2003 Detroit Tigers season

The 2003 Detroit Tigers season was team's 103rd season. They finished with the most losses in American League history, and came within one loss of tying the 1962 New York Mets for the most losses in modern major league history. This, until 2019, would be the last year in which the team would lose 100 or more games in a season.

2003 Detroit Tigers
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record43–119 (.265)
Divisional place5th
Other information
Owner(s)Mike Ilitch
General manager(s)Dave Dombrowski
Manager(s)Alan Trammell
Local televisionWKBD
(Frank Beckmann, Jack Morris)
FSN Detroit
(Mario Impemba, Rod Allen)
Local radioWXYT (AM)
(Jim Price, Dan Dickerson)
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The team went 43–119, which surpassed the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics for the most losses in American League history. But due to a shorter season in 1916, the Athletics had a worse winning percentage and seven fewer wins (36-117 record) than the 2003 Tigers. The Tigers were outscored by 337 runs over the course of the season (928 to 591) and finished 47 games behind the Minnesota Twins. Blame for the dismal season was shared by both the pitching staff, which had an ERA of 5.30, and the batters, who finished with a team batting average of .240, 19 points below the American League's .259 batting average.

Season overview

Reeling off yet another losing season in 2002, management found themselves in a big hole: a farm system that wasn't producing, a big-league club with major deficiencies, and contracts being paid to veterans not playing to expectations; those who did produce - Juan Acevedo, Randall Simon, and Robert Fick, did not return for 2003. Piloting the team was first-year manager and longtime Tiger favorite, Alan Trammell, who had a dilemma nearly everywhere on the roster, particularly the starting rotation. Gary Knotts, who had pitched mostly in relief in his career,[1] was to be converted to a starting role; Detroit area native Steve Avery was looking to make a comeback after not pitching in two years; two untested rookies, Jeremy Bonderman - drafted straight out of high school - and Nate Robertson - acquired in a trade for Mark Redman to the Florida Marlins - also vied for their chances to make the big-league rotation.

Results were nothing short of disastrous. The Tigers lost their first nine games, won their first against Chicago on April 12, then proceeded to drop eight in a row to fall to 1-17. An almost non-existent offense accounted for most of the team's early season woes, batting a paltry .228 as a team in the first half.[2] To the surprise of many, their young corps of pitchers were performing better than expected and remained durable as the team struggled to score runs and the losses continued to pile up - 18 in May, 22 in June - with no reason to expect any change in fortune.

By the end of May, the Tigers were 14–39, 16.5 games out of first, and their season was all but finished. On August 30, after a 5–2 loss to the White Sox, the Tigers had lost 100 games for the second straight season; furthermore, they were gaining nationwide attention as they seemed a sure bet to break the infamous 1962 Mets' record for most losses in a season. Looking for a spark from the farm system, players were constantly being shuffled back and forth between Detroit and nearby Toledo, where the team's Triple-AAA affiliate Toledo Mud Hens played. Unfortunately, the Mud Hens were not well-stocked, either, compounding frustrations for a team already in complete disarray. Meanwhile, the pitching staff, which had remained remarkably intact through the first half, finally collapsed; Mike Maroth lost 21 games, the first MLB pitcher to lose 20 games in a season since Brian Kingman lost 20 for the 1980 Oakland Athletics,[3] while Jeremy Bonderman lost 19 before Trammell mercifully pulled him from the rotation with two weeks remaining.[4] Tigers' starters Maroth, Bonderman and Cornejo were the top three pitchers in losses for the 2003 season, the only time in Major League history that one team had the top three losers in a season.[5] Franklyn German had the most saves on the team, with five in limited opportunities.[6]

On September 22, the Tigers had lost ten straight and 118 on the season. Just as they appeared likely to go into the record books for futility, the Tigers roared back to life and won five of their last six games to finish 43-119. While it was one game short of the 120 losses by the 1962 Mets, it was still the most losses in American League history and one of the worst seasons for a non-expansion team in modern baseball history. The final series of the season was particularly memorable against the division champion Minnesota Twins, 48 games ahead of Detroit. The Twins sat their starters for almost all of the series in order to keep players rested for the playoffs.[7] On September 27, in their next-to-last game, the Tigers came back from an 8–0 deficit to beat the Twins, 9-8 - on a strikeout wild pitch, an appropriate finish to a team that had struggled mightily all summer long.[8] The Tigers then won the season finale, 9–4, to avoid tying the record and received a standing ovation from the crowd.

