1938 Detroit Tigers season

1938 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)	Mickey Cochrane
Manager(s)	Mickey Cochrane, Del Baker
Local radio	WWJ (AM) (Ty Tyson) WXYZ (Harry Heilmann)
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The 1938 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The Detroit Tigers compiled a record of 84 wins and 70 losses, good enough for fourth place in the American League. Hank Greenberg hit 58 home runs, and became the first unanimous selection as the American League MVP.

Offseason

• December 2, 1937: Mike Tresh, Marv Owen and Gee Walker were traded by the Tigers to the Chicago White Sox for Vern Kennedy, Tony Piet, and Dixie Walker.^[1]

Regular season

The highlight of the 1938 season was first baseman Hank Greenberg challenging the single-season home run record held by Babe Ruth (60). Hank went into the season's final weekend against the Cleveland Indians with 58 home runs, but failed to homer on Saturday or Sunday. He did tie Jimmie Foxx's record for a right-handed hitter, set in 1932.^[2]

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
New York Yankees	99	53	.651	--
Boston Red Sox	88	61	.591	9.5
Cleveland Indians	86	66	.566	13.0
Detroit Tigers	84	70	.545	16.0
Washington Senators	75	76	.497	23.5
Chicago White Sox	65	83	.439	32.0
St. Louis Browns	55	97	.362	44.0
Philadelphia Athletics	53	99	.349	46.0

Record vs. opponents

1938 American League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	12–6	12–10	10–12	11–11–1	14–8	17–5	12–9
Chicago	6–12	—	9–13	7–15	8–14	12–10	13–8–1	10–11
Cleveland	10–12	13–9	—	12–10	8–13	18–4	13–9–1	12–9
Detroit	12–10	15–7	10–12	—	8–14	14–8	12–10–1	13–9
New York	11–11–1	14–8	13–8	14–8	—	16–5–2	15–7–1	16–6–1
Philadelphia	8–14	10–12	4–18	8–14	5–16–2	—	12–9	6–16
St. Louis	5–17	8–13–1	9–13–1	10–12–1	7–15–1	9–12	—	7–15
Washington	9–12	11–10	9–12	9–13	6–16–1	16–6	15–7	—

Roster

1938 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers 12 Elden Auker 29 Al Benton 10 Tommy Bridges 21 Slick Coffman 35 Woody Davis 26 Harry Eisenstat 16 George Gill 14 Bob Harris 11 Vern Kennedy 15 Roxie Lawson 17 Boots Poffenberger 34 Joe Rogalski 14 Schoolboy Rowe 18 Jake Wade		Catchers 23 Ray Hayworth 28 Birdie Tebbetts  4 Rudy York Infielders 20 Mark Christman  2 Charlie Gehringer  5 Hank Greenberg 24 Benny McCoy 27 Tony Piet  7 Billy Rogell  6 Don Ross		Outfielders 19 Roy Cullenbine  9 Pete Fox 3,25 Chet Laabs 25 Chet Morgan  8 Dixie Walker 22 Jo-Jo White Other batters 35 George Archie		Manager 32 Del Baker  3 Mickey Cochrane Coaches 32 Del Baker 31 Bing Miller -- Cy Perkins

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	York, RudyRudy York	135	463	138	.298	33	127
1B	Greenberg, HankHank Greenberg	155	556	175	.315	58	146
2B	Gehringer, CharlieCharlie Gehringer	152	568	174	.306	20	107
3B	Ross, DonDon Ross	77	265	69	.260	1	30
SS	Rogell, BillyBilly Rogell	136	501	130	.259	3	55
OF	Walker, DixieDixie Walker	127	454	140	.308	6	43
OF	Fox, PetePete Fox	155	634	186	.293	7	96
OF	Morgan, ChetChet Morgan	74	306	87	.284	0	27

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
Christman, MarkMark Christman	95	318	79	.248	1	44
White, Jo-JoJo-Jo White	78	206	54	.262	0	15
Laabs, ChetChet Laabs	64	211	50	.237	7	37
Tebbetts, BirdieBirdie Tebbetts	53	143	42	.294	1	25
Piet, TonyTony Piet	41	80	17	.213	0	14
Cullenbine, RoyRoy Cullenbine	25	67	19	.284	0	9
Hayworth, RayRay Hayworth	8	19	4	.211	0	5
McCoy, BennyBenny McCoy	7	15	3	.200	0	0
Archie, GeorgeGeorge Archie	3	2	0	.000	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
Kennedy, VernVern Kennedy	33	190.1	12	9	5.06	53
Gill, GeorgeGeorge Gill	24	164	12	9	4.12	30
Auker, EldenElden Auker	27	160.2	11	10	5.27	46
Bridges, TommyTommy Bridges	25	151	13	9	4.59	101
Rowe, SchoolboySchoolboy Rowe	4	21	0	2	3.00	4

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
Lawson, RoxieRoxie Lawson	27	127	8	9	5.46	39
Poffenberger, BootsBoots Poffenberger	25	125	6	7	4.82	28
Eisenstat, HarryHarry Eisenstat	32	125.1	9	6	3.72	37
Benton, AlAl Benton	19	95.1	5	3	3.30	33
Harris, BobBob Harris	3	10	1	0	7.20	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
Coffman, SlickSlick Coffman	39	4	4	2	6.02	31
Wade, JakeJake Wade	27	3	2	0	6.56	23
Rogalski, JoeJoe Rogalski	2	0	0	0	2.57	2
Davis, WoodyWoody Davis	2	0	0	0	1.50	1

Awards and honors

• Hank Greenberg finished third in the American League MVP voting.

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
A1	Beaumont Exporters	Texas League	Al Vincent
C	Charleston Senators	Middle Atlantic League	Paul O'Malley
D	Andalusia Bulldogs	Alabama–Florida League	Yam Yaryan
D	Beckley Bengals	Mountain State League	Eli Harris
D	Tiffin Mud Hens	Ohio State League	Tony Rogala
D	Harlingen Hubs	Texas Valley League	Jake Atz
D	Hobbs Boosters	West Texas–New Mexico League	Neal Rabe

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Beaumont, Beckley, Harlingen^[3]

Notes

1. Mike Tresh at Baseball Reference
2. "Hank Greenberg Facts from". The Baseball Page.com. Retrieved March 16, 2010.
3. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

External links

• 1938 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference