1959 Detroit Tigers season explained

Detroit Tigers
Season:	1959
League:	American League
Ballpark:	Briggs Stadium
City:	Detroit, Michigan
Owners:	Fred Knorr, John Fetzer
General Managers:	Rick Ferrell, Bill DeWitt
Managers:	Bill Norman, Jimmy Dykes
Television:	WJBK
Radio:	WKMH (Van Patrick, George Kell)

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 —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

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		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		100	338	73	.216	13	44
1B		114	349	77	.221	9	39
2B		127	459	122	.266	13	55
SS		116	381	102	.268	3	35
3B		148	521	145	.278	21	60
LF		145	518	130	.251	31	95
CF		136	511	167	.327	27	94
RF		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
	67	228	60	.263	4	35
	76	215	60	.279	7	24
	86	209	40	.191	3	21
	60	132	30	.227	7	26
	65	106	14	.132	6	11
	55	102	24	.235	1	10
	77	89	18	.202	1	15
	18	55	12	.218	0	4
	11	18	2	.111	0	1
	3	7	1	.143	0	1
	2	6	1	.167	0	0
	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
	40	249.2	17	13	3.89	201
	39	240.1	14	14	4.64	110
	34	228.0	17	9	3.36	125
	32	223.0	17	10	3.55	137
	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
	42	104.1	4	12	5.78	71
	11	36.2	2	2	4.17	20
	2	2.2	0	1	16.88	0
	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
	46	1	4	9	3.98	39
	32	1	3	7	4.01	29
	30	1	3	1	3.77	49
	13	1	2	0	4.42	17
	9	0	0	0	12.89	9
	9	0	0	0	8.18	10
	5	0	0	0	2.38	6
	3	0	0	0	3.38	3

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

External links

• 1959 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference

Notes and References

1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/w/willsma01.shtml Maury Wills
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/martibi02.shtml Billy Martin
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/skizalo01.shtml Lou Skizas
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/k/koscoan01.shtml Andy Kosco
5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=doby--001law Larry Doby
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/smithbo03.shtml Bob Smith