1959 Detroit Tigers season

1959 Detroit Tigers
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkBriggs Stadium
CityDetroit, Michigan
OwnersFred Knorr, John Fetzer
General managersRick Ferrell, Bill DeWitt
ManagersBill Norman, Jimmy Dykes
TelevisionWJBK
RadioWKMH
(Van Patrick, George Kell)
← 1958 Seasons 1960 →

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

Regular season

Season standings

American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago White Sox 94 60 .610 — 47‍–‍30 47‍–‍30
Cleveland Indians 89 65 .578 5 43‍–‍34 46‍–‍31
New York Yankees 79 75 .513 15 40‍–‍37 39‍–‍38
Detroit Tigers 76 78 .494 18 41‍–‍36 35‍–‍42
Boston Red Sox 75 79 .487 19 43‍–‍34 32‍–‍45
Baltimore Orioles 74 80 .481 20 38‍–‍39 36‍–‍41
Kansas City Athletics 66 88 .429 28 37‍–‍40 29‍–‍48
Washington Senators 63 91 .409 31 34‍–‍43 29‍–‍48

Record vs. opponents

1959 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BAL BOS CHW CLE DET KCA NYY 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

  • March 21, 1959: Future Hall of Famer Larry Doby, who integrated the American League in 1947 with the Cleveland Indians, is acquired by the Tigers from Cleveland for outfielder Tito Francona. On April 10, Opening Day, left-fielder Doby becomes the second Black player (after Ozzie Virgil Sr.) and first African-American to appear in a Detroit uniform.
  • April 2, 1959: Maury Wills was returned by the Tigers to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a conditional deal.[1]
  • May 13, 1959: Larry Doby's contract is sold to the Chicago White Sox. The 35-year-old Doby batted only .218 with no home runs in 55 at-bats with the Tigers and he will end his playing career in U.S. pro baseball later in 1959.[5]
  • June 13, 1959: Bob Smith was selected off waivers by the Tigers from the Pittsburgh Pirates.[6]

Roster

1959 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 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

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Charleston Senators American Association Bill Adair
AA Birmingham Barons Southern Association Skeeter Newsome
A Knoxville Smokies Sally League Johnny Pesky
B Durham Bulls Carolina League Frank Skaff
D Montgomery Rebels Alabama–Florida League Frank Carswell
D Decatur Commodores Midwest League Stubby Overmire
D Erie Sailors New York–Penn League Al Lakeman and Pat Mullin

References

  1. ^ a b Maury Wills at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Billy Martin at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Lou Skizas at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Andy Kosco at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Larry Doby at Baseball Reference]
  6. ^ Bob Smith at Baseball Reference