# 1933 Detroit Tigers season

The 1933 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 33rd season representing Detroit, Michigan, in Major League Baseball. In their fifth and final season under manager Bucky Harris, the Tigers compiled a 75–79 record and finished in fifth place in the American League, 25 games behind the Washington Senators.
The team's key players included:
* Second baseman Charlie Gehringer, inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1949, appeared in all 155 games and led the team in batting average (.325), on-base percentage (.393), hits (204), runs (104), doubles (42), and RBIs (108). He was selected to the 1933 American League All-Star team and finished sixth in the voting for the American League MVP award. He also led the American League's second basemen in assists (542) and double plays (111) and ranked second in putouts (358).
* Rookie first baseman Hank Greenberg, inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1956, finished second on the club in batting average (.301) and tied with Gehringer in home runs (12) and slugging percentage (.468).
* Shortstop Billy Rogell appeared in all 155 games, led the team in walks (79), tied with Gehringer for the lead in doubles (42), and ranked second in on-base percentage (.381) and hits (173).
* Outfielder Gee Walker led the team in stolen bases (25).
* Outfielder Pete Fox led the team in triples (13).
* Pitcher Tommy Bridges led the team in earned run average (3.09) and strikeouts (120).
* Pitcher Firpo Marberry led the team in wins (16) and innings pitched (238-1/3).
* Rookie pitcher Schoolboy Rowe led the team in winning percentage (7-4, .593) despite having his season cut short by a shoulder injury in July.
The team was owned by Frank Navin and played its home games at Navin Field.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Washington Senators | 99 | 53 | .651 | — | 46‍–‍30 | 53‍–‍23 |
| New York Yankees | 91 | 59 | .607 | 7 | 51‍–‍23 | 40‍–‍36 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 79 | 72 | .523 | 19½ | 46‍–‍29 | 33‍–‍43 |
| Cleveland Indians | 75 | 76 | .497 | 23½ | 45‍–‍32 | 30‍–‍44 |
| Detroit Tigers | 75 | 79 | .487 | 25 | 43‍–‍35 | 32‍–‍44 |
| Chicago White Sox | 67 | 83 | .447 | 31 | 35‍–‍41 | 32‍–‍42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 63 | 86 | .423 | 34½ | 32‍–‍40 | 31‍–‍46 |
| St. Louis Browns | 55 | 96 | .364 | 43½ | 30‍–‍46 | 25‍–‍50 |

### Record vs. opponents

1933 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 11–7 | 6–16 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 4–17 |
| Chicago | 7–11 | — | 9–13 | 10–12 | 7–15–1 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 7–15 |
| Cleveland | 16–6 | 13–9 | — | 10–12 | 7–13 | 6–16 | 15–7 | 8–13 |
| Detroit | 11–11 | 12–10 | 12–10 | — | 7–15 | 11–11 | 14–8–1 | 8–14 |
| New York | 14–8 | 15–7–1 | 13–7 | 15–7 | — | 12–9 | 14–7–1 | 8–14 |
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 10–12 | 16–6 | 11–11 | 9–12 | — | 14–6 | 11–11–1 |
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 8–14–1 | 7–14–1 | 6–14 | — | 7–15 |
| Washington | 17–4 | 15–7 | 13–8 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 11–11–1 | 15–7 | — |

### 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 | Ray Hayworth | 134 | 425 | 104 | .245 | 1 | 45 |
| 1B | Hank Greenberg | 117 | 449 | 135 | .301 | 12 | 85 |
| 2B | Charlie Gehringer | 155 | 628 | 204 | .325 | 12 | 108 |
| SS | Billy Rogell | 155 | 587 | 173 | .295 | 0 | 57 |
| 3B | Marv Owen | 138 | 550 | 144 | .262 | 2 | 64 |
| OF | Gee Walker | 127 | 483 | 135 | .280 | 9 | 63 |
| OF | John Stone | 148 | 574 | 161 | .280 | 11 | 80 |
| OF | Pete Fox | 128 | 535 | 154 | .288 | 7 | 58 |

#### 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 |
| Jo-Jo White | 91 | 234 | 59 | .252 | 2 | 35 |
| Harry Davis | 66 | 173 | 37 | .214 | 0 | 14 |
| Frank Doljack | 42 | 147 | 42 | .286 | 0 | 22 |
| Heinie Schuble | 49 | 96 | 21 | .219 | 0 | 5 |
| Johnny Pasek | 28 | 61 | 15 | .246 | 0 | 5 |
| Gene Desautels | 30 | 42 | 6 | .143 | 0 | 4 |
| Frank Reiber | 13 | 18 | 5 | .278 | 1 | 3 |
| Billy Rhiel | 19 | 17 | 3 | .176 | 0 | 1 |
| Earl Webb | 6 | 11 | 3 | .273 | 0 | 3 |

### 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 |
| Firpo Marberry | 37 | 238.1 | 16 | 11 | 3.29 | 84 |
| Tommy Bridges | 33 | 233.0 | 14 | 12 | 3.09 | 120 |
| Vic Sorrell | 36 | 232.2 | 11 | 15 | 3.79 | 75 |
| Schoolboy Rowe | 19 | 123.1 | 7 | 4 | 3.58 | 75 |
| Vic Frazier | 20 | 104.1 | 5 | 5 | 6.64 | 26 |
| Luke Hamlin | 3 | 16.2 | 1 | 0 | 4.86 | 10 |

#### 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 |
| Carl Fischer | 35 | 182.2 | 11 | 15 | 3.55 | 93 |
| Elden Auker | 15 | 55.0 | 3 | 3 | 5.24 | 17 |
| Roxie Lawson | 4 | 16.0 | 0 | 1 | 7.31 | 6 |

#### 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 |
| Elon Hogsett | 45 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 4.50 | 39 |
| Art Herring | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.84 | 20 |
| Whit Wyatt | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.24 | 9 |
| Bots Nekola | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 0 |
| George Uhle | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Toronto Maple Leafs | International League | Dan Howley |
| A | Beaumont Exporters | Texas League | Bob Coleman |
| A | Hutchinson Wheat Shockers/Bartlesville Broncs | Western League | Marty Purtell |
| B | Quincy Shipbuilders/Nashua Millionaires/Brockton Shoemakers | New England League | Hal Weafer, Billy Flynn and Paul Wolff |
| C | Shreveport Sports | Dixie League | Dutch Lorbeer and Gus Whelan |
| C | Huntington Boosters | Middle Atlantic League | Johnny Stuart, Earl Smith, Bernie Neis and Rube Benton |
Hutchinson franchise transferred to Bartlesville and renamed, July 7, 1933; Quincy franchise moved and renamed twice, to Nashua on June 6, 1933, and to Brockton, August 8