While the 2003 Tigers finished with the third-most losses in major league history (behind the 1899 Cleveland Spiders and 1962 Mets), they fare slightly better based on winning percentage.

As of 2020, the 2003 Tigers rank only as the 12th worst team in history based on winning percentage (minimum 120 games), but unlike the 2003 Tigers, most of the other teams usually described as the worst of all time were plagued by significant off-field troubles:

  • The 1899 Spiders (whose owners also owned the St. Louis Browns), the 1916 and 1919 A's (who had been plagued by financial problems) and the 1890 Alleghenys (who had almost all of their star players jump to the Players' League) had been reduced to minor league status.
  • The 1886 Senators and Cowboys, 1889 Colonels, 1897-98 Browns, 1904 Senators and 1935 Braves were all plagued by financial and/or ownership issues, with the Colonels and Braves ownership failing to finish out the season.
  • The 1962 Mets were a first-year expansion team.

For this reason, the 2003 Tigers have been described as being possibly "the worst team of all time without a good excuse."[9][10]

Designated hitter/left fielder Dmitri Young was the one member of the 2003 Tigers to have a truly good year, with a .297 batting average, 29 home runs, and .537 slugging percentage. According to Win Shares, the Tigers would have had about six fewer wins without him.[9]

On the pitching staff, Jamie Walker stands out as the one pitcher who had a good season. Walker appeared in 78 games (2nd most in the AL) and had an ERA of 3.32 (Adjusted ERA+ of 130).

Some blamed first-year manager Alan Trammell for the team's performance. However, the 2002 team was 55-106 under manager Luis Pujols and in short, Trammell inherited a team in shambles. The Tigers did not sign any significant new talent in 2003 and lost several key players from the 2002 team, including the team's best starter, Jeff Weaver, closer Juan Acevedo, second baseman Damion Easley, right fielder Robert Fick, and designated hitter Randall Simon. Dean Palmer, who had 275 career home runs, tried to resuscitate an injury-plagued career, and could not succeed at that; his career came to an end. Even with fellow 1984 teammates Kirk Gibson and Lance Parrish on the coaching staff, Trammell could not turn the team around in 2003.

After the 2003 season, the Tigers acquired Iván Rodríguez, Carlos Guillén, Ugueth Urbina, and Rondell White. With the infusion of new talent, Trammell was able to lead the start of the franchise's turnaround, as the team improved to 72–90 in 2004, a 29-game improvement over the 2003 season which was the largest single-season improvement in the American League since Baltimore's 33-game improvement from 1988 to 1989.

Three years after losing 119 games, the Tigers went 95-67 and made it to the 2006 World Series. The 2006 pennant winners featured 10 players from the 2003 team: Brandon Inge, Ramón Santiago (who spent 2004 and 2005 with the Seattle Mariners), Craig Monroe, Omar Infante, Mike Maroth, Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson, Jamie Walker, Wilfredo Ledezma, and Fernando Rodney. (Dmitri Young was released in September 2006 following off-field issues)

The record would not be threatened until 2018, when the Baltimore Orioles went 47-115. A year later, the Tigers themselves would also win just 47 games, but due to a cancelled game that reduced their season to 161 games, they only had 114 losses, meaning that Baltimore had the worst team of the entire 2010s decade.

Season standings
AL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 9072 0.556 — 48–33 42–39
Chicago White Sox 8676 0.531 4 51–30 35–46
Kansas City Royals 8379 0.512 7 40–40 43–39
Cleveland Indians 6894 0.420 22 38–43 30–51
Detroit Tigers 43119 0.265 47 23–58 20–61

Record vs. opponents
2003 American League Records

Sources:
Team ANA BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC MIN NYY OAK SEA TB TEX TOR NL 
Anaheim —1–83–63–46–36–16–35–43–68–128–116–39–102–711–7
Baltimore 8–1—9–102–43–33–33–43–46–13–12–74–58–117–28–115–13
Boston 6–310–9—5–44–28–15–12–49–103–45–212–75–410–911–7
Chicago 4–34–24–5—11–811–811–89–104–24–52–73–33–46–310–8
Cleveland 3–63–32–48–11—12–76–139–102–53–63–65–24–52–46–12
Detroit 1–63–31–88–117–12—5–144–151–53–61–82–41–62–74–14
Kansas City 3–64–31–58–1113–614–5—11–82–42–74–54–37–21–59–9
Minnesota 4–54–34–210–910–915–48–11—0–78–13–66–05–43–310–8
New York 6–313–6–110–92–45–25–14–27–0—3–65–414–54–510–913–5
Oakland 12–87–24–35–46–36–37–21–86–3—7–126–315–45–29–9
Seattle 11–85–42–57–26–38–15–46–34–512–7—4–510–103–410–8
Tampa Bay 3–611–87–123–32–54–23–40–65–143–65–4—3–611–83–15
Texas 10–92–74–54–35–46–12–74–55–44–1510–106–3—5–44–14
Toronto 7–211–89–103–64–27–25–13–39–102–54–38–114–5—10–8

Roster
2003 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Transactions
  • November 25, 2002: Randall Simon was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later and Adrian Burnside (minors). The Pittsburgh Pirates sent Roberto Novoa (December 16, 2002) to the Detroit Tigers to complete the trade.[11]
  • November 29, 2002: Ernie Young was signed as a Free Agent with the Detroit Tigers.[12]
  • January 20, 2003: Bill Haselman was signed as a Free Agent with the Detroit Tigers.[13]
  • January 23, 2003: Steve Avery was signed as a Free Agent with the Detroit Tigers.[14]
  • March 27, 2003: Bill Haselman was released by the Detroit Tigers.[13]
  • March 29, 2003: AJ Hinch was purchased by the Detroit Tigers from the Cleveland Indians.[15]

Game log
2003 Game Log: 43–119 (Home: 23–58; Away: 20–61)

Detailed Records

Player stats

Batting

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
Brandon Inge10433067.203830
Carlos Peña131452112.2481850
Warren Morris9734694.272637
Eric Munson9931375.2401850
Ramón Santiago141444100.225229
Craig Monroe128425102.2402370
Alex Sánchez101394114.289122
Bobby Higginson130469110.2351452
Dmitri Young155562167.2972985
Shane Halter11436078.2171230
Kevin Witt9327071.2631026
Omar Infante6922149.22208
Andrés Torres5916837.22019
Matt Walbeck5913824.17416

Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included

Starting 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
Mike Maroth33193.39215.7387
Nate Cornejo32194.76174.6746
Jeremy Bonderman331626195.56108
Gary Knotts2095.3386.0451
Adam Bernero18100.71126.0854
Nate Robertson844.7125.4433

Relief pitchers

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

Player G W L SV GF ERA SO
Matt Roney45190125.4547
Steve Sparks42062244.7249
Wilfredo Ledezma3437085.7949
Chris Spurling66133184.6838
Jamie Walker78433193.3245
Fernando Rodney27133116.0733
Franklyn Germán45245156.0441

League Leaders and Awards

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Toledo Mud Hens International League Larry Parrish
AA Erie SeaWolves Eastern League Kevin Bradshaw
A Lakeland Tigers Florida State League Gary Green
A West Michigan Whitecaps Midwest League Phil Regan
A-Short Season Oneonta Tigers New York–Penn League Randy Ready
Rookie GCL Tigers Gulf Coast League Howard Bushong

[16]

See also

Notes
a.^ Ryan was credited with the win without throwing a pitch. With two outs in the bottom of the 7th, he picked off Omar Infante at first to end the inning. The Orioles then took the lead in the top of the eighth, meaning Ryan would be in line for a win. Ryan was replaced with Buddy Groom before the bottom of the eighth. Baltimore kept the lead and Ryan was recorded with the win.[17]

References
  1. "Gary Knotts Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  2. "2003 Detroit Tigers Batting Log". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  3. "20 Game Losers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  4. "2003 Jeremy Bonderman Pitching Game Logs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  5. "2003 American League Starting Pitching". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  6. "Franklyn German Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  7. https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/29/sports/baseball-the-tigers-are-happy-to-avoid-making-history.html
  8. "Sep 27, 2003, Twins at Tigers Play by Play and Box Score". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
  9. "2003 Detroit Tigers Baseball Graphs Review". BaseballGraphs.com. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
  10. "The worst teams in NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL history". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  11. Randall Simon Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  12. https://www.baseball-reference.com/y/younger02.shtml
  13. https://www.baseball-reference.com/h/haselbi01.shtml
  14. Steve Avery Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  15. https://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hincha.01.shtml
  16. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  17. MacAree, Graham (December 30, 2020). "B.J. Ryan, a pitcher, once earned a win without actually throwing a pitch". SB Nation. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
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