Detroit Tigers Baseball History The 1970s opened well for the Detroit Tigers. They finished 4th in the AL East in 1970, and then played outstanding winning baseball in 1971, going 91-71 and ended in second place. Manager Billy Martin was able to lead them to a division title in 1972 before they were eliminated in five games in the ALCS to Oakland.

By 1970, Hall of Fame outfielder Al Kaline was 36-years old and naturally his skills were falling off. None-the-less, he hit .294 in '71 and then .313 in a injury-plagued 1972. His numbers for '72 included a torrid .416 while pinch-hitting - going 10-24. He retired in 1974 after collecting his 3000 major league hit.

The rest of the decade was grim for Motown fans when their heroes finished 3rd, 6th, 6th, 5th, 4th, 5th, 5th, including a nineteen game losing streak in 1975.

1976 Detroit Tigers Pitching Stats

Ray Bere 7-8, 4.63 ERA in 30 Games... Jim Crawford 1-8, 4.53 ERA in 32G... Mark Fidrych 19-9, 2.34 ERA in 31G... John Hiller 12-8, 2.38 ERA in 56G... Joe Coleman 2-5, 4.36 ERA in 12G... Steve Grilli 3-1, 4.64 ERA in 36G

Dave Roberts 16-17, 4.00 ERA in 36G... Vern Ruhle 9-12, 3.92 ERA in 32G... Ed Glynn 1-3, 6.08 ERA in 5G... Dave Lemanczyk 4-6, 5.09 ERA in 36G... Frank MacCormack 0-5, 5.79 ERA in 9G... Bill Laxton 0-5, 4.09 ERA in 26G