# 1962 Detroit Tigers season

The 1962 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The team finished tied for third place in the American League with a record of 85–76, 10+1⁄2 games behind the New York Yankees.

## Offseason

* October 12, 1961: Gerry Staley was released by the Tigers.
* October 23, 1961: Frank House was released by the Tigers.
* Prior to 1962 season (exact date unknown)
** Arlo Brunsberg was signed as an amateur free agent by the Tigers.
** Conrad Cardinal was signed as an amateur free agent by the Tigers.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 96 | 66 | .593 | — | 50‍–‍30 | 46‍–‍36 |
| Minnesota Twins | 91 | 71 | .562 | 5 | 45‍–‍36 | 46‍–‍35 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 86 | 76 | .531 | 10 | 40‍–‍41 | 46‍–‍35 |
| Detroit Tigers | 85 | 76 | .528 | 10½ | 49‍–‍33 | 36‍–‍43 |
| Chicago White Sox | 85 | 77 | .525 | 11 | 43‍–‍38 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Cleveland Indians | 80 | 82 | .494 | 16 | 43‍–‍38 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 77 | 85 | .475 | 19 | 44‍–‍38 | 33‍–‍47 |
| Boston Red Sox | 76 | 84 | .475 | 19 | 39‍–‍40 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 72 | 90 | .444 | 24 | 39‍–‍42 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Washington Senators | 60 | 101 | .373 | 35½ | 27‍–‍53 | 33‍–‍48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1962 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CHW | CLE | DET | KCA | LAA | MIN | NYY | WSH |
| Baltimore | — | 8–10 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 2–16 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 12–6 |
| Boston | 10–8 | — | 8–10 | 7–11 | 11–6 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 8–9 |
| Chicago | 9–9 | 10–8 | — | 12–6 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 10–8 |
| Cleveland | 7–11 | 11–7 | 6–12 | — | 10–8 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 9–9 |
| Detroit | 16–2 | 6–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | — | 12–6 | 11–7 | 5–13 | 7–11 | 11–7 |
| Kansas City | 8–10 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 6–12 | — | 6–12 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 15–3 |
| Los Angeles | 10–8 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 12–6 | — | 9–9 | 8–10 | 11–7 |
| Minnesota | 12–6 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 13–5 | 10–8 | 9–9 | — | 7–11 | 10–8–1 |
| New York | 7–11 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 10–8 | 11–7 | — | 15–3 |
| Washington | 6–12 | 9–8 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 3–15 | 7–11 | 8–10–1 | 3–15 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 1962: Al Pehanick (minors) was traded by the Tigers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Coot Veal.

### 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 | Dick Brown | 134 | 431 | 104 | .241 | 12 | 40 |
| 1B | Norm Cash | 148 | 507 | 123 | .243 | 39 | 89 |
| 2B | Jake Wood | 111 | 367 | 83 | .226 | 8 | 30 |
| SS | Chico Fernández | 141 | 503 | 125 | .249 | 20 | 59 |
| 3B | Steve Boros | 116 | 356 | 81 | .228 | 16 | 47 |
| LF | Rocky Colavito | 161 | 601 | 164 | .273 | 37 | 112 |
| CF | Bill Bruton | 147 | 561 | 156 | .278 | 16 | 74 |
| RF | Al Kaline | 100 | 398 | 121 | .304 | 29 | 94 |

#### 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 |
| Dick McAuliffe | 139 | 471 | 124 | .263 | 12 | 63 |
| Bubba Morton | 90 | 195 | 51 | .262 | 4 | 17 |
| Mike Roarke | 56 | 136 | 29 | .213 | 4 | 14 |
| Vic Wertz | 74 | 105 | 34 | .324 | 5 | 18 |
| Don Buddin | 31 | 83 | 19 | .229 | 0 | 4 |
| Bobo Osborne | 64 | 74 | 17 | .230 | 0 | 7 |
| Purnal Goldy | 20 | 70 | 16 | .229 | 3 | 12 |
| Charlie Maxwell | 30 | 67 | 13 | .194 | 1 | 9 |
| Bob Farley | 36 | 50 | 8 | .160 | 1 | 4 |
| Frank Kostro | 16 | 41 | 11 | .268 | 0 | 3 |
| George Alusik | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Reno Bertoia | 5 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 |
| Jim Bunning | 41 | 258.0 | 19 | 10 | 3.59 | 184 |
| Don Mossi | 35 | 180.1 | 11 | 13 | 4.19 | 121 |
| Phil Regan | 35 | 171.1 | 11 | 9 | 4.04 | 87 |
| Paul Foytack | 29 | 143.2 | 10 | 7 | 4.39 | 63 |
| Frank Lary | 17 | 80.0 | 2 | 6 | 5.74 | 41 |

#### 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 |
| Hank Aguirre | 42 | 216.0 | 16 | 8 | 2.21 | 156 |
| Sam Jones | 30 | 81.1 | 2 | 4 | 3.65 | 73 |
| Howie Koplitz | 10 | 37.2 | 3 | 0 | 5.26 | 10 |
| Doug Gallagher | 9 | 25.0 | 0 | 4 | 4.68 | 14 |

#### 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 |
| Terry Fox | 44 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 1.71 | 23 |
| Ron Nischwitz | 48 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3.90 | 28 |
| Ron Kline | 36 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 4.31 | 47 |
| Jerry Casale | 18 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4.66 | 16 |
| Fred Gladding | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 |
| Bob Humphreys | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7.20 | 3 |
| Tom Fletcher | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
| Bill Faul | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32.40 | 2 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Denver Bears | American Association | Frank Skaff |
| A | Knoxville Smokies | Sally League | Frank Carswell |
| C | Duluth–Superior Dukes | Northern League | Al Lakeman |
| D | Montgomery Rebels | Alabama–Florida League | Johnny Groth |
| D | Thomasville Tigers | Georgia–Florida League | Gail Henley |
| D | Jamestown Tigers | New York–Penn League | Stubby Overmire |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Thomasville