The 1950s Detroit Tiger Almanac Doesn't Give Us Any Championships, but...

... we Do Get a Couple of Hall of Famers! The 1950s almanac presents the great Al Kaline and Jim Bunning and some other pretty good players.

The Tigers started off the decade well, but crashed... we always hang onto talent past its peak (see 1974 and 1989), but rebuilding efforts never quite made it. Pretty good talent in the late '50s, but never more than 82 wins...

We... not so proudly... present the 1950s Detroit Tiger Almanac:

Year Finish W L Pct GB Manager Attendance
1950 Second 95 59 617 3 Red Rolfe 1,951,474
1951 Fifth 73 81 474 25 Red Rolfe 1,132,641
1952 Eighth 50 104 325 45 Rolfe,Hutchinson 1,026,846
1953 Sixth 60 94 390 40½ Fred Hutchinson 884,658
1954 Fifth 68 86 442 43 Fred Hutchinson 1,079,847
1955 Fifth 79 75 513 17 Bucky Harris 1,181,838
1956 Fifth 82 72 532 15 Bucky Harris 1,051,182
1957 Fourth 78 76 506 20 Jack Tighe 1,272,346
1958 Fifth 77 77 500 15 Tighe,Norman 1,098,924
1959 Fourth 76 78 494 18 Norman,Dykes 1,221,221
1950s 738 802 479 241½ 11,900,977
Avg 74 80 479 24 1,190,098

1950(95-59)

George Kell
Courtesy National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown, New York George Kell follows up last year's batting championship with .340, good for 2nd this year. He hits only 8 home runs, but drives in over 100 runs... that's clutch hitting!
Vic Wertz has his best year with 27 homers, 123 RBIs and still bats .308
Hoot Evers hits .323 with good power and over 100 RBIs
The Almanac says:
This is a great offensive year for baseball and the Tigers are a great offensive team... 3 guys have over 100 RBIs... 4 regulars hit over .300 and they make a real run at the Yankees and Red Sox before finishing a lousy 2 games behind. If only Virgil Trucks wouldn't have come down with a sore arm, who knows... maybe they could have maintained the 5-year plan of pennants in ('34)"35, '40, '45, and '50!

1951(73-81)

Bob Cain goes 12-12 overall in '51, but is best known for being the guy who pitches against Eddie Gaedel on August 19! How did he do? ... No surprise- He walks Eddie on 4 pitches! One of Bill Veeck's greatest stunts!
Vic Wertz, who'll be more famous for hitting the ball that Willie Mays makes his famous "catch" on, has another great year with 27 home runs
Hall of Famer George Kell hits .319 in his last full Detroit season, before the power-starved Tigers send him to Boston

The Almanac says:
It looks like the Tigers had peaked in 1950... very few of the bats are as big as last year... sore arms by Newhouser and a military stint by Art Houtteman decimate the pitching staff... 23 less victories and the free-fall begins.

1952(50-104)

Virgil Trucks wins only 5 games, but has 2 NO HITTERS, a one-hitter, and a two-hitter.
Walt Dropo hits 23 or his 29 homers for Detroit, supplying some- but not enough- much needed power
No .300 hitters- Johnny Groth's .284 paces the regulars- OUCH!

The Almanac says:
The first last-place finish in Tiger history... over 100 losses and finishing even behind the St. Louis Browns. Wholesale changes in personnel as management really cleans house over the next couple of seasons... they bring over some good guys like Ray Boone and Steve Gromek, but unwisely give up Vic Wertz and George Kell.

1953(60-94)

Ray Boone comes over from Cleveland and most of his production- 26 homers and 114 RBIs is for the Bengals
Harvey Kuenn is Rookie of the Year, hitting .309 and setting tobacco-chewing records!
Young Al Kaline joins the team as an 18 year old- fresh outta high school... never plays a day in the minors... and thinks Briggs Stadium looks like a big boat from the outside!

The Almanac says:
Ten more wins than the disaster of '52, but still not enough punch to do a whole lot... only 106 home runs in a real hitter's park ain't gonna do it when the pitching is not very good.

1954(68-86)

Thirty four year old Steve Gromek posts 18 wins for a staff that really needed it!

Nineteen year old Al Kaline plays regularly and at a high level, batting .276

Harvey Kuenn leads the team in batting and again in tobacco chewing... his average was .306

The Almanac says:
This is a tough year to compete... Cleveland wins 111 games, New York 103 and the White Sox 94... everyone else in the league is a loser and while the Tigers improve by 8 games, they lose ground to the leaders.

1955(79-75)

Al Kaline at 20 years old wins the batting tile, hitting .340 with 27 homers and over 100 RBIs... finishes 2nd in MVP voting and (of course) is an All Star

Harvey Keunn, of course, hits over .300 again- he has every year so far!

Frank Lary rings up 14 wins in his rookie year... good looking pitcher from 'Bama

The Almanac says:
A major step forward for a young team... guys like Al Kaline... Jim Bunning... Billy Hoeft...Frank Lary take big steps, and vets like Ray Boone have good years. This team isn't ready to compete with the AL elite yet, but is no longer a pushover. Manager Bucky Harris, who had originally managed the team in 1929, has to be happy with the improvement... the first winning season since 1950!

Al Kaline
Courtesy National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown, New York

1956(82-72)

Charlie"Paw Paw" Maxwell comes home from Boston... given the chance to play regularly hits 28 dingers and hits .326!
Al Kaline carries the team with another big year- 128 RBIs and well over .300
Frank Lary and Billy Hoeft BOTH win 20 games!

The Almanac says:
Looking at the stats, it's surprising that this team really doesn't do better... 2 20 game winners... great years by Al Kaline, Boone, Kuenn and Maxwell... team average of .279 and 150 homers. They get off to an awful start, but are the league's best team in the second half.

1957(78-76)

Jim Bunning
Courtesy National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown, New York

Senator Jim Bunning from Kentucky, finally breaks through and wins 20... for the only time in his Hall of Fame career!
"Paw Paw" Maxwell leads in home runs with 24... He's "Paw Paw' because that's the name of the Michigan town he's from!
Al Kaline and Kuenn both have sub par years, under .300

The Almanac says:
New manager Jack Tighe has to be disappointed in this season of promise... bats that had always boomed like Al Kaline, Boone and Kuenn are largely silent... Lary and Hoeft struggle. Only a late season rally carries the team back to the .500 level.

1958(77-77)

Frank Lary really earns his "Yankee Killer" nickname, defeating the Evil Empire 7 times
Al Kaline hits .313, but power numbers are down... only 18 home runs
...but Harvey Kuenn rebounds with a fine .319 season

The Almanac says:
Another slow start which costs Manager Tighe his gig... injuries cripple the offense, but the pitching is strong and should have been able to overcome them... but no- another disappointing season.

1959(76-78)

Don Mossi, a full time starter for the first time in his career pays off with 17 wins... his best year ever

Harvey Kuenn wins the batting tile with .353... and Al Kaline finishes 2nd!

Charlie Maxwell regains his power stroke with 31 shots... a career high!

The Almanac says:
Another bad- no horrendous- start... the club is 2-15 which cost another manager his job... old timer Jimmy Dykes takes over and the team plays better, but seriously underachieved, given the talent and individual years some of these guys had. Oh yes- Ozzie Virgil becomes the first black player in Tiger history... only 12 years behind Jackie Robinson and 58 years later than it should have been.

Continue on to the SIZZLIN' '60s

Go Back to the FABULOUS '40s
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