1944 Detroit Tigers season

1944 Detroit Tigers
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Briggs Stadium (since 1912)
Detroit (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Walter Briggs, Sr.
General manager(s)	Jack Zeller
Manager(s)	Steve O'Neill
Local radio	WXYZ (Harry Heilmann)
< Previous season     Next season  >

The 1944 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The team finished second in the American League with a record of 88–66, just one game behind the first place St. Louis Browns.

Offseason

• October 11, 1943: Rip Radcliff was traded by the Tigers to the Philadelphia Athletics for Don Heffner and Bob Swift.
• Prior to 1944 season: Joe Ginsberg was signed as an amateur free agent by the Tigers.

Regular season

On April 19, first baseman Rudy York recorded his 1,000th career hit.

On September 18, the Tigers found themselves in first place for the first time all season. The Yankees lost two games to the Athletics, while the Browns split two games with the White Sox. With the Tigers sweeping Cleveland, the Tigers jumped over the Yankees and Browns for first place. The Browns were a half game back, while the Yankees were two games back.

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
St. Louis Browns	89	65	.578	--
Detroit Tigers	88	66	.571	1
New York Yankees	83	71	.539	6
Boston Red Sox	77	77	.500	12
Cleveland Indians	72	82	.468	17
Philadelphia Athletics	72	82	.468	17
Chicago White Sox	71	83	.461	18
Washington Senators	64	90	.416	25

Record vs. opponents

1944 American League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	17–5	8–14	10–12–2	11–11	11–11	10–12	10–12
Chicago	5–17	—	14–8	9–13	10–12	9–13	8–14	16–6
Cleveland	14–8	8–14	—	10–12	8–14	12–10–1	10–12	10–12
Detroit	12–10–2	13–9	12–10	—	14–8	11–11	9–13	17–5
New York	11–11	12–10	14–8	8–14	—	13–9	10–12	15–7
Philadelphia	11–11	13–9	10–12–1	11–11	9–13	—	9–13	9–13
St. Louis	12–10	14–8	12–10	13–9	12–10	13–9	—	13–9
Washington	12–10	6–16	12–10	5–17	7–15	13–9	9–13	—

Roster

1944 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers 23 Boom-Boom Beck 17,25 Zeb Eaton 12 Rufe Gentry 17 Bob Gillespie 15 Johnny Gorsica 21 Roy Henshaw  2 Chief Hogsett  5 Jake Mooty 16 Hal Newhouser 14 Joe Orrell 19 Stubby Overmire 11 Dizzy Trout		Catchers 22 Hack Miller  9 Paul Richards  1 Bob Swift Infielders 7,35 Red Borom 25 Bubba Floyd  5 Don Heffner  6 Pinky Higgins 7,24 Joe Hoover  3 Eddie Mayo 24 Joe Orengo 18 Jackie Sullivan 30 Al Unser  4 Rudy York		Outfielders  8 Doc Cramer 26 Chuck Hostetler 21 Charlie Metro 27 Jimmy Outlaw 20 Don Ross  2 Dick Wakefield Other batters 25 John McHale		Manager 32 Steve O'Neill Coaches 28 Art Mills 31 Al Vincent

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

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
Bob Swift	80	247	63	.255	1	19
Don Heffner	6	19	4	.211	0	1

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

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

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
Boom-Boom Beck	28	1	2	1	3.89	25
Jake Mooty	15	0	0	0	4.45	7
Zeb Eaton	6	0	0	0	5.74	4

Awards and honors

1944 MLB All-Star Game

• Pinky Higgins
• Hal Newhouser
• Dizzy Trout
• Rudy York

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Buffalo Bisons	International League	Bucky Harris
B	Hagerstown Owls	Interstate League	Herb Brett
D	Jamestown Falcons	PONY League	Ollie Carnegie

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Jamestown

References

• 1944 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference