1952 Detroit Tigers season

The 1952 Detroit Tigers had a record of 50–104 (.325) — the worst record in Tigers' history until the 2003 Tigers lost 119 games. Virgil Trucks became the third pitcher in major league history to throw two no-hitters in one season.[1]

1952 Detroit Tigers
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Briggs Stadium (since 1912) Detroit (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Walter Briggs, Sr., Walter Briggs, Jr.
General manager(s)	Charlie Gehringer
Manager(s)	Red Rolfe, Fred Hutchinson
Local television	WWJ (Van Patrick)
Local radio	WJBK/WXYZ (Van Patrick)
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Regular season

The 1952 Tigers winning percentage ranks as the second worst in the Tigers' history, as shown in this chart. The club was managed by Red Rolfe (April 15 through July 4), who compiled a win-loss record of 23–49 (.319), then by pitcher-manager Fred Hutchinson, who had a record of 27–55 (.329) from July 5 through closing day, September 28.[2]

Worst Seasons in Detroit Tigers History Rank Year Wins Losses Win % 1 2003 43 119 .265 2 1952 50 104 .325 3 1996 53 109 .327 4 2002 55 106 .342 5 1975 57 102 .358

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	95	59	0.617	—	49–28	46–31
Cleveland Indians	93	61	0.604	2	49–28	44–33
Chicago White Sox	81	73	0.526	14	44–33	37–40
Philadelphia Athletics	79	75	0.513	16	45–32	34–43
Washington Senators	78	76	0.506	17	42–35	36–41
Boston Red Sox	76	78	0.494	19	50–27	26–51
St. Louis Browns	64	90	0.416	31	42–35	22–55
Detroit Tigers	50	104	0.325	45	32–45	18–59

Record vs. opponents

1952 American League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	12–10	9–13	16–6	8–14	12–10	11–11	8–14
Chicago	10–12	—	8–14–1	17–5	8–14	11–11	14–8	13–9–1
Cleveland	13–9	14–8–1	—	16–6	10–12	13–9	15–7	12–10
Detroit	6–16	5–17	6–16	—	9–13	5–17–1	8–14	11–11–1
New York	14–8	14–8	12–10	13–9	—	13–9	14–8	15–7
Philadelphia	10–12	11–11	9–13	17–5–1	9–13	—	14–8	9–13
St. Louis	11–11	8–14	7–15	14–8	8–14	8–14	—	8–14–1
Washington	14–8	9–13–1	10–12	11–11–1	7–15	13–9	14–8–1	—

Notable transactions

• June 3, 1952: Dizzy Trout, George Kell, Johnny Lipon, and Hoot Evers were traded by the Tigers to the Boston Red Sox for Walt Dropo, Fred Hatfield, Don Lenhardt, Johnny Pesky, and Bill Wight.[3]
• August 14, 1952: Dick Littlefield, Marlin Stuart, Don Lenhardt and Vic Wertz were traded by the Tigers to the St. Louis Browns for Jim Delsing, Ned Garver, Bud Black and Dave Madison.[4]

Roster

1952 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers 37,19 Bud Black 31 Ned Garver 34 Ted Gray 44 Billy Hoeft 21 Art Houtteman 29 Fred Hutchinson 26 Ken Johnson 38 Dick Littlefield 14 Dave Madison 37 Dick Marlowe 31 Wayne McLeland 16 Hal Newhouser 24 Marlin Stuart 11 Dizzy Trout 22 Virgil Trucks 25 Hal White 18 Bill Wight		Catchers 15 Matt Batts  1 Joe Ginsberg  9 Bob Swift Infielders  8 Neil Berry 11 Walt Dropo 28 Al Federoff  2 Fred Hatfield  7 George Kell 17 Don Kolloway 26 Harvey Kuenn  2 Johnny Lipon  7 Johnny Pesky  4 Jerry Priddy 30 Ben Taylor		Outfielders 24 Jim Delsing  3 Johnny Groth 32 Johnny Hopp 14 Don Lenhardt 32 George Lerchen 30 Don Lund  5 Cliff Mapes  6 Pat Mullin 12 Steve Souchock 18 Russ Sullivan 19 Bill Tuttle 20 Vic Wertz Other batters 14 Hoot Evers 19 Alex Garbowski 15 Carl Linhart		Manager 29 Fred Hutchinson 10 Red Rolfe Coaches 28 Dick Bartell 36 Rick Ferrell 33 Ted Lyons

