1980 Detroit Tigers season

The 1980 Detroit Tigers finished in fifth place in the American League East with a record of 84–78, 19 games behind the Yankees. They outscored their opponents 830 to 757. The Tigers drew 1,785,293 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1980, ranking 7th of the 14 teams in the American League. This was Sparky Anderson's first full season as Tigers manager.

Offseason

 * December 7, 1979: Ron LeFlore was traded by the Tigers to the Montreal Expos for Dan Schatzeder.

Season standings
Boston's record of 83–77 has a fractionally better winning percentage than Detroit's record of 84–78; .51875 and .51851, respectively.

Notable transactions

 * June 2, 1980: Al Greene and John Martin were traded by the Tigers to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jim Lentine.
 * June 3, 1980: Chuck Hensley was drafted by the Tigers in the 10th round of the 1980 Major League Baseball draft.
 * June 6, 1980: Bárbaro Garbey was signed as an amateur free agent by the Tigers.
 * September 21, 1980: Roger Mason was signed as an amateur free agent by the Tigers.

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''

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

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; GF = Games finished; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Awards and honors

 * Lance Parrish, AL Silver Slugger Award, catcher
 * Alan Trammell, AL Gold Glove Award, shortstop
 * Alan Trammell, Tiger of the Year Award, from Detroit sportswriters

All Star selections

 * Lance Parrish, AL All Star Team, catcher
 * Alan Trammell, AL All Star Team, shortstop

League top ten finishers
Steve Kemp
 * #2 in MLB in time grounded into double plays (24)
 * #5 in AL in sacrifice flies

Aurelio López
 * #3 in AL in games (67)
 * #3 in AL in games finished (59)

Jack Morris
 * #3 in AL in earned runs allowed (116)
 * #4 in AL in games started (36)
 * #10 in MLB in bases on balls allowed (87)
 * #10 in MLB in losses (15)

Lance Parrish
 * #2 in MLB in time grounded into double plays (24)
 * #4 in AL in strikeouts (109)
 * #10 in MLB in extra base hits (64)

Alan Trammell
 * #5 in AL in runs scored (107)
 * #6 in AL in sacrifice hits (13)

Milt Wilcox
 * #10 in MLB in complete games (13)

Players ranking among top 100 all time at position
The following members of the 1979 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their position, as ranked by The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001:
 * Lance Parrish: 19th best catcher of all time
 * Lou Whitaker: 13th best second baseman of all time
 * Alan Trammell: 9th best shortstop of all time