1938 Detroit Tigers season - Misplaced Pages

The 1938 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The Detroit Tigers compiled a record of 84 wins and 70 losses, good enough for fourth place in the American League. Hank Greenberg hit 58 home runs, and became the first unanimous selection as the American League MVP.

Offseason

December 2, 1937: Mike Tresh, Marv Owen and Gee Walker were traded by the Tigers to the Chicago White Sox for Vern Kennedy, Tony Piet, and Dixie Walker.

Regular season

The highlight of the 1938 season was first baseman Hank Greenberg challenging the single-season home run record held by Babe Ruth (60). Hank went into the season's final weekend against the Cleveland Indians with 58 home runs, but failed to homer on Saturday or Sunday. He did tie Jimmie Foxx's record for a right-handed hitter, set in 1932.

Season standings

v
t
e
American League
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	99	53	.651	—	55‍–‍22	44‍–‍31
Boston Red Sox	88	61	.591	9½	52‍–‍23	36‍–‍38
Cleveland Indians	86	66	.566	13	46‍–‍30	40‍–‍36
Detroit Tigers	84	70	.545	16	48‍–‍31	36‍–‍39
Washington Senators	75	76	.497	23½	44‍–‍33	31‍–‍43
Chicago White Sox	65	83	.439	32	33‍–‍39	32‍–‍44
St. Louis Browns	55	97	.362	44	31‍–‍43	24‍–‍54
Philadelphia Athletics	53	99	.349	46	28‍–‍47	25‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

1938 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHA	SLB	WSH
Boston	—	12–6	12–10	10–12	11–11–1	14–8	17–5	12–9
Chicago	6–12	—	9–13	7–15	8–14	12–10	13–8–1	10–11
Cleveland	10–12	13–9	—	12–10	8–13	18–4	13–9–1	12–9
Detroit	12–10	15–7	10–12	—	8–14	14–8	12–10–1	13–9
New York	11–11–1	14–8	13–8	14–8	—	16–5–2	15–7–1	16–6–1
Philadelphia	8–14	10–12	4–18	8–14	5–16–2	—	12–9	6–16
St. Louis	5–17	8–13–1	9–13–1	10–12–1	7–15–1	9–12	—	7–15
Washington	9–12	11–10	9–12	9–13	6–16–1	16–6	15–7	—

Roster

1938 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers 12 Elden Auker 29 Al Benton 10 Tommy Bridges 21 Slick Coffman 35 Woody Davis 26 Harry Eisenstat 16 George Gill 14 Bob Harris 11 Vern Kennedy 15 Roxie Lawson 17 Boots Poffenberger 34 Joe Rogalski 14 Schoolboy Rowe 18 Jake Wade		Catchers 23 Ray Hayworth 28 Birdie Tebbetts 4 Rudy York Infielders 20 Mark Christman 2 Charlie Gehringer 5 Hank Greenberg 24 Benny McCoy 27 Tony Piet 7 Billy Rogell 6 Don Ross		Outfielders 19 Roy Cullenbine 9 Pete Fox 3,25 Chet Laabs 25 Chet Morgan 8 Dixie Walker 22 Jo-Jo White Other batters 35 George Archie		Manager 32 Del Baker 3 Mickey Cochrane Coaches 32 Del Baker 31 Bing Miller -- Cy Perkins

1938 Detroit Tigers

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

35 George Archie

Manager

32 Del Baker
3 Mickey Cochrane

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

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	Rudy York	135	463	138	.298	33	127
1B	Hank Greenberg	155	556	175	.315	58	146
2B	Charlie Gehringer	152	568	174	.306	20	107
SS	Billy Rogell	136	501	130	.259	3	55
3B	Don Ross	77	265	69	.260	1	30
OF	Dixie Walker	127	454	140	.308	6	43
OF	Pete Fox	155	634	186	.293	7	96
OF	Chet Morgan	74	306	87	.284	0	27

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
Mark Christman	95	318	79	.248	1	44
Chet Laabs	64	211	50	.237	7	37
Jo-Jo White	78	206	54	.262	0	15
Birdie Tebbetts	53	143	42	.294	1	25
Tony Piet	41	80	17	.213	0	14
Roy Cullenbine	25	67	19	.284	0	9
Ray Hayworth	8	19	4	.211	0	5
Benny McCoy	7	15	3	.200	0	0
George Archie	3	2	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

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
Vern Kennedy	33	190.1	12	9	5.06	53
George Gill	24	164.0	12	9	4.12	30
Elden Auker	27	160.2	11	10	5.27	46
Tommy Bridges	25	151.0	13	9	4.59	101
Schoolboy Rowe	4	21.0	0	2	3.00	4

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
Roxie Lawson	27	127.0	8	9	5.46	39
Harry Eisenstat	32	125.1	9	6	3.72	37
Boots Poffenberger	25	125.0	6	7	4.82	28
Al Benton	19	95.1	5	3	3.30	33
Bob Harris	3	10.0	1	0	7.20	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
Slick Coffman	39	4	4	2	6.02	31
Jake Wade	27	3	2	0	6.56	23
Joe Rogalski	2	0	0	0	2.57	2
Woody Davis	2	0	0	0	1.50	1

Awards and honors

Hank Greenberg finished third in the American League MVP voting.

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
A1	Beaumont Exporters	Texas League	Al Vincent
C	Charleston Senators	Middle Atlantic League	Paul O'Malley
D	Andalusia Bulldogs	Alabama–Florida League	Yam Yaryan
D	Beckley Bengals	Mountain State League	Eli Harris
D	Tiffin Mud Hens	Ohio State League	Tony Rogala
D	Harlingen Hubs	Texas Valley League	Jake Atz
D	Hobbs Boosters	West Texas–New Mexico League	Neal Rabe

Notes

Mike Tresh at Baseball Reference
"Hank Greenberg Facts from". The Baseball Page.com. Archived from the original on March 12, 2006. Retrieved March 16, 2010.
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

External links

1938 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference

1938 MLB season by team

Major League Baseball

American League	Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit New York Philadelphia St. Louis Washington
National League	Boston Brooklyn Chicago Cincinnati New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis

Negro American League

Negro National League

Detroit Tigers

Established in 1894
Based in Detroit, Michigan

Franchise

Ballparks

Culture

T206 Ty Cobb
Li'l Rastus
Paws
"Detroit Rock City"
"The Bird"
The Bird: The Life and Legacy of Mark Fidrych
One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story
Magnum, P.I. (reboot)
Tiger Town
Cobb
For Love of the Game
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg
Bless You Boys
"The Singing Hot Dog Man"
"Roar (song)"
Ball Park Franks

Lore

Rivalries

Chicago White Sox

Minor league affiliates

Key personnel

Owner: Christopher Ilitch
President of baseball operations: Scott Harris
General Manager: Jeff Greenberg
Manager: A. J. Hinch

World Series
championships (4)

American League pennants (11)

American League: 1907
1908
1909
1934
1935
1940
1945
1968
1984
2006
2012

Division titles (7)

East: 1972
1984
1987
Central: 2011
2012
2013
2014

Wild card berths (2)

2006
2024

Broadcasters

TV: Bally Sports Detroit
Radio: Detroit Tigers Radio Network
History: List of Detroit Tigers broadcasters

Seasons (123)
1900s	· 1900 1901 · 1902 · 1903 · 1904 · 1905 · 1906 · 1907 · 1908 · 1909
1910s	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s	2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

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