1960 Detroit Tigers season

The 1960 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Tigers' sixth-place finish in the American League with a 71–83 record, 26 games behind the AL Champion New York Yankees.

1960 Detroit Tigers
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Briggs Stadium (since 1912) Detroit (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Fred Knorr, John Fetzer
General manager(s)	Bill DeWitt
Manager(s)	Jimmy Dykes, Billy Hitchcock, Joe Gordon
Local television	WJBK
Local radio	WKMH (George Kell, Ernie Harwell)
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Offseason

• October 26, 1959: Gus Zernial was released by the Tigers.[1]
• November 30, 1959: Steve Bilko was drafted by the Tigers from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1959 Rule 5 draft.[2]
• December 5, 1959: Ted Lepcio, Ken Walters, and Alex Cosmidis (minors) were traded by the Tigers to the Philadelphia Phillies for Chico Fernández and Ray Semproch.[3]
• The team changed the home jersey from featuring an Olde English 'D' to displaying "Tigers" in script; the Olde English 'D' returned in 1961.[4]

Regular season

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	97	57	0.630	—	55–22	42–35
Baltimore Orioles	89	65	0.578	8	44–33	45–32
Chicago White Sox	87	67	0.565	10	51–26	36–41
Cleveland Indians	76	78	0.494	21	39–38	37–40
Washington Senators	73	81	0.474	24	32–45	41–36
Detroit Tigers	71	83	0.461	26	40–37	31–46
Boston Red Sox	65	89	0.422	32	36–41	29–48
Kansas City Athletics	58	96	0.377	39	34–43	24–53

Record vs. opponents

1960 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	16–6	13–9	14–8	13–9	13–9	9–13	11–11
Boston	6–16	—	5–17	9–13	14–8	13–9	7–15	11–11
Chicago	9–13	17–5	—	11–11	11–11	15–7	10–12	14–8
Cleveland	8–14	13–9	11–11	—	7–15	15–7	6–16	16–6
Detroit	9–13	8–14	11–11	15–7	—	10–12	8–14	10–12
Kansas City	9–13	9–13	7–15	7–15	12–10	—	7–15–1	7–15
New York	13–9	15–7	12–10	16–6	14–8	15–7–1	—	12–10
Washington	11–11	11–11	8–14	6–16	12–10	15–7	10–12	—

Notable transactions

• April 12, 1960: The Tigers acquired first baseman Norm Cash from the Cleveland Indians for utility infielder Steve Demeter; Cash played in 2,018 games and slugged 373 homers for Detroit (1960–74); Demeter played in four games and was hitless in five at-bats for the Indians before disappearing into the minor leagues.[5]
• April 17, 1960: Reigning American League batting average champion Harvey Kuenn (.353 in 1959) was traded by the Tigers to the Indians, even-up, for reigning AL home run champ Rocky Colavito (42 homers in 1959, tied with Harmon Killebrew).[6]
• June 15, 1960: Ray Semproch and cash were traded by the Tigers to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Clem Labine.[7]
• July 26, 1960: Harry Chiti was purchased by the Tigers from the Kansas City Athletics.[8]
• August 3, 1960: In the only manager-for-manager trade in Major League history, the Tigers swapped Jimmy Dykes to the Indians for Joe Gordon; coaches Luke Appling and Jo-Jo White also traded teams.

Roster

1960 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers 37 Hank Aguirre 32 Bob Bruce 14 Jim Bunning 19 Pete Burnside 18 Bill Fischer 21 Paul Foytack 23 Clem Labine 17 Frank Lary 18 Tom Morgan 15 Don Mossi 16 Phil Regan 16 Ray Semproch 30 Dave Sisler 31 George Spencer		Catchers 11 Lou Berberet 27 Harry Chiti 10 Hank Foiles 10 Red Wilson Infielders 29 Steve Bilko  2 Frank Bolling  8 Rocky Bridges 25 Norm Cash  9 Chico Fernández  5 Dick Gernert  5 Gail Harris  3 Dick McAuliffe  8 Coot Veal 22 Ozzie Virgil 22 Casey Wise  1 Eddie Yost		Outfielders 36 Sandy Amorós 24 Neil Chrisley  7 Rocky Colavito  3 Johnny Groth  6 Al Kaline  4 Charlie Maxwell Other batters 23 Em Lindbeck		Manager 28 Jimmy Dykes 28 Joe Gordon 34 Billy Hitchcock Coaches 31 Luke Appling 33 Tom Ferrick 34 Billy Hitchcock 40 Jo-Jo White

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	Lou Berberet	85	232	45	.194	5	23
1B	Norm Cash	121	353	101	.286	18	63
2B	Frank Bolling	139	536	136	.254	9	59
3B	Eddie Yost	143	497	129	.260	14	47
SS	Chico Fernández	133	435	105	.241	4	35
LF	Charlie Maxwell	134	482	114	.237	24	81
CF	Al Kaline	147	551	153	.278	15	68
RF	Rocky Colavito	145	555	138	.249	35	87

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 Bilko	78	222	46	.207	9	25
Sandy Amorós	65	67	10	.149	1	7

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

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
Bob Bruce	34	130	4	7	3.74	76

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
Hank Aguirre	37	5	3	10	2.85	80
Ray Semproch	17	3	0	0	4.00	9

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Denver Bears	American Association	Charlie Metro
AA	Birmingham Barons	Southern Association	Skeeter Newsome
AA	Victoria Rosebuds	Texas League	Johnny Pesky
A	Knoxville Smokies	Sally League	Frank Skaff
B	Durham Bulls	Carolina League	Stubby Overmire
C	Duluth–Superior Dukes	Northern League	Frank Carswell
D	Montgomery Rebels	Alabama–Florida League	Al Lakeman
D	Decatur Commodores	Midwest League	Al Federoff

References

1. Gus Zernial at Baseball Reference
2. Steve Bilko at Baseball Reference
3. Chico Fernández at Baseball Reference
4. "The Detroit Tigers, Rarely Known as "Tigers" in Uniform". toddradom.com. October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
5. Steve Demeter at Baseball Reference
6. Harvey Kuenn at Baseball Reference
7. Ray Semproch at Baseball Reference
8. Harry Chiti at Baseball Reference

External links

• 1960 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference