1996 Detroit Tigers season

The 1996 Detroit Tigers had a record of 53–109 for what was, at the time, the most losses (109) and worst winning percentage (.327) in team history—both of which since been surpassed twice by the 2003 and 2019 teams.

1996 Detroit Tigers
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
OwnersMike Ilitch
General managersRandy Smith
ManagersBuddy Bell
Local televisionWKBD
(George Kell, Al Kaline)
PASS
(Ernie Harwell, Fred McLeod, Jim Price)
Local radioWJR
(Frank Beckmann, Lary Sorensen)
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With a number of capable batters (Cecil Fielder, Tony Clark, Bobby Higginson, Alan Trammell, Rubén Sierra, and Damion Easley), the team scored a respectable 783 runs. However, the 1996 Tigers lacked pitching, allowing their opponents to score 1,103 runs and posting a team ERA of 6.38. No team in American League history and only one in major league history (the 1930 Philadelphia Phillies) has given up more runs. No pitcher on the team had more than 7 wins. Of the 109 games the Tigers lost, 58 were by four or more runs, a record for the number of games lost by such a margin.[1] The Tigers made more unwanted history when they were swept 12–0 by the Cleveland Indians in the regular season series, losing all twelve games played while being outscored, 79–28. The 1996 Tigers did not have a winning record against any AL opponent.

Regular season

Opening Day roster

Season standings
AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 9270 0.568 — 49–31 43–39
Baltimore Orioles 8874 0.543 4 43–38 45–36
Boston Red Sox 8577 0.525 7 47–34 38–43
Toronto Blue Jays 7488 0.457 18 35–46 39–42
Detroit Tigers 53109 0.327 39 27–54 26–55

Record vs. opponents
1996 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —7–66–64–85–711–29–39–37–53–109–47–53–10–18–5
Boston 6–7—8–46–61–1112–13–97–56–67–68–57–66–68–5
California 6–64–8—6–64–96–64–87–54–87–66–75–84–97–5
Chicago 8–46–66–6—5–810–37–66–76–76–75–75–78–47–5
Cleveland 7–511–19–48–5—12–07–67–610–33–96–68–44–87–5
Detroit 2–111–126–63–100–12—6–64–86–65–84–86–64–96–7
Kansas City 3–99–38–46–76–76–6—4–96–74–85–77–56–65–8
Milwaukee 3–95–75–77–66–78–49–4—9–46–67–54–96–75–7
Minnesota 5–76–68–47–63–106–67–64–9—5–76–76–67–58–5
New York 10–36–76–77–69–38–58–46–67–5—9–33–95–78–5
Oakland 4–95–87–67–56–68–47–55–77–63–9—8–57–64–8
Seattle 5–76–78–57–54–86–65–79–46–69–35–8—10–35–7
Texas 10–3–16–69–44–88–49–46–67–65–77–56–73–10—10–2
Toronto 5–85–85–75–75–77–68–57–55–85–88–47–52–10—

