The 1940s Detroit Tiger Almanac -shows one of the most exciting...

... and successful periods in their history. The almanac for the 1940s starts off with a bang as the Tigers battle their way to their 6th pennant in a classic race... and things stay interesting- through war and peace- the whole way through!

Year Finish W L Pct GB Manager Attendance
1940 First 90 64 584 -1 Del Baker 1,112,693
1941 Fourth 75 79 487 26 Del Baker 684,915
1942 Fifth 73 81 474 30 Del Baker 580,087
1943 Fifth 78 76 506 20 Steve O'Neill 606,287
1944 Second 88 66 571 1 Steve O'Neill 923,176
1945 First 88 65 575 -1½ Steve O'Neill 1,280,341
1946 Second 92 62 597 12 Steve O'Neill 1,722,590
1947 Second 85 69 552 12 Steve O'Neill 1,398,093
1948 Fifth 78 76 506 18½ Steve O'Neill 1,743,035
1949 Fourth 87 67 565 10 Red Rolfe 1,821,204
1940s 834 705 542 127 11,872,421
Avg 83 71 542 13 1,187,242

As the almanac shows, 2 pennants in 5 years is pretty dang good... and in contention a few other times. Detroit was the "Arsenal of Democracy" and probably did more to win the war than any other American city... these folks needed a diversion and even when the Tigers didn't win, with those big bats, they were usually pretty entertaining!
1940(90-64)Hank Greenberg agrees to switch to the outfield to make room at 1st base for defensively challenged Rudy York... all Hank does is wins the MVP, hits 41 homers to lead the league... drives in 150... and hits .340
...and Rudy York shows how much he appreciates it... he has his best year with 134 RBIs and hits .316
The oft-traveled Bobo Newsom has his best year with an eye-popping 21-5 recordl... and 2 wins in the World Series! Bobo called himself "Bobo" and loves to talk about himself in the 3rd person... "Bobo's great," ... "Bobo will pitch a shutout," ... but he also calls everyone else Bobo! Impossible to understand what he was talking about most of the time!
The Almanac says:
This is a great 3 team pennant race as the Yankees slip back to the pack a bit... the Tigers and Indians really slug it out all summer and it all comes down to the final series. We will obviously give this one close scrutiny... especially the end where a rookie Tiger pitcher duels the great Indians Hall of Famer Bob Feller with the whole enchilada on the line- STAY TUNED! ... but here's a look at the World Series to tide you over!
1941(75-79)Rudy York leads the club in homers with 27, but his production lags without Greenberg in the lineup... he hits just .259
Bobo Newsom goes from winning 21 to losing 20 in successive years... and he's gone- back to Washington!
Hank Greenberg is drafted and plays only 19 games before going into the Army... he'll not be back until 1945. Imagine... he loses almost five full year to military service at the very height of his career and still hits 330 home runs.
The Almanac says:
Greenberg's departure really sets the tone... he carries that Tiger team and without him, the offense just can't get started. With Charlie Gehringer turning 38 and finally slowing down- hitting just .220- things were much different in '41 than in '40. The Yankees are rebounding and the Arsenal of Democracy is gearing up for a long war... attendance falls from a record 1.1 million to under 700,000.
1942(73-81)

Tigers
Charlie Gehringer
Courtesy National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown, New York
Charlie Gehringer's amazing career finally comes to an end at age 38... "The Mechanical Man" is a .320 lifetime hitter and a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame!
Dizzy Trout, Hal Newhouser and Virgil Trucks are 3 young pitchers getting plenty of wartime innings- they'll develop into the nucleus of another pennant contender
The Almanac says:
The club actually gets off to a pretty good start, well over .500 at the end of June, but it all comes tumbling down... hitting attack is nonexistent and the pitching is too young.

1943(78-76)

Virgil "Fire" Trucks goes 16-10 before heading off to military service... he'll miss all of 1944 and virtually all of 1945

Paul "Dizzy" Trout leads the league in wins with 20... Dizzy's son, Steve will pitch with some success for the White sox in the '70s and '80s... he's also known as a bit of a flake!

Hal Newhouser pitches well but doesn't put many wins on the board, going 8-17, but he'll turn it around... "Prince" Hal is a Detroit lad... the Yankees will offer Joe DiMaggio even-up for him in 1947

The Almanac says:
New manager Steve O'Neill sees improvement.. the young pitching is coming along... outfielder Dick Wakefield hits .316 and contends for the batting tile while Rudy York- again- leads the club in long shots... but the club, as are many, is devastated by the draft.

