The 1952 Detroit Tigers had a record of 50–104 (.325) — the worst record in Tigers' history until the 2003 Tigers finished 43–119 (.265). Virgil Trucks became the third pitcher in major league history to throw two no-hitters in one season.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 139, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,
Regular season As of 2025, the 1952 Tigers winning percentage ranks third-worst in the Tigers' history, as shown in this chart. The club was managed by Red Rolfe (April 15 through July 4), who compiled a win–loss record of 23–49 (.319), then by pitcher-manager Fred Hutchinson, who had a record of 27–55 (.329) from July 5 through closing day, September 28.Retrosheet.org
Worst Seasons in Detroit Tigers History Rank Year Wins Losses Win % 1 2003 43 119 .2652201947114.292 3 1952 50 104 .325 4 1996 53 109 .327 5 2002 55 106 .342 6 1975 57 102 .358
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions June 3, 1952: Dizzy Trout, George Kell, Johnny Lipon, and Hoot Evers were traded by the Tigers to the Boston Red Sox for Walt Dropo, Fred Hatfield, Don Lenhardt, Johnny Pesky, and Bill Wight.Walt Dropo at Baseball Reference August 14, 1952: Dick Littlefield, Marlin Stuart, Don Lenhardt and Vic Wertz were traded by the Tigers to the St. Louis Browns for Jim Delsing, Ned Garver, Bud Black and Dave Madison.Bud Black at Baseball Reference
Roster 1952 Detroit Tigers Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches
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 113 307 68 .221 6 36 1B 115 459 128 .279 23 70 2B 75 279 79 .283 4 20 3B 112 441 104 .236 2 25 SS 73 189 43 .228 0 13 OF 141 524 149 .284 4 51 OF 85 285 70 .246 17 51 OF 97 255 64 .251 7 35
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 92 265 66 .249 13 45 74 231 56 .242 0 14 86 193 26 .197 9 23 69 177 45 .254 1 9 56 173 41 .237 3 13 Don Kolloway 65 173 42 .243 2 21 39 152 45 .296 1 17 45 144 27 .188 3 13 39 136 30 .221 0 12 Jim Delsing 33 113 31 .274 3 15 19 80 26 .325 0 8 Bob Swift 28 58 8 .138 0 4 Russ Sullivan 15 52 17 .327 3 5 Johnny Hopp 42 46 10 .217 0 3 George Lerchen 14 32 5 .156 1 3 Bill Tuttle 7 25 6 .240 0 2 Don Lund 8 23 7 .304 0 1 7 18 3 .167 0 0 Carl Linhart 3 2 0 .000 0 0 1 1 1 1.000 0 0 Alex Garbowski 2 0 0 ---- 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 35 224.0 12 17 4.14 138 35 221.0 8 20 4.36 109 35 197.0 5 19 3.97 129 25 154.0 9 9 3.74 57 23 143.2 5 9 3.88 57 1 9.0 1 0 2.00 3 2 8.0 0 1 10.13 0
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 34 125.0 2 7 4.32 65 Marlin Stuart 30 91.1 3 2 4.93 32 10 27.0 1 5 5.33 20 Ken Johnson 9 11.1 0 0 6.35 10 Dick Marlowe 4 11.0 0 2 7.36 3
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 Hal White 41 1 8 5 3.69 18 28 0 3 1 4.34 32 12 2 1 0 3.38 12 Dave Madison 10 1 1 0 7.80 7 Wayne McLeland 4 0 0 0 10.13 0
Awards and accomplishments
League top five finishers Art Houtteman: AL leader in losses (20) Virgil Trucks: #2 in AL in losses (19) Ted Gray: #3 in AL in losses (17)
Players ranking among top 100 of all time at position The following members of the 1952 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their positions, as ranked by The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001: Jerry Priddy: 73rd best second baseman of all time Johnny Pesky: 20th best shortstop of all time (played 69 games for 1952 Tigers) George Kell: 30th best third baseman of all time (played only 39 games for 1952 Tigers) Vic Wertz: 61st best right fielder of all time Harvey Kuenn: 62nd best right fielder of all time (played only 19 games for 1952 Tigers) Hal Newhouser: 36th best pitcher of all time Virgil Trucks: 61st best pitcher of all time
Walt Dropo's consecutive hits streak Over a three-game stretch from July 14 to July 15, Walt Dropo had hits in 12 consecutive plate appearances to tie a major league record also held by Johnny Kling (1902).
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Jamestown
Notes
References
Baseball-Reference.com 1952 Detroit Tigers
External links
BaseballLibrary.com 1952 Detroit Tigers season summary