1952 Detroit Tigers season explained

Detroit Tigers
Season:	1952
League:	American League
Ballpark:	Briggs Stadium
City:	Detroit
Owners:	Walter Briggs, Sr., Walter Briggs, Jr.
General Managers:	Charlie Gehringer
Managers:	Red Rolfe, Fred Hutchinson
Television:	WWJ (Van Patrick)
Radio:	WJBK/WXYZ (Van Patrick)

The 1952 Detroit Tigers had a record of 50–104 (.325) — the worst record in Tigers' history until the 2003 Tigers lost 119 games. Virgil Trucks became the third pitcher in major league history to throw two no-hitters in one season.^[1]

Regular season

The 1952 Tigers winning percentage ranks as the second worst in the Tigers' history, as shown in this chart. The club was managed by Red Rolfe (April 15 through July 4), who compiled a win–loss record of 23–49 (.319), then by pitcher-manager Fred Hutchinson, who had a record of 27–55 (.329) from July 5 through closing day, September 28.^[2]

Worst Seasons in Detroit Tigers History Rank Year Wins Losses Win % 1 2003 43 119 .265 2 1952 50 104 .325 3 1996 53 109 .327 4 2002 55 106 .342 5 1975 57 102 .358

Notable transactions

• June 3, 1952: Dizzy Trout, George Kell, Johnny Lipon, and Hoot Evers were traded by the Tigers to the Boston Red Sox for Walt Dropo, Fred Hatfield, Don Lenhardt, Johnny Pesky, and Bill Wight.^[3]
• August 14, 1952: Dick Littlefield, Marlin Stuart, Don Lenhardt and Vic Wertz were traded by the Tigers to the St. Louis Browns for Jim Delsing, Ned Garver, Bud Black and Dave Madison.^[4]

Roster

1952 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		OutfieldersOther batters		ManagerCoaches

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		113	307	68	.221	6	36
1B		115	459	128	.279	23	70
2B		75	279	79	.283	4	20
3B		112	441	104	.236	2	25
SS		73	189	43	.228	0	13
OF		141	524	149	.284	4	51
OF		85	285	70	.246	17	51
OF		97	255	64	.251	7	35

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
	92	265	66	.249	13	45
	74	231	56	.242	0	14
	86	193	26	.197	9	23
	69	177	45	.254	1	9
	56	173	41	.237	3	13
	65	173	42	.243	2	21
	39	152	45	.296	1	17
	45	144	27	.188	3	13
	39	136	30	.221	0	12
	33	113	31	.274	3	15
	19	80	26	.325	0	8
	28	58	8	.138	0	4
	15	52	17	.327	3	5
	42	46	10	.217	0	3
	14	32	5	.156	1	3
	7	25	6	.240	0	2
	8	23	7	.304	0	1
	7	18	3	.167	0	0
	3	2	0	.000	0	0
	1	1	1	1.000	0	0
	2	0	0	----	0	0

Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included

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
	35	224.0	12	17	4.14	138
	35	221.0	8	20	4.36	109
	35	197.0	5	19	3.97	129
	25	154.0	9	9	3.74	57
	23	143.2	5	9	3.88	57
	1	9.0	1	0	2.00	3
	2	8.0	0	1	10.13	0

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
	34	125.0	2	7	4.32	65
	30	91.1	3	2	4.93	32
	10	27.0	1	5	5.33	20
	9	11.1	0	0	6.35	10
	4	11.0	0	2	7.36	3

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
	41	1	8	5	3.69	18
	28	0	3	1	4.34	32
	12	2	1	0	3.38	12
	10	1	1	0	7.80	7
	4	0	0	0	10.13	0

Awards and accomplishments

League top five finishers

• Art Houtteman: AL leader in losses (20)
• Virgil Trucks: #2 in AL in losses (19)
• Ted Gray: #3 in AL in losses (17)

Players ranking among top 100 of all time at position

The following members of the 1952 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their positions, as ranked by The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001:

• Jerry Priddy: 73rd best second baseman of all time
• Johnny Pesky: 20th best shortstop of all time (played 69 games for 1952 Tigers)
• George Kell: 30th best third baseman of all time (played only 39 games for 1952 Tigers)
• Vic Wertz: 61st best right fielder of all time
• Harvey Kuenn: 62nd best right fielder of all time (played only 19 games for 1952 Tigers)
• Hal Newhouser: 36th best pitcher of all time
• Virgil Trucks: 61st best pitcher of all time

Walt Dropo's consecutive hits streak

• Over a three game stretch from July 14 to July 15, Walt Dropo had hits in 12 consecutive plate appearances to tie a major league record also held by Johnny Kling (1902).^[5]

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Jamestown

References

• Book: Johnson. Lloyd. Wolff. Miles. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. 2nd. Durham, North Carolina. Baseball America. 1997. 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• Baseball-Reference.com 1952 Detroit Tigers

External links

• BaseballLibrary.com 1952 Detroit Tigers season summary

Notes and References

1. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 139, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,
2. http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1952/TDET01952.htm Retrosheet.org
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/d/dropowa01.shtml Walt Dropo
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/blackbu01.shtml Bud Black
5. Web site: Tigers' Miguel Cabrera makes history again, hits in 9 straight plate appearances. McCosky . Chris . The Detroit News . 2021-09-11. 2021-09-13. en-US.