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The 1990s Detroit Tiger Almanac shows a downward spiral...
... with only a little hope. The almanac for the 1990s is downright depressing- this franchise ruled the state just a few short years ago, and now was becoming irrelevant... an afterthought... Who woulda thunk it in the glory days of the mid 80s???
As the 90s began, pitching- or lack of it- really was the hallmark of the Motor City Nine... in the early part of the decade, they bashed the ball to SMITHEREENS and stayed somewhat competitive... 1991 showed a winning record and only 7 games behind the Jays who were still a very good team- why weren't we??? Check out the year-by-year summaries below! We'll do some of the more interesting seasons (for better or worse) in detail later! - STAY TUNED!
| Year | Finish | W | L | Pct | GB | Manager | Attendance | |
| 1990 | Third | 79 | 83 | 488 | 9 | Sparky Anderson | 1,495,785 | |
| 1991 | Second | 84 | 78 | 519 | 7 | Sparky Anderson | 1,641,661 | |
| 1992 | Sixth | 75 | 87 | 463 | 21 | Sparky Anderson | 1,423,963 | |
| 1993 | Fourth | 85 | 77 | 525 | 10 | Sparky Anderson | 1,971,421 | |
| 1994 | Fifth | 53 | 62 | 461 | 18 | Sparky Anderson | 1,184,783 | |
| 1995 | Fourth | 60 | 84 | 417 | 26 | Sparky Anderson | 1,180,979 | |
| 1996 | Fifth | 53 | 109 | 327 | 39 | Buddy Bell | 1,168,610 | |
| 1997 | Third | 79 | 83 | 488 | 19 | Buddy Bell | 1,365,157 | |
| 1998 | Fifth | 65 | 97 | 401 | 24 | Bell, Parish | 1,409,391 | |
| 1999 | Third | 69 | 92 | 429 | 27½ | Larry Parrish | 2,026,441 | |
| 1990s | | 702 | 852 | 452 | 200½ | | 14,868,191 | |
| Avg | | 70 | 85 | 452 | 20 | | 1,486,819 |
The disaster of 1989 brought about a typical reaction- PANIC! -- Farm system was empty, couldn't sign any worthwhile free agents, but went overboard on some rejects like Tony Phillips and ... Big Daddy Fielder. Now no one expected very much out of Cecil- we called him SEEcil back then... only after the big HRs did he become known as SESsil, but that's OK- 51 dingers and I'll call you "sweetheart" if you want!
 1990(79-83) 51 Homers by SESil- and 132 RBIs... where does THAT come from?
Trammell bounces back to .304 with 89 RBI- good season for the old pro!
Morris wins 15... but loses 18... in his Tiger finale
... and old friend Dan Petry returns to win 10 The Almanac says:
Still an quite an improvement over last year, but no real contention in a weak Eastern Division- Tigers finish 9 games back, winning 79 games... but still a long way to go to be a real contender.
1991(84-78) Fielder, Fryman, Tettleton, Deer combine for 121 home runs, but 606 strikeouts
Free agent Bill Gullickson wins 20 while losing only 9
The Almanac says:
A one-dimensional ill-conceived team... wins 84 games and puts up a scrap, but no real future in this thing... but what really cheesed Tiger fans off is the post season firing of legendary broadcaster Ernie Harwell by new team president (and need I say) ex-Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler who said,  "It is our judgement that Ernie is coming down close to the end of his career. Sooner or later it happens to all of them." Paul Carey, Ernie's partner announces his retirement, but claimes his decision was independent of Harwell's.Blame Bo Schembechler, blame Monaghan, blame it on the Bossa Nova or Rio, or even blame Ernie, as some have, but it was an incredibly shortsighted boner which really injured a reeling franchise and the fans react first with anger, but later and more importantly with apathy. In any event, Ernie is "allowed" to broadcast the 1992 season- sort of a goodbye tour. Thanks, Bo and Tom.
1992(75-87)
The big 4 combine for 119 homers and only 563 strikeouts- Hey- a little progress!
Frankie Tanana's last year with the club- he wins 13 games!
