1970 Detroit Tigers season
Major League Baseball season
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The 1970 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 70th season and the 59th season at Tiger Stadium. The team finished fourth in the American League East with a record of 79–83, 29 games behind the Baltimore Orioles.
| 1970 Detroit Tigers | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Division | East |
| Ballpark | Tiger Stadium |
| City | Detroit, Michigan |
| Owners | John Fetzer |
| General managers | Jim Campbell |
| Managers | Mayo Smith |
| Television | WJBK (George Kell, Larry Osterman) |
| Radio | WJR (Ernie Harwell, Ray Lane) |
Offseason
- December 13, 1969: Tom Matchick was traded by the Tigers to the Boston Red Sox for Dalton Jones.[1]
- February 19, 1970: The Tigers' Cy Young Award winning pitcher, Denny McLain, was suspended from baseball "indefinitely" by MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn.
- April 1, 1970: Kuhn announced that McLain's suspension would last until July 1, 1970. McLain missed the first 71 games of the 162-game season.
Regular season
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Orioles | 108 | 54 | .667 | — | 59–22 | 49–32 |
| New York Yankees | 93 | 69 | .574 | 15 | 53–28 | 40–41 |
| Boston Red Sox | 87 | 75 | .537 | 21 | 52–29 | 35–46 |
| Detroit Tigers | 79 | 83 | .488 | 29 | 42–39 | 37–44 |
| Cleveland Indians | 76 | 86 | .469 | 32 | 43–38 | 33–48 |
| Washington Senators | 70 | 92 | .432 | 38 | 40–41 | 30–51 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | WAS | |
| Baltimore | — | 13–5 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 14–4 | 11–7 | 12–0 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 12–6 | |
| Boston | 5–13 | — | 5–7 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 12–6 | |
| California | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 12–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 8–10 | 7–5 | |
| Chicago | 3–9 | 4–8 | 6–12 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 2–16 | 4–8 | |
| Cleveland | 4–14 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 7–11 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 11–7 | |
| Detroit | 7–11 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 11–7 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 9–9 | |
| Kansas City | 0–12 | 5–7 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | — | 12–6 | 5–13 | 1–11 | 7–11 | 6–6 | |
| Milwaukee | 5–7 | 7–5 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–12 | — | 5–13 | 3–9–1 | 8–10 | 5–7 | |
| Minnesota | 7–5 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 13–5 | 13–5 | — | 5–7 | 13–5 | 6–6 | |
| New York | 7–11 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 11–1 | 9–3–1 | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 10–8 | |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 16–2 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 5–13 | 6–6 | — | 10–2 | |
| Washington | 6–12 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 2–10 | — | |
Notable transactions
- April 8, 1970: Tom Tresh was released by the Tigers.[2]
- August 2, 1970: Kevin Collins was purchased by the Tigers from the Montreal Expos.[3]
Roster
| 1970 Detroit Tigers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
Batting
| = Indicates team leader |
Starters by position
Note: 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 | Bill Freehan | 117 | 395 | 95 | .241 | 16 | 52 |
| 1B | Norm Cash | 130 | 370 | 96 | .259 | 15 | 53 |
| 2B | Dick McAuliffe | 146 | 530 | 124 | .234 | 12 | 50 |
| SS | César Gutiérrez | 135 | 415 | 101 | .243 | 0 | 22 |
| 3B | Don Wert | 128 | 363 | 79 | .218 | 6 | 33 |
| LF | Willie Horton | 96 | 371 | 113 | .305 | 17 | 69 |
| CF | Mickey Stanley | 142 | 568 | 143 | .252 | 13 | 47 |
| RF | Al Kaline | 131 | 467 | 130 | .278 | 16 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Northrup | 139 | 504 | 132 | .262 | 24 | 80 |
| Elliott Maddox | 109 | 258 | 64 | .248 | 3 | 24 |
| Dalton Jones | 89 | 191 | 42 | .220 | 6 | 21 |
| Jim Price | 52 | 132 | 24 | .182 | 5 | 15 |
| Gates Brown | 81 | 124 | 28 | .226 | 3 | 24 |
| Ike Brown | 56 | 94 | 27 | .287 | 4 | 15 |
| Ken Szotkiewicz | 47 | 84 | 9 | .107 | 3 | 9 |
| Gene Lamont | 15 | 44 | 13 | .295 | 1 | 4 |
| Russ Nagelson | 28 | 32 | 6 | .188 | 0 | 2 |
| Kevin Collins | 25 | 24 | 5 | .208 | 1 | 3 |
| Tim Hosley | 7 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 1 | 2 |
Pitching
| = Indicates league leader |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mickey Lolich | 40 | 272.2 | 14 | 19 | 3.80 | 230 |
| Joe Niekro | 38 | 213.0 | 12 | 13 | 4.06 | 101 |
| Les Cain | 29 | 180.2 | 12 | 7 | 3.84 | 156 |
| Earl Wilson | 18 | 96.0 | 4 | 6 | 4.41 | 74 |
| Denny McLain | 14 | 91.1 | 3 | 5 | 4.63 | 52 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Kilkenny | 36 | 129.0 | 7 | 6 | 5.16 | 105 |
| Bob Reed | 16 | 46.1 | 2 | 4 | 4.86 | 26 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Timmermann | 61 | 6 | 7 | 27 | 4.11 | 49 |
| Fred Scherman | 48 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3.23 | 58 |
| John Hiller | 47 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3.03 | 89 |
| Daryl Patterson | 43 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4.85 | 55 |
| Norm McRae | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.87 | 16 |
| Fred Lasher | 12 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5.00 | 8 |
| Jerry Robertson | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.68 | 11 |
| Lerrin LaGrow | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.30 | 7 |
| Dennis Saunders | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.21 | 8 |
