1952 Detroit Tigers
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkBriggs Stadium
CityDetroit
OwnersWalter Briggs, Sr., Walter Briggs, Jr.
General managersCharlie Gehringer
ManagersRed Rolfe, Fred Hutchinson
TelevisionWWJ
(Van Patrick)
RadioWJBK/WXYZ
(Van Patrick)
← 1951 Seasons 1953 →

The 1952 Detroit Tigers had a record of 50–104 (.325) — the worst record in Tigers' history until the 2003 Tigers lost 119 games. Virgil Trucks became the third pitcher in major league history to throw two no-hitters in one season.[1]

Regular season

The 1952 Tigers winning percentage ranks as the second 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]

Worst Seasons in Detroit Tigers History
Rank Year Wins Losses Win %
1 2003 43 119 .265
2 1952 50 104 .325
3 1996 53 109 .327
4 2002 55 106 .342
5 1975 57 102 .358

Season standings

American League 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 95 59 0.617 — 49–28 46–31
Cleveland Indians 93 61 0.604 2 49–28 44–33
Chicago White Sox 81 73 0.526 14 44–33 37–40
Philadelphia Athletics 79 75 0.513 16 45–32 34–43
Washington Senators 78 76 0.506 17 42–35 36–41
Boston Red Sox 76 78 0.494 19 50–27 26–51
St. Louis Browns 64 90 0.416 31 42–35 22–55
Detroit Tigers 50 104 0.325 45 32–45 18–59

Record vs. opponents

1952 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
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

Roster

1952 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

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

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:

Walt Dropo's consecutive hits streak

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Buffalo Bisons International League Jack Tighe and Schoolboy Rowe
AA Little Rock Travelers Southern Association Willis Hudlin
A Williamsport Tigers Eastern League Paul Campbell
B Durham Bulls Carolina League Ace Parker
B Davenport Tigers Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Marv Olson
D Kinston Eagles Coastal Plain League Wayne Blackburn
D Jamestown Falcons PONY League Tony Lupien
D Wausau Lumberjacks Wisconsin State League Mike Tresh

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Jamestown

Notes

  1. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 139, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  2. ^ Retrosheet.org
  3. ^ Walt Dropo at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Bud Black at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ McCosky, Chris (September 11, 2021). "Tigers' Miguel Cabrera makes history again, hits in 9 straight plate appearances". The Detroit News. Retrieved September 13, 2021.

References

External links

1952 MLB season by team
Detroit Tigers
Categories