| 1959 Detroit Tigers | |
|---|---|
| Major League affiliations | |
| |
| Location | |
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| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | Fred Knorr, John Fetzer |
| General manager(s) | Rick Ferrell, Bill DeWitt |
| Manager(s) | Bill Norman, Jimmy Dykes |
| Local television | WJBK |
| Local radio | WKMH (Van Patrick, George Kell) |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
The 1959 Detroit Tigers season was the 59th season for the American League franchise in Detroit. Although the Tigers lost 15 of their first 17 games in 1959—resulting in the May 2 firing of manager Bill Norman—they recovered under his successor, Jimmy Dykes, to finish in fourth place with a record of 76–78, eighteen games behind the AL Champion Chicago White Sox.
Offseason
- October 13, 1958: Maury Wills was sent to the Tigers by the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a conditional deal.[1]
- November 20, 1958: Billy Martin and Al Cicotte were traded by the Tigers to the Cleveland Indians for Don Mossi, Ray Narleski, and Ossie Álvarez.[2]
- December 1, 1958: Lou Skizas was drafted from the Tigers by the Chicago White Sox in the 1958 rule 5 draft.[3]
- Prior to 1959 season: Andy Kosco was signed as an amateur free agent by the Tigers.[4]
Regular season
Season standings
| American League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago White Sox | 94 | 60 | 0.610 | — | 47–30 | 47–30 |
| Cleveland Indians | 89 | 65 | 0.578 | 5 | 43–34 | 46–31 |
| New York Yankees | 79 | 75 | 0.513 | 15 | 40–37 | 39–38 |
| Detroit Tigers | 76 | 78 | 0.494 | 18 | 41–36 | 35–42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 75 | 79 | 0.487 | 19 | 43–34 | 32–45 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 74 | 80 | 0.481 | 20 | 38–39 | 36–41 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 66 | 88 | 0.429 | 28 | 37–40 | 29–48 |
| Washington Senators | 63 | 91 | 0.409 | 31 | 34–43 | 29–48 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CHW | CLE | DET | KC | NY | WSH | |||||
| Baltimore | — | 8–14 | 11–11–1 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 12–10 | |||||
| Boston | 14–8 | — | 8–14 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 11–11 | 13–9 | 10–12 | |||||
| Chicago | 11–11–1 | 14–8 | — | 15–7 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 13–9–1 | 16–6 | |||||
| Cleveland | 12–10 | 14–8 | 7–15 | — | 14–8 | 15–7 | 11–11 | 16–6 | |||||
| Detroit | 9–13 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 8–14 | — | 15–7 | 14–8 | 10–12 | |||||
| Kansas City | 14–8 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 7–15 | 7–15 | — | 5–17 | 12–10 | |||||
| New York | 10–12 | 9–13 | 9–13–1 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 17–5 | — | 15–7 | |||||
| Washington | 10–12 | 12–10 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 7–15 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- April 2, 1959: Maury Wills was returned by the Detroit Tigers to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a conditional deal.[1]
- June 13, 1959: Bob Smith was selected off waivers by the Tigers from the Pittsburgh Pirates.[5]
Roster
| 1959 Detroit Tigers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
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Player stats
Batting
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 | Lou Berberet | 100 | 338 | 73 | .216 | 13 | 44 |
| 1B | Gail Harris | 114 | 349 | 77 | .221 | 9 | 39 |
| 2B | Frank Bolling | 127 | 459 | 122 | .266 | 13 | 55 |
| SS | Rocky Bridges | 116 | 381 | 102 | .268 | 3 | 35 |
| 3B | Eddie Yost | 148 | 521 | 145 | .278 | 21 | 60 |
| LF | Charlie Maxwell | 145 | 518 | 130 | .251 | 31 | 95 |
| CF | Al Kaline | 136 | 511 | 167 | .327 | 27 | 94 |
| RF | Harvey Kuenn | 139 | 561 | 198 | .353 | 9 | 71 |
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 | 67 | 228 | 60 | .263 | 4 | 35 |
| Ted Lepcio | 76 | 215 | 60 | .279 | 7 | 24 |
| Bobo Osborne | 86 | 209 | 40 | .191 | 3 | 21 |
| Gus Zernial | 60 | 132 | 30 | .227 | 7 | 26 |
| Neil Chrisley | 65 | 106 | 14 | .132 | 6 | 11 |
| Johnny Groth | 55 | 102 | 24 | .235 | 1 | 10 |
| Coot Veal | 77 | 89 | 18 | .202 | 1 | 15 |
| Larry Doby | 18 | 55 | 12 | .218 | 0 | 4 |
| Steve Demeter | 11 | 18 | 2 | .111 | 0 | 1 |
| Ron Shoop | 3 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 1 |
| Charley Lau | 2 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Ossie Álvarez | 8 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Bunning | 40 | 249.2 | 17 | 13 | 3.89 | 201 |
| Paul Foytack | 39 | 240.1 | 14 | 14 | 4.64 | 110 |
| Don Mossi | 34 | 228.0 | 17 | 9 | 3.36 | 125 |
| Frank Lary | 32 | 223.0 | 17 | 10 | 3.55 | 137 |
| Billy Hoeft | 2 | 9.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.00 | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Narleski | 42 | 104.1 | 4 | 12 | 5.78 | 71 |
| Jerry Davie | 11 | 36.2 | 2 | 2 | 4.17 | 20 |
| Jim Proctor | 2 | 2.2 | 0 | 1 | 16.88 | 0 |
| Bob Bruce | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 9.00 | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Morgan | 46 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 3.98 | 39 |
| Dave Sisler | 32 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 4.01 | 29 |
| Pete Burnside | 30 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3.77 | 49 |
| Barney Schultz | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4.42 | 17 |
| George Susce | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.89 | 9 |
| Bob Smith | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.18 | 10 |
| Jim Stump | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.38 | 6 |
| Hank Aguirre | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.38 | 3 |
Farm system
References
- ^ a b Maury Wills at Baseball Reference
- ^ Billy Martin at Baseball Reference
- ^ Lou Skizas at Baseball Reference
- ^ Andy Kosco at Baseball Reference
- ^ Bob Smith at Baseball Reference
External links
This page was last edited on 8 April 2022, at 22:58