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| 1990 Detroit Tigers Yearbook |
An aging roster coupled with injuries and a depleted farm system caused the 1989 Detroit Tigers to collapse to a 59-103 record, then the second-most losses in franchise history. Manager Sparky Anderson took a leave of absence from the team when the constant losing began to take it's toll.
The front office responded to that nightmare of a season by dipping into the free agent pool, signing infielder Tony Phillips from the defending champion Oakland Athletics, and outfielder Lloyd Moseby from the AL East champ Toronto Blue Jays. They signed another former Blue Jay who had spent the 1989 season in Japan: Cecil Fielder. Not much was made about that signing at the time, but Fielder would make his presence felt in a big way.
The new signings coupled with the remaining players from the 1984 and 1987 teams helped the Tigers climb back to respectability with a 79-83 record, 9 games back in the AL East. It began a trend for Tigers teams in that decade of being good to strong on offense, and weak on pitching. As a group, the Tigers hit .259 with 172 home runs. Leading the way was that minor signing from Japan, Cecil Fielder. Having only hit 34 homeruns in the majors prior to 1990, Cecil exploded on the scene in his first season as a Tiger. "Big Daddy" socked 51 homers that year, the first major leaguer since George Foster in 1979 to hit 50, and the first Tiger since Hank Greenberg in 1938 to reach that milestone. Cecil hit a solid .277 and also led the American League in RBI, with 132. Not bad for an insignificant signing!
The new signings coupled with the remaining players from the 1984 and 1987 teams helped the Tigers climb back to respectability with a 79-83 record, 9 games back in the AL East. It began a trend for Tigers teams in that decade of being good to strong on offense, and weak on pitching. As a group, the Tigers hit .259 with 172 home runs. Leading the way was that minor signing from Japan, Cecil Fielder. Having only hit 34 homeruns in the majors prior to 1990, Cecil exploded on the scene in his first season as a Tiger. "Big Daddy" socked 51 homers that year, the first major leaguer since George Foster in 1979 to hit 50, and the first Tiger since Hank Greenberg in 1938 to reach that milestone. Cecil hit a solid .277 and also led the American League in RBI, with 132. Not bad for an insignificant signing!
Alan Trammell led the team in batting average at .304, with 14 homeruns and 89 RBI. Phillips batted .251 while playing third base, hitting 8 homeruns. Right fielder Chet Lemon, in his final season with the Tigers hit .258, bouncing back from a poor 1989.
Pitching was a weak spot for the Tigers. Jack Morris led the team in both wins (15) and losses (18), with a 4.51 ERA in his last season in Detroit. Dan Petry had the rotation's best ERA, a mediocre 4.45. Detroit native Frank Tanana, the hero of the 1987 AL East championship team, was 9-8 with a 5.31 ERA in 29 starts. The team's closer, Mike Henneman, saved 22 games with a 3.05 ERA in 94 1/3 innings pitched. As a group, Detroit's pitching staff had a mediocre 4.39 ERA
This is a yearbook from the 1990 season that I bought at an antique store in Port Huron. It's 72 pages long, all in color. Each of the players and coaching staff have color photos, while pages 37-38 have a picture of Alan Trammell bunting. Tiger prospects, such as future third baseman Travis Fryman, all have half-page color photos. Pictures of events from last season as well as pictures of fans are located at the back of the yearbook.
Advertisements include Schaefer Beer, Adray Appliances, WDIV 4 Detroit (NBC station and network TV home of the Tigers), The Designated Hatter and John Deere.
References:
"1990 Detroit Tigers Statistics", from baseball-reference.com
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