1949 Detroit Tigers season

The 1949 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fourth in the American League with a record of 87–67, 10 games behind the New York Yankees.

1949 Detroit Tigers
League	American League
Ballpark	Briggs Stadium
City	Detroit, Michigan
Owners	Walter Briggs, Sr.
General managers	Billy Evans
Managers	Red Rolfe
Television	WWJ (Harry Heilmann, Paul Williams, Ty Tyson)
Radio	WJBK (Harry Heilmann, Van Patrick)
Seasons

Offseason

• November 10, 1948: Marv Grissom was drafted by the Tigers from the Sacramento Solons in the 1948 rule 5 draft.

Regular season

Tigers third baseman George Kell beat Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox for the American League batting title by 0.0002 percentage points (.3429 to .3427).

Season standings

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	97	57	.630	—	54‍–‍23	43‍–‍34
Boston Red Sox	96	58	.623	1	61‍–‍16	35‍–‍42
Cleveland Indians	89	65	.578	8	49‍–‍28	40‍–‍37
Detroit Tigers	87	67	.565	10	50‍–‍27	37‍–‍40
Philadelphia Athletics	81	73	.526	16	52‍–‍25	29‍–‍48
Chicago White Sox	63	91	.409	34	32‍–‍45	31‍–‍46
St. Louis Browns	53	101	.344	44	36‍–‍41	17‍–‍60
Washington Senators	50	104	.325	47	26‍–‍51	24‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

1949 American League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHA	SLB	WSH
Boston	—	17–5	8–14	15–7–1	9–13	14–8	15–7	18–4
Chicago	5–17	—	7–15	8–14	7–15	6–16	15–7	15–7
Cleveland	14–8	15–7	—	13–9	10–12	9–13	15–7	13–9
Detroit	7–15–1	14–8	9–13	—	11–11	14–8	14–8	18–4
New York	13–9	15–7	12–10	11–11	—	14–8	17–5–1	15–7
Philadelphia	8–14	16–6	13–9	8–14	8–14	—	12–10	16–6
St. Louis	7–15	7–15	7–15	8–14	5–17–1	10–12	—	9–13
Washington	4–18	7–15	9–13	4–18	7–15	6–16	13–9	—

Roster

1949 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers 30 Ted Gray 19 Marv Grissom 12 Art Houtteman 29,37 Fred Hutchinson 36 Lou Kretlow 16 Hal Newhouser 18 Stubby Overmire 23 Saul Rogovin 24 Marlin Stuart 11 Dizzy Trout 22 Virgil Trucks 26 Hal White		Catchers 25 Hank Riebe  1 Aaron Robinson  9 Bob Swift Infielders  8 Neil Berry 15 Paul Campbell 21 George Kell 17 Don Kolloway  7 Eddie Lake  2 Johnny Lipon  5 George Vico		Outfielders 14 Hoot Evers  3 Johnny Groth  6 Pat Mullin  4 Dick Wakefield 20 Vic Wertz Other batters 30 Don Lund 30 Bob Mavis 27 Jimmy Outlaw 32 Earl Rapp		Manager 10 Red Rolfe Coaches 28 Dick Bartell 33 Ted Lyons

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	Aaron Robinson	110	331	89	.269	13	56
1B	Paul Campbell	87	255	71	.278	3	30
2B	Neil Berry	109	329	78	.237	0	18
SS	Johnny Lipon	127	439	110	.251	3	59
3B	George Kell	134	522	179	.343	3	59
OF	Johnny Groth	103	348	102	.293	11	73
OF	Hoot Evers	132	432	131	.303	7	72
OF	Vic Wertz	155	608	185	.304	20	133

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
Don Kolloway	126	483	142	.294	2	47
Pat Mullin	104	310	83	.268	12	59
Eddie Lake	94	240	47	.196	1	15
Bob Swift	74	189	45	.238	2	18
Sam Vico	67	142	27	.190	4	18
Dick Wakefield	59	126	26	.206	6	19
Hank Riebe	17	33	6	.182	0	2
Jimmy Outlaw	5	4	1	.250	0	0
Don Lund	2	2	0	.000	0	0
Earl Rapp	1	0	0	----	0	0
Bob Mavis	1	0	0	----	0	0

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
Hal Newhouser	38	292.0	18	11	3.36	144
Virgil Trucks	41	275.0	19	11	2.81	153
Art Houtteman	34	203.2	15	10	3.71	85
Ted Gray	34	195.0	10	10	3.51	96

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
Fred Hutchinson	33	188.2	15	7	2.96	54
Lou Kretlow	25	76.0	3	2	6.16	40
Marlin Stuart	14	29.2	0	2	9.10	14

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
Dizzy Trout	33	3	6	3	4.40	19
Marv Grissom	27	2	4	0	6.41	17
Stubby Overmire	14	1	3	0	9.87	3
Hal White	9	1	0	2	0.00	4
Saul Rogovin	5	0	1	0	14.29	2

Awards and honors

• George Kell, AL Batting champion

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Toledo Mud Hens	American Association	Eddie Mayo
AAA	Buffalo Bisons	International League	Paul Richards
AA	Little Rock Travelers	Southern Association	Jack Saltzgaver
A	Flint Arrows	Central League	Jack Tighe
A	Williamsport Tigers	Eastern League	Gene Desautels
B	Durham Bulls	Carolina League	Ace Parker
B	Lynn Tigers	New England League	Pep Kennedy and Charles Webb
C	Rome Colonels	Canadian–American League	Clyde Smoll
C	Butler Tigers	Middle Atlantic League	Boom-Boom Beck
D	Troy Tigers	Alabama State League	Bloomer Milner
D	Thomasville Tigers	Georgia–Florida League	Ralph DiLullo
D	Jamestown Falcons	PONY League	Marv Olson

Lynn franchise folded, July 19, 1949

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1949 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference