"[9] Rozema attended the Tigers' 1977 spring camp as a nonroster player, but impressed manager Ralph Houk and made the major league roster without ever having played a game at the Triple-A level.

He made his major league debut at age 20 and, 10 days later, threw a four-hit shutout against the Boston Red Sox.

[10] Despite missing the last three weeks of the season with a shoulder injury, he finished his rookie season with a 15-7 record and a 3.09 ERA and led the Tigers in wins, ERA, complete games (16), and innings pitched (218), and ranked third in the league in winning percentage (.682), fifth in adjusted ERA+ (138), sixth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.71), and eighth in complete games.

[11][12] He also finished fourth in the voting for Rookie of the Year and ninth for the American League Cy Young Award.

[13][14] Rozema formed part of a distinguished group of rookies with the 1977 Tigers that included Jack Morris, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Lance Parrish and Steve Kemp.

[15] In October 2006, Sports Illustrated selected Rozema as one of the "10 Greatest Characters in Detroit Tigers History".

His selection was based on (1) the "karate kick" misfire, (2) a subsequent injury the same year in which Rozema fell on a flask in his back pocket and needed 11 stitches in his hip, (3) an incident in which he shoved a bar glass into the face of teammate Alan Trammell resulting in 47 stitches near Trammell's eye, (4) missing a team bus when he overslept after judging a wet T-shirt contest, and (5) using Brillo pads to wash his new car.

During the regular season, he started 16 games, compiling a 7-6 record with a 3.74 ERA in 101 innings pitched, but did not appear in the post-season.

In a 10-season career, Rozema posted a 60-53 record with a 3.47 ERA in 248 pitching appearances (132 starts), striking out 448 batters while walking 258 in 1106 innings of work.