1955 Detroit Tigers season
The 1955 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fifth in the American League with a record of 79–75, 17 games behind the New York Yankees.
| 1955 Detroit Tigers | |
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| Major League affiliations | |
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| Location | |
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| Other information | |
| Owners | Walter Briggs, Jr. |
| General managers | Muddy Ruel |
| Managers | Bucky Harris |
| Local television | WJBK |
| Local radio | WKMH (Van Patrick, Dizzy Trout) |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
Al Kaline became the youngest major league player to win the American League (AL) batting title at 20 years old which still stands to this day. He hit .340 for the season, 21 points better than runner-up Vic Power.
Offseason
- December 6, 1954: Walt Dropo, Ted Gray and Bob Nieman were traded by the Tigers to the Chicago White Sox for Leo Cristante, Ferris Fain, and Jack Phillips.[1]
Regular season
Season standings
| American League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 96 | 58 | 0.623 | — | 52–25 | 44–33 |
| Cleveland Indians | 93 | 61 | 0.604 | 3 | 49–28 | 44–33 |
| Chicago White Sox | 91 | 63 | 0.591 | 5 | 49–28 | 42–35 |
| Boston Red Sox | 84 | 70 | 0.545 | 12 | 47–31 | 37–39 |
| Detroit Tigers | 79 | 75 | 0.513 | 17 | 46–31 | 33–44 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 63 | 91 | 0.409 | 33 | 33–43 | 30–48 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 57 | 97 | 0.370 | 39 | 30–47 | 27–50 |
| Washington Senators | 53 | 101 | 0.344 | 43 | 28–49 | 25–52 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KCA | NYY | WSH | |||||
| Baltimore | — | 8–14 | 10–12–1 | 3–19 | 9–13 | 10–12–1 | 3–19 | 14–8 | |||||
| Boston | 14–8 | — | 9–13 | 11–11 | 13–9 | 14–8 | 8–14 | 15–7 | |||||
| Chicago | 12–10–1 | 13–9 | — | 10–12 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 17–5 | |||||
| Cleveland | 19–3 | 11–11 | 12–10 | — | 12–10 | 17–5 | 13–9 | 9–13 | |||||
| Detroit | 13–9 | 9–13 | 8–14 | 10–12 | — | 12–10 | 10–12 | 17–5 | |||||
| Kansas City | 12–10–1 | 8–14 | 8–14 | 5–17 | 10–12 | — | 7–15 | 13–9 | |||||
| New York | 19–3 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 12–10 | 15–7 | — | 16–6 | |||||
| Washington | 8–14 | 7–15 | 5–17 | 13–9 | 5–17 | 9–13 | 6–16 | — | |||||
Roster
| 1955 Detroit Tigers | |||||||||
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| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
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Player stats
Starters by position
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 | Frank House | 102 | 328 | 85 | .259 | 15 | 53 |
| 1B | Earl Torgeson | 89 | 300 | 85 | .283 | 9 | 50 |
| 2B | Fred Hatfield | 122 | 413 | 96 | .232 | 8 | 33 |
| SS | Harvey Kuenn | 145 | 620 | 190 | .306 | 8 | 62 |
| 3B | Ray Boone | 135 | 500 | 142 | .284 | 20 | 116 |
| LF | Jim Delsing | 114 | 356 | 85 | .239 | 10 | 60 |
| CF | Bill Tuttle | 154 | 603 | 168 | .279 | 14 | 78 |
| RF | Al Kaline | 152 | 588 | 200 | .340 | 27 | 102 |
Other batters
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Wilson | 78 | 241 | 53 | .220 | 2 | 17 |
| Harry Malmberg | 67 | 208 | 45 | .216 | 0 | 19 |
| Bubba Phillips | 95 | 184 | 43 | .234 | 3 | 23 |
| Ferris Fain | 58 | 140 | 37 | .264 | 2 | 23 |
| Jack Phillips | 55 | 117 | 37 | .316 | 1 | 20 |
| Charlie Maxwell | 55 | 109 | 29 | .266 | 7 | 18 |
| Reno Bertoia | 38 | 68 | 14 | .206 | 1 | 10 |
| Jay Porter | 24 | 55 | 13 | .236 | 0 | 3 |
| Chick King | 7 | 21 | 5 | .238 | 0 | 0 |
| Walt Streuli | 2 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 1 |
| Jim Small | 12 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Wayne Belardi | 3 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Bud Souchock | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 1 |
| Ron Samford | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Lary | 36 | 235.0 | 14 | 15 | 3.10 | 98 |
| Ned Garver | 33 | 230.2 | 12 | 16 | 3.98 | 83 |
| Billy Hoeft | 32 | 220.0 | 16 | 7 | 2.99 | 133 |
| Steve Gromek | 28 | 181.0 | 13 | 10 | 3.98 | 73 |
| Duke Maas | 18 | 86.2 | 5 | 6 | 4.88 | 42 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Bunning | 15 | 51.0 | 3 | 5 | 6.35 | 37 |
| Bob Miller | 7 | 25.1 | 2 | 1 | 2.49 | 11 |
| Dick Marlowe | 4 | 15.0 | 1 | 0 | 1.80 | 9 |
| Bud Black | 3 | 14.0 | 1 | 1 | 1.29 | 7 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Aber | 39 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3.38 | 37 |
| Babe Birrer | 36 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4.15 | 28 |
| Paul Foytack | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.26 | 38 |
| Leo Cristante | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.19 | 9 |
| Joe Coleman | 17 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3.20 | 5 |
| George Zuverink | 14 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6.99 | 13 |
| Van Fletcher | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 4 |
| Ben Flowers | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 2 |
| Bill Froats | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Bob Schultz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20.25 | 0 |
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Panama City
References
- Walt Dropo at Baseball Reference
Further reading
- 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.