2000 Detroit Tigers season

Offseason

• November 2, 1999: Juan González was traded by the Texas Rangers with Danny Patterson and Gregg Zaun to the Detroit Tigers for Frank Catalanotto, Francisco Cordero, Bill Haselman, Gabe Kapler, Justin Thompson, and Alan Webb (minors).
• November 15, 1999: Luis Polonia was signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.
• November 29, 1999: Mike Oquist was signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.
• March 7, 2000: Gregg Zaun was sent to the Kansas City Royals by the Detroit Tigers as part of a conditional deal.
• March 13, 2000: Mike Oquist was released by the Detroit Tigers.
• March 26, 2000: Mike Oquist was signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.

Regular season

• On October 1, 2000, Dusty Allen hit a home run in the last at-bat of his career.

Comerica Park

Groundbreaking for a new ballpark to replace Tiger Stadium for the Detroit Tigers was held on October 29, 1997, and the new stadium was opened to the public in 2000. At the time of construction, the scoreboard in left field was the largest in Major League Baseball. In December 1998, Comerica Bank agreed to pay US$66 million over 30 years for the naming rights for the new ballpark. Upon its opening, there was some effort to try to find a nickname for the park, with the abbreviation CoPa suggested by many, but that nickname has not gained widespread acceptance.

First game

The first game at Comerica Park was held on Tuesday, April 11, 2000, with 39,168 spectators attending on a cold snowy afternoon. Grounds people had to clear snow off the field from the night before. The Tigers defeated the Seattle Mariners by a score of 5–2. The winning pitcher, like in the final game at Tiger Stadium was Brian Moehler.

April 22

The Tigers were involved in a pair of bench-clearing brawls in a 14–6 loss to the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park on April 22. Both were fueled by pitchers hitting batters. The tensions began in the sixth inning with Carlos Lee and Jeff Weaver who continued to jaw with Lee after being subbed out. A retaliatory pitch thrown by Jim Parque to Dean Palmer one inning later in the seventh began the first brawl which moved into shallow right field and included Keith Foulke being punched by Bobby Higginson and sustaining a cut under his left eye that needed five stitches to close. Four batters after Tanyon Sturtze hit Deivi Cruz in the ninth, the second brawl erupted when Bob Howry did likewise to Shane Halter. Among the eleven ejections were the Tigers' Weaver, Palmer, Robert Fick, Danny Patterson and Doug Brocail and White Sox's Sturtze, Howry, Magglio Ordóñez, Bill Simas, manager Jerry Manuel and bench coach Joe Nossek.

In the harshest penalty for a brawl in MLB history, a combined 16 members of the Tigers and White Sox were suspended for a total of 82 games five days later on April 27. Tigers coach Juan Samuel incurred the longest at 15 for throwing punches rather than serving as a peacemaker, while the opposing managers Manuel and Phil Garner each received eight. Palmer was also assessed eight for participating in the second brawl despite having already been ejected. Other suspended Tigers were Higginson and Fick for five each, Brocail for four and Juan Encarnación, Karim García and Luis Polonia for three. Ordóñez was the White Sox player receiving the longest suspension at five, while Lee, Parque, Foulke, Sturtze and Howry got three each.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

• May 10, 2000: Rich Becker was signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.
• July 31, 2000: Luis Polonia was released by the Detroit Tigers.

Roster

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Note: Individual pitchers' batting statistics not included

Pitching

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; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

• Tied with Derek Lowe (Boston) for league lead

Farm system

References

References

1. "Juan Gonzalez Stats".
2. "Luis Polonia Stats".
3. "Mike Oquist Stats".
4. "Gregg Zaun Stats".
5. "Home Run in Last At Bat by Baseball Almanac".
6. "Turner Construction Company".
7. (November 1, 2006). "Fans were terrific at going-away party".
8. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/2000/04/23/tigers-white-sox-get-fighting-mad-11-tossed/0a3b8c4e-5efa-43d2-a998-e161ed15d014/ "Tigers, White Sox Get Fighting Mad: 11 Tossed," ''The Washington Post'', Sunday, April 23, 2000.] Retrieved July 24, 2023.
9. [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mlb-suspends-16-after-melee/ "MLB Suspends 16 After Melee," ''The Associated Press'' (AP), Thursday, April 27, 2000.] Retrieved July 24, 2023.
10. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-apr-28-sp-24471-story.html Newhan, Ross. "16 Suspended for 82 Games for Roles in Chicago Brawl," ''Los Angeles Times'', Friday, April 28, 2000.] Retrieved July 24, 2023.
11. "Rich Becker Stats".
12. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007