Game log
1996 Game Log: 53–109 (Home: 27–54; Away: 26–55)
April: 9–18 (Home: 5–6; Away: 4–12)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 1@ Twins6–8RadkeLira (0–1)Stevens30,1850–1
2April 2@ Twins10–6Sodowsky (1–0)Robertson—20,1641–1
3April 3@ Twins7–16MahomesAldred (0–1)—12,2561–2
4April 4@ Athletics10–9 (15)Keagle (1–0)Small—8,3462–2
5April 5@ Athletics2–13JohnsGohr (0–1)—11,1492–3
6April 6@ Athletics6–1Lira (1–1)Reyes—10,4243–3
7April 7@ Athletics6–7CorsiWilliams (0–1)—9,7233–4
8April 9Mariners10–9Keagle (2–0)MenhartWilliams (1)42,9324–4
9April 10Mariners7–3Olivares (1–0)Hurtado—9,2995–4
10April 11Mariners1–9JohnsonGohr (0–2)—12,2725–5
11April 12Angels4–5FinleyLira (1–2)Percival9,9215–6
12April 13Angels9–5Keagle (3–0)Sanderson—11,7196–6
13April 14Angels5–4Lewis (1–0)James—12,0097–6
14April 15@ Blue Jays2–8GuzmanOlivares (1–1)—26,1277–7
15April 16@ Blue Jays13–8Gohr (1–2)HansonLewis (1)25,5038–7
16April 17@ Mariners3–8JacksonVeres (0–1)—18,0088–8
17April 18@ Mariners3–11BosioSodowsky (1–1)Hurtado17,5368–9
18April 19@ Angels3–4LangstonMyers (0–1)—32,6938–10
19April 20@ Angels1–2GrimsleyKeagle (3–1)Percival25,6858–11
20April 21@ Angels5–6EichhornLewis (1–1)Percival36,7338–12
21April 22@ Angels5–6JamesChristopher (0–1)Percival17,0398–13
22April 24Twins11–24BennettVeres (0–2)—12,1898–14
23April 25Twins1–11HawkinsAldred (0–2)Hansell11,8048–15
24April 26Athletics14–5Christopher (1–1)Johns—7,9419–15
25April 27Athletics1–4ReyesLira (1–3)Taylor13,0679–16
26April 28Athletics3–6WojciechowskiGohr (1–3)Taylor8,9079–17
27April 30@ Red Sox4–13WakefieldLima (0–1)—18,5049–18
May: 4–23 (Home: 1–11; Away: 3–12)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
28May 1@ Red Sox1–5ClemensAldred (0–3)—20,8289–19
29May 2Rangers5–2Lira (2–3)WittWilliams (2)7,41610–19
30May 3Rangers0–11HillKeagle (3–2)—9,07910–20
31May 4Rangers1–3PavlikGohr (1–4)—10,73410–21
32May 5Rangers2–3GrossLima (0–2)Henneman12,33710–22
33May 6@ Yankees5–10WickmanMyers (0–2)—12,83810–23
34May 7@ Yankees5–12MecirLewis (1–2)Nelson12,76010–24
35May 8@ Yankees3–10GoodenKeagle (3–3)—18,72910–25
36May 9@ Yankees4–2Gohr (2–4)KeyMyers (1)13,09811–25
37May 10@ Rangers2–6PavlikLima (0–3)Henneman31,42611–26
38May 11@ Rangers7–11GrossAldred (0–4)—42,73211–27
39May 12@ Rangers5–3Lira (3–3)OliverMyers (2)35,67712–27
40May 14@ Indians1–5NagyGohr (2–5)—40,76512–28
41May 15@ Indians2–5MartinezLima (0–4)Mesa42,25912–29
42May 16@ Indians3–8McDowellWilliams (0–2)—42,33012–30
43May 17White Sox6–11 (10)HernandezLewis (1–3)—12,09412–31
44May 18White Sox4–16McCaskillFarrell (0–1)Simas21,67312–32
45May 19White Sox3–14AlvarezGohr (2–6)—9,70912–33
46May 21Royals1–7LintonWilliams (0–3)Valera24,37212–34
47May 22Royals4–6BelcherFarrell (0–2)Montgomery12,89012–35
48May 24Indians3–6PlunkVeres (0–3)Mesa26,96712–36
49May 25Indians6–7NagyLewis (1–4)Mesa41,52712–37
50May 26Indians0–5MartinezWilliams (0–4)—39,05612–38
51May 27@ Royals4–5 (13)MontgomeryVeres (0–4)—19,77612–39
52May 29@ Royals5–4Gohr (3–6)AppierWalker (1)13,71213–39
53May 30@ White Sox2–8AlvarezOlivares (1–2)—17,33913–40
54May 31@ White Sox0–9TapaniLira (3–4)—16,98313–41
June: 10–17 (Home: 6–7; Away: 4–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
55June 2@ White Sox2–4BaldwinThompson (0–1)Hernandez—13–42
56June 2@ White Sox5–13McCaskillKeagle (3–4)—26,12513–43
57June 4@ Orioles7–10MussinaGohr (3–7)Myers43,72713–44
58June 5@ Orioles4–6RhodesMyers (0–3)Myers43,08713–45
59June 6@ Orioles6–13KrivdaLira (3–5)—46,26913–46
60June 7Yankees6–5Lewis (2–4)Nelson—16,35014–46
61June 8Yankees9–7Olson (1–0)RogersLewis (2)20,17315–46
62June 9Yankees2–3GoodenGohr (3–8)Wetteland16,58815–47
63June 10Orioles8–3Olivares (2–2)Wells—10,65516–47
64June 11Orioles9–12CoppingerLira (3–6)—10,87416–48
65June 12Orioles7–10RhodesLewis (2–5)Myers12,04316–49
66June 14@ Twins5–4Gohr (4–8)RobertsonOlson (1)22,83117–49
67June 15@ Twins6–4Olivares (3–2)RodriguezOlson (2)17,09918–49
68June 16@ Twins1–4AguileraLira (3–7)Hansell20,64118–50
69June 17Athletics4–8 (10)CorsiMyers (0–4)—9,23118–51
70June 18Athletics5–8Van PoppelUrbani (0–1)Taylor8,54318–52
71June 19Athletics3–10WasdinKeagle (3–5)—9,87518–53
72June 20Twins3–7RodriguezOlivares (3–3)—8,31018–54
73June 21Twins2–0Lira (4–7)Aguilera—13,12719–54
74June 22Twins6–0Williams (1–4)Aldred—14,50620–54
75June 23Twins10–8Urbani (1–1)Radke—13,99421–54
76June 24@ Athletics2–4WasdinSodowsky (1–2)Taylor10,12221–55
77June 25@ Athletics10–8Olivares (4–3)WengertOlson (3)9,65222–55
78June 27@ Red Sox9–6Lira (5–7)Minchey—29,58223–55
79June 28@ Red Sox5–8WakefieldWilliams (1–5)—27,57823–56
80June 29@ Red Sox6–13EshelmanKeagle (3–6)—33,50923–57
81June 30@ Red Sox4–9GordonSodowsky (1–3)—31,21723–58
July: 12–14 (Home: 6–7; Away: 6–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
82July 1Brewers0–2SparksOlivares (4–4)Fetters10,72723–59
83July 2Brewers1–2 (11)GarciaSager (0–1)Fetters9,45523–60
84July 3Brewers8–5Williams (2–5)D'Amico—11,04724–60
85July 4Blue Jays6–1Nitkowski (1–0)JanzenMyers (6)10,55725–60
86July 5Blue Jays4–3Sager (1–1)HansonOlson (4)20,80826–60
87July 6Blue Jays0–15HentgenOlivares (4–5)—16,22826–61
88July 7Blue Jays9–0Lira (6–7)Ware—15,78427–61
89July 11Red Sox4–11ClemensWilliams (2–6)—15,82627–62
90July 12Red Sox3–11GordonOlivares (4–6)—19,53527–63
91July 13Red Sox5–10SeleNitkowski (1–1)—16,67127–64
92July 14Red Sox4–6MoyerLira (6–8)Slocumb19,67027–65
93July 15@ Brewers10–9Sager (2–1)BonesOlson (5)15,81928–65
94July 16@ Brewers7–20D'AmicoWilliams (2–7)—12,47628–66
95July 17@ Brewers2–3 (10)FettersUrbani (1–2)—21,12128–67
96July 18@ Blue Jays4–8HentgenNitkowski (1–2)—31,20228–68
97July 19@ Blue Jays8–6Urbani (2–2)JanzenOlson (6)30,12329–68
98July 20@ Blue Jays5–4 (10)Olson (2–0)QuantrillLima (1)36,22030–68
99July 21@ Blue Jays4–5 (12)SpoljaricLima (0–5)—33,23830–69
100July 22@ Angels0–1FinleyOlivares (4–7)Percival16,33630–70
101July 23@ Angels8–3Lima (1–5)James—16,43231–70
102July 25@ Mariners7–4 (10)Lima (2–5)Ayala—19,94932–70
103July 26@ Mariners4–6HitchcockSager (2–2)Jackson25,17532–71
104July 27@ Mariners7–13DavisWilliams (2–8)—43,20932–72
105July 28@ Mariners14–6Olivares (5–7)Bosio—38,20433–72
106July 30Angels12–9Nitkowski (2–2)Grimsley—11,64134–72
107July 31Angels10–5Lima (3–5)Holtz—9,74035–72
August: 14–15 (Home: 9–7; Away: 5–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
108August 1Angels13–5Williams (3–8)Boskie—14,59136–72
109August 2Mariners8–2Olivares (6–7)Wagner—23,40537–72
110August 3Mariners6–3Olson (3–0)Charlton—25,92838–72
111August 4Mariners3–9WolcottNitkowski (2–3)—23,56938–73
112August 6Rangers2–4HillLira (6–9)Henneman10,93138–74
113August 7Rangers4–2Cummings (1–0)PavlikMyers (7)10,29739–74
114August 8Rangers3–2Olivares (7–7)Heredia—10,99540–74
115August 9@ Yankees5–3Cummings (2–0)PettitteMyers (8)23,43941–74
116August 10@ Yankees13–7Lewis (3–5)Key—28,86342–74
117August 11@ Yankees0–12RogersLira (6–10)—33,51742–75
118August 12@ Rangers0–7HillWilliams (3–9)—25,21042–76
119August 13@ Rangers2–6PavlikOlivares (7–8)—31,33142–77
120August 14@ Rangers4–5WittVan Poppel (0–1)Henneman33,94242–78
121August 16@ Indians1–3 (12)AssenmacherLewis (3–6)—42,48542–79
122August 17@ Indians3–6HershiserThompson (0–2)Mesa42,51142–80
123August 18@ Indians3–11OgeaWilliams (3–10)—42,33742–81
124August 19White Sox7–12SimasLima (3–6)—14,69042–82
125August 20White Sox16–11Lewis (4–6)Tapani—12,11943–82
126August 21White Sox7–4Lima (4–6)SimasOlson (7)13,42444–82
127August 22@ Royals10–3Thompson (1–2)Belcher—14,69945–82
128August 23@ Royals3–2Sager (3–2)AppierOlson (8)15,60346–82
129August 24@ Royals2–9RosadoOlivares (7–9)—28,01146–83
130August 25@ Royals7–4Van Poppel (1–1)LintonMyers (9)15,12347–83
131August 26Indians1–2NagyLira (6–11)—22,34947–84
132August 27Indians2–12LopezThompson (1–3)—19,60247–85
133August 28Indians3–9HershiserSager (3–3)—21,09147–86
134August 29Royals4–1Eischen (1–0)AppierLima (2)7,88248–86
135August 30Royals4–0Van Poppel (2–1)Rosado—16,49849–86
136August 31Royals1–3LintonLira (6–12)Montgomery16,27049–87
September: 4–22 (Home: 0–16; Away: 4–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
137September 1Royals2–3 (13)HuismanMyers (0–5)Jacome17,64749–88
138September 2@ White Sox8–6Myers (1–5)HernandezLima (3)19,59950–88
139September 3@ White Sox4–6BertottiOlivares (7–10)Hernandez13,85750–89
140September 4@ White Sox6–11CastilloMiller (0–1)—15,12050–90
141September 6@ Orioles5–4 (12)Cummings (3–0)Mathews—46,70851–90
142September 7@ Orioles0–6MussinaThompson (1–4)—47,13151–91
143September 8@ Orioles2–6MillsEischen (1–1)—47,08251–92
144September 9@ Orioles4–5EricksonOlivares (7–11)Myers42,56251–93
145September 10Yankees8–9RiveraSager (3–4)Wetteland11,04251–94
146September 11Yankees3–7KeyLira (6–13)—9,77551–95
147September 12Yankees3–12ConeThompson (1–5)—9,00951–96
148September 13Orioles4–7EricksonMiller (0–2)Mills11,17851–97
149September 14Orioles6–7MathewsCummings (3–1)Myers15,38651–98
150September 15Orioles6–16CorbinVan Poppel (2–2)—13,76451–99
151September 17Red Sox2–4BrandenburgLira (6–14)Slocumb8,18051–100
152September 18Red Sox0–4ClemensThompson (1–6)—8,77951–101
153September 19Red Sox3–8GordonMiller (0–3)—7,66651–102
154September 20@ Brewers10–1Sager (4–4)Karl—15,04652–102
155September 21@ Brewers6–13D'AmicoVan Poppel (2–3)Villone33,10652–103
156September 22@ Brewers7–5Lima (5–6)Fetters—15,70553–103
157September 23Blue Jays4–6HansonSager (4–5)Timlin9,67853–104
158September 24Blue Jays1–4HentgenMiller (0–4)Timlin8,35553–105
159September 25Blue Jays11–13BrowCummings (3–2)Timlin8,05553–106
160September 27Brewers6–7 (6)WickmanVan Poppel (2–4)—8,60653–107
161September 28Brewers2–7EldredMoehler (0–1)—12,93953–108
162September 29Brewers5–7 (10)ReyesCummings (3–3)Fetters13,03853–109
Legend:        = Win        = Loss
Bold = Tigers team member

Detailed records

Notable transactions
  • March 22, 1996: Melvin Nieves was traded by the San Diego Padres with Raul Casanova and Richie Lewis to the Detroit Tigers for Sean Bergman, Todd Steverson, and Cade Gaspar (minors).[2]
  • March 31, 1996: Curtis Pride was signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.[3]
  • April 27, 1996: Joe Boever was selected off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Detroit Tigers.[4]
  • July 31, 1996: Cecil Fielder was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the New York Yankees for Rubén Sierra and Matt Drews (minors).[5]
  • July 31, 1996: Chad Curtis was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Los Angeles Dodgers for John Cummings and Joey Eischen.[6]
  • August 6, 1996: Todd Van Poppel was selected off waivers by the Detroit Tigers from the Oakland Athletics.

Roster
1996 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
CBrad Ausmus7522656.248422
1BTony Clark10037694.2502772
2BMark Lewis145545147.2701155
3BTravis Fryman157616165.26822100
SSAndújar Cedeño5217935.196720
LFBobby Higginson130440141.3202681
CFChad Curtis104400105.2631037
RFMelvin Nieves110431106.2462460
DHEddie Williams7721543.200626

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Cecil Fielder10739197.2482680
Curtis Pride9526780.3001031
Kimera Bartee11021755.253114
Alan Trammell6619345.233116
Rubén Sierra4615835.222120
John Flaherty4715238.250423
Chris Gomez4812831.242116
Phil Nevin3812035.292819
Mark Parent3810425.240717
Raúl Casanova258516.18849
Damion Easley216723.343210
Danny Bautista256416.25028
Duane Singleton18569.16103
Fausto Cruz14389.23700
Tim Hyers17262.07700
Phil Hiatt7214.19001
Shannon Penn6141.07101

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Felipe Lira32194.26145.22113
Omar Olivares25160.07114.8981
Greg Gohr1791.2487.1760
Justin Thompson1159.0164.5844
C.J. Nitkowski1145.2238.0836
Scott Aldred1143.1049.3536
Todd Van Poppel936.12411.3916
Clint Sodowsky724.11311.849
Trever Miller516.2049.188
Brian Moehler210.1014.352
John Farrell26.10214.210

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Brian Williams40121.03106.7772
Greg Keagle2687.2367.3970
A. J. Sager2279.0455.0152

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Gregg Olson433085.0229
Mike Myers831565.0169
Richie Lewis724624.1878
José Lima395635.7059
Randy Veres250408.3128
Joey Eischen241103.2415
John Cummings213305.1224
Mike Walker200018.4613
Tom Urbani162208.3720
Mike Christopher131109.3019
Bob Scanlan800010.643
Brian Maxcy200013.501
Jeff McCurry200024.300

League leaders and award winners

Worst seasons in Detroit Tigers history
Worst Seasons in Detroit Tigers History
RankYearWinsLossesWin %
1 2003 43 119 .265
2 2019 47 114 .292
3 1952 50 104 .325
4 1996 53 109 .327
5 2002 55 106 .342

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Toledo Mud Hens International League Tom Runnells
AA Jacksonville Suns Southern League Bill Plummer and Larry Parrish
A Visalia Oaks California League Tim Torricelli
A Lakeland Tigers Florida State League Dave Anderson
A Fayetteville Generals South Atlantic League Dwight Lowry
A-Short Season Jamestown Jammers New York–Penn League Bruce Fields
Rookie GCL Tigers Gulf Coast League Kevin Bradshaw

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Jacksonville
Visalia affiliation shared with Arizona Diamondbacks[7]

See also

References
  1. "Team Pitching Game Finder: From 1913 to 2017, (requiring run_diff<=-4)". Baseball Reference. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  2. "Melvin Nieves Stats".
  3. "Curtis Pride Stats".
  4. "Joe Boever Stats".
  5. Cecil Fielder Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  6. "Chad Curtis Stats".
  7. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball". Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997
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