# 1944 Detroit Tigers season

The 1944 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The team finished second in the American League with a record of 88–66, just one game behind the first place St. Louis Browns.

## Offseason

* October 11, 1943: Rip Radcliff was traded by the Tigers to the Philadelphia Athletics for Don Heffner and Bob Swift.
* Prior to 1944 season: Joe Ginsberg was signed as an amateur free agent by the Tigers.

## Regular season

On April 19, first baseman Rudy York recorded his 1,000th career hit.
On September 18, the Tigers found themselves in first place for the first time all season. The Yankees lost two games to the Athletics, while the Browns split two games with the White Sox. With the Tigers sweeping Cleveland, the Tigers jumped over the Yankees and Browns for first place. The Browns were a half game back, while the Yankees were two games back.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| St. Louis Browns | 89 | 65 | .578 | — | 54‍–‍23 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Detroit Tigers | 88 | 66 | .571 | 1 | 43‍–‍34 | 45‍–‍32 |
| New York Yankees | 83 | 71 | .539 | 6 | 47‍–‍31 | 36‍–‍40 |
| Boston Red Sox | 77 | 77 | .500 | 12 | 47‍–‍30 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Cleveland Indians | 72 | 82 | .468 | 17 | 39‍–‍38 | 33‍–‍44 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 72 | 82 | .468 | 17 | 39‍–‍37 | 33‍–‍45 |
| Chicago White Sox | 71 | 83 | .461 | 18 | 41‍–‍36 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Washington Senators | 64 | 90 | .416 | 25 | 40‍–‍37 | 24‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1944 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CHW | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 17–5 | 8–14 | 10–12–2 | 11–11 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 10–12 |
| Chicago | 5–17 | — | 14–8 | 9–13 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 8–14 | 16–6 |
| Cleveland | 14–8 | 8–14 | — | 10–12 | 8–14 | 12–10–1 | 10–12 | 10–12 |
| Detroit | 12–10–2 | 13–9 | 12–10 | — | 14–8 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 17–5 |
| New York | 11–11 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 8–14 | — | 13–9 | 10–12 | 15–7 |
| Philadelphia | 11–11 | 13–9 | 10–12–1 | 11–11 | 9–13 | — | 9–13 | 9–13 |
| St. Louis | 12–10 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 13–9 | — | 13–9 |
| Washington | 12–10 | 6–16 | 12–10 | 5–17 | 7–15 | 13–9 | 9–13 | — |

### Roster
## 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 | Paul Richards | 95 | 300 | 71 | .237 | 3 | 37 |
| 1B | Rudy York | 151 | 583 | 161 | .276 | 18 | 98 |
| 2B | Eddie Mayo | 154 | 607 | 151 | .249 | 5 | 63 |
| SS | Joe Hoover | 120 | 441 | 104 | .236 | 0 | 29 |
| 3B | Pinky Higgins | 148 | 543 | 161 | .297 | 7 | 76 |
| OF | Doc Cramer | 143 | 578 | 169 | .292 | 2 | 42 |
| OF | Jimmy Outlaw | 139 | 535 | 146 | .273 | 3 | 57 |
| OF | Dick Wakefield | 78 | 276 | 98 | .355 | 12 | 53 |

#### 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 |
| Chuck Hostetler | 90 | 265 | 79 | .298 | 0 | 20 |
| Bob Swift | 80 | 247 | 63 | .255 | 1 | 19 |
| Don Ross | 66 | 167 | 35 | .210 | 2 | 15 |
| Joe Orengo | 46 | 154 | 31 | .201 | 0 | 10 |
| Charlie Metro | 38 | 78 | 15 | .192 | 0 | 5 |
| Al Unser | 11 | 25 | 3 | .120 | 1 | 5 |
| Don Heffner | 6 | 19 | 4 | .211 | 0 | 1 |
| Red Borom | 7 | 14 | 1 | .071 | 0 | 1 |
| Bubba Floyd | 3 | 9 | 4 | .444 | 0 | 0 |
| Hack Miller | 6 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 1 | 3 |
| John McHale | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jackie Sullivan | 1 | 1 | 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 |
| Dizzy Trout | 49 | 352.1 | 27 | 14 | 2.12 | 144 |
| Hal Newhouser | 47 | 312.1 | 29 | 9 | 2.22 | 187 |
| Rufe Gentry | 37 | 203.2 | 12 | 14 | 4.24 | 68 |
| Stubby Overmire | 32 | 199.2 | 11 | 11 | 3.07 | 57 |

#### 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 |
| Johnny Gorsica | 34 | 162.0 | 6 | 14 | 4.11 | 47 |
| Joe Orrell | 10 | 22.1 | 2 | 1 | 2.42 | 10 |
| Roy Henshaw | 7 | 12.1 | 0 | 0 | 8.76 | 10 |

#### 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 |
| Boom-Boom Beck | 28 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3.89 | 25 |
| Jake Mooty | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.45 | 7 |
| Bob Gillespie | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.55 | 4 |
| Zeb Eaton | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.74 | 4 |
| Elon Hogsett | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 5 |

## Awards and honors

1944 MLB All-Star Game
* Pinky Higgins
* Hal Newhouser
* Dizzy Trout
* Rudy York

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Buffalo Bisons | International League | Bucky Harris |
| B | Hagerstown Owls | Interstate League | Herb Brett |
| D | Jamestown Falcons | PONY League | Ollie Carnegie |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Jamestown