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http://www.detroittigertales.com/2021/02/detroit-tigers-all-stars-1990-1999.html
Detroit Tigers All Stars: 1990-1999.
Detroit Tiger Tales
This week, I present the Detroit Tigers All Star team for the 1990-1999 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
1980-1989
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+)
The 1990s was a decade of disharmony and disillusionment in Major League Baseball. This included the longest player strike ever from 1994-1995 and the historic cancellation of the 1994 post-season. There was an offensive explosion during the decade culminating in the record setting home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, an exciting event at the time, but later perceived with skepticism. The abundance of home runs during the decade marked the beginning of a Steroids controversy which still rages today.
There were four new expansion teams during the decade and the first expansion of playoffs since 1969. In 1994, baseball went from four divisions to six and a wildcard team was added to the playoffs in each league. The new playoff structure, of course, was delayed by the player's strike until the 1995 post-season. On the field, baseball was dominated by the Atlanta Braves and, once again, the New York Yankees.
The Tigers had arguably the worst decade in franchise history with losing records every season except two and no serious playoff contention in any year. The main culprit was a horrendous pitching staff which finished at or near the bottom of the league most seasons. They reached their nadir in 1996 when the the staff ERA was an incredible 6.38. Only the Philadelphia Phillies of 1930 did worse with a 6.71 ERA and they played in the Baker Bowl which was perhaps the most extreme hitter's park in history.
Offensively, the Tigers were quite potent from 1990-1994 leading the league in runs scored in 1992 and 1993 and finishing in the top three in the American League each year. They also led the league in home runs each year from 1990-1992 and finished second in 1993 and 1994.
In 1990, mammoth first baseman Cecil Fielder hit 51 home runs to become the first major league player with 50 home runs since 1977. Holdovers Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell and newcomers Travis Fryman, Tony Phillips and Mickey Tettleton also contributed to an entertaining offense, but the feeble pitching prevented them from winning.
The team WAR leaders were:
Travis Fryman 28
Tony Phillips 25
Lou Whitaker 23
Cecil Fielder 17
Alan Trammell 15
Not surprisingly, there are no pitchers on this list.
The decade All Star team is listed in Tables 1 and 2 below and player profiles follow.
Detroit Tigers All Stars: 1990-1999.
Detroit Tiger Tales
This week, I present the Detroit Tigers All Star team for the 1990-1999 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
1980-1989
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+)
The 1990s was a decade of disharmony and disillusionment in Major League Baseball. This included the longest player strike ever from 1994-1995 and the historic cancellation of the 1994 post-season. There was an offensive explosion during the decade culminating in the record setting home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, an exciting event at the time, but later perceived with skepticism. The abundance of home runs during the decade marked the beginning of a Steroids controversy which still rages today.
There were four new expansion teams during the decade and the first expansion of playoffs since 1969. In 1994, baseball went from four divisions to six and a wildcard team was added to the playoffs in each league. The new playoff structure, of course, was delayed by the player's strike until the 1995 post-season. On the field, baseball was dominated by the Atlanta Braves and, once again, the New York Yankees.
The Tigers had arguably the worst decade in franchise history with losing records every season except two and no serious playoff contention in any year. The main culprit was a horrendous pitching staff which finished at or near the bottom of the league most seasons. They reached their nadir in 1996 when the the staff ERA was an incredible 6.38. Only the Philadelphia Phillies of 1930 did worse with a 6.71 ERA and they played in the Baker Bowl which was perhaps the most extreme hitter's park in history.
Offensively, the Tigers were quite potent from 1990-1994 leading the league in runs scored in 1992 and 1993 and finishing in the top three in the American League each year. They also led the league in home runs each year from 1990-1992 and finished second in 1993 and 1994.
In 1990, mammoth first baseman Cecil Fielder hit 51 home runs to become the first major league player with 50 home runs since 1977. Holdovers Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell and newcomers Travis Fryman, Tony Phillips and Mickey Tettleton also contributed to an entertaining offense, but the feeble pitching prevented them from winning.
The team WAR leaders were:
Travis Fryman 28
Tony Phillips 25
Lou Whitaker 23
Cecil Fielder 17
Alan Trammell 15
Not surprisingly, there are no pitchers on this list.
The decade All Star team is listed in Tables 1 and 2 below and player profiles follow.
