Frank Tanana, baseball player, 1973-1993

Frank Tanana

Born: 7/3/1953 in Detroit, MI, USA

MLB Debut: 1973-09-09 | Final Game: 1993-10-01

Bats: L | Throws: L | Height: 6'2" | Weight: 180 lbs

Full name: Frank Daryl Tanana

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Biography

Frank Tanana was a prominent left-handed pitcher whose career spanned two decades from 1973 to 1993. Born in 1953, Tanana emerged as a talented young arm in the major leagues, earning the TSN Rookie Pitcher of the Year award early in his career. He was known for his exceptional control and a devastating fastball that kept hitters off balance throughout his tenure. Tanana played a significant role in the evolution of pitching during an era characterized by the transition from power pitching to a more strategic approach on the mound. Over the course of his career, Tanana compiled a record of 240-236 with an earned run average (ERA) of 3.66 and accumulated 2,773 strikeouts. He was selected to the All-Star Game three times, reflecting his status as one of the top pitchers in the game during his prime. Despite a late-career shift to a more finesse-oriented style of pitching, he remained effective and continued to contribute to his teams through his veteran experience. Tanana's legacy is marked not only by his impressive statistics but also by his ability to adapt and thrive in an ever-evolving landscape of Major League Baseball.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
240 236 638 616 143 34 1 4188.3 4063 1704 448 1255 2773 3.66 0

Career ERA 3.66 vs. league average 3.84 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1973 LAA AL 2 2 4 4 2 1 0 26.3 20 9 8 22 3.08 3.75 (+18%) -
1974 LAA AL 14 19 39 35 12 4 0 268.7 262 93 77 180 3.12 3.63 (+14%) -
1975 LAA AL 16 9 34 33 16 5 0 257.3 211 75 73 269 2.62 3.71 (+29%) -
1976 LAA AL 19 10 34 34 23 2 0 288.3 212 78 73 261 2.43 3.51 (+31%) -
1977 LAA AL 15 9 31 31 20 7 0 241.3 201 68 61 205 2.54 4.00 (+37%) -
1978 LAA AL 18 12 33 33 10 4 0 239.0 239 97 60 137 3.65 3.69 (+1%) -
1979 LAA AL 7 5 18 17 2 1 0 90.3 93 39 25 46 3.89 4.00 (+3%) -
1980 LAA AL 11 12 32 31 7 0 0 204.0 223 94 45 113 4.15 3.84 (-8%) -
1981 BOS AL 4 10 24 23 5 2 0 141.3 142 63 43 78 4.01 3.58 (-12%) -1724.5
1982 TEX AL 7 18 30 30 7 0 0 194.3 199 91 55 87 4.21 3.86 (-9%) 72.2
1983 TEX AL 7 9 29 22 3 0 0 159.3 144 56 49 108 3.16 3.87 (+18%) 1136.8
1984 TEX AL 15 15 35 35 9 1 0 246.3 234 89 81 141 3.25 3.81 (+15%) -2945.2
1985 TEX AL 2 7 13 13 0 0 0 77.7 89 51 23 52 5.91 3.89 (-52%) -1754.8
1985 DET AL 10 7 20 20 4 0 0 137.3 131 51 34 107 3.34 3.89 (+14%) 2649.2
1986 DET AL 12 9 32 31 3 1 0 188.3 196 87 65 119 4.16 3.97 (-5%) -1005.5
1987 DET AL 15 10 34 34 5 3 0 218.7 216 95 56 146 3.91 4.29 (+9%) 1803.9
1988 DET AL 14 11 32 32 2 0 0 203.0 213 95 64 127 4.21 3.73 (-13%) -2062.1
1989 DET AL 10 14 33 33 6 1 0 223.7 227 89 74 147 3.58 3.71 (+3%) -342.1
1990 DET AL 9 8 34 29 1 0 1 176.3 190 104 66 114 5.31 3.86 (-37%) -3531.7
1991 DET AL 13 12 33 33 3 2 0 217.3 217 91 78 107 3.77 3.91 (+4%) -3515.6
1992 DET AL 13 11 32 31 3 0 0 186.7 188 91 90 91 4.39 3.75 (-17%) -5591.0
1993 NYN NL 7 15 29 29 0 0 0 183.0 198 91 48 104 4.48 4.19 (-7%) -2100.9
1993 NYY AL 0 2 3 3 0 0 0 19.7 18 7 7 12 3.20 4.19 (+24%) -

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
639 59 3 9 1 1 0 5 0 2 12 0.153 0.180 0.203 0.384 -472.8

Career AVG .153 vs. league average .259 across their career seasons — 41.1% below league average.

Career OBP .180 vs. league average .325 across their career seasons — 44.5% below league average.

Career SLG .203 vs. league average .386 across their career seasons — 47.2% below league average.

Career OPS 0.384 vs. league average 0.710 across their career seasons — 46.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1973 LAA AL 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1974 LAA AL 39 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1975 LAA AL 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1976 LAA AL 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1977 LAA AL 31 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1978 LAA AL 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1979 LAA AL 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1980 LAA AL 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1981 BOS AL 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1982 TEX AL 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1983 TEX AL 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1984 TEX AL 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1985 TEX AL 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1985 DET AL 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1986 DET AL 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1987 DET AL 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1988 DET AL 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1989 DET AL 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1990 DET AL 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1991 DET AL 33 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1992 DET AL 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1993 NYN NL 29 58 3 9 1 1 0 5 0 2 11 0.155 .265 (-41%) .332 (-45%) .403 (-49%) .735 (-47%) -472.8
1993 NYY AL 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — -472.8

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1987 ALCS DET 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1979 ALCS CAL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 1 2 2 0 10.3 12 5 6 4 4.35

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1987 ALCS DET 0 1 1 1 0 5.3 6 3 4 1 5.06
1979 ALCS CAL 0 0 1 1 0 5.0 6 2 2 3 3.60

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 638 616 226 638 19 40

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1973 CAL P 4 4 0 5 0 0
1974 CAL P 39 35 9 39 1 4
1975 CAL P 34 33 9 44 2 5
1976 CAL P 34 34 12 45 1 1
1977 CAL P 31 31 15 37 1 2
1978 CAL P 33 33 8 25 0 2
1979 CAL P 18 17 3 12 1 1
1980 CAL P 32 31 12 24 0 1
1981 BOS P 24 23 9 25 1 2
1982 TEX P 30 30 8 30 1 0
1983 TEX P 29 22 9 37 2 0
1984 TEX P 35 35 18 35 0 2
1985 TEX P 13 13 5 11 1 1
1985 DET P 20 20 9 20 0 1
1986 DET P 32 31 19 26 2 5
1987 DET P 34 34 14 35 0 2
1988 DET P 32 32 11 31 1 4
1989 DET P 33 33 16 41 0 2
1990 DET P 34 29 9 27 0 0
1991 DET P 33 33 12 36 1 3
1992 DET P 32 31 8 30 2 1
1993 NYN P 29 29 11 22 1 1
1993 NYA P 3 3 0 1 1 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 638
Designated Hitter 1

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1978 Player of the Month April
1977 Player of the Month May
1977 TSN All-Star LHP
1976 Player of the Month September
1976 TSN All-Star LHP
1975 Player of the Week Week of 1975-07-18
1974 TSN Rookie Pitcher of the Year

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
1993 NYN NL $1,500,000
1992 DET AL $1,700,000
1991 DET AL $1,900,000
1990 DET AL $1,100,000
1989 DET AL $925,000
1988 DET AL $1,100,000
1987 DET AL $662,500
1986 DET AL $662,500
1985 TEX AL $590,000
Total Career Earnings $10,140,000

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1978 Most Valuable Player AL 36th 1.0 392 0
1977 Cy Young Award AL 9th 3.0 140 0
1976 Cy Young Award AL 3rd 18.0 120 0
1976 Most Valuable Player AL 15th 19.0 336 0
1975 Cy Young Award AL 4th 7.0 120 0