1938 Detroit Tigers season

The 1938 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The Detroit Tigers compiled a record of 84 wins and 70 losses, good enough for fourth place in the American League. Hank Greenberg hit 58 home runs, and became the first unanimous selection as the American League MVP.

1938 Detroit Tigers
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkBriggs Stadium
CityDetroit
OwnersWalter Briggs, Sr.
General managersMickey Cochrane
ManagersMickey Cochrane, Del Baker
RadioWWJ (AM)
(Ty Tyson)
WXYZ
(Harry Heilmann)
← 1937 Seasons 1939 →

Offseason

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Regular season

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The highlight of the 1938 season was first baseman Hank Greenberg challenging the single-season home run record held by Babe Ruth (60). Hank went into the season's final weekend against the Cleveland Indians with 58 home runs, but failed to homer on Saturday or Sunday. He did tie Jimmie Foxx's record for a right-handed hitter, set in 1932.[2]

Season standings

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American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 99 53 .651 55‍–‍22 44‍–‍31
Boston Red Sox 88 61 .591 52‍–‍23 36‍–‍38
Cleveland Indians 86 66 .566 13 46‍–‍30 40‍–‍36
Detroit Tigers 84 70 .545 16 48‍–‍31 36‍–‍39
Washington Senators 75 76 .497 23½ 44‍–‍33 31‍–‍43
Chicago White Sox 65 83 .439 32 33‍–‍39 32‍–‍44
St. Louis Browns 55 97 .362 44 31‍–‍43 24‍–‍54
Philadelphia Athletics 53 99 .349 46 28‍–‍47 25‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS CWS CLE DET NYY PHA SLB WSH
Boston 12–6 12–10 10–12 11–11–1 14–8 17–5 12–9
Chicago 6–12 9–13 7–15 8–14 12–10 13–8–1 10–11
Cleveland 10–12 13–9 12–10 8–13 18–4 13–9–1 12–9
Detroit 12–10 15–7 10–12 8–14 14–8 12–10–1 13–9
New York 11–11–1 14–8 13–8 14–8 16–5–2 15–7–1 16–6–1
Philadelphia 8–14 10–12 4–18 8–14 5–16–2 12–9 6–16
St. Louis 5–17 8–13–1 9–13–1 10–12–1 7–15–1 9–12 7–15
Washington 9–12 11–10 9–12 9–13 6–16–1 16–6 15–7


Roster

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1938 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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Note: 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 Rudy York 135 463 138 .298 33 127
1B Hank Greenberg 155 556 175 .315 58 146
2B Charlie Gehringer 152 568 174 .306 20 107
SS Billy Rogell 136 501 130 .259 3 55
3B Don Ross 77 265 69 .260 1 30
OF Dixie Walker 127 454 140 .308 6 43
OF Pete Fox 155 634 186 .293 7 96
OF Chet Morgan 74 306 87 .284 0 27

Other batters

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Note: 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
Mark Christman 95 318 79 .248 1 44
Chet Laabs 64 211 50 .237 7 37
Jo-Jo White 78 206 54 .262 0 15
Birdie Tebbetts 53 143 42 .294 1 25
Tony Piet 41 80 17 .213 0 14
Roy Cullenbine 25 67 19 .284 0 9
Ray Hayworth 8 19 4 .211 0 5
Benny McCoy 7 15 3 .200 0 0
George Archie 3 2 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Vern Kennedy 33 190.1 12 9 5.06 53
George Gill 24 164.0 12 9 4.12 30
Elden Auker 27 160.2 11 10 5.27 46
Tommy Bridges 25 151.0 13 9 4.59 101
Schoolboy Rowe 4 21.0 0 2 3.00 4

Other pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Roxie Lawson 27 127.0 8 9 5.46 39
Harry Eisenstat 32 125.1 9 6 3.72 37
Boots Poffenberger 25 125.0 6 7 4.82 28
Al Benton 19 95.1 5 3 3.30 33
Bob Harris 3 10.0 1 0 7.20 7

Relief pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Slick Coffman 39 4 4 2 6.02 31
Jake Wade 27 3 2 0 6.56 23
Joe Rogalski 2 0 0 0 2.57 2
Woody Davis 2 0 0 0 1.50 1

Awards and honors

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Farm system

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Level Team League Manager
A1 Beaumont Exporters Texas League Al Vincent
C Charleston Senators Middle Atlantic League Paul O'Malley
D Andalusia Bulldogs Alabama–Florida League Yam Yaryan
D Beckley Bengals Mountain State League Eli Harris
D Tiffin Mud Hens Ohio State League Tony Rogala
D Harlingen Hubs Texas Valley League Jake Atz
D Hobbs Boosters West Texas–New Mexico League Neal Rabe

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Beaumont, Beckley, Harlingen[3]

Notes

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  1. ^ Mike Tresh at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ "Hank Greenberg Facts from". The Baseball Page.com. Archived from the original on March 12, 2006. Retrieved March 16, 2010.
  3. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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