The 1950 Detroit Tigers were a professional baseball team that represented Detroit in the American League (AL) during the 1950 baseball season. The team compiled a record of 95–59 (.617), the second best record in the major leagues, behind the New York Yankees. The Tigers spent most of the season in first place but lost the pennant to the Yankees in the final two weeks of the season. Red Rolfe was the team's manager for the second season and received the Sporting News Manager of the Year Award. The Tigers' home attendance of 1,951,474 was a team record at the time and the second highest in the major leagues during the 1950 season.
The pitching staff was led by Art Houtteman who compiled a 19–12 record and a 3.54 earned run average (ERA) and pitched 21 complete games. Dizzy Trout led the team with a .722 winning percentage (second best in the AL) with a 13–5 record and 3.75 ERA. Fred Hutchinson compiled a 17–8 record. The team's overall ERA of 4.12 was second best in the AL.
The batters were led by third baseman George Kell who led the AL with 218 hits and 56 doubles, ranked second with a .340 batting average, and finished fourth in the American League Most Valuable Player (AL MVP) voting. Right fielder Vic Wertz led the team with 27 home runs and 123 RBIs and finished 10th in the AL MVP voting. Center fielder Hoot Evers had a .323 batting average and 109 RBIs, led the AL with 11 triples, ranked third in slugging percentage (.551), led AL outfielders in fielding percentage (.997) (one error in 336 total chances), and finished 11th in the AL MVP voting. Second baseman Jerry Priddy led AL second basemen with 542 assists and 150 double plays and finished 17th in the AL MVP voting. Shortstop Johnny Lipon compiled a .378 on-base percentage and led AL shortstops with 483 assists and 126 double plays.
Season standings
Roster 1950 Detroit Tigers Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches
Player stats
Batting = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader
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 107 283 64 .226 9 37 1B 125 467 135 .289 6 32 2B 157 618 171 .277 13 75 3B 157 641 218 .340 8 101 SS 147 601 176 .293 2 63 OF 157 566 173 .306 12 85 OF 149 559 172 .308 27 123 OF 143 526 170 .323 21 103
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 53 169 37 .219 4 19 69 142 31 .218 6 23 67 132 30 .227 2 9 36 95 22 .232 0 12 50 51 16 .314 2 16 39 40 10 .250 0 7 20 7 0 .000 0 0 5 5 2 .400 0 0 3 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 41 274.2 19 12 3.54 88 39 231.2 17 8 2.96 71 35 213.2 15 13 4.34 87 34 184.2 13 5 3.75 88 27 149.1 10 7 4.40 102 7 48.1 3 1 3.54 25
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 42 111.0 9 6 4.54 53 11 40.0 2 1 4.50 11 13 32.2 1 1 3.31 12 8 22.1 1 2 3.63 5
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 32 2 2 4 6.31 14 19 3 1 2 5.56 19 2 0 0 0 6.75 1
Record vs. opponents
Season chronology Preseason roster changes December 14: The Tigers acquired second baseman Jerry Priddy from the St. Louis Browns in exchange for pitcher Lou Kretlow and $150,000 in cash. December 17: The Tigers traded outfielder Dick Wakefield to the New York Yankees in exchange for first baseman Dick Kryhoski. December 29: The Tigers signed outfielder Charlie "King Kong" Keller three months after he was unconditionally released by the Yankees. Keller had undergone back surgery three years earlier and appeared in only 41 games in 1949. February 15: The Tigers acquired pitcher Paul Calvert from the Washington Senators for the $10,000 waiver price.
April April 18: On Opening Day, the Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 7–6, before a crowd of 65,744 in Cleveland. Dick Kryhoski had three hits and had the game-winning RBI in the 10th inning. April 20: The Tigers defeated the Indians, 5–4, in the second game of the season. Pitcher Ted Gray threw a six-hitter for Detroit. April 21: In the home opener at Briggs Stadium, the Tigers defeated the Chicago White Sox, 5–1, before a crowd of 44,642. The victory was fueled by home runs by Johnny Groth in the seventh inning and Vic Wertz in the eighth inning. Virgil Trucks threw a five-hitter and was the winning pitcher. April 22: The Tigers beat the White Sox, 5–0, behind the four-hit, shutout pitching of Art Houtteman, to start the season 4–0. April 23: The Tigers lost to the White Sox, 5–4. It was the Tigers' first loss of the season and the White Sox' first victory. Fred Hutchinson and George Kell both committed errors in the sixth inning during which the Sox scored three runs. Johnny Groth had three hits and a walk for Detroit. Detroit native Billy Pierce was the winning pitcher for Chicago. April 25: The Tigers defeated the St. Louis Browns, 5–2, in St. Louis. Virgil Trucks won the game, giving up only one hit in eight innings before being pulled in the ninth. Jerry Priddy and Johnny Groth hit home runs. April 26: The Tigers defeated the Browns, 8–6, in 10 innings. Paul Calvert got the victory after pitching two perfect innings in relief. George Kell hit the game-winning RBI in the 10th inning. The game attracted a crowd of only 1,802 to the stadium in St. Louis. The victory gave the Tigers a 6–1 record. April 27: Bob Feller held the Tigers to eight hits as the Indians won by a 6–1 score. April 30: In a double-header in Chicago, the Tigers lost the opener by a 5–0 score and settled for a 7–7 tie in the second game.
