2002 Detroit Tigers season explained

Detroit Tigers
Season:	2002
League:	American League
Division:	Central
Ballpark:	Comerica Park
City:	Detroit, Michigan
Divisional Place:	5th
Owners:	Mike Ilitch
General Managers:	Randy Smith, Dave Dombrowski
Managers:	Phil Garner, Luis Pujols
Television:	WKBD (Frank Beckmann, Lance Parrish) FSN Detroit (Jack Morris, Mario Impemba)
Radio:	WXYT (AM) (Ernie Harwell, Jim Price, Dan Dickerson)

The 2002 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 102nd season and its third at Comerica Park. It involved the Detroit Tigers making a valiant attempt to win the American League Central. However, despite their best efforts and clutch performances, their division-winning goal came up far short. They finished last in the division and missed the playoffs for the 15th consecutive season.^[1]

Offseason

• December 19, 2001: Adam Riggs was signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.^[2]

Regular season

On July 2, the Tigers and White Sox set a Major League Baseball record by combining to hit for 12 home runs in one game. The box score for the home runs is as follows:

• Detroit Young 2 (7,1st inning off Ritchie 0 on, 2 out, 9th inning off Howry 0 on, 2 out); Fick (11,1st inning off Ritchie 1 on, 2 out); Lombard (1,7th inning off Ritchie 0 on, 1 out); Magee (6,9th inning off Howry 0 on, 0 out); Easley (4,9th inning off Howry 1 on).
• Chicago Lofton (4,1st inning off Bernero 0 on, 0 out); Ordonez 2 (15,1st inning off Bernero 0 on, 2 out, 8th inning off Paniagua 3 on, 1 out); Valentin (11,2nd inning off Bernero 0 on, 0 out); Alomar 2 (6,4th inning off Bernero 0 on, 2 out, 6th inning off Lima 0 on).^[3]

Notable transactions

• June 4, 2002: Curtis Granderson was drafted by the Tigers in the 3rd round of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 28, 2002.^[4]
• July 5, 2002: Jeff Weaver was traded by the Tigers to the New York Yankees, and cash was sent by the Tigers to the Oakland Athletics, as part of a 3-team trade. The Athletics sent Carlos Peña, Franklyn Germán, and a player to be named later to the Tigers. The Yankees sent Ted Lilly, John-Ford Griffin, and Jason Arnold (minors) to the Athletics. The Athletics completed the trade by sending Jeremy Bonderman to the Tigers on August 22.^[5]
• August 16, 2002: Jason Beverlin was selected off waivers by the Tigers from the Cleveland Indians.^[6]

Roster

2002 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers		Catchers Infielders		Outfielders		Manager Coaches

Worst Seasons in Detroit Tigers History
Rank	Year	Wins	Losses	Win %
1	2003	43	119	.265
2	1952	50	104	.325
3	1996	53	109	.327
4	2002	55	106	.342
5	1975	57	102	.358

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

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C		95	321	65	.202	7	24
1B		75	273	69	.253	12	36
2B		85	304	68	.224	8	30
3B		89	277	55	.199	2	15
SS		122	410	98	.239	10	39
LF		119	444	125	.282	10	63
CF		97	347	94	.271	6	35
RF		148	556	150	.270	17	63
DH		130	482	145	.301	19	82

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
	72	252	49	.194	4	20
	81	245	63	.320	1	25
	72	241	58	.241	5	13
	65	222	54	.243	4	20
	54	201	57	.284	7	27
	39	132	30	.227	1	11
	33	107	25	.234	0	6
	34	103	23	.223	4	8
	35	88	24	.273	2	6
	27	85	20	.273	0	3
	18	72	24	.235	0	3
	19	70	14	.200	0	3
	18	59	11	.186	2	5
	8	27	6	.222	0	0
	13	25	3	.120	1	1
	8	21	4	.190	1	3
	4	12	0	.000	0	0
	4	6	2	.333	0	0

Pitching

Starting and 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
	30	203.0	8	15	4.21	109
	32	189.0	8	16	5.52	98
	21	128.2	6	10	4.41	58
	17	121.2	6	8	3.18	75
	28	101.2	4	7	6.20	69
	20	68.1	4	6	7.77	33
	13	57.2	1	5	4.84	30
	9	50.0	1	5	5.04	23
	8	37.2	2	2	6.21	14
	5	30.0	1	3	3.00	5
	3	19.2	1	1	2.29	13
	3	14.0	0	3	9.00	7
	3	12.1	0	3	9.49	7

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
	65	1	5	28	2.65	43
	57	1	1	1	3.71	40
	44	2	3	0	5.79	28
	41	0	1	1	5.83	34
	38	3	5	0	2.84	38
	30	1	1	2	4.50	23
	20	1	3	0	6.00	10
	12	2	1	0	9.00	8
	7	1	0	0	5.63	13
	7	1	0	1	0.00	6
	6	0	2	0	15.00	1
	5	0	0	0	8.71	3
	4	0	0	0	10.50	4
	2	0	0	0	13.50	1
	1	0	0	0	27.00	1
	1	0	0	0	27.00	0
	1	0	0	0	inf	0

Awards and records

• On July 2, the White Sox and Tigers set a Major League record by hitting 12 home runs in one game.^[3]

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

^[7]

References

1. Web site: 2002 American League Standings & Expanded Standings. 2021-10-20. Baseball-Reference.com. en.
2. Web site: Adam Riggs Stats.
3. http://baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=200207020CHA Box Score of Game played on Tuesday, July 2, 2002 at Comiskey Park II
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/g/grandcu01.shtml Curtis Granderson
5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lillyte01.shtml Ted Lilly
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/beverja01.shtml Jason Beverlin
7. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

External links

• 2002 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference