The 1971 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 71st season and the 60th season at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers finished in second place in the American League East with a 91–71 record, 12 games behind the Orioles. They outscored their opponents 701 to 645. They drew 1,591,073 fans to Tiger Stadium, the second highest attendance in the American League.

Offseason October 9, 1970: Denny McLain, Elliott Maddox, Norm McRae, and Don Wert were traded by the Tigers to the Washington Senators for Ed Brinkman, Aurelio Rodríguez, Joe Coleman, and Jim Hannan.Denny McLain page at Baseball Reference March 30, 1971: Jerry Robertson was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the New York Mets for Dean Chance and Bill Denehy.Jerry Robertson page at Baseball Reference

Regular season Mickey Lolich became the second pitcher in the history of the American League to win 25 games but not win the Cy Young Award.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 236, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 9, 1971: Dave Boswell was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.Dave Boswell page at Baseball Reference May 28, 1971: Dave Boswell was released by the Tigers. June 8, 1971: Gene Pentz was drafted by the Tigers in the 7th round of the 1971 Major League Baseball draft.Gene Pentz page at Baseball Reference June 12, 1971: Carl Cavanaugh (minors) and Mike Fremuth (minors) were traded by the Tigers to the Philadelphia Phillies for Tony Taylor.Tony Taylor page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1971 Detroit Tigers Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches (Pitching) (Third base) (Bullpen) (First base)

Player stats

Batting = Indicates team leader Starters by position Note: 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 148 516 143 .277 21 71 1B 135 452 128 .283 32 91 2B 128 477 99 .208 18 57 3B 154 604 153 .253 15 39 SS 159 527 120 .228 1 37 LF 119 450 130 .289 22 72 CF 139 401 117 .292 7 55 RF 133 405 119 .294 15 54

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 136 459 124 .270 16 71 82 195 66 .338 11 29 55 181 52 .287 3 19 83 138 35 .254 5 11 59 110 28 .255 8 19 29 54 13 .241 1 7 31 41 11 .268 1 4 38 37 7 .189 0 4 7 16 3 .188 2 6 7 15 1 .067 0 1 8 14 2 .143 0 1 2 4 2 .500 0 1

Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included

Pitching = Indicates league leader Starting pitchers Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 45 376.0 25 14 2.92 308 39 286.0 20 9 3.15 236 26 144.2 10 9 4.35 118

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 31 122.1 6 7 4.49 43 31 89.2 4 6 3.51 64 30 86.1 4 5 5.00 47 16 31.2 1 1 5.12 15 9 30.0 2 1 4.80 14

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 69 11 6 20 40 2.71 76 52 7 6 4 23 3.86 51 31 0 3 1 10 4.22 27 12 0 1 0 3 4.82 5 11 0 1 2 7 2.50 8 7 1 0 0 3 3.27 6 7 0 2 1 2 5.63 6 5 0 0 0 0 13.50 1 3 0 0 0 1 6.23 3 3 0 0 0 1 18.00 2

Awards and honors Mickey Lolich, Tiger of the Year award from Detroit baseball writers

All-Star Selections

All-Star Game

Norm Cash, First Base, Reserve Bill Freehand, Catcher, Reserve Al Kaline, Outfield, Reserve Mickey Lolich, Pitcher, Reserve

League top ten finishers Ed Brinkman AL leader in games played at shortstop (159) AL leader in innings played at shortstop (1395-2/3) AL leader in assists by a shortstop (513) #4 in AL in games played (159) #7 in AL in times hit by pitch (7)

Norm Cash Finished 12th in AL MVP voting AL leader in at bats per home run (14.1) #2 in AL in home runs (32) #3 in AL in slugging percentage (.531) #3 in AL in OPS (.903) #7 in AL in times hit by pitch (7) #8 in AL in RBIs (91) #9 in AL in runs created (93) 7th oldest player in the AL

Joe Coleman #3 in AL in strikeouts (236) #4 in AL in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (7.43) #5 in AL in win percentage (.690) #5 in AL in innings pitched (286) #5 in AL in batters faced (1174) #6 in AL in wins (20) #9 in AL in complete games (16)

Bill Freehan AL leader in games at catcher (144) AL leader in complete games at catcher (128) AL leader in innings played at catcher (1265) AL leader in putouts by a catcher (912) #3 in AL in times hit by pitch (9) #8 in AL in doubles (26) #9 in AL in extra base hits (51) #9 in AL in at bats per strikeout (10.8)

Willie Horton #7 in AL in slugging percentage (.496) #7 in AL in times hit by pitch (7) #10 in AL in extra base hits (48) #10 in AL in at bats per home run (20.5)

Al Kaline #3 in AL in on-base percentage (.416) #6 in AL in OPS (.878) #7 in AL in time hit by pitch (7) #8 in AL in batting average (.294) #10 in AL in bases on balls (82) 9th oldest player in the AL

Mickey Lolich Finished 2nd in AL Cy Young Award voting (behind Vida Blue) Finished 5th in AL MVP voting MLB leader in wins (25) MLB leader in strikeouts (308) MLB leader in innings pitched (376) MLB leader in games started (45) AL leader in complete games (29) MLB leader in hits allowed (336) MLB leader in batters faced (1538) #2 in MLB in home runs allowed (36) #2 in MLB in earned runs allowed (122) #4 in AL in sacrifice hits (16) #4 in AL in strikeout to walk ratio (3.35) #5 in AL in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (7.37) #7 in AL in Adjusted ERA+ (125) #8 in AL in bases on balls per 9 innings pitched (2.20) #10 in AL in ERA (2.92)

Aurelio Rodríguez #3 in AL in doubles (30) #4 in AL in triples (7) #4 in AL in outs (476) #5 in AL in at bats (604) #8 in AL in extra base hits (52) #10 in AL in strikeouts (104)

Fred Scherman #2 in AL in games by pitcher (69) #3 in AL in saves (20) #3 in AL in games finished (40)

Players ranking among top 100 all time at position

The following members of the 1972 Tigers were ranked among the Top 100 of all time at their position in The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001: Bill Freehan: 12th best catcher of all time Norm Cash: 20th best first baseman of all time Dick McAuliffe: 22nd best second baseman of all time Aurelio Rodríguez: 91st best third baseman of all time Willie Horton: 55th best left fielder of all time Al Kaline: 11th best right fielder of all time Mickey Lolich: 72nd best pitcher of all time

Farm system

Notes

References

Detroit Tigers 1971 Regular Season Statistics at Baseball Reference BaseballLibrary.com Game by Game Summary of 1971 Tigers season