# 1938 Detroit Tigers season

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

vteAmerican 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 recordvte 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
## 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 |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Beaumont, Beckley, Harlingen