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Detroit Tigers 1997 record: 79-83 (third in
AL East)
By the Numbers
Scouting Report | Players To Watch | Projected Roster
1997 Team Statistics (AL Rank)
| Batting Average | .258
(13)
| Opp. Batting Avg. | .266
(5)
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| Runs Scored | 784
(8)
| ERA | 4.56
(6)
|
| Home Runs | 176
(7)
| Fielding Pct. | .985
(1)
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Helping
Hands
After finishing last in the AL in fielding percentage in
1996 (one error every 45
chances), the Tigers led the league in that category last season,
with an average of one error every 67 chances. Detroit thus
became the first team in AL history to go from worst to
first in fielding percentage. (Two NL teams, the 1903
Giants and the 1925 Cubs,
have done so in this century.) The Tigers' fielding, coupled
with their improved pitching, resulted in a 28.4% decrease
in runs allowed per game from '96 (6.81) to '97 (4.88).
That's the third-largest percentage decrease of any team in
the live-ball era
(since
1920).
Largest
Percentage Decreases In Runs Allowed Per Game (Since
1920)
| | Year | Games | Runs | RPG | Year | Games | Runs | RPG | Decrease |
| Phillies | 1930 | 156 | 1,199 | 7.69 | 1931 | 155 | 828 | 5.34 | -30.5% |
| Cubs | 1962 | 162 | 827 | 5.10 | 1963 | 162 | 578 | 3.57 | -30.1% |
| Tigers | 1996 | 162 | 1,103 | 6.81 | 1997 | 162 | 790 | 4.88 | -28.4% |
| Padres | 1977 | 162 | 834 | 5.15 | 1978 | 162 | 598 | 3.69 | -28.3% |
| Senators | 1942 | 151 | 817 | 5.41 | 1943 | 153 | 595 | 3.89 | -28.1% |
Source: Elias Sports Bureau
Scouting Report | By the Numbers | Players To Watch | Projected Roster
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