Detroit
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1960

6

71

83

1963

5

79

83

1967

2

91

71

Decade

1961

2

101

61

1964

4

85

77

1968

1

103

59

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1962

4

85

76

1965

4

89

73

1969

2

90

72

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1966

3

88

74

Titles:

Top Tigers Players of the Sixties

World Champs 1968 (Beat St. Louis)

Pitchers:

BallPark:

Denny McLain (22.16) - 74

Tiger Stadium (previously Navin Field and Briggs Stadium)

Mickey Lolich (14.16) - 62

Jim Bunning (16.72) - 43

Team Name:

Earl Wilson (11.55) - 35

Tigers

Hank Aguirre (17.43) - 34

Frank Lary (8.72) - 30

Owner:

Don Mossi (9.44) - 22

John Fetzer

Dave Wickersham (5.24) - 20

Joe Sparma (0.72) - 20

General Managers:

Phil Regan (-0.13) - 17

Rick Ferrelll (1960-1962)

Terry Fox (8.04) - 11

Jim Campbell (1963-1969)

Fred Gladding (6.5) - 5

Managers:

Catchers:

Jimmie Dykes (1960)

Bill Freehan (24.87) - 68

Billy Hitchcock (1960)

Dick Brown (1.29) - 11

Joe Gordon (1960)

Bob Scheffing (1961-1963)

First Basemen:

Chuck Dressen (1964-1966)

Norm Cash (42.91) - 107

Bob Swift (1965-1966)

Bobo Osborne (0.55) - 0

Frank Skaff (1966)

Mayo Smith (1967-1969)

Second Basemen:

Dick McAulliffe (28.8) - 65

No Hitters:

Jake Wood (-0.14) - 18

None

Chuck Cottier (0) - 0

Hall of Famers:

ShortStop:

Jim Bunning

Chico Fernandez (0.91) - 16

Al Kaline

Ray Oyler (1.27) - 11

Coot Veal (0.08) - 0

Rookie of the Year:

None

Third Base:

Don Wert (11.81) - 20

MVP:

Denny McLain (1968)

Outfield:

Al Kaline (48.67) - 110

Cy Young:

Willie Horton (16.65) - 44

Denny McLain (1968)

Jim Northrup (15.17) - 39

Rocco Colavito (17.29) - 35

Notable Events:

Bill Bruton (8.3) - 34

Mickey Stanley (9.79) - 20

1960 - John Fetzer emerges as the sole owner of the Tigers. He had been

Gates Brown (7.26) - 11

one of a group of radio and television executives who had bought the club

Don Demeter (2.97) - 11

from the Briggs family four years earlier. Fetzer has the resources to support a

successful operation.

Notable Events:

1960 - Briggs Stadium is renamed Tiger Stadium

1963 - The Tigers select nineteen year old righthander Denny

McLain from the White Sox as a first year waiver selection.

1960 - The Tigers are a stagnant ballclub on a mediocrity treadmill coming into the

decade. The 1960 roster shows that there is some hope, however. The lineup boasts

1963 - Twenty Two year old lefthander Mickey Lolich is brought

three young sluggers, first baseman Norm Cash, 25, right fielder Rocky Colavito, 26

up from Syracuse.

and centerfielder Al Kaline, 25. Kaline has been with the club since he was eighteen.

Meanwhile, the Tigers braintrust of President Bill DeWitt and General Manager Rick

1963 - Willie Horton, slugging twenty four year old outfielder,

Ferrell perpetrated a couple of major thefts in getting Cash and Colavito. Cash was

joins the Tigers from Syracuse. He will spend the next fifteen

picked up from Cleveland before the season in exchange for journeyman utility infielder

years with Detroit including four all star appearances

Steve Demeter. Colavito was obtained in a monumental deal, again with the Indians

and their GM Frank Lane, for Harvey Kuenn. It was a no-brainer deal from Detroit's

1963 - Catcher Bill Freehan is a hard hitting twenty one year old

point of view and, from Cleveland's point of view, Lane had no brains. Cash would

rookie. He'll spend the next fifteen years as Detroit's starting

spend the next fifteen years in Detroit as their starting first baseman Colavito would be

catcher and as one of the top catchers in the game including

with the Tigers four years before being dealt to Kansas City. On the pitching

eleven all star games.

side of the ledger, Detroit had three solid righthanders anchoring their rotation in the

late Fifties: Frank Lary (30), Jim Bunning (28) and Paul Foytack (29). Foytack would

1964 - Jim Northrup, 24, is a rookie. He will spend the next eleven

hurt his arm in 1960 and bounce back a bit in 1961. However, Lary and Bunning were

seasons as a starting outfielder in Detroit.

still getting better. The Tigers also had a couple of pretty good lefties on their roster

who had also been pilfered from Cleveland: Don Mossi (31) who was obtained for

1964 - Twenty one year old centerfielder Mickey Stanley is brought

Billy Martin in 1959 and Hank Aguirre (29) who was picked up for Hal Woodeshick in

up from Syracuse. He'll be the Tigers' starting center fielder

1958. Also on the roster was twenty year old second baseman Dick McAulliffe.

for the next fourteen years.

Dick would be Detroit's starting second baseman for the next thirteen years.

The Tigers didn't have a good season in 1960, but the pieces were falling into place.

1967 - The Tigers finish second to the Red Sox by one game with

the pennant race coming down to the final day.

1961 - Detroit gains a whopping thirty victories, going from 71 wins to 101 wins.

Detroit has one of the more stable lineups in baseball history,

However, they only finish second, eight games behind the legendary 1961 Yankees

probably the most stable, with catcher Freehan, first baseman Cash,

Lots of players had big years to account for the gain. Cash's liine was 41-132-.361.

second baseman McAulliffe, third baseman Wert and outfielders

Colavito's 45-140-.290. Kaliine hit .324. On the mound, Lary went 23-9, Bunning 17-11,

Kaline, Horton, Stanley and Northrup.

and Mossi 15-7. The bullpen featured Terry Fox, 25, with a 1.41 ERA and

This is basically their lineup from 1965 thru 1974 (with a few tweaks,

Phil Regan, 24, who went 10-7

of course). At this stage of the game, this Detroit lineup is young

and just starting to come into it's own

1962 -Detroit falls back down to earth, winning 85 games. A good, but not great team in

the mid Sixties, they will average 85 wins over the next five years, not deviating much

1968 - Denny McLain wins 31 games. No one has won thirty since.

from the norm during that period

It had been 34 years since Dizzy Dean had last won thirty in 1934.

McLain was a monster talent who tragically had the personality

1963 - Jim Campbell takes over for Rick Ferrell as GM. Ferrell had done all of the

of a purse snatcher.

legwork bringing in a great deal of talent into the organization.

Campbell picked it up from there by not screwing it up and tinkering with the

1968 - Detroit wins the pennant with 103 wins and goes on to beat

base of talent that had been assembled. He had the good sense to ride the wave.

the Cardinals and a brilliant Bob Gibson in the World Series.

Ferrell is moved upstairs to VP

Mickey Lolich is the hero of the series winning three games

including beating Gibson in game seven.

1969 - The Bengals drop back down to second place, still playing

at a high level with 90 wins. Most of the decline is the collapse

of the bullpen with Hiller and Dobson going from lights out to

lights on plus McLain comes back down to earth a bit from 31-5

to 24-9. The staff yields 103 more runs in '69 than in '68.