1956 Detroit Tigers season

The 1956 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fifth in the American League with a record of 82–72, 15 games behind the New York Yankees.

1956 Detroit Tigers
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Briggs Stadium (since 1912) Detroit, Michigan (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Walter Briggs, Jr., Fred Knorr, John Fetzer
General manager(s)	Muddy Ruel
Manager(s)	Bucky Harris
Local television	WJBK
Local radio	WKMH (Van Patrick, Mel Ott)
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Offseason

• December 30, 1955: Leo Cristante and cash were traded by the Tigers to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Pete Wojey.[1]
• Prior to 1956 season: Howie Koplitz was signed as an amateur free agent by the Tigers.[2]

Regular season

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	97	57	0.630	—	49–28	48–29
Cleveland Indians	88	66	0.571	9	46–31	42–35
Chicago White Sox	85	69	0.552	12	46–31	39–38
Boston Red Sox	84	70	0.545	13	43–34	41–36
Detroit Tigers	82	72	0.532	15	37–40	45–32
Baltimore Orioles	69	85	0.448	28	41–36	28–49
Washington Senators	59	95	0.383	38	32–45	27–50
Kansas City Athletics	52	102	0.338	45	22–55	30–47

Record vs. opponents

1956 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	6–16	9–13	5–17	13–9	15–7	9–13	12–10
Boston	16–6	—	14–8	13–9–1	12–10	12–10	8–14	9–13
Chicago	13–9	8–14	—	15–7	13–9	14–8	9–13	13–9
Cleveland	17–5	9–13–1	7–15	—	11–11	17–5	10–12	17–5
Detroit	9–13	10–12	9–13	11–11	—	16–6	12–10	15–7–1
Kansas City	7–15	10–12	8–14	5–17	6–16	—	4–18	12–10
New York	13–9	14–8	13–9	12–10	10–12	18–4	—	17–5
Washington	10–12	13–9	9–13	5–17	7–15–1	10–12	5–17	—

Notable transactions

• May 15, 1956: Jim Delsing and Fred Hatfield were traded by the Tigers to the Chicago White Sox for Jim Brideweser, Harry Byrd and Bob Kennedy.[3]

Roster

1956 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers 22 Al Aber 14 Bud Black 26 Jim Brady 15 Jim Bunning 21 Paul Foytack 31 Ned Garver 18 Steve Gromek 44 Billy Hoeft 19 Gene Host 17 Frank Lary 47 Duke Maas 37 Dick Marlowe 29 Walt Masterson 28 Bob Miller 23 Virgil Trucks 29 Pete Wojey 25 Hal Woodeshick		Catchers  2 Frank House 12 Charley Lau 15 Jay Porter 25 Walt Streuli 10 Red Wilson Infielders 27 Wayne Belardi 16 Reno Bertoia 24 Frank Bolling  8 Ray Boone  1 Jim Brideweser  1 Fred Hatfield 12 Buddy Hicks  7 Harvey Kuenn 30 Jack Phillips  9 Earl Torgeson		Outfielders 24 Jim Delsing  6 Al Kaline  3 Bob Kennedy  3 Chick King  4 Charlie Maxwell 20 Jim Small 5,13 Bill Tuttle		Manager 32 Bucky Harris Coaches 33 Joe Gordon 34 Billy Hitchcock 35 Jack Tighe

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	Frank House	94	321	77	.240	10	44
1B	Earl Torgeson	117	318	84	.264	12	42
2B	Frank Bolling	102	366	103	.281	7	45
SS	Harvey Kuenn	146	591	196	.332	12	88
3B	Ray Boone	131	481	148	.308	25	81
OF	Charlie Maxwell	141	500	163	.326	28	87
OF	Bill Tuttle	140	546	138	.253	9	65
OF	Al Kaline	153	617	194	.314	27	128

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
Red Wilson	78	228	66	.289	7	38
Jack Phillips	67	224	66	.295	1	20
Bob Kennedy	70	177	41	.232	4	22
Jim Brideweser	70	156	34	.218	0	10
Wayne Belardi	79	154	43	.279	6	15
Jim Small	58	91	29	.319	0	10
Reno Bertoia	22	66	12	.182	1	5
Buddy Hicks	26	47	10	.213	0	5
Jay Porter	14	21	2	.095	0	3
Jim Delsing	10	12	0	.000	0	0
Fred Hatfield	8	12	3	.250	0	2
Chick King	6	9	2	.222	0	0
Charley Lau	3	9	2	.222	0	0
Walt Streuli	3	8	2	.250	0	1

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
Frank Lary	41	294	21	13	3.15	165
Paul Foytack	43	256	15	13	3.59	184
Billy Hoeft	38	248	20	14	4.06	172
Virgil Trucks	22	120	6	5	3.83	43
Hal Woodeshick	2	5.1	0	2	13.50	1
Gene Host	1	4.2	0	0	7.71	5

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
Steve Gromek	40	141	8	6	4.28	64
Duke Maas	26	63.1	0	7	6.54	34
Jim Bunning	15	53.1	5	1	3.71	34
Bob Miller	11	31.2	0	2	5.68	16
Ned Garver	6	17.2	0	2	4.08	6
Dick Marlowe	7	11	1	1	5.73	4
Bud Black	5	10	1	1	3.60	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
Al Aber	42	4	4	7	3.43	21
Walt Masterson	35	1	1	1	4.17	28
Jim Brady	6	0	0	0	28.42	3
Pete Wojey	2	0	0	0	2.25	1

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Charleston Senators	American Association	Charlie Metro and Frank Skaff
A	Syracuse Chiefs	Eastern League	Glenn McQuillen, Joe Torpey and Frank Calo
A	Augusta Tigers	Sally League	Frank Skaff, Willis Hudlin and Bill Norman
B	Durham Bulls	Carolina League	Johnny Pesky
B	Terre Haute Tigers	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Bill Norman and Charlie Metro
C	Idaho Falls Russets	Pioneer League	Stan Wasiak and Charlie Metro
D	Panama City Fliers	Alabama–Florida League	Al Lakeman
D	Palatka Tigers	Florida State League	Ralph Hodgin and Charlie Baird
D	Hazlehurst-Baxley Tigers	Georgia State League	Wayne Wallace and Stan Wasiak
D	Valdosta Tigers	Georgia–Florida League	Bill Adair
D	Jamestown Falcons	PONY League	Pat Mullin, Don Lund and Wayne Blackburn

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Valdosta
Terre Haute club folded, July 3, 1956

Notes

1. Pete Wojey at Baseball Reference
2. Howie Koplitz at Baseball Reference
3. Jim Brideweser 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.
• 1956 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference