1955 Detroit Tigers season

1955 Detroit Tigers
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkBriggs Stadium
CityDetroit, Michigan
OwnersWalter Briggs, Jr.
General managersMuddy Ruel
ManagersBucky Harris
TelevisionWJBK
RadioWKMH
(Van Patrick, Dizzy Trout)
← 1954 Seasons 1956 →

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.

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

Regular season

Season standings

American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 96 58 .623 52‍–‍25 44‍–‍33
Cleveland Indians 93 61 .604 3 49‍–‍28 44‍–‍33
Chicago White Sox 91 63 .591 5 49‍–‍28 42‍–‍35
Boston Red Sox 84 70 .545 12 47‍–‍31 37‍–‍39
Detroit Tigers 79 75 .513 17 46‍–‍31 33‍–‍44
Kansas City Athletics 63 91 .409 33 33‍–‍43 30‍–‍48
Baltimore Orioles 57 97 .370 39 30‍–‍47 27‍–‍50
Washington Senators 53 101 .344 43 28‍–‍49 25‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents


Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
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
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

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 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

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
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

Level Team League Manager
AAA Buffalo Bisons International League Dan Carnevale
AA Little Rock Travelers Southern Association Bob Mavis and Steve Souchock
A Augusta Tigers Sally League Charlie Metro
B Durham Bulls Carolina League Frank Skaff
B Terre Haute Tigers Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Stubby Overmire
C Greenville Bucks Cotton States League Willis Hudlin, Luther Tucker,
Banks McDowell and Daniel Ryan
C Idaho Falls Russets Pioneer League Pat Mullin
D Panama City Fliers Alabama–Florida League Bill Adair
D Valdosta Tigers Georgia–Florida League Stan Wasiak
D Jamestown Falcons PONY League Tony Lupien

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Panama City

References

  1. ^ 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.