2003 Detroit Tigers Season - Season Overview

Season Overview

The 2003 Tigers seemed like a sure bet to break the 1962 Mets' record for most losses when they stood at 38-118 after 156 games, but they won five of their last six to avoid ignominy. On September 27, in their next-to-last game, the Tigers came back from an 8-0 deficit to beat the Minnesota Twins 9-8. Then the Tigers won the season finale to avoid tying the record and received a standing ovation from the crowd.

Mike Maroth went 9-21 for the 2003 Tigers and became the first pitcher to lose 20 games in more than 20 years. Tigers' pitchers Maroth, Jeremy Bonderman (6-19), and Nate Cornejo (6-17) were #1, #2, and #3 in the major leagues in losses for 2003—the only time in major league history that one team has had the top three losers.

While the 2003 Tigers rank as the third worst team in major league history based on loss total (behind the 1899 Cleveland Spiders and 1962 Mets), they fare slightly better based on winning percentage. As shown in the chart below, the 2003 Tigers rank only as the 9th worst team in history based on winning percentage.

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 and 1916 A's had essentially been reduced to minor-league status after unloading their best players. The 1890 Alleghenys had lost practically their entire roster to the Players' League. The 1935 Braves were plagued by underfinanced ownership. The 1962 Mets were a first-year expansion team. For this reason, the 2003 Tigers have been described as possibly "the worst team of all time without a good excuse."

Designated hitter/left fielder Dmitri Young is 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.

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 performance of the 2003 Tigers, but the 2002 team was 55-106 under manager Luis Pujols. Making Trammell's job more difficult, the Tigers did not sign any significant new talent in 2003 and actually lost several key players from the 2002 team, including the team's best starter, Jeff Weaver, the team's closer Juan Acevedo, second baseman Damion Easley, right fielder Robert Fick, and designated hitter Randall Simon. In short, Trammell inherited a team in shambles—an already bad team made worse by the departure of its best performers. 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 turn-around, as the team improved to 72-90 in 2004, a 29-game improvement over the 2003 season—the largest 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. Players common to the 2003 and 2006 Tigers teams included Brandon Inge, Ramón Santiago (who spent 2004 and 2005 with the Seattle Mariners), Craig Monroe, Dmitri Young (released in September 2006), Omar Infante, Mike Maroth, Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson, Jamie Walker, Wilfredo Ledezma, and Fernando Rodney.

The improvement from 2003 to 2004 was actually more substantial than the 24-game improvement from 2005 (71-91) to 2006 (95-67).