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http://www.detroittigertales.com/2021/01/detroit-tigers-all-stars-1980-1989.html
Detroit Tigers All Stars: 1980-1989.
Detroit Tiger Tales
This week, I present the Detroit Tigers All Star team for the 1980-1989 decade. All Star teams for previous decades are found below:
1901-1909
1910-1919
1920-1929
1930-1939
1940-1949
1950-1959
1960-1969
1970-1979
Detroit Stars: 1919-1930
In each decade, I select nine position players, one for each position on the field plus one other hitter. This ninth player could be a designated hitter, a multiple position player who didn't fit neatly into one position and/or the best hitter who didn't get selected as a position player. I refer to this final hitter as the utility player. Then I select five pitchers: four starters and one reliever. In earlier decades when relievers were not frequently used, it will just be the fifth best starting pitcher.
Some further general rules are as follows:
A player must have played at least half of his games with the Tigers at a given position or played that position more than any other position. In rare cases, I might cheat a little bit if none of the players qualifying at a given position are any good at all and there is a superior player who played a good number of games at that position.
A player must have played at least two full seasons with the Tigers, preferably at the assigned position.
Only games played with the Tigers are considered.
If a player played other positions with the Tigers besides his assigned position, his hitting performance in those games does count.
Many statistics and sometimes, especially for fielding evaluation, anecdotal information will be considered. For hitters, some of the statistics I consider are:
Games Played (G)
Plate Appearances (PA)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR),
Adjusted Batting Runs (ABR)
Adjusted On Base Plus Slugging (OPS+)
The follow are among those I use for evaluating pitchers:
Games (G)
Innings Pitched (IP)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR)
Pitching Runs (PR)
Relative ERA (ERA+)
After two turbulent decades which changed Major League Baseball forever, the 1980s was a period of relative calm. The New York Yankees' six-decade dynasty came to a halt and an era of more parity ensued. The Tigers were arguably the best team in the American League over the course of the decade with winning records each year from 1980-1988, their fourth world championship in 1984 and an additional division title in 1987.
Led by the great up the middle quartet of catcher Lance Parrish, second baseman Lou Whitaker, shortstop Alan Trammell and center fielder Chet Lemon, the Tigers consistently had strong offense and defense. They also had solid pitching including starters Jack Morris and Dan Petry and relievers Willie Hernandez and Aurelio Lopez. It all culminated with the glorious 1984 season where they started 35-5, went wire to wire and dominated post-season in route to the championship.
After two somewhat disappointing, although winning, seasons in 1985 and 1986, the Tigers came back to win 98 games in 1987 capping the season with an East Division title after the most thrilling pennant race in franchise history. Losing to the objectively inferior Minnesota Twins in the playoffs was a let down, but that's part of the crapshoot nature of baseball's post-season.
One could argue that the Tigers should have won more titles in the eighties, but it was still a fun decade for Tigers fans.
The team WAR leaders were:
Alan Trammell 53
Lou Whitaker 44
Jack Morris 30
Chet Lemon 28
Lance Parrish 25
The decade All Star team is listed in Tables 1 and 2 below and player profiles follow.
Detroit Tigers All Stars: 1980-1989.
Detroit Tiger Tales
This week, I present the Detroit Tigers All Star team for the 1980-1989 decade. All Star teams for previous decades are found below:
1901-1909
1910-1919
1920-1929
1930-1939
1940-1949
1950-1959
1960-1969
1970-1979
Detroit Stars: 1919-1930
In each decade, I select nine position players, one for each position on the field plus one other hitter. This ninth player could be a designated hitter, a multiple position player who didn't fit neatly into one position and/or the best hitter who didn't get selected as a position player. I refer to this final hitter as the utility player. Then I select five pitchers: four starters and one reliever. In earlier decades when relievers were not frequently used, it will just be the fifth best starting pitcher.
Some further general rules are as follows:
A player must have played at least half of his games with the Tigers at a given position or played that position more than any other position. In rare cases, I might cheat a little bit if none of the players qualifying at a given position are any good at all and there is a superior player who played a good number of games at that position.
A player must have played at least two full seasons with the Tigers, preferably at the assigned position.
Only games played with the Tigers are considered.
If a player played other positions with the Tigers besides his assigned position, his hitting performance in those games does count.
Many statistics and sometimes, especially for fielding evaluation, anecdotal information will be considered. For hitters, some of the statistics I consider are:
Games Played (G)
Plate Appearances (PA)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR),
Adjusted Batting Runs (ABR)
Adjusted On Base Plus Slugging (OPS+)
The follow are among those I use for evaluating pitchers:
Games (G)
Innings Pitched (IP)
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference WAR)
Pitching Runs (PR)
Relative ERA (ERA+)
After two turbulent decades which changed Major League Baseball forever, the 1980s was a period of relative calm. The New York Yankees' six-decade dynasty came to a halt and an era of more parity ensued. The Tigers were arguably the best team in the American League over the course of the decade with winning records each year from 1980-1988, their fourth world championship in 1984 and an additional division title in 1987.
Led by the great up the middle quartet of catcher Lance Parrish, second baseman Lou Whitaker, shortstop Alan Trammell and center fielder Chet Lemon, the Tigers consistently had strong offense and defense. They also had solid pitching including starters Jack Morris and Dan Petry and relievers Willie Hernandez and Aurelio Lopez. It all culminated with the glorious 1984 season where they started 35-5, went wire to wire and dominated post-season in route to the championship.
After two somewhat disappointing, although winning, seasons in 1985 and 1986, the Tigers came back to win 98 games in 1987 capping the season with an East Division title after the most thrilling pennant race in franchise history. Losing to the objectively inferior Minnesota Twins in the playoffs was a let down, but that's part of the crapshoot nature of baseball's post-season.
One could argue that the Tigers should have won more titles in the eighties, but it was still a fun decade for Tigers fans.
The team WAR leaders were:
Alan Trammell 53
Lou Whitaker 44
Jack Morris 30
Chet Lemon 28
Lance Parrish 25
The decade All Star team is listed in Tables 1 and 2 below and player profiles follow.
