1946 Detroit Tigers season

1946 Detroit Tigers
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Briggs Stadium (since 1912)
Detroit (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Walter Briggs, Sr.
General manager(s)	George Trautman
Manager(s)	Steve O'Neill
Local radio	WXYZ (Harry Heilmann)
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The 1946 Detroit Tigers finished the season with a record of 92–62, twelve games behind the Boston Red Sox. The season was their 46th since they entered the American League in 1901.

Offseason

• March 26, 1946: Rip Radcliff was released by the Tigers.^[1]

Regular season

The 1946 Tigers were led by first baseman Hank Greenberg who led the AL with 127 RBIs and led the major leagues with 44 home runs, and by Hal Newhouser who led the major leagues with 26 wins, a 1.94 ERA, an Adjusted ERA+ of 188, and 8.46 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
Boston Red Sox	104	50	.675	--
Detroit Tigers	92	62	.597	12
New York Yankees	87	67	.565	17
Washington Senators	76	78	.494	28
Chicago White Sox	74	80	.481	30
Cleveland Indians	68	86	.442	36
St. Louis Browns	66	88	.429	38
Philadelphia Athletics	49	105	.318	55

Record vs. opponents

1946 American League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	13–9	15–7	15–7–1	14–8	17–5	14–8–1	16–6
Chicago	9–13	—	13–9–1	10–12	8–14	12–10	12–10	10–12
Cleveland	7–15	9–13–1	—	5–17	10–12	15–7	15–7–1	7–15
Detroit	7–15–1	12–10	17–5	—	13–9	17–5	14–8	12–10
New York	8–14	14–8	12–10	9–13	—	16–6	14–8	14–8
Philadelphia	5–17	10–12	7–15	5–17	6–16	—	10–12	6–16–1
St. Louis	8–14–1	10–12	7–15–1	8–14	8–14	12–10	—	13–9
Washington	6–16	12–10	15–7	10–12	8–14	16–6–1	9–13	—

Roster

1946 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers 19 Al Benton 10 Tommy Bridges 25 George Caster 34 Rufe Gentry 35 Johnny Gorsica 34 Ted Gray  6 Art Houtteman 29 Fred Hutchinson 35 Lou Kretlow 24 Hal Manders 16 Hal Newhouser 18 Stubby Overmire 11 Dizzy Trout 22 Virgil Trucks 17 Hal White		Catchers  9 Paul Richards 12 Bob Swift  1 Birdie Tebbetts Infielders 26 Jimmy Bloodworth  5 Hank Greenberg  6 Pinky Higgins 23 Billy Hitchcock 21 George Kell  7 Eddie Lake 37 Johnny Lipon  3 Eddie Mayo 28 Skeeter Webb		Outfielders  8 Doc Cramer  2 Roy Cullenbine 14 Hoot Evers 24 Johnny Groth 21 Barney McCosky 20 Anse Moore 33 Pat Mullin 27 Jimmy Outlaw  4 Dick Wakefield Other batters 26 Ned Harris		Manager 32 Steve O'Neill Coaches 10 Tommy Bridges 31 Art Mills 30 Frank Shellenback

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	Tebbetts, BirdieBirdie Tebbetts	87	280	68	.243	1	34
1B	Greenberg, HankHank Greenberg	142	523	145	.277	44	127
2B	Bloodworth, JimmyJimmy Bloodworth	76	249	61	.245	5	36
3B	Kell, GeorgeGeorge Kell	105	434	142	.327	4	41
SS	Lake, EddieEddie Lake	155	587	149	.254	8	31
OF	Wakefield, DickDick Wakefield	111	396	106	.268	12	59
OF	Cullenbine, RoyRoy Cullenbine	113	328	110	.335	15	56
OF	Evers, HootHoot Evers	81	304	81	.266	4	33

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
Outlaw, JimmyJimmy Outlaw	92	299	78	.261	2	31
Mullin, PatPat Mullin	93	276	68	.246	3	35
Cramer, DocDoc Cramer	68	204	60	.294	1	26
Mayo, EddieEddie Mayo	51	202	51	.252	0	22
Webb, SkeeterSkeeter Webb	64	169	37	.219	0	17
Richards, PaulPaul Richards	57	139	28	.201	0	11
Moore, AnseAnse Moore	51	134	28	.209	1	8
Swift, BobBob Swift	42	107	25	.234	2	10
McCosky, BarneyBarney McCosky	25	91	37	.198	1	11
Higgins, PinkyPinky Higgins	18	60	13	.217	0	8
Lipon, JohnnyJohnny Lipon	14	20	6	.300	0	1
Groth, JohnnyJohnny Groth	4	9	0	.000	0	0
Hitchcock, BillyBilly Hitchcock	3	3	0	.000	0	0
Harris, NedNed Harris	1	1	0	.000	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
Newhouser, HalHal Newhouser	37	292.2	26	9	1.94	275
Trout, DizzyDizzy Trout	38	276.1	17	13	2.34	151
Trucks, VirgilVirgil Trucks	32	236.2	14	9	3.23	161
Hutchinson, FredFred Hutchinson	28	207	14	11	3.09	138
Kretlow, LouLou Kretlow	1	9	1	0	3.00	4
Houtteman, ArtArt Houtteman	1	8	0	1	9.00	2

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
Benton, AlAl Benton	28	140.2	11	7	3.65	60
Overmire, StubbyStubby Overmire	24	97.1	5	7	4.62	34
Gray, TedTed Gray	3	11.2	0	2	8.49	5

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W= Wins; L= Losses; SV = Saves; GF = Games Finished; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	GF	ERA	SO
Caster, GeorgeGeorge Caster	26	2	1	4	19	5.66	19
Gorsica, JohnnyJohnny Gorsica	14	0	0	1	7	4.56	14
White, HalHal White	11	1	1	0	1	5.60	12
Bridges, TommyTommy Bridges	9	1	1	1	6	5.91	17
Manders, HalHal Manders	2	0	0	0	1	10.50	3
Gentry, RufeRufe Gentry	2	0	0	0	2	15.00	1

Awards and honors

League leaders

• Hank Greenberg: MLB leader in home runs (44)
• Hank Greenberg: AL leader in RBIs (127)
• Hank Greenberg: MLB leader in at bats per home run (11.9)
• Art Houtteman: Youngest player in MLB (18)
• Eddie Lake: AL leader in games played (155)
• Eddie Lake: MLB leader in plate appearances (703)
• Eddie Lake: MLB leader in outs (464)
• Eddie Lake: AL leader in power/speed number (10.4)^[2]
• Hal Newhouser: MLB leader in ERA (1.94)
• Hal Newhouser: MLB leader in wins (26)
• Hal Newhouser: MLB leader in Adjusted ERA+ (188)
• Hal Newhouser: MLB leader in walks plus hits per 9 innings pitched (1.069)
• Hal Newhouser: MLB leader in hits allowed per 9 innings (6.61)
• Hal Newhouser: MLB leader in strikeouts per 9 innings (8.46)
• Virgil Trucks: MLB leader in home runs allowed (23)

Players ranking among top 100 of all time at position

The following members of the 1945 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their position, as ranked by The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001:

• Birdie Tebbetts: 64th best catcher of all time (played 87 games at catcher for 1946 Tigers)
• Hank Greenberg: 8th best first baseman of all time
• George Kell: 30th best third baseman of all time
• Hoot Evers: 100th best left fielder of all time (played 76 games in center field for 1946 Tigers)
• Doc Cramer: 91st best center fielder of all time (played 50 games in center field in 1946 Tigers)
• Barney McCosky: 70th best center fielder of all time (played 24 games in center field for 1946 Tigers)
• Roy Cullenbine: 68th best right fielder of all time (played 69 games in right field for 1946 Tigers)
• Hal Newhouser: 36th best pitcher of all time
• Virgil Trucks: 61st best pitcher of all time
• Tommy Bridges: 77th best pitcher of all time (pitched in 9 games for 1946 Tigers)

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Buffalo Bisons	International League	Gabby Hartnett
AA	Dallas Rebels	Texas League	Al Vincent
A	Williamsport Grays	Eastern League	Gerard "Nig" Lipscomb and Harry Davis
C	Rome Colonels	Canadian–American League	Woody Wheaton
C	Lubbock Hubbers	West Texas–New Mexico League	Jim Miller
C	Muskogee Reds	Western Association	Ray Baker
D	Jamestown Falcons	PONY League	Marv Olson

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Dallas

References

1. Rip Radcliff at Baseball Reference

External links

• 1946 Detroit Tigers Regular Season Statistics Baseball-Reference.com