Player stats

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	Joe Ginsberg	113	307	68	.221	6	36
1B	Walt Dropo	115	459	128	.279	23	70
2B	Jerry Priddy	75	279	79	.283	4	20
3B	Fred Hatfield	112	441	104	.236	2	25
SS	Neil Berry	73	189	43	.228	0	13
OF	Johnny Groth	141	524	149	.284	4	51
OF	Vic Wertz	85	285	70	.246	17	51
OF	Pat Mullin	97	255	64	.251	7	35

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
Steve Souchock	92	265	66	.249	13	45
Al Federoff	74	231	56	.242	0	14
Cliff Mapes	86	193	26	.197	9	23
Johnny Pesky	69	177	45	.254	1	9
Matt Batts	56	173	41	.237	3	13
George Kell	39	152	45	.296	1	17
Don Lenhardt	45	144	27	.188	3	13
Johnny Lipon	39	136	30	.221	0	12
Harvey Kuenn	19	80	26	.325	0	8
Ben Taylor	7	18	3	.167	0	0
Hoot Evers	1	1	1	1.000	0	0

Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Ted Gray	35	224	12	17	4.14	138
Art Houtteman	35	221	8	20	4.36	109
Virgil Trucks	35	197	5	19	3.97	129
Hal Newhouser	25	154	9	9	3.74	57
Bill Wight	23	143.7	5	9	3.88	57
Ned Garver	1	9	1	0	2.00	3
Bud Black	2	8	0	1	10.13	0

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
Billy Hoeft	34	125	2	7	4.32	65
Dizzy Trout	10	27	1	5	5.33	20

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
Dick Littlefield	28	0	3	1	4.34	32
Fred Hutchinson	12	2	1	0	3.38	12

Awards and honors

League top five finishers

• Art Houtteman: AL leader in losses (20)
• Virgil Trucks: #2 in AL in losses (19)
• Ted Gray: #3 in AL in losses (17)

Players ranking among top 100 of all time at position

The following members of the 1952 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their positions, as ranked by The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001:

• Jerry Priddy: 73rd best second baseman of all time
• Johnny Pesky: 20th best shortstop of all time (played 69 games for 1952 Tigers)
• George Kell: 30th best third baseman of all time (played only 39 games for 1952 Tigers)
• Vic Wertz: 61st best right fielder of all time
• Harvey Kuenn: 62nd best right fielder of all time (played only 19 games for 1952 Tigers)
• Hal Newhouser: 36th best pitcher of all time
• Virgil Trucks: 61st best pitcher of all time

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Buffalo Bisons	International League	Jack Tighe and Schoolboy Rowe
AA	Little Rock Travelers	Southern Association	Willis Hudlin
A	Williamsport Tigers	Eastern League	Paul Campbell
B	Durham Bulls	Carolina League	Ace Parker
B	Davenport Tigers	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Marv Olson
D	Kinston Eagles	Coastal Plain League	Wayne Blackburn
D	Jamestown Falcons	PONY League	Tony Lupien
D	Wausau Lumberjacks	Wisconsin State League	Mike Tresh

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Jamestown

Notes

1. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 139, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
2. Retrosheet.org
3. Walt Dropo at Baseball Reference
4. Bud Black at Baseball Reference

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.
• Baseball-Reference.com 1952 Detroit Tigers

External links

• BaseballLibrary.com 1952 Detroit Tigers season summary