1945 Detroit Tigers season

MLB yearly infobox-pre1969‎
name = Detroit Tigers
season = 1945
misc = 1945 World Series Champions
1945 American League Champions

current league = American League
y1 = 1901
Uniform
ballpark = Briggs Stadium
y4 = 1912
city = Detroit, Michigan
y5 = 1901
owners = Walter Briggs, Sr.
managers = Steve O'Neill
television = none
radio = WJLB
(Harry Heilmann, Don Wattrick)|The 1945 Detroit Tigers won the 1945 World Series, defeating the Chicago Cubs 4 games to 3. The season was their 45th since they entered the American League in 1901. It was the second World Series championship for the Tigers. Detroit pitcher Hal Newhouser was named the American League's Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season.

The players

Catchers: Swift and Richards

The catching duties were split between Bob Swift (94 games) and Paul Richards (83 games). Swift hit .233, and Richards .256. Richards got the nod as the starting catcher in the World Series. Swift took over as the Tigers' manager in 1965 after Chuck Dressen was felled by two heart attacks. Later that year, Swift was diagnosed with lung cancer and died in October at age 51. Richards went on to be a manager for the White Sox (1951-54), Orioles (1955-61), and Braves (1966-72).

Infield: York, Mayo, Maier, and Webb

First baseman Rudy York was among the American League leaders in home runs for 11 consecutive seasons from 1937-1947, and his .503 slugging percentage as a Tiger ranks #4 in franchise history. In 1945, York hit .264 with 18 home runs and 87 RBIs. York had a poor World Series in 1945, playing in all seven games, but batting only .179 with no home runs.

Prior to 1944, second baseman Eddie Mayo had never hit for a batting average higher than .227. Yet in 1945, Mayo hit for a .285 average and .347 on base pecentage with 24 doubles and a career-high 10 home runs. Mayo also won his second Gold Glove award in 1945 and led all American League second basemen with a .980 fielding percentage. Selected for the American League All Star team, he had the highest batting average among Tigers players with at least 300 at bats. Hal Newhouser credited Mayo for sparking the Tigers' 1945 pennant drive, calling him the "take-charge guy in our infield." Mayo finished second to Newhouser in the AL MVP voting. Newhouser had 9 first place votes, and Mayo had 7.

Traded to the Tigers after the 1944 season, shortstop Skeeter Webb proved to be a liability at bat, as he hit only .199. Though he was a fine fielder, many believed he held onto the starting shortstop job despite his weak hitting, because he was married to the daughter of Tigers' manager Steve O'Neill. In Game 7 of the World Series, Skeeter had his best performance, scoring two runs and fielding the final out of the Series.

Third baseman Bob Maier played only one season in the big leagues, but he spent that season on a championship team. Maier played in 132 games for the 1945 Tigers, batting .263 with 58 runs, 34 RBIs, 25 doubles, 7 triples, and 7 stolen bases. Though he was the starting third baseman during the regular season, the starting job went to Jimmy Outlaw in the World Series, as Outlaw moved from the outfield to third base to make room for Hank Greenberg who had returned from military service in July. Maier had a pinch-hit single Game 6 of the 1945 World Series, which turned to be his last major league at bat.

Outfield: Cullenbine, Cramer, Outlaw, and Greenberg

Jimmy Outlaw was the left fielder for the first half of the season, but he was replaced by Hank Greenberg when he returned from the war in July. After Greenberg returned, Outlaw played 21 games at third base, 17 games in center field and 8 games in right field. Outlaw hit .271 in 132 games.

Greenberg had missed four seasons to military service, but rejoined the Tigers after his discharge on July 1, 1945. At age 34, Greenberg picked up where he left off, hitting a home run in his first game. Without the benefit of spring training, he returned to the Tigers, was again voted to the All-Star Team, and hit a dramatic pennant-clinching grand slam home run in the 9th inning on the last day of the regular season. He also set a major league record with 11 multi-homer games in 1945.

Centerfielder Doc Cramer, nicknamed "Flit", was a veteran player who had been playing in the major leagues since 1929. He ended his career with 2,705 hits. In 1945, at age 40, he was the oldest player on an old team. He hit .275 with 58 RBIs in the regular season and led the team with a .379 batting average in the 1945 World Series, scoring seven runs and batting in four.

Shortly before the 1945 season started, right fielder Roy Cullenbine was traded by the Indians to the Detroit Tigers. Cullenbine was raised in Detroit and started his career as a Tiger but was declared a free agent by Judge Landis in 1940. In 1945, Cullenbine led the American League with 113 walks and was 2nd in the AL with a .402 on base percentage. He also hit for power in 1945, with 18 home runs (tied with Rudy York for 2nd in the AL), 93 RBIs (2nd in the AL), 51 extra base hits (4th in the AL), and a .444 slugging percentage (3rd in the AL). Despite batting only .227 in the Series, Cullenbine walked 8 times for a .433 on base percentage and scored five runs.

Pitching: Newhouser, Trout, Benton, Overmire and Trucks

The starting pitchers were Hal Newhouser, Dizzy Trout, Al Benton, Stubby Overmire, and Les Mueller.

Hal Newhouser, also known as "Prince Hal", won 25 games and was named the American League's Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season. He was the first pitcher in the history of the American League to win the MVP for two consecutive seasons. [Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.153, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, NY, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0] Newhouser won the pitcher's Triple Crown, leading the American League in wins (25, against nine losses), ERA (1.81) and strikeouts (212). He also led the league in innings pitched (313-1/3, games started (36), complete games (29), and shutouts (8). Newhouser also won two games in the World Series, including the deciding seventh game. Newhouser and Greenberg were the only two players from the 1945 Tigers who were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Al Benton missed the 1943 and 1944 seasons while serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was discharged from the Navy in November 1944 and had his best year in 1945. He compiled a record of 13-8, a career-low 2.02 ERA, five shutouts, and 12 complete games in 191.2 innings. In a remarkable testament to the Tigers' pitching in 1945, Hal Newhouser and Benton were No. 1 and No. 2 in ERA among AL pitchers. Newhouser's Adjusted ERA+ in 1945 was 195 and Benton's was 175. The Adjusted ERA+ figures posted by Newhouser and Benton in 1945 rank as the 1st and 5th best seasons all time for a Detroit Tigers pitcher with at least 150 innings pitched. ("See Detroit Tigers team records")

After winning 20 games in 1943 and 27 games in 1944, Dizzy Trout won 18 games in 1945 and was a workhorse in the pennant drive. He pitched six games and won four over a nine-game late-season stretch. In Game 4 of the 1945 World Series, Trout beat the Cubs 4-1 on a five-hitter. Trout went 1-1 in the Series with an ERA of 0.66. The Tigers #4 starter in 1945 was Stubby Overmire. He won 9 games and started Game 3 of the 1945 World Series against the Chicago Cubs. Despite giving up only 2 runs in 6 innings, Overmire took the loss as the Tigers were shut out 3-0.

After service in the Navy, Virgil Trucks returned to the Tigers on the last day of the regular season. He got the start in the final game (allowing 1 run in 5-1/3 innings), in which the Tigers clinched the pennant. To help returning veterans, the Commissioner waived the rule requiring a player to be on the roster on September 1 to be eligible for World Series play. Trucks was the winning pitcher in Game 2 of the World Series.

Though he had a record of 6-8, pitcher Les Mueller appeared in 26 games and played an important role in the 1945 Tigers season. After missing the 1942-1944 seasons to military service, Mueller gave up a single to Pete Gray, the St. Louis Browns' famous one-armed outfielder, in Gray's first major league game in April 1945. Three months later, on July 21, 1945, Mueller pitched the first 19-2/3 innings for the Tigers and left having given up only 1 run. No pitcher has thrown as many innings in a major league game since Mueller's feat. The game lasted 4 hours and 48 minutes before the game was called due to darkness. Mueller also pitched 2 scoreless innings in Game 1 of the 1945 World Series.

Relief pitching was split between George Caster (who was selected off waivers from the St. Louis Browns on August 8, 1945) [http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/castege01.shtml] , Walter Wilson, Zeb Eaton, and Art Houtteman.

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:
* Hank Greenberg: 8th best first baseman of all time
* Rudy York: 56th best first baseman of all time
* Doc Cramer: 91st best center fielder of all time
* Roy Cullenbine: 68th best right fielder of all time
* Hal Newhouser: 36th best pitcher of all time
* Virgil Trucks: 61st best pitcher of all time

Award Winners and League Leaders

* Doc Cramer: AL fielding percentage leader in outfield (.991)
* Roy Cullenbine: AL walks leader (113)
* Art Houtteman: Youngest player in AL (17)
* Eddie Mayo: The Sporting News Most Valuable Player Award
* Eddie Mayo: AL fielding percentage leader at second base (.980)
* Hal Newhouser: AL Most Valuable Player Award
* Hal Newhouser: AL pitching triple crown winner
* Hal Newhouser: AL wins leader (25)
* Hal Newhouser: AL ERA leader (1.81)
* Hal Newhouser: AL strikeouts leader (212)
* Hal Newhouser: AL complete games leader (29)
* Hal Newhouser: AL shutouts leader (8)
* Hal Newhouser: AL games started leader (36)
* Hal Newhouser: AL innings pitched leader (313-1/3)
* Hal Newhouser: AL strikeouts per 9 innings pitched leader (6.09)
* Hal Newhouser: AL batters faced leader (1261)
* Hal Newhouser: AL fielding percentage leader at pitcher (1.000)
* Dizzy Trout: AL leader in errors at pitcher (9)
* Rudy York: AL grounded into double play leader (23)
* Rudy York: AL leader in putouts at first base (1464)
* Rudy York: AL leader in errors at first base (19)

Regular season

eason standings

Roster

Relief pitchers

"Note: G = Games pitched; W= Wins; L= Losses; SV = Saves; GF = Games Finished; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts"

Pitching

"Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts"

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/DET/1945.shtml Baseball-Reference.com 1945 Detroit Tigers Regular Season Statistics]
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1945_WS.shtml Baseball-Reference.com 1945 World Series Statistics, Box Scores and Play by Play]
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/chronology/byyear.php?year=1946 Charlton's Baseball Chronology for 1945]
* [http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/worldseries/1945.html The Sporting News on 1945 World Series]
* [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/yr1945ws.shtml Baseball Almanac on 1945 World Series]

References

succession box
title = American League Champions
years = 1945
before = St. Louis Browns
1944
after = Boston Red Sox
1946succession box
title = World Series Champions
Detroit Tigers
years = 1945
before = St. Louis Cardinals1944
after = St. Louis Cardinals
1946