# 1959 Detroit Tigers season

The 1959 Detroit Tigers season was the 59th season for the American League franchise in Detroit. Although the Tigers lost 15 of their first 17 games in 1959—resulting in the May 2 firing of manager Bill Norman—they recovered under his successor, Jimmy Dykes, to finish in fourth place with a record of 76–78, eighteen games behind the AL Champion Chicago White Sox.

## Offseason

* October 13, 1958: Maury Wills was sent to the Tigers by the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a conditional deal.
* November 20, 1958: Billy Martin and Al Cicotte were traded by the Tigers to the Cleveland Indians for Don Mossi, Ray Narleski, and Ossie Álvarez.
* December 1, 1958: Lou Skizas was drafted from the Tigers by the Chicago White Sox in the 1958 rule 5 draft.
* Prior to 1959 season: Andy Kosco was signed as an amateur free agent by the Tigers.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Chicago White Sox | 94 | 60 | .610 | — | 47‍–‍30 | 47‍–‍30 |
| Cleveland Indians | 89 | 65 | .578 | 5 | 43‍–‍34 | 46‍–‍31 |
| New York Yankees | 79 | 75 | .513 | 15 | 40‍–‍37 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Detroit Tigers | 76 | 78 | .494 | 18 | 41‍–‍36 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 75 | 79 | .487 | 19 | 43‍–‍34 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 74 | 80 | .481 | 20 | 38‍–‍39 | 36‍–‍41 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 66 | 88 | .429 | 28 | 37‍–‍40 | 29‍–‍48 |
| Washington Senators | 63 | 91 | .409 | 31 | 34‍–‍43 | 29‍–‍48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1959 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CHW | CLE | DET | KCA | NYY | WSH |
| Baltimore | — | 8–14 | 11–11–1 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 12–10 |
| Boston | 14–8 | — | 8–14 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 11–11 | 13–9 | 10–12 |
| Chicago | 11–11–1 | 14–8 | — | 15–7 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 13–9–1 | 16–6 |
| Cleveland | 12–10 | 14–8 | 7–15 | — | 14–8 | 15–7 | 11–11 | 16–6 |
| Detroit | 9–13 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 8–14 | — | 15–7 | 14–8 | 10–12 |
| Kansas City | 14–8 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 7–15 | 7–15 | — | 5–17 | 12–10 |
| New York | 10–12 | 9–13 | 9–13–1 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 17–5 | — | 15–7 |
| Washington | 10–12 | 12–10 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 7–15 | — |

### Notable transactions

* March 21, 1959: Future Hall of Famer Larry Doby, who integrated the American League in 1947 with the Cleveland Indians, is acquired by the Tigers from Cleveland for outfielder Tito Francona. On April 10, Opening Day, left-fielder Doby becomes the second Black player (after Ozzie Virgil Sr.) and first African-American to appear in a Detroit uniform.
* April 2, 1959: Maury Wills was returned by the Tigers to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a conditional deal.
* May 13, 1959: Larry Doby's contract is sold to the Chicago White Sox. The 35-year-old Doby batted only .218 with no home runs in 55 at-bats with the Tigers and he will end his playing career in U.S. pro baseball later in 1959.
* June 13, 1959: Bob Smith was selected off waivers by the Tigers from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

### 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 | Lou Berberet | 100 | 338 | 73 | .216 | 13 | 44 |
| 1B | Gail Harris | 114 | 349 | 77 | .221 | 9 | 39 |
| 2B | Frank Bolling | 127 | 459 | 122 | .266 | 13 | 55 |
| SS | Rocky Bridges | 116 | 381 | 102 | .268 | 3 | 35 |
| 3B | Eddie Yost | 148 | 521 | 145 | .278 | 21 | 60 |
| LF | Charlie Maxwell | 145 | 518 | 130 | .251 | 31 | 95 |
| CF | Al Kaline | 136 | 511 | 167 | .327 | 27 | 94 |
| RF | Harvey Kuenn | 139 | 561 | 198 | .353 | 9 | 71 |

#### 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 |
| Red Wilson | 67 | 228 | 60 | .263 | 4 | 35 |
| Ted Lepcio | 76 | 215 | 60 | .279 | 7 | 24 |
| Bobo Osborne | 86 | 209 | 40 | .191 | 3 | 21 |
| Gus Zernial | 60 | 132 | 30 | .227 | 7 | 26 |
| Neil Chrisley | 65 | 106 | 14 | .132 | 6 | 11 |
| Johnny Groth | 55 | 102 | 24 | .235 | 1 | 10 |
| Coot Veal | 77 | 89 | 18 | .202 | 1 | 15 |
| Larry Doby | 18 | 55 | 12 | .218 | 0 | 4 |
| Steve Demeter | 11 | 18 | 2 | .111 | 0 | 1 |
| Ron Shoop | 3 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 1 |
| Charley Lau | 2 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Ossie Álvarez | 8 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 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 | 40 | 249.2 | 17 | 13 | 3.89 | 201 |
| Paul Foytack | 39 | 240.1 | 14 | 14 | 4.64 | 110 |
| Don Mossi | 34 | 228.0 | 17 | 9 | 3.36 | 125 |
| Frank Lary | 32 | 223.0 | 17 | 10 | 3.55 | 137 |
| Billy Hoeft | 2 | 9.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.00 | 2 |

#### 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 |
| Ray Narleski | 42 | 104.1 | 4 | 12 | 5.78 | 71 |
| Jerry Davie | 11 | 36.2 | 2 | 2 | 4.17 | 20 |
| Jim Proctor | 2 | 2.2 | 0 | 1 | 16.88 | 0 |
| Bob Bruce | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 9.00 | 1 |

#### 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 |
| Tom Morgan | 46 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 3.98 | 39 |
| Dave Sisler | 32 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 4.01 | 29 |
| Pete Burnside | 30 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3.77 | 49 |
| Barney Schultz | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4.42 | 17 |
| George Susce | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.89 | 9 |
| Bob Smith | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.18 | 10 |
| Jim Stump | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.38 | 6 |
| Hank Aguirre | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.38 | 3 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Charleston Senators | American Association | Bill Adair |
| AA | Birmingham Barons | Southern Association | Skeeter Newsome |
| A | Knoxville Smokies | Sally League | Johnny Pesky |
| B | Durham Bulls | Carolina League | Frank Skaff |
| D | Montgomery Rebels | Alabama–Florida League | Frank Carswell |
| D | Decatur Commodores | Midwest League | Stubby Overmire |
| D | Erie Sailors | New York–Penn League | Al Lakeman and Pat Mullin |