1956 Detroit Tigers
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkBriggs Stadium
CityDetroit, Michigan
OwnersWalter Briggs, Jr., Fred Knorr, John Fetzer
General managersMuddy Ruel
ManagersBucky Harris
TelevisionWJBK
RadioWKMH
(Van Patrick, Mel Ott)
← 1955 Seasons 1957 →

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.

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

American League 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 97 57 0.630 — 49–28 48–29
Cleveland Indians 88 66 0.571 9 46–31 42–35
Chicago White Sox 85 69 0.552 12 46–31 39–38
Boston Red Sox 84 70 0.545 13 43–34 41–36
Detroit Tigers 82 72 0.532 15 37–40 45–32
Baltimore Orioles 69 85 0.448 28 41–36 28–49
Washington Senators 59 95 0.383 38 32–45 27–50
Kansas City Athletics 52 102 0.338 45 22–55 30–47

Record vs. opponents

1956 American League record

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

Roster

1956 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders 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 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

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Charleston Senators American Association Charlie Metro and Frank Skaff
A Syracuse Chiefs Eastern League Glenn McQuillen, Joe Torpey and Frank Calo
A Augusta Tigers Sally League Frank Skaff, Willis Hudlin and Bill Norman
B Durham Bulls Carolina League Johnny Pesky
B Terre Haute Tigers Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Bill Norman and Charlie Metro
C Idaho Falls Russets Pioneer League Stan Wasiak and Charlie Metro
D Panama City Fliers Alabama–Florida League Al Lakeman
D Palatka Tigers Florida State League Ralph Hodgin and Charlie Baird
D Hazlehurst-Baxley Tigers Georgia State League Wayne Wallace and Stan Wasiak
D Valdosta Tigers Georgia–Florida League Bill Adair
D Jamestown Falcons PONY League Pat Mullin, Don Lund and Wayne Blackburn

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Valdosta
Terre Haute club folded, July 3, 1956

Notes

  1. ^ Pete Wojey at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Howie Koplitz at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Jim Brideweser at Baseball Reference

References

Categories