May May 1–3: Three consecutive games with the Philadelphia Athletics were cancelled after "a week of rain ... turned Shibe Park into a virtual quagmire." May 4: The Tigers defeated the Athletics, 8–5, as Art Houtteman pitched a five-hitter for his third victory of the season. The game attracted a crowd of only 1,901 to Shibe Park. Dick Kryhoski hit his first home run as a Tiger. Jerry Priddy and Vic Wertz had three hits each. May 5: The Tigers defeated the Washington Senators, 9–6, in Washington, D.C. Dizzy Trout got the win, pitching in relief. Detroit scored five unearned runs as Washington errors. The victory gave the Tigers an 8–3 record and kept them in first place. May 6: The Tigers defeated Washington, 8–6. Fred Hutchinson got his first victory of the season. Three of Washington's runs were unearned, resulting from an error in the fifth inning when Johnny Groth misjudged a fly ball. The victory gave the Tigers a 9–3 record and kept them in first place. May 7: In the first meeting of the year between the Tigers and Yankees, the Yankees prevailed by a 6–3 score before a crowd of 54,027 at Yankee Stadium. The Tigers committed three errors (two by Johnny Groth) in the eighth inning, leading to three Yankee runs. May 8: The Tigers won the second game with the Yankees by a 7–1 score. Art Houtteman pitched a complete game and got his fourth victory of the season. George Kell and Vic Wertz hit triples, and Hoot Evers hit a home run. May 9: The Tigers lost to the Boston Red Sox, 6–1, at Fenway Park. Bobby Doerr and Walt Dropo hit home runs for Boston. The loss allowed Boston tom move into a tie with Detroit for first place. May 11: The Tigers swept the Red Sox in a double header at Fenway Park (13–4 and 5–3). With the victories, the Tigers regained sole possession of first place. The Tigers won the second game after Ted Williams committed an error with the bases loaded. May 13: The Tigers defeated the St. Louis Browns, 1–0, at Briggs Stadium. Virgil Trucks pitched a complete game shutout. Vic Wertz hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 11th inning. The Tigers improved to 13-5 and remained 1/2 game ahead of New York and Boston. May 14: Hal Newhouser, sidelined for the first month of the season with a sore pitching arm, made his 1950 debut. The Browns won, 7–3, as Newhouser walked four batters, hit another batter with a pitch, gave up a grand slam to Roy Sievers in the first inning, and lasted only three innings. Newhouser's debut drew a Sunday crowd of 30,794 to Briggs Stadium. May 16: The Tigers lost to the Red Sox, 6–1, in Detroit. Art Houtteman was the losing pitcher. Ted Williams and Vern Stephens each hit two home runs for Boston. The loss allowed the Yankees to move into first place, a half game ahead of the Tigers. May 17: The Tigers defeated the Red Sox, 6–3. Pitcher Ted Gray got the victory for the Tigers, despite giving up to home runs by Walt Dropo. May 18: After trailing by 10 runs, the Tigers staged a comeback but fell short, losing by a 13–12 score to the Red Sox. May 19: The Tigers sent 14 batters to the plate and scored 10 runs in the fifth inning to beat the Athletics‚ 14–8. George Kell and Vic Wertz each had two hits in the inning. Virgil Trucks‚ a 19-game winner in 1949‚ hurt his arm and was lost for the season. Fred Hutchinson pitched in relief and picked up the win. May 20: Detroit second baseman Jerry Priddy started a record five double plays in the first five innings to lead the Tigers to a 5–3 win over the A's. Shortstop Johnny Lipon participated in all the double plays to tie an AL record. Art Houtteman won his fifth game. May 21: The Tigers lost to the Washington Senators, 6–2, before a Sunday crowd of 33,320 at Briggs Stadium. Washington pitcher Conrado Marrero held the Tigers to three hits, one of them a two-run home run by Aaron Robinson. May 22: In his second start of the season, Hal Newhouser pitched a complete game and held the Senators to one run as the Tigers won by a 5–1 score. Dick Kryhoski hit a three-run home run, and Johnny Lipon had four hits. May 23: The Tigers lost to the Senators, 8–2. The Tigers led, 2–0, after eight innings, but the Senators scored eight runs in the ninth inning. May 25: The Tigers lost to the Yankees, 6–4, in Detroit. Yogi Berra hit a grand slam home run off Art Houtteman in the fifth inning. May 26: The Tiger bet the Browns, 11–2, in St. Louis. In his third start, Hal Newhouser struck out the first three batters and held the Browns to six hits. Vic Wertz hit a three-run home run in the first inning. George Kell had a single, double, and triple. May 27: The Tigers defeated St. Louis, 8–6, before a crowd of only 1,305 at Sportsman's Park. Hoot Evers had three hits and drove in five runs. George Kell also had three hit, and Ted Gray got the win. May 28: The Tigers won both games of a double-header with the Browns. Fred Hutchinson won the first game, 6–2. Dizzy Trout, in his first start since 1948, won the second game, 2–1. Trout gave up only five hits and also drove in the winning run with a single in the second inning. May 30: The Tigers split a double-header with the Indians before a crowd of 55,537 at Briggs Stadium. The Indians won the first game, 4–0, behind the shutout pitching of Bob Lemon. The Tigers won the second game, 5–2, behind the seven-hit pitching of Hal Newhouser. The Tigers closed the month with a 22–12 record, three games behind the Yankees.
June June 2: The Tigers won both games of a double-header against the Athletics in Philadelphia. The Tigers won the first game, 3–2, and the second game, 16–5. George Kell hit for the cycle in the second game. Vic Wertz had seven RBIs and a home run, and Hoot Evers hit a home run in the first game. The Tigers' 16 runs and 21 hits in the second game were season highs. June 3: The Tigers beat the A's, 6–1, before a crowd of 2,714 in Philadelphia. Hal Newhouser won his fourth straight game.