# 1946 Detroit Tigers season

The 1946 Detroit Tigers finished the season with a record of 92–62, twelve games behind the Boston Red Sox. The season was their 46th since they entered the American League in 1901.

## Offseason

* March 26, 1946: Rip Radcliff was released by the Tigers.

## Regular season

The 1946 Tigers were led by first baseman Hank Greenberg who led the AL with 127 RBIs and led the major leagues with 44 home runs, and by Hal Newhouser who led the major leagues with 26 wins, a 1.94 ERA, an Adjusted ERA+ of 188, and 8.46 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Red Sox | 104 | 50 | .675 | — | 61‍–‍16 | 43‍–‍34 |
| Detroit Tigers | 92 | 62 | .597 | 12 | 48‍–‍30 | 44‍–‍32 |
| New York Yankees | 87 | 67 | .565 | 17 | 47‍–‍30 | 40‍–‍37 |
| Washington Senators | 76 | 78 | .494 | 28 | 38‍–‍38 | 38‍–‍40 |
| Chicago White Sox | 74 | 80 | .481 | 30 | 40‍–‍38 | 34‍–‍42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 68 | 86 | .442 | 36 | 36‍–‍41 | 32‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Browns | 66 | 88 | .429 | 38 | 35‍–‍41 | 31‍–‍47 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 49 | 105 | .318 | 55 | 31‍–‍46 | 18‍–‍59 |

### Record vs. opponents

1946 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 13–9 | 15–7 | 15–7–1 | 14–8 | 17–5 | 14–8–1 | 16–6 |
| Chicago | 9–13 | — | 13–9–1 | 10–12 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 10–12 |
| Cleveland | 7–15 | 9–13–1 | — | 5–17 | 10–12 | 15–7 | 15–7–1 | 7–15 |
| Detroit | 7–15–1 | 12–10 | 17–5 | — | 13–9 | 17–5 | 14–8 | 12–10 |
| New York | 8–14 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 9–13 | — | 16–6 | 14–8 | 14–8 |
| Philadelphia | 5–17 | 10–12 | 7–15 | 5–17 | 6–16 | — | 10–12 | 6–16–1 |
| St. Louis | 8–14–1 | 10–12 | 7–15–1 | 8–14 | 8–14 | 12–10 | — | 13–9 |
| Washington | 6–16 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 10–12 | 8–14 | 16–6–1 | 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 | Birdie Tebbetts | 87 | 280 | 68 | .243 | 1 | 34 |
| 1B | Hank Greenberg | 142 | 523 | 145 | .277 | 44 | 127 |
| 2B | Jimmy Bloodworth | 76 | 249 | 61 | .245 | 5 | 36 |
| 3B | George Kell | 105 | 434 | 142 | .327 | 4 | 41 |
| SS | Eddie Lake | 155 | 587 | 149 | .254 | 8 | 31 |
| OF | Dick Wakefield | 111 | 396 | 106 | .268 | 12 | 59 |
| OF | Roy Cullenbine | 113 | 328 | 110 | .335 | 15 | 56 |
| OF | Hoot Evers | 81 | 304 | 81 | .266 | 4 | 33 |

#### 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 |
| Jimmy Outlaw | 92 | 299 | 78 | .261 | 2 | 31 |
| Pat Mullin | 93 | 276 | 68 | .246 | 3 | 35 |
| Doc Cramer | 68 | 204 | 60 | .294 | 1 | 26 |
| Eddie Mayo | 51 | 202 | 51 | .252 | 0 | 22 |
| Skeeter Webb | 64 | 169 | 37 | .219 | 0 | 17 |
| Paul Richards | 57 | 139 | 28 | .201 | 0 | 11 |
| Anse Moore | 51 | 134 | 28 | .209 | 1 | 8 |
| Bob Swift | 42 | 107 | 25 | .234 | 2 | 10 |
| Barney McCosky | 25 | 91 | 37 | .198 | 1 | 11 |
| Pinky Higgins | 18 | 60 | 13 | .217 | 0 | 8 |
| Johnny Lipon | 14 | 20 | 6 | .300 | 0 | 1 |
| Johnny Groth | 4 | 9 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Hitchcock | 3 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Ned Harris | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included

### 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 | 37 | 292.2 | 26 | 9 | 1.94 | 275 |
| Dizzy Trout | 38 | 276.1 | 17 | 13 | 2.34 | 151 |
| Virgil Trucks | 32 | 236.2 | 14 | 9 | 3.23 | 161 |
| Fred Hutchinson | 28 | 207.0 | 14 | 11 | 3.09 | 138 |
| Lou Kretlow | 1 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 | 4 |
| Art Houtteman | 1 | 8.0 | 0 | 1 | 9.00 | 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 |
| Al Benton | 28 | 140.2 | 11 | 7 | 3.65 | 60 |
| Stubby Overmire | 24 | 97.1 | 5 | 7 | 4.62 | 34 |
| Ted Gray | 3 | 11.2 | 0 | 2 | 8.49 | 5 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W= Wins; L= Losses; SV = Saves; GF = Games Finished; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | GF | ERA | SO |
| George Caster | 26 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 19 | 5.66 | 19 |
| Johnny Gorsica | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4.56 | 14 |
| Hal White | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5.60 | 12 |
| Tommy Bridges | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5.91 | 17 |
| Hal Manders | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10.50 | 3 |
| Rufe Gentry | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15.00 | 1 |

## Awards and honors
### League leaders

* Hank Greenberg: MLB leader in home runs (44)
* Hank Greenberg: AL leader in RBIs (127)
* Hank Greenberg: MLB leader in at bats per home run (11.9)
* Art Houtteman: Youngest player in MLB (18)
* Eddie Lake: AL leader in games played (155)
* Eddie Lake: MLB leader in plate appearances (703)
* Eddie Lake: MLB leader in outs (464)
* Eddie Lake: AL leader in power/speed number (10.4)
* Hal Newhouser: MLB leader in ERA (1.94)
* Hal Newhouser: MLB leader in wins (26)
* Hal Newhouser: MLB leader in Adjusted ERA+ (188)
* Hal Newhouser: MLB leader in walks plus hits per 9 innings pitched (1.069)
* Hal Newhouser: MLB leader in hits allowed per 9 innings (6.61)
* Hal Newhouser: MLB leader in strikeouts per 9 innings (8.46)
* Virgil Trucks: MLB leader in home runs allowed (23)

### Players ranking among top 100 of all time at position

The following members of the 1945 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their position, as ranked by The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001:
* Birdie Tebbetts: 64th best catcher of all time (played 87 games at catcher for 1946 Tigers)
* Hank Greenberg: 8th best first baseman of all time
* George Kell: 30th best third baseman of all time
* Hoot Evers: 100th best left fielder of all time (played 76 games in center field for 1946 Tigers)
* Doc Cramer: 91st best center fielder of all time (played 50 games in center field in 1946 Tigers)
* Barney McCosky: 70th best center fielder of all time (played 24 games in center field for 1946 Tigers)
* Roy Cullenbine: 68th best right fielder of all time (played 69 games in right field for 1946 Tigers)
* Hal Newhouser: 36th best pitcher of all time
* Virgil Trucks: 61st best pitcher of all time
* Tommy Bridges: 77th best pitcher of all time (pitched in 9 games for 1946 Tigers)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Buffalo Bisons | International League | Gabby Hartnett |
| AA | Dallas Rebels | Texas League | Al Vincent |
| A | Williamsport Grays | Eastern League | Gerard "Nig" Lipscomb and Harry Davis |
| C | Rome Colonels | Canadian–American League | Woody Wheaton |
| C | Lubbock Hubbers | West Texas–New Mexico League | Jim Miller |
| C | Muskogee Reds | Western Association | Ray Baker |
| D | Jamestown Falcons | PONY League | Marv Olson |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Dallas