The 1976 Detroit Tigers season was the 76th season for the Detroit Tigers competing in Major League Baseball as a member of the American League. In their third season under manager Ralph Houk, the Tigers compiled a 74–87 record and finished in fifth place in the American League East, 24 games behind the New York Yankees. The team improved by 17 wins over its 1975 performance for the largest improvement by any team in the American League. The team played its home games at Tiger Stadium and attracted 1,467,020 fans, ranking fourth of the 12 teams in the American League. Rookie pitcher Mark Fidrych, known as "The Bird", became a sensation throughout baseball, both for his pitching prowess and for his unusual practices in talking to the ball and grooming the pitcher's mound. Fidrych finished the 1976 season with a 19-9 win–loss record and led the American League with a 2.34 earned run average (ERA). Fidrych won the American League Rookie of the Year and "Tiger of the Year" awards and finished second in the voting for the Cy Young Award. The team's batting leaders included center fielder Ron LeFlore with a .316 batting average and 58 stolen bases, Jason Thompson with 17 home runs, and Rusty Staub with 96 RBIs and a .386 on-base percentage. Third baseman Aurelio Rodriguez also won the American League Gold Glove Award, breaking Brooks Robinson's streak of winning the award for 17 consecutive years.

Preseason

The 1975 Detroit Tigers compiled the worst record (57–102) in Major League Baseball and up to that time the worst season in franchise history. The team's poor performance prompted two major trades during the December 1975 Winter Meetings. The Tigers also brought in new talent through the draft. On January 7, 1976, the team drafted outfielder Steve Kemp with the No. 1 overall pick in the January phase of the MLB draft. Kemp spent the 1976 season in the minors but became the Tigers' starting left fielder from 1977 to 1981. The most significant preseason move involved the surprise promotion of little known pitcher Mark Fidrych. On April 5, 1976, the team announced that Fidrych would start the season with the team. He had not even been on the major league roster prior to the announcement.

Regular season

Season chronology

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

Award season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

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

Other batters

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

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Other pitchers

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

Relief pitchers

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

Awards and honors

League top ten finishers

Mark Fidrych John Hiller Ron LeFlore Dave Roberts Aurelio Rodríguez Rusty Staub

Players ranking among top 100 all time at position

The following members of the 1977 Detroit Tigers were ranked among the Top 100 of all time at their position by The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001:

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Montgomery, Lakeland