesota Twins in 5 games.

Regular season

After a pair of disappointing third-place finishes in 1985 and 1986, the 1987 Tigers faced lowered expectations - which seemed to be confirmed by an 11-19 start to the season. The team hit its stride thereafter and gradually gained ground on its AL East rivals. This charge was fueled in part by the acquisition of pitcher Doyle Alexander from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for minor league pitcher John Smoltz. Alexander started 11 games for the Tigers, posting 9 wins without a loss and a 1.53 ERA. The deal came at a price. Smoltz, a Lansing, Michigan native, went on to have a long, productive career with the Braves and would later win a Cy Young Award.

Despite their improvement, they entered September neck-and-neck with the Toronto Blue Jays. The two teams would square off in seven hard-fought games during the final two weeks of the season. All seven games were decided by one run, and in the first six of the seven games, the winning run was scored in the final inning of play. At Exhibition Stadium, the Tigers dropped three in a row to the Blue Jays before winning a dramatic extra-inning showdown.

The Tigers entered the final week of the 1987 season 3.5 games behind. After a series against the Baltimore Orioles, the Tigers returned home trailing by a game and swept the Blue Jays. Detroit clinched the division in a 1-0 victory over Toronto in front of 51,005 fans at Tiger Stadium on Sunday afternoon, October 4. Frank Tanana went all nine innings for the complete game shutout, and outfielder Larry Herndon gave the Tigers their lone run on a second-inning home run. Detroit finished the season a Major League-best 98-64, two games ahead of Toronto.

In what would prove to be their last postseason appearance until 2006, the Tigers lost the 1987 American League Championship Series to the underdog Minnesota Twins (who would go on to win the World Series) in five games.

The 1987 Tigers' winning percentage ranks as the 10th best in team history, as follows:

eason standings

Transactions

*December 20, 1986: Darrell Evans was released by the Detroit Tigers. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/e/evansda01.shtml]
*February 24, 1987: Darrell Evans was signed as a Free Agent with the Detroit Tigers. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/e/evansda01.shtml]
*March 23, 1987: Brian Harper was released by the Detroit Tigers. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/harpebr01.shtml]
*June 2, 1987: Travis Fryman was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 1st round (30th pick) of the 1987 amateur draft. Player signed June 6, 1987. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/f/frymatr01.shtml Travis Fryman Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
*June 2, 1987: Torey Lovullo was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 5th round of the 1987 amateur draft. Player signed June 7, 1987. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lovulto01.shtml]
*June 4, 1987: Bill Madlock was signed as a Free Agent with the Detroit Tigers. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/madlobi01.shtml Bill Madlock Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
*August 7, 1987: Darnell Coles was traded by the Detroit Tigers with a player to be named later to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jim Morrison. The Detroit Tigers sent Morris Madden (August 12, 1987) to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/colesda01.shtml Darnell Coles Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
*August 12, 1987: Doyle Alexander was traded by the Atlanta Braves to the Detroit Tigers for John Smoltz. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/a/alexado01.shtml]
*September 22, 1987: Dickie Noles was loaned to the Detroit Tigers by the Chicago Cubs. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/n/nolesdi01.shtml Dickie Noles Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]

Roster

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Relief pitchers

References

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/DET/1987.shtml 1987 Detroit Tigers team page at Baseball Reference] succession box
title = AL East Championship Season
years = 1987
before =Boston Red Sox
1986
after = Boston Red Sox
1988