... but Gullikson slipps to 14 wins
The Almanac says:
Even when you lead the league in runs scored, you ain't gonna do too good - as Sparky would say- if you finish second to last (by 3 runs) in tallies allowed... that pretty much says it all about this group. Little Caesars owner Mike Ilitch buys the team from Domino's Pizza rival Tom Monaghan... and proceeds to focus on a hockey team.... but we'll give a little him credit- He's bringing Ernie Harwell back in '93.
1993(85-77)
The big 4 combine for only 98 homers and 563 strikeouts- The power is dropping, but the Ks ain't going down enough
Solid starting pitching... four guys between 11 and 14 wins and Mike Henneman saves 24 games
...attendance almost 2 million, but the last plus .500 season for a long-long-long time
The Almanac says:
First in batting... and an improvement to sixth in pitching!! That translates to a better season- the last time Tiger fans have ANYTHING to cheer about for a dog's age!
1994(53-62) | 
Kirk Gibson Strike year- only 115 games played- it's getting ugly
Kirk Gibson smacks out 23 dingers in a short season to finish 2nd on the team
The Almanac says:
... and the lonnnng nightmare realllly begins.... Does anyone tell this outfit that the strike ended the next year, not in 2006? | | | |
1995(60-84)
Mike Moore posts a horrendous 7.53 ERA and goes 5-15.
Home attendance p l u m m e t s to just over a million
The Almanac says:
... Dispute is finally settled, but 18 games are lost... minor league replacements are brought in and Sparky leaves, refusing to manage "conterfeit baseball." Pretty much signs his death-knell and this will be his last season- almost 17 years at the Tiger helm. Tigers play fairly well the first half, but go into a major tailspin after the break. Sweet Lou finally retires- he deserves better than this.
1996(53-109)
Buddy Bell takes over as manager... and has a very tough first year.
Home attendance stays in the dumper... just over a million
Team ERA is 6.81... almost a run worse than the next closest team!
The Almanac says:
... Bunch of newer guys getting the playing time... Bobby Higgenson, Melvin Nieves, Tony Clark, but geez- still SO many 100+ strikeout guys. This team starts off bad and just gets worse... Fielder is dealt to the Yankees... Trammell finally retires- he, too, deserves better than this.
1997(79-83)
Willie Blair somehow goes 16-8 but leaves as a free agent after the season- he'll be back!
Justin Thompson wins 15... is he the next Lolich or Morris?
... and Todd Jones arrives to save 31 and give us all heart failure!
The Almanac says:
The Cats are much improved... Tony Clark cranks out 32 with 117 RBI... Fryman and Higgy both go over 100 in RBIs as well. Still have a Trammell on the team... Bubba that is... but is all this a mirage? Are we ready to take the next step... should we get our hopes up? ... are things really changing? ...
1998(65-97)
Rookie Deivi Cruz plays a good shortstop and bats .260- could he be an answer?
... or Damion Easley at 2nd who hit 27 long ones with 100 RBIs- is he the long-term answer?
... and Brian Mohler wins 14 to pace the pitching staff
The Almanac says:
It was all an illusion... so much for the big bats- the Tigers finish 12 in hitting, 9th in home runs, and the pitching is in the lower third of the league- Buddy Bell leaves with a month to go for Larry Parrish... April record is a heady 4-16...payroll is second lowest in the league- What do you expect, Mr. Ilitch?
1999(69-92) | 
Lance ParrishFree Agent(!!) acquisition Dean Palmer comes through big with 38 home runs and 100 RBS
... and Tony Clark smacks 31 'taters and drives in 99
... and Dave Mlicki wins 14 but Justin Thompson begins his injury bug and will never be the same...
The Almanac says:
Alan Trammell and Lance Parrish come back- as coaches... last year of old Tiger Stadium (we'll have a full report!), and attendance breaks the 2 million mark...12th in league pitching AND hitting makes for another dismal year- third | | | |
Continue on to the UGLY '00s! - until 2006, that is!
Go back to the AWESOME '80s!
Return from 1990s Almanac to Almanac
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