1972 Detroit Tigers: Straight Up Hitting

1972 Detroit Tigers: Straight Up Hitting

1972 Detroit Tigers: Straight Up Hitting

After winning the World Series in 1968 the Detroit Tigers went through a brief down period in baseball as play on the field was uninspired. In the beginning of the 1970’s the Tigers experienced a couple of losing seasons, but one positive change led to a brief revival of good baseball in the Motor City as fiery manager Billy Martin was handed the task of guiding the Tigers. For the few seasons that he managed the Tigers, Martin fared well.

In 1972 the Detroit Tigers went 86-70. They finished just ½ a game ahead of the Boston Red Sox to claim the American League East division. The Tigers went 9-5 against the Red Sox in head-to-head play. Due to a scheduling quirk that involved a strike the Tigers were able to play one more regular season game than the Red Sox. The strike of 1972 began on April 1 and it ended on April 13, which resulted in 86 games across MLB being lost.

The Tigers went 44-34 at their home ballpark of Tiger Stadium and 42-36 on the road. With the exception of August the Tigers played good baseball through every month of the regular season as they went 7-4 in April, 14-12 in May, 15-12 in June, 19-12 in July, 16-11 in September and 3-1 in October.

The Tigers specialized in straight up hitting at the plate since the team had no players who were crafty baserunners. Stolen bases were hard to come by but the Tigers hit the baseball very well. Right fielder Al Kaline batted .313 with 10 home runs, 87 hits and 11 doubles in 106 games. Third baseman Aurelio Rodriguez had 13 home runs, 142 hits, 23 doubles and 5 triples. First baseman Norm Cash had 22 home runs and 61 RBI’s off 114 hits and 16 doubles.

Center fielder Mickey Stanley had 14 home runs, 102 hits, 16 doubles and 6 triples. Left fielder Willie Horton had 11 home runs, 77 hits, 9 doubles and 5 triples in 108 games. Catcher Bill Freehan had 10 home runs, 98 hits and 18 doubles in 111 games. Shortstop Ed Brinkman had 105 hits and 19 doubles in 156 games. Second baseman Dick McAuliffe had 98 hits and 16 doubles in 122 games. Outfielder Jim Northrup had 111 hits and 15 doubles in 134 games.

Starting pitcher Mickey Lolich went 22-14 with 250 strikeouts and a 2.50 ERA, recording 23 complete games and 4 shutouts. Joe Coleman went 19-14 with 222 strikeouts and a 2.80 ERA, recording 9 complete games and 3 shutouts. Woodie Fryman went 10-3 with a 2.06 ERA, recording 6 complete games and 1 shutout. Despite going 5-6 Bill Slayback had a 3.20 ERA, 3 complete games and 1 shutout. Closer Chuck Seelbach went 9-8 with 14 saves and a 2.89 ERA. Relief pitcher Fred Scherman went 7-3 with 12 saves and a 3.64 ERA. John Hiller had 3 saves and a 2.03 ERA despite going 1-2. Specializing in throwing knuckleball pitches Joe Niekro went 3-2 with 1 save and a 3.83 ERA. Chris Zachary went 1-1 with 1 save and a 1.41 ERA.

Early on in the regular season the Tigers showed that they were a team to be taken seriously as they blanked the Chicago White Sox 12-0 on April 28 at Tiger Stadium. Tom Timmerman pitched a complete game, giving up 3 hits and 5 walks while recording 5 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 2nd inning Ed Brinkman had a 2-run single. In the bottom of the 3rd Bill Freehan had an RBI single, and then Norm Cash followed with a 2-run single. In the bottom of the 5th Cash came back to hit a solo home run. In the bottom of the 6th Freehan was hit by a pitch to score Dick McAuliffe, cash had an RBI groundout, Jim Northrup had a 2-run single, and then Brinkman capped things off with a 2-run double.

The American League Championship Series was an opportunity for the Tigers to move forward, but they were unable to get past a team that would end up winning 3 consecutive World Series championships. The Tigers would fall to the Oakland Athletics 3 games to 2. Down 2 games to none, the Tigers would rally back to even the series.

In Game 3 on October 10 at Tiger Stadium the Tigers blanked the Athletics 3-0. Joe Coleman pitched a complete game, giving up 7 hits and 3 walks while recording an impressive 14 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 4th inning first baseman Ike Brown had a 2-run single, and then in the bottom of the 8th Bill Freehan hit a solo home run.

In Game 4 on October 11 the Tigers beat the Athletics 4-3. Mickey lolich pitched a complete game, giving up 5 hits, 2 walks and 1 run but managed to record 6 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 3rd inning Dick McAuliffe hit a solo home run. In the top of the 7th first baseman Mike Epstein hit a solo home run for Oakland. In the top of the 10th right fielder Matty Alou had an RBI double, and then shortstop Ted Kubiak had an RBI single. In the bottom of the 10th Freehan hit into a fielder’s choice to score McAuliffe. Norm Cash followed by drawing a bases loaded walk to score Al Kaline, and then Jim Northrup had an RBI single.

The 1972 MLB All-Star Game featured 4 Tigers players. Bill Freehan was the starting catcher for the American League team while Mickey Lolich, Joe Coleman and Norm Cash made the AL squad as reserves. Ed Brinkman was awarded a Gold Glove for his dynamic defensive play at the shortstop position.