List of Detroit Tigers seasons explained

This is a list of seasons completed by the Detroit Tigers. They played in the Western League from their inception in 1894 to the 1900 season; in 1900, the league changed its named to the American League and became a major league in 1901. The Tigers have completed 123 seasons in Major League Baseball, qualifying for the postseason sixteen times and reaching the World Series eleven times (1907-1909, 1934, 1935, 1940, 1945, 1968, 1984, 2006, 2012) with four world championships (1935, 1945, 1968, 1984).

Through the efforts of team executive (and future owner) Frank Navin, the Tigers acquired a handful of talent in the first decade of the 20th century that would bear results. In 1905, the Tigers acquired Ty Cobb to join a team that had steadily acquired players of talent such as Sam Crawford, Hughie Jennings and Bill Donovan (the former two and Cobb would each reach the Hall of Fame). Cobb would play 21 years with the Tigers, and they would reach the World Series three times during his era, although they would lose each time. The end of the Cobb era in 1926 opened up a period of rebuilding that bore fruit in 1934 with a quartet of future Hall of Famers in Hank Greenberg, Goose Goslin, Charlie Gehringer, and Mickey Cochrane (they acquired the latter two in a 1934 trade). That year, they went 101–53 (with a winning percentage of .656) and won the pennant. They lost in the ensuing World Series but returned the following year after going 93–58. They lost Greenberg in Game 2 due to injury but persevered over the Chicago Cubs to win their first world championship.

After the death of Navin in 1935, Walter Briggs Sr. (a part-owner since 1919) took over as primary owner, which he would operate until his death in 1952. The Tigers toiled in mediocre play until their next pennant in 1940 while Greenberg won his second MVP award, although the Tigers lost in seven games. World War II meant that Greenberg would be away from 1941 to 1944 due to service, and the Tigers regressed despite the efforts of pitchers such as Hal Newhouser, who won the MVP Award in 1944 and 1945 (the only pitcher to win back-to-back MVP Awards). Greenberg and others would return in 1945 to help the Tigers narrowly win the AL pennant with an 88–65 record. Facing the Cubs, they won in seven games. While the Tigers would do well in the remainder of the decade while adding a future Hall of Famer in George Kell, they would not win another pennant for seventeen years (with the 1950s resulting in seven losing seasons). Briggs Sr was succeeded by his son Jr, but he would sell the team to John Fetzer and Fred Knorr in 1956. Al Kaline made his debut on the roster in 1953 and became a mainstay for the next two decades. The 1960s brought some needed sparkplug players such as Norm Cash, Willie Horton, Mickey Lolich and Denny McLain. The Tigers won 101 games in 1961 but fell short of the pennant by eight games. Six years later, they finished one game short of the Boston Red Sox for the pennant after losing the last game of the year. The following year, they would take hold of the pennant with 103 victories while McLain won the MVP Award and the Cy Young Award. In the final Series played before the division era, the Tigers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in a classic seven-game series that saw them come back from a 3–1 series deficit. A gradual decline over the next decade was followed by the hiring of Sparky Anderson in 1979, for which he led them to the 1984 World Series championship; he retired in 1995. The next decade brought plenty of losing before manager Jim Leyland and rookie pitcher Justin Verlander helped bring them back to prominence. The Tigers would reach the World Series that year but lost in five games; they would win four consecutive division titles from 2011 to 2014 (led by Miguel Cabrera) and reach the World Series in 2012, which they lost in a sweep.

Through 123 seasons of baseball, the Tigers have recorded 71 seasons at .500 or better, 69 of which have been winning campaigns.[1]

Record season-by-season

The following table describes a season-by-season listing of the Tigers win–loss record.

