1952 Detroit Tigers season
Major League Baseball season
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The 1952 Detroit Tigers had a record of 50–104 (.325) — the worst record in Tigers' history until the 2003 Tigers finished 43–119 (.265). Virgil Trucks became the third pitcher in major league history to throw two no-hitters in one season.[1]
| 1952 Detroit Tigers | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Briggs Stadium |
| City | Detroit |
| Record | 50–104 (.325) |
| League place | 8th |
| 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) |
Regular season
As of 2025, the 1952 Tigers winning percentage ranks third-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]
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Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 95 | 59 | .617 | — | 49–28 | 46–31 |
| Cleveland Indians | 93 | 61 | .604 | 2 | 49–28 | 44–33 |
| Chicago White Sox | 81 | 73 | .526 | 14 | 44–33 | 37–40 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 79 | 75 | .513 | 16 | 45–32 | 34–43 |
| Washington Senators | 78 | 76 | .506 | 17 | 42–35 | 36–41 |
| Boston Red Sox | 76 | 78 | .494 | 19 | 50–27 | 26–51 |
| St. Louis Browns | 64 | 90 | .416 | 31 | 42–35 | 22–55 |
| Detroit Tigers | 50 | 104 | .325 | 45 | 32–45 | 18–59 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH | |||||
| Boston | — | 12–10 | 9–13 | 16–6 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 8–14 | |||||
| Chicago | 10–12 | — | 8–14–1 | 17–5 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 13–9–1 | |||||
| Cleveland | 13–9 | 14–8–1 | — | 16–6 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 15–7 | 12–10 | |||||
| Detroit | 6–16 | 5–17 | 6–16 | — | 9–13 | 5–17–1 | 8–14 | 11–11–1 | |||||
| New York | 14–8 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 13–9 | — | 13–9 | 14–8 | 15–7 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 10–12 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 17–5–1 | 9–13 | — | 14–8 | 9–13 | |||||
| St. Louis | 11–11 | 8–14 | 7–15 | 14–8 | 8–14 | 8–14 | — | 8–14–1 | |||||
| Washington | 14–8 | 9–13–1 | 10–12 | 11–11–1 | 7–15 | 13–9 | 14–8–1 | — | |||||
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
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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Manager
Coaches
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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 | Joe Ginsberg | 113 | 307 | 68 | .221 | 6 | 36 |
| 1B | Walt Dropo | 115 | 459 | 128 | .279 | 23 | 70 |
| 2B | Jerry Priddy | 75 | 279 | 79 | .283 | 4 | 20 |
| 3B | Fred Hatfield | 112 | 441 | 104 | .236 | 2 | 25 |
| SS | Neil Berry | 73 | 189 | 43 | .228 | 0 | 13 |
| OF | Johnny Groth | 141 | 524 | 149 | .284 | 4 | 51 |
| OF | Vic Wertz | 85 | 285 | 70 | .246 | 17 | 51 |
| OF | Pat Mullin | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Souchock | 92 | 265 | 66 | .249 | 13 | 45 |
| Al Federoff | 74 | 231 | 56 | .242 | 0 | 14 |
| Cliff Mapes | 86 | 193 | 26 | .197 | 9 | 23 |
| Johnny Pesky | 69 | 177 | 45 | .254 | 1 | 9 |
| Matt Batts | 56 | 173 | 41 | .237 | 3 | 13 |
| Don Kolloway | 65 | 173 | 42 | .243 | 2 | 21 |
| George Kell | 39 | 152 | 45 | .296 | 1 | 17 |
| Don Lenhardt | 45 | 144 | 27 | .188 | 3 | 13 |
| Johnny Lipon | 39 | 136 | 30 | .221 | 0 | 12 |
| Jim Delsing | 33 | 113 | 31 | .274 | 3 | 15 |
| Harvey Kuenn | 19 | 80 | 26 | .325 | 0 | 8 |
| Bob Swift | 28 | 58 | 8 | .138 | 0 | 4 |
| Russ Sullivan | 15 | 52 | 17 | .327 | 3 | 5 |
| Johnny Hopp | 42 | 46 | 10 | .217 | 0 | 3 |
| George Lerchen | 14 | 32 | 5 | .156 | 1 | 3 |
| Bill Tuttle | 7 | 25 | 6 | .240 | 0 | 2 |
| Don Lund | 8 | 23 | 7 | .304 | 0 | 1 |
| Ben Taylor | 7 | 18 | 3 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Carl Linhart | 3 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Hoot Evers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex Garbowski | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ted Gray | 35 | 224.0 | 12 | 17 | 4.14 | 138 |
| Art Houtteman | 35 | 221.0 | 8 | 20 | 4.36 | 109 |
| Virgil Trucks | 35 | 197.0 | 5 | 19 | 3.97 | 129 |
| Hal Newhouser | 25 | 154.0 | 9 | 9 | 3.74 | 57 |
| Bill Wight | 23 | 143.2 | 5 | 9 | 3.88 | 57 |
| Ned Garver | 1 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 | 3 |
| Bud Black | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Hoeft | 34 | 125.0 | 2 | 7 | 4.32 | 65 |
| Marlin Stuart | 30 | 91.1 | 3 | 2 | 4.93 | 32 |
| Dizzy Trout | 10 | 27.0 | 1 | 5 | 5.33 | 20 |
| Ken Johnson | 9 | 11.1 | 0 | 0 | 6.35 | 10 |
| Dick Marlowe | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hal White | 41 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 3.69 | 18 |
| Dick Littlefield | 28 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4.34 | 32 |
| Fred Hutchinson | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.38 | 12 |
| Dave Madison | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7.80 | 7 |
| Wayne McLeland | 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
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Jamestown
