# 1949 Detroit Tigers season

The 1949 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fourth in the American League with a record of 87–67, 10 games behind the New York Yankees.

## Offseason

* November 10, 1948: Marv Grissom was drafted by the Tigers from the Sacramento Solons in the 1948 rule 5 draft.

## Regular season

Tigers third baseman George Kell beat Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox for the American League batting title by 0.0002 percentage points (.3429 to .3427).

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 97 | 57 | .630 | — | 54‍–‍23 | 43‍–‍34 |
| Boston Red Sox | 96 | 58 | .623 | 1 | 61‍–‍16 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 89 | 65 | .578 | 8 | 49‍–‍28 | 40‍–‍37 |
| Detroit Tigers | 87 | 67 | .565 | 10 | 50‍–‍27 | 37‍–‍40 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 81 | 73 | .526 | 16 | 52‍–‍25 | 29‍–‍48 |
| Chicago White Sox | 63 | 91 | .409 | 34 | 32‍–‍45 | 31‍–‍46 |
| St. Louis Browns | 53 | 101 | .344 | 44 | 36‍–‍41 | 17‍–‍60 |
| Washington Senators | 50 | 104 | .325 | 47 | 26‍–‍51 | 24‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1949 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 17–5 | 8–14 | 15–7–1 | 9–13 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 18–4 |
| Chicago | 5–17 | — | 7–15 | 8–14 | 7–15 | 6–16 | 15–7 | 15–7 |
| Cleveland | 14–8 | 15–7 | — | 13–9 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 15–7 | 13–9 |
| Detroit | 7–15–1 | 14–8 | 9–13 | — | 11–11 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 18–4 |
| New York | 13–9 | 15–7 | 12–10 | 11–11 | — | 14–8 | 17–5–1 | 15–7 |
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 16–6 | 13–9 | 8–14 | 8–14 | — | 12–10 | 16–6 |
| St. Louis | 7–15 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 8–14 | 5–17–1 | 10–12 | — | 9–13 |
| Washington | 4–18 | 7–15 | 9–13 | 4–18 | 7–15 | 6–16 | 13–9 | — |

### 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 | Aaron Robinson | 110 | 331 | 89 | .269 | 13 | 56 |
| 1B | Paul Campbell | 87 | 255 | 71 | .278 | 3 | 30 |
| 2B | Neil Berry | 109 | 329 | 78 | .237 | 0 | 18 |
| SS | Johnny Lipon | 127 | 439 | 110 | .251 | 3 | 59 |
| 3B | George Kell | 134 | 522 | 179 | .343 | 3 | 59 |
| OF | Johnny Groth | 103 | 348 | 102 | .293 | 11 | 73 |
| OF | Hoot Evers | 132 | 432 | 131 | .303 | 7 | 72 |
| OF | Vic Wertz | 155 | 608 | 185 | .304 | 20 | 133 |

#### 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 |
| Don Kolloway | 126 | 483 | 142 | .294 | 2 | 47 |
| Pat Mullin | 104 | 310 | 83 | .268 | 12 | 59 |
| Eddie Lake | 94 | 240 | 47 | .196 | 1 | 15 |
| Bob Swift | 74 | 189 | 45 | .238 | 2 | 18 |
| Sam Vico | 67 | 142 | 27 | .190 | 4 | 18 |
| Dick Wakefield | 59 | 126 | 26 | .206 | 6 | 19 |
| Hank Riebe | 17 | 33 | 6 | .182 | 0 | 2 |
| Jimmy Outlaw | 5 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Don Lund | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Earl Rapp | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Mavis | 1 | 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 |
| Hal Newhouser | 38 | 292.0 | 18 | 11 | 3.36 | 144 |
| Virgil Trucks | 41 | 275.0 | 19 | 11 | 2.81 | 153 |
| Art Houtteman | 34 | 203.2 | 15 | 10 | 3.71 | 85 |
| Ted Gray | 34 | 195.0 | 10 | 10 | 3.51 | 96 |

#### 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 |
| Fred Hutchinson | 33 | 188.2 | 15 | 7 | 2.96 | 54 |
| Lou Kretlow | 25 | 76.0 | 3 | 2 | 6.16 | 40 |
| Marlin Stuart | 14 | 29.2 | 0 | 2 | 9.10 | 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 |
| Dizzy Trout | 33 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 4.40 | 19 |
| Marv Grissom | 27 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6.41 | 17 |
| Stubby Overmire | 14 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 9.87 | 3 |
| Hal White | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | 4 |
| Saul Rogovin | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14.29 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

* George Kell, AL Batting champion

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Toledo Mud Hens | American Association | Eddie Mayo |
| AAA | Buffalo Bisons | International League | Paul Richards |
| AA | Little Rock Travelers | Southern Association | Jack Saltzgaver |
| A | Flint Arrows | Central League | Jack Tighe |
| A | Williamsport Tigers | Eastern League | Gene Desautels |
| B | Durham Bulls | Carolina League | Ace Parker |
| B | Lynn Tigers | New England League | Pep Kennedy and Charles Webb |
| C | Rome Colonels | Canadian–American League | Clyde Smoll |
| C | Butler Tigers | Middle Atlantic League | Boom-Boom Beck |
| D | Troy Tigers | Alabama State League | Bloomer Milner |
| D | Thomasville Tigers | Georgia–Florida League | Ralph DiLullo |
| D | Jamestown Falcons | PONY League | Marv Olson |
Lynn franchise folded, July 19, 1949