1956 Detroit Tigers season
Major League Baseball season
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The 1956 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fifth in the American League with a record of 82–72, 15 games behind the New York Yankees.
| 1956 Detroit Tigers | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Briggs Stadium |
| City | Detroit, Michigan |
| Record | 82–72 (.532) |
| League place | 5th |
| Owners | Walter Briggs, Jr., Fred Knorr, John Fetzer |
| General managers | Muddy Ruel |
| Managers | Bucky Harris |
| Television | WJBK |
| Radio | WKMH (Van Patrick, Mel Ott) |
Offseason
- December 30, 1955: Leo Cristante and cash were traded by the Tigers to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Pete Wojey.[1]
- Prior to 1956 season: Howie Koplitz was signed as an amateur free agent by the Tigers.[2]
Regular season
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 97 | 57 | .630 | — | 49–28 | 48–29 |
| Cleveland Indians | 88 | 66 | .571 | 9 | 46–31 | 42–35 |
| Chicago White Sox | 85 | 69 | .552 | 12 | 46–31 | 39–38 |
| Boston Red Sox | 84 | 70 | .545 | 13 | 43–34 | 41–36 |
| Detroit Tigers | 82 | 72 | .532 | 15 | 37–40 | 45–32 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 69 | 85 | .448 | 28 | 41–36 | 28–49 |
| Washington Senators | 59 | 95 | .383 | 38 | 32–45 | 27–50 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 52 | 102 | .338 | 45 | 22–55 | 30–47 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KCA | NYY | WSH | |||||
| Baltimore | — | 6–16 | 9–13 | 5–17 | 13–9 | 15–7 | 9–13 | 12–10 | |||||
| Boston | 16–6 | — | 14–8 | 13–9–1 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 8–14 | 9–13 | |||||
| Chicago | 13–9 | 8–14 | — | 15–7 | 13–9 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 13–9 | |||||
| Cleveland | 17–5 | 9–13–1 | 7–15 | — | 11–11 | 17–5 | 10–12 | 17–5 | |||||
| Detroit | 9–13 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 11–11 | — | 16–6 | 12–10 | 15–7–1 | |||||
| Kansas City | 7–15 | 10–12 | 8–14 | 5–17 | 6–16 | — | 4–18 | 12–10 | |||||
| New York | 13–9 | 14–8 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 18–4 | — | 17–5 | |||||
| Washington | 10–12 | 13–9 | 9–13 | 5–17 | 7–15–1 | 10–12 | 5–17 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- May 15, 1956: Jim Delsing and Fred Hatfield were traded by the Tigers to the Chicago White Sox for Jim Brideweser, Harry Byrd and Bob Kennedy.[3]
Roster
| 1956 Detroit Tigers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
| = Indicates team leader |
| = Indicates league leader |
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 | Frank House | 94 | 321 | 77 | .240 | 10 | 44 |
| 1B | Earl Torgeson | 117 | 318 | 84 | .264 | 12 | 42 |
| 2B | Frank Bolling | 102 | 366 | 103 | .281 | 7 | 45 |
| SS | Harvey Kuenn | 146 | 591 | 196 | .332 | 12 | 88 |
| 3B | Ray Boone | 131 | 481 | 148 | .308 | 25 | 81 |
| OF | Charlie Maxwell | 141 | 500 | 163 | .326 | 28 | 87 |
| OF | Bill Tuttle | 140 | 546 | 138 | .253 | 9 | 65 |
| OF | Al Kaline | 153 | 617 | 194 | .314 | 27 | 128 |
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 | 78 | 228 | 66 | .289 | 7 | 38 |
| Jack Phillips | 67 | 224 | 66 | .295 | 1 | 20 |
| Bob Kennedy | 70 | 177 | 41 | .232 | 4 | 22 |
| Jim Brideweser | 70 | 156 | 34 | .218 | 0 | 10 |
| Wayne Belardi | 79 | 154 | 43 | .279 | 6 | 15 |
| Jim Small | 58 | 91 | 29 | .319 | 0 | 10 |
| Reno Bertoia | 22 | 66 | 12 | .182 | 1 | 5 |
| Buddy Hicks | 26 | 47 | 10 | .213 | 0 | 5 |
| Jay Porter | 14 | 21 | 2 | .095 | 0 | 3 |
| Jim Delsing | 10 | 12 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Fred Hatfield | 8 | 12 | 3 | .250 | 0 | 2 |
| Chick King | 6 | 9 | 2 | .222 | 0 | 0 |
| Charley Lau | 3 | 9 | 2 | .222 | 0 | 0 |
| Walt Streuli | 3 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 0 | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Lary | 41 | 294.0 | 21 | 13 | 3.15 | 165 |
| Paul Foytack | 43 | 256.0 | 15 | 13 | 3.59 | 184 |
| Billy Hoeft | 38 | 248.0 | 20 | 14 | 4.06 | 172 |
| Virgil Trucks | 22 | 120.0 | 6 | 5 | 3.83 | 43 |
| Hal Woodeshick | 2 | 5.1 | 0 | 2 | 13.50 | 1 |
| Gene Host | 1 | 4.2 | 0 | 0 | 7.71 | 5 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Gromek | 40 | 141.0 | 8 | 6 | 4.28 | 64 |
| Duke Maas | 26 | 63.1 | 0 | 7 | 6.54 | 34 |
| Jim Bunning | 15 | 53.1 | 5 | 1 | 3.71 | 34 |
| Bob Miller | 11 | 31.2 | 0 | 2 | 5.68 | 16 |
| Ned Garver | 6 | 17.2 | 0 | 2 | 4.08 | 6 |
| Dick Marlowe | 7 | 11.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.73 | 4 |
| Bud Black | 5 | 10.0 | 1 | 1 | 3.60 | 7 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Aber | 42 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 3.43 | 21 |
| Walt Masterson | 35 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.17 | 28 |
| Jim Brady | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28.42 | 3 |
| Pete Wojey | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.25 | 1 |
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Valdosta
Terre Haute club folded, July 3, 1956