World Series champions †AL champions *Division champions (1969–present) ^Wild card berth (1995–present) ¤
SeasonLevelLeagueDivisionFinishWinsLossesWin%GBPost-SeasonAwards
1901MLBAL3rd7461.5488½
1902MLBAL7th5283.38530½
1903MLBAL5th6571.47825
1904MLBAL7th6290.40832
1905MLBAL3rd7974.51615½
1906MLBAL6th7178.47721
1907MLBAL *1st9258.613—Lost World Series (Cubs) 4–0 *
1908MLBAL *1st9063.588—Lost World Series (Cubs) 4–1 *
1909MLBAL *1st9854.645—Lost World Series (Pirates) 4–3 *Ty Cobb (TC)
1910MLBAL3rd8668.55818
1911MLBAL2nd8965.57813½Ty Cobb (MVP)
1912MLBAL6th6984.45136½
1913MLBAL6th6687.43130
1914MLBAL4th8073.52319½
1915MLBAL2nd10054.6492½
1916MLBAL3rd8767.5654
1917MLBAL4th7875.51021½
1918MLBAL7th5571.43720
1919MLBAL4th8060.5718
1920MLBAL7th6193.39637
1921MLBAL6th7182.46427
1922MLBAL3rd7975.51315
1923MLBAL2nd8371.53916
1924MLBAL3rd8668.5586
1925MLBAL4th8173.52616½
1926MLBAL6th7975.51312
1927MLBAL4th8271.53627½
1928MLBAL6th6886.44233
1929MLBAL6th7084.45536
1930MLBAL5th7579.48727
1931MLBAL7th6193.39647
1932MLBAL5th7675.50329½
1933MLBAL5th7579.48725
1934MLBAL *1st10153.656—Lost World Series (Cardinals) 4–3 *Mickey Cochrane (MVP)
1935MLB †AL *1st9358.616—Won World Series (Cubs) 4–2 †Hank Greenberg (MVP)
1936MLBAL2nd8371.53919½
1937MLBAL2nd8965.57813Charlie Gehringer (MVP)
1938MLBAL4th8470.54516
1939MLBAL5th8173.52626½
1940MLBAL *1st9064.584—Lost World Series (Reds) 4–3 *Hank Greenberg (MVP)
1941MLBAL4th7579.48726
1942MLBAL5th7381.47430
1943MLBAL5th7876.50620
1944MLBAL2nd8866.5711Hal Newhouser (MVP)
1945MLB †AL *1st8865.575—Won World Series (Cubs) 4–3 †Hal Newhouser (MVP, TC)
1946MLBAL2nd9262.59712
1947MLBAL2nd8569.55212
1948MLBAL5th7876.50618½
1949MLBAL4th8767.56510
1950MLBAL2nd9559.6173
1951MLBAL5th7381.47425
1952MLBAL8th50104.32545
1953MLBAL6th6094.39040½Harvey Kuenn (ROY)
1954MLBAL5th6886.44243
1955MLBAL5th7975.51317
1956MLBAL5th8272.53215
1957MLBAL4th7876.50620
1958MLBAL5th7777.50015
1959MLBAL4th7678.49418
1960MLBAL6th7183.46126
1961MLBAL2nd10161.6238
1962MLBAL4th8576.52810½
1963MLBAL5th7983.48825½
1964MLBAL4th8577.52514
1965MLBAL4th8973.54913
1966MLBAL3rd8874.54310
1967MLBAL3rd9171.5621
1968MLB †AL *1st10359.636—Won World Series (Cardinals) 4–3 †Denny McLain (MVP, CYA)
Mickey Lolich (WS MVP)
1969MLBALEast2nd9072.55619Denny McLain (CYA)
1970MLBALEast4th7983.48829
1971MLBALEast2nd9171.56212
1972MLBALEast ^1st8670.551—Lost ALCS (Athletics) 3–2
1973MLBALEast3rd8577.52512
1974MLBALEast6th7290.44419
1975MLBALEast6th57102.35837½
1976MLBALEast5th7487.46024Mark Fidrych (ROY)
1977MLBALEast4th7488.45726
1978MLBALEast5th8676.53113½Lou Whitaker (ROY)
1979MLBALEast5th8576.52818
1980MLBALEast5th8478.51919
1981MLBALEast4th3126.5443½
3rd2923.5581½
1982MLBALEast4th8379.51212
1983MLBALEast2nd9270.5686
1984MLB †AL *East ^1st10458.642—Won ALCS (Royals) 3–0
Won World Series (Padres) 4–1 †		Willie Hernández (MVP, CYA)
Sparky Anderson (MOY)
Alan Trammell (WS MVP)
1985MLBALEast3rd8477.52215
1986MLBALEast3rd8775.5378½
1987MLBALEast ^1st9864.605—Lost ALCS (Twins) 4–1Sparky Anderson (MOY)
1988MLBALEast2nd8874.5431
1989MLBALEast7th59103.36430
1990MLBALEast3rd7983.4889
1991MLBALEast2nd8478.5197
1992MLBALEast6th7587.46321
1993MLBALEast4th8577.52510
1994MLBALEast5th5362.46118Playoffs canceled
1995MLBALEast4th6084.41726
1996MLBALEast5th53109.32739
1997MLBALEast3rd7983.48819
1998MLBALCentral5th6597.40124
1999MLBALCentral3rd6992.42927½
2000MLBALCentral3rd7983.48816
2001MLBALCentral4th6696.40725
2002MLBALCentral5th55106.34239
2003MLBALCentral5th43119.26547
2004MLBALCentral4th7290.44420
2005MLBALCentral4th7191.43828
2006MLBAL *Central2nd ¤9567.5861Won ALDS (Yankees) 3–1
Won ALCS (Athletics) 4–0
Lost World Series (Cardinals) 4–1 *		Justin Verlander (ROY)
Jim Leyland (MOY)
2007MLBALCentral2nd8874.5438
2008MLBALCentral5th74 88.45714½
2009MLBALCentral2nd8677.5281
2010MLBALCentral3rd8181.500 13
2011MLBALCentral ^1st9567.586—Won ALDS (Yankees) 3–2
Lost ALCS (Rangers) 4–2		Justin Verlander (MVP, CYA)
2012MLBAL *Central ^1st8874.543—Won ALDS (Athletics) 3–2
Won ALCS (Yankees) 4–0
Lost World Series (Giants) 4–0 *		Miguel Cabrera (MVP, TC)
2013MLBALCentral ^1st9369—Won ALDS (Athletics) 3–2
Lost ALCS (Red Sox) 4–2		Miguel Cabrera (MVP, TC)
Max Scherzer (CYA)
2014MLBALCentral ^1st9072—Lost ALDS (Orioles) 3–0
2015MLBALCentral5th748720½
2016MLBALCentral2nd86758Michael Fulmer (ROY)
2017MLBALCentral5th649838
2018MLBAL Central3rd649827
2019MLBAL Central5th4711453½
2020MLBAL Central5th233512
2021MLBAL Central3rd778516
2022MLBAL Central4th669626
2023MLBAL Central2nd78849
TotalsWinsLossesWin%
9,5909,491All-time regular season record (1901–2023)
5762All-time postseason record
9,6479,553All-time regular and postseason record

Record by decade

The following table describes the Tigers' MLB win–loss record by decade.

Decade Wins Losses Win %
1900s 683 632
1910s 790 704
1920s 760 778
1930s 818 716
1940s 834 705
1950s 738 802
1960s 882 729
1970s 789 820
1980s 839 727
1990s 702 852
2000s 729 891
2010s 782 835
2020s 244 300
All-time 9,590 9,491

Postseason record by year

The Tigers have made the postseason sixteen times in their history, with their first being in 1907 and the most recent being in 2014.

YearFinishRoundOpponentResult
American League ChampionsWorld SeriesChicago CubsLost04
American League ChampionsWorld SeriesChicago CubsLost14
American League ChampionsWorld SeriesPittsburgh PiratesLost34
American League ChampionsWorld SeriesSt. Louis CardinalsLost34
World Series ChampionsWorld SeriesChicago CubsWon42
American League ChampionsWorld SeriesCincinnati RedsLost34
World Series ChampionsWorld SeriesChicago CubsWon43
World Series ChampionsWorld SeriesSt. Louis CardinalsWon43
American League East ChampionsALCSOakland AthleticsLost23
World Series ChampionsALCSKansas City RoyalsWon30
World SeriesSan Diego PadresWon41
American League East ChampionsALCSMinnesota TwinsLost14
American League ChampionsALDSNew York YankeesWon31
ALCSOakland AthleticsWon40
World SeriesSt. Louis CardinalsLost14
American League Central ChampionsALDSNew York YankeesWon32
ALCSTexas RangersLost24
American League ChampionsALDSOakland AthleticsWon32
ALCSNew York YankeesWon40
World SeriesSan Francisco GiantsLost04
American League Central ChampionsALDSOakland AthleticsWon32
ALCSBoston Red SoxLost24
American League Central ChampionsALDSBaltimore OriolesLost03
16Totals11–125762

Best seasons in Detroit Tigers history

Best Seasons in Detroit Tigers History
Rank Year Wins Losses Win %   Finish
1193410153.656Lost 1934 World Series to Cardinals
2191510054.6492nd in AL behind Red Sox
319099854.645Lost 1909 World Series to Pirates
4198410458.642Won 1984 World Series over Padres
5196810359.636Won 1968 World Series over Cardinals
6196110161.6232nd in AL behind Yankees
719509559.6172nd in AL behind Yankees
819359358.616Won 1935 World Series over Cubs
919079258.613Lost 1907 World Series to Cubs
1019879864.605Lost 1987 ALCS to Twins
1119469262.5972nd in AL behind Red Sox
1219089063.588Lost 1908 World Series to Cubs
1320069567.586Lost 2006 World Series to Cardinals
1320119567.586Lost 2011 ALCS to Rangers
1519409064.584Lost 1940 World Series to Reds
1619118965.5782nd in AL behind A's
1619378965.5782nd in AL behind Yankees
1819458865.575Won 1945 World Series over Cubs
1920139369.574Lost 2013 ALCS to Red Sox
2019448866.5712nd in AL behind Browns

Worst seasons in Detroit Tigers history

Worst Seasons in Detroit Tigers History
Rank Year Wins Losses Win %
1200343119.265
2201947114.292
3195250104.325
4199653109.327
5200255106.342
6197557102.358

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Detroit Tigers Team History & Encyclopedia.

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