1944(88-66)

Hal Newhouser starts his run of great seasons... 29 wins ties George Mullin's Tiger record and leads the league... he's the MVP and Sporting News Pitcher of the Year

...and Dizzy Trout is no slouch himself... he wins 27 and leads the league in ERA over Newhouser!

Boom-Boom Beck wins 1 game. (I just wanted to say his name!-- The almanac likes to have fun, too!)

The Almanac says:
Not your normal Tiger team... pitching really carries the day for this squad with the 2 big winners... but there is not enough hitting to carry the team past the ST. LOUIS BROWNS... the only pennant in their history. (Quick- Who are the Browns now?--- If you know, tell me HERE!... first one to get it wins a prize!

Hal Newhouser
Courtesy National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown, New York

1945(88-65)

Dizzy Trout wins 18 and pitches 6 games over a late season 9 game stretch... and he wins 4 of them!

Hal Newhouser has another MVP year... wins 25 games and drives in 17 runs

Hank Greenberg finally comes back from the Army... hits 13 homers and drives in 60 huge runs... he homers in his first game back on July 1

The Almanac says:
Hank Greenberg smokes a 9th inning GRAND SLAM on the last day of the season to beat the defending champion Browns and clinch the Tigers' 7th pennant... maybe the biggest clout in Tiger history! A substandard hitting attack is carried by pitching again... Newhouser and Trout win more than their share, but Big Al Benton chips in 13 crucial wins to help put Detroit over the top! We will examine this World Championship team in more detail- Soon, but here's a look at the World Series!

1946(92-62)

	Hank Greenberg Courtesy National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown, New York	Hank Greenberg's first full season since 1940 nets him $60,000 and 44 homers, leading the league. In the off-season, he's unbelievably sold to the Pirates for $75,000- Even the almanac can't figure it out- he plays just 1 year there before retiring. Third sacker George Kell comes over from Philadelphia... and hits .327 for Taah-gars! Hal Newhouser leads the league in wins for the 3rd straight time with 26 *The Almanac says:* Favored to win a 2nd straight pennant, the Tigers get off to a slow start, which really costs them- BIG... in early June, they're only a few games above break even and trailing Boston by 14. Though they play the league's best ball from that point on, that lead is too much to overcome, and it's never really a race.

1947(85-69)

Fred Hutchinson leads the staff win 18 wins... Hutch is known for his violent temper, but is also liked and respected by teammates. He becomes a successful manager... but passes away from cancer at only 45 years old in 1964.

George Kell leads the club in hitting and RBIs... and down home baseball "smarts"

Roy Cullenbine leads the team in homers with 24, but hits only .224 ... Roy finishes second in the league in walks, which helps... he draws 137 free passes

The Almanac says:
A 10 game losing streak in mid June pretty much finishes off any '47 Tiger pennant hopes... they miss the big bat of Hank Greenberg... no 30 homer or 100 RBI guys, and the pitching isn't good enough to make up the difference..

1948(78-76)

Pat Mullin leads in homers with 23... another Tiger who lost 5 years to the war, he's the last guy to wear #6 before you-know-who!

Hal Newhouser bounces back with another 21 win season to lead the league

21 year old pitcher, Billy Pierce is traded to the White Sox for catcher Aaron Robinson... probably the worst trade in Tiger history as Robinson- at age 34- only plays part time for a few more years, while Pierce wins over 200 games

The Almanac says:
This crew costs manager Steve O'Neill his job as they flounder around .500 all year... 5th in the league in runs scored and 4th in pitching... bright spots are George Kell, Hoot Evers and young Vic Wertz. Art Houtemann, a 21 year old pitcher goes a nasty 2-16, but he has several good years ahead.

1949(87-67)

George Kell wins the batting title by one one hundredth of a point over the great Ted Williams... George denies Ted his 3rd triple crown!

Art Houtteman learned a lot from all those defeats last year... he wins 15 and loses 10... despite suffering a fractured skull- OUCH!

Vic Wertz drives in 133 runs... Vic hit for the cycle once... in 1947

The Almanac says:
Red Rolfe takes over a club which pitches and hits better than last year... just not quite enough! While the team remained in shouting distance of the leaders, they could never quite catch up with Boston and New York... but the starting pitching was quite solid- 5 guys with over 10 wins... and record attendance of over 1.8 million at Briggs Stadium.

George Kell
Courtesy National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown, New York

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