The 1951 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fifth in the American League with a record of 73–81, 25 games behind the New York Yankees.
1951 Detroit Tigers | ||
---|---|---|
League | American League | |
Ballpark | Briggs Stadium | |
City | Detroit, Michigan | |
Owners | Walter Briggs, Sr. | |
General managers | Billy Evans | |
Managers | Red Rolfe | |
Television | WWJ (Harry Heilmann, Paul Williams, Ty Tyson) | |
Radio | WJBK/WXYZ (Paul Williams, Ty Tyson) | |
|
Offseason
edit- January 20, 1951: Marv Grissom and George Vico were traded by the Tigers to the Seattle Rainiers for Wayne McLeland.[1]
Regular season
editOn August 19, the Tigers played a doubleheader in St. Louis against the Browns. In the second game, after the Tigers had batted in the top of the first inning, the Browns sent midget Eddie Gaedel up to pinch-hit for leadoff batter Frank Saucier. Gaedel, at a height of 3'7", is to date the shortest player to appear in a Major League Baseball game. Umpire Ed Hurley challenged the decision to allow Gaedel to participate in an at-bat. Browns manager Zack Taylor produced a copy of Gaedel's contract.[2] Tigers pitcher Bob Cain walked him.[3] Jim Delsing pinch ran for Gaedel,[3] but failed to score. The Tigers won the game, 6–2.
Season standings
editTeam | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Yankees | 98 | 56 | .636 | — | 56–22 | 42–34 |
Cleveland Indians | 93 | 61 | .604 | 5 | 53–24 | 40–37 |
Boston Red Sox | 87 | 67 | .565 | 11 | 50–25 | 37–42 |
Chicago White Sox | 81 | 73 | .526 | 17 | 39–38 | 42–35 |
Detroit Tigers | 73 | 81 | .474 | 25 | 36–41 | 37–40 |
Philadelphia Athletics | 70 | 84 | .455 | 28 | 38–41 | 32–43 |
Washington Senators | 62 | 92 | .403 | 36 | 32–44 | 30–48 |
St. Louis Browns | 52 | 102 | .338 | 46 | 24–53 | 28–49 |
Record vs. opponents
editSources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH | |||||
Boston | — | 11–11 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 15–7 | 15–7 | 15–7 | |||||
Chicago | 11–11 | — | 12–10–1 | 12–10 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 15–7 | 14–8 | |||||
Cleveland | 14–8 | 10–12–1 | — | 17–5 | 7–15 | 16–6 | 16–6 | 13–9 | |||||
Detroit | 10–12 | 10–12 | 5–17 | — | 10–12 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 13–9 | |||||
New York | 11–11 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 12–10 | — | 13–9 | 17–5 | 16–6 | |||||
Philadelphia | 7–15 | 13–9 | 6–16 | 9–13 | 9–13 | — | 14–8 | 12–10 | |||||
St. Louis | 7–15 | 7–15 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 5–17 | 8–14 | — | 9–13 | |||||
Washington | 7–15 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 13–9 | — |
Notable transactions
editAll-Star Game
editThe 1951 All-Star Game was originally awarded to the Philadelphia Phillies. The City of Detroit was celebrating the 250th anniversary of its founding in 1701 and requested to host the year's All-Star Game. Although the National League was scheduled to host the game in '51, the game was moved to Detroit's Briggs Stadium to coincide with the city's celebration. The Phillies instead hosted the 1952 All-Star Game at Shibe Park.[4]
Roster
edit1951 Detroit Tigers | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
|
Player stats
editBatting
editStarters by position
editNote: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | Joe Ginsberg | 102 | 304 | 79 | .260 | 8 | 37 |
1B | Dick Kryhoski | 119 | 421 | 121 | .287 | 12 | 57 |
2B | Jerry Priddy | 154 | 584 | 152 | .260 | 8 | 57 |
SS | Johnny Lipon | 129 | 487 | 129 | .265 | 0 | 38 |
3B | George Kell | 147 | 598 | 191 | .319 | 2 | 59 |
OF | Hoot Evers | 116 | 393 | 88 | .224 | 11 | 46 |
OF | Vic Wertz | 138 | 501 | 143 | .285 | 27 | 94 |
OF | Johnny Groth | 118 | 428 | 128 | .299 | 3 | 49 |
Other batters
editNote: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pat Mullin | 110 | 295 | 83 | .281 | 12 | 51 |
Don Kolloway | 78 | 212 | 54 | .255 | 1 | 17 |
Bud Souchock | 91 | 188 | 46 | .245 | 11 | 28 |
Neil Berry | 67 | 157 | 36 | .229 | 0 | 9 |
Bob Swift | 44 | 104 | 20 | .192 | 0 | 5 |
Aaron Robinson | 36 | 82 | 17 | .207 | 0 | 9 |
Charlie Keller | 54 | 62 | 16 | .258 | 3 | 21 |
Frank House | 18 | 41 | 9 | .220 | 1 | 4 |
Russ Sullivan | 7 | 26 | 5 | .192 | 1 | 1 |
Al Federoff | 2 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Doc Daugherty | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
editStarting pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ted Gray | 34 | 197.1 | 7 | 14 | 4.06 | 131 |
Fred Hutchinson | 31 | 188.1 | 10 | 10 | 3.68 | 53 |
Hal Newhouser | 15 | 96.1 | 6 | 6 | 3.92 | 37 |
Saul Rogovin | 5 | 24.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.25 | 5 |
Other pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dizzy Trout | 42 | 191.2 | 9 | 14 | 4.04 | 89 |
Virgil Trucks | 37 | 153.2 | 13 | 8 | 4.33 | 89 |
Bob Cain | 35 | 149.1 | 11 | 10 | 4.70 | 58 |
Marlin Stuart | 29 | 124.0 | 4 | 6 | 3.77 | 46 |
Wayne McLeland | 6 | 11.0 | 0 | 1 | 8.18 | 0 |
Dick Marlowe | 2 | 1.2 | 0 | 1 | 32.40 | 1 |
Relief pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hal White | 38 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4.74 | 23 |
Gene Bearden | 37 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4.33 | 38 |
Hank Borowy | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6.95 | 16 |
Earl Johnson | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6.35 | 2 |
Ray Herbert | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.42 | 9 |
Paul Calvert | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
Farm system
editNotes
edit- ^ Marv Grissom at Baseball Reference
- ^ Ferraro, Michael X.; Veneziano, John (2007). Numbelievable!. Chicago: Triumph Books. p. 92. ISBN 978-1-57243-990-0.
- ^ a b Numbelievable!, p. 93
- ^ Vincent, David; Lyle Spatz; David W. Smith (2001). The Midsummer Classic: The Complete History of Baseball's All-Star Game. University of Nebraska Press. p. 111. ISBN 0-8032-9273-2.
References
edit- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
- 1951 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference