# 1928 Detroit Tigers season

The 1928 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The team finished sixth in the American League with a record of 68–86, 33 games behind the New York Yankees.

## Offseason

* December 2, 1927: Heinie Manush and Lu Blue were traded by the Tigers to the St. Louis Browns for Harry Rice, Chick Galloway and Elam Vangilder.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 101 | 53 | .656 | — | 52‍–‍25 | 49‍–‍28 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 98 | 55 | .641 | 2½ | 52‍–‍25 | 46‍–‍30 |
| St. Louis Browns | 82 | 72 | .532 | 19 | 43‍–‍34 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Washington Senators | 75 | 79 | .487 | 26 | 37‍–‍43 | 38‍–‍36 |
| Chicago White Sox | 72 | 82 | .468 | 29 | 37‍–‍40 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Detroit Tigers | 68 | 86 | .442 | 33 | 36‍–‍41 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Cleveland Indians | 62 | 92 | .403 | 39 | 28‍–‍49 | 34‍–‍43 |
| Boston Red Sox | 57 | 96 | .373 | 43½ | 26‍–‍47 | 31‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1928 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 10–12 | 9–13 | 7–15 | 6–16 | 3–18 | 9–13 | 13–9–1 |
| Chicago | 12–10 | — | 12–10–1 | 13–9 | 9–13 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 10–12 |
| Cleveland | 13–9 | 10–12–1 | — | 10–12 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 7–15 | 10–12 |
| Detroit | 15–7 | 9–13 | 12–10 | — | 7–15 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 8–14 |
| New York | 16–6 | 13–9 | 16–6 | 15–7 | — | 16–6 | 12–10 | 13–9 |
| Philadelphia | 18–3 | 16–6 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 6–16 | — | 16–6 | 12–10 |
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 13–9 | 10–12 | 6–16 | — | 13–9 |
| Washington | 9–13–1 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 10–12 | 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 | Pinky Hargrave | 121 | 320 | 88 | .275 | 10 | 63 |
| 1B | Bill Sweeney | 89 | 309 | 78 | .252 | 0 | 19 |
| 2B | Charlie Gehringer | 154 | 603 | 193 | .320 | 6 | 74 |
| SS | Jackie Tavener | 132 | 473 | 123 | .260 | 5 | 52 |
| 3B | Marty McManus | 139 | 500 | 144 | .288 | 8 | 73 |
| OF | Harry Heilmann | 151 | 558 | 183 | .328 | 14 | 107 |
| OF | Bob Fothergill | 111 | 347 | 110 | .317 | 3 | 63 |
| OF | Harry Rice | 131 | 510 | 154 | .302 | 6 | 81 |

#### 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 |
| Al Wingo | 87 | 242 | 69 | .285 | 2 | 30 |
| Jack Warner | 75 | 206 | 44 | .214 | 0 | 13 |
| Larry Woodall | 65 | 186 | 39 | .210 | 0 | 13 |
| Chick Galloway | 53 | 148 | 39 | .264 | 1 | 17 |
| Paul Easterling | 43 | 114 | 37 | .325 | 3 | 12 |
| John Stone | 26 | 113 | 40 | .354 | 2 | 21 |
| Johnny Neun | 36 | 108 | 23 | .213 | 0 | 5 |
| Merv Shea | 39 | 85 | 20 | .235 | 0 | 9 |

### 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 |
| Ownie Carroll | 34 | 231.0 | 16 | 12 | 3.27 | 51 |
| Earl Whitehill | 31 | 196.1 | 11 | 16 | 4.31 | 93 |
| Vic Sorrell | 29 | 171.0 | 8 | 11 | 4.79 | 67 |
| Sam Gibson | 20 | 119.2 | 5 | 8 | 5.42 | 29 |
| Josh Billings | 21 | 110.2 | 5 | 10 | 5.12 | 48 |

#### 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 |
| Elam Vangilder | 38 | 156.1 | 11 | 10 | 3.91 | 43 |
| Lil Stoner | 36 | 126.1 | 5 | 8 | 4.35 | 29 |
| Ken Holloway | 30 | 120.1 | 4 | 8 | 4.34 | 32 |
| Phil Page | 3 | 22.0 | 2 | 0 | 2.45 | 3 |
| Charlie Sullivan | 3 | 12.1 | 0 | 2 | 6.57 | 2 |

#### 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 |
| George Smith | 39 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4.42 | 54 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| A | Fort Worth Panthers | Texas League | Jake Atz |
| B | Evansville Hubs | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Bob Coleman |
| C | Wheeling Stogies | Middle Atlantic League | Bobby Prysock |