(note: there was an edition of Microleague Baseball back in the day that had Detroit misspelled as "Detriot" in the manual and ever since then every time I read the Tigers I always read them that way)
Record: 91-71, 3rd, AL East
Postseason: --
Ballpark: Tiger Stadium (100 hits, 120 HR)
Runs scored: 688 (4th)
Runs allowed: 623 (6th)
Pythag record: 88-74 (+3)
Recap: The Tigers just kind of quietly put together a 91 win season on the backs of a couple of outstanding starting pitchers and some very nice power hitting. They were never really within shouting distance of the East title, thanks in part to a 16-27 record as of June 1, but they put things together in the 2nd half of the season while everyone was paying attention to the pennant race in the West and the runaway Indians in the East. Weirdly they were 40-41 at home but 51-30 on the road (OOTP usually has pretty normal home/road splits, at least IME).
History: The Tigers have been a complete also-ran team in the AL since time began in 1946. While they've never lost 100 - their worst record ever was 65-97 in 1966 - the 91 victories in '69 was also a team record.
Outlook: Detroit is sitting right on the periphery of contention, ready to step in if both Boston and Cleveland falter. It's hard to see them shooting up into the high-90s / 100 win range with the roster as it stands. They are a bit more stable than either of the contenders in front of them, which I'm not sure is a good or a bad thing.
Rotation
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| first_name | last_name | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Vince | Akright | 22 | 11 | 0.667 | 0 | 3.00 | 36 | 36 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 273.0 | 1094 | 231 | 98 | 91 | 14 | 19 | 4 | 6 | 96 | 3 | 181 | 7 | 0 | 7.6 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 6.0 |
| Edgar | Molina | 18 | 13 | 0.581 | 0 | 3.12 | 35 | 35 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 271.0 | 1104 | 242 | 101 | 94 | 36 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 70 | 10 | 243 | 7 | 1 | 8.0 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 8.1 |
| Jimmy | Goddard | 15 | 10 | 0.600 | 0 | 3.65 | 36 | 36 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 249.1 | 1073 | 262 | 118 | 101 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 106 | 7 | 168 | 14 | 2 | 9.5 | 0.6 | 3.8 | 6.1 |
| Jason | Gilmer | 10 | 11 | 0.476 | 0 | 3.81 | 32 | 29 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 210.0 | 880 | 223 | 101 | 89 | 17 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 81 | 11 | 115 | 13 | 0 | 9.6 | 0.7 | 3.5 | 4.9 |
| Juan | Merino | 2 | 5 | 0.286 | 0 | 3.79 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 59.1 | 247 | 58 | 26 | 25 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 3 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 8.8 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 5.2 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
The Tigers mostly kept to a set 5 man rotation for most of the season. With this rotation, why wouldn't you? The anchor was Vince "Hook" Akright, who... doesn't throw a curveball. I guess that "hook" is his cut fastball. Anyway, he led the league in shutouts with 8 and maybe should have been the Cy Young award winner last year. He's only 26 so he's got plenty of time to earn hardware. Teammate Edgar Molina led the league in Ks on the one hand but HRs allowed on the other. Tiger Stadium is not the greatest place for a homer-prone guy but it still mostly worked out for Molina. Jimmy Goddard won 15 for the Tigers and the 29 year old would be an Opening Day starter for a lot of teams.
On the back end of the rotation you've got Jason Gilmer, who slumped to 10-11 and a 3.81 ERA after going 14-10 with a 2.90 the year before. The 10 wins were in fact a career low since sinning a rtation job in 1965. #5 will be a battle between two offseason acquisitions from expansion clubs. Right now the front-runner for the 5 spot is Mike Lopez, who went 11-12 for San Diego in their inaugural season. The 4.18 ERA is a bit scary; Lopez has a good K rate (6.8 per 9) but had a lot of control problems last year (104 walks, 4th most in the NL, and also 10 wild pitches, which was 8th in the senior circuit). They also have Ben "Snake Hips" Schmidt, who went 7-18 for the Montreal Expos as a 28 year old rookie. Besides that weirdo nickname, he allowed the most HRs in the NL last year with 34, which is probably not a good pairing with Detroit's home park.
Bullpen
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| first_name | last_name | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Brian | Figueiredo | 7 | 6 | 0.538 | 0 | 4.04 | 34 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 120.1 | 524 | 139 | 58 | 54 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 63 | 3 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 10.4 | 0.1 | 4.7 | 3.3 |
| Larry | Hilbert | 5 | 3 | 0.625 | 14 | 2.51 | 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 71.2 | 307 | 73 | 24 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 3 | 38 | 3 | 0 | 9.2 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 4.8 |
| Alex | Madrigal | 2 | 3 | 0.400 | 6 | 2.57 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 56.0 | 230 | 57 | 18 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 20 | 4 | 39 | 4 | 1 | 9.2 | 0.0 | 3.2 | 6.3 |
| Chris | Valenzuela | 3 | 3 | 0.500 | 3 | 3.92 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 41.1 | 172 | 43 | 22 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 32 | 4 | 0 | 9.4 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 7.0 |
| Eric | Godard | 3 | 2 | 0.600 | 6 | 2.94 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 33.2 | 151 | 32 | 15 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 8.6 | 0.0 | 3.2 | 4.8 |
| Cesar | Paucar | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 0 | 3.99 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 29.1 | 123 | 30 | 14 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 9.2 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 4.0 |
| Kareem | Robinson | 1 | 2 | 0.333 | 1 | 4.56 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 23.2 | 102 | 26 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 9.9 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 5.7 |
| Robbie | Vaughn | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 1 | 5.01 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 23.1 | 106 | 29 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 11.2 | 0.0 | 3.9 | 5.8 |
| Chris | Vacanti | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 0.75 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 12.0 | 40 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3.7 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 3.7 |
| Armando | Barbosa | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 2.35 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.2 | 35 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 0.0 | 5.9 | 7.0 |
| Jack | Pena | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 9.0 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
The Tigers were a bit slowed down by injuries to the top part of the bullpen. Maybe if everyone stayed healthy they'd have been a bit closer, who knows? Going into the season their stopper was expected to be Alex Madrigal, who saved 13 games for Detroit in '68 with a 1.31 ERA over 75.2 innings. He tore his UCL in July and is still rehabbing as we go to press. Eric Godard was the next man up but he also went down with arm issues - this time, "shoulder inflammation", that caused him to miss the back half of the season (he'd also missed a chunk of time at the beginning with more shoulder inflammation, which is ominous, though he's ready to go right now at least). That required the Tigers to go all the way down to their 3rd choice, Larry Hilbert, who improved significantly on his 1968 performance (3-6 with a 4.24 ERA that is terrrrrible in context). If all three of those guys are back at 100%, a Tigers weakness suddenly turns into a strength.
Catcher
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| C | Scott | Woodcock | 117 | 420 | 36 | 103 | 14 | 0 | 11 | 53 | 52 | 0 | 71 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 0.245 | 0.326 | 0.357 |
| C | Gianluigi | Farinelli | 75 | 171 | 22 | 53 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 27 | 14 | 3 | 32 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.310 | 0.372 | 0.485 |
| C | Norman | Engelman | 11 | 35 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.314 | 0.400 | 0.400 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Scott Woodcock won the catching duties in Detroit at a fairly late age but has really gone with it and is now a fan favorite. He did suffer through the worst offensive season of his career in 1969 and will be pushed in 1970 by 26 year old Norman Engelman, a 1966 1st round pick by the Yankees who... somehow wound up in the Tigers' organization. That does kind of pass right over Gianluigi Farinelli, who is considered too valuable as a pinch-hitter to waste at catcher, I guess. He is a level behind both Woodcock and Engelman in terms of catching ability but he's not as bad as you might expect. Also, even though it seems like he's played in this league forever (he debuted in 1964 and has more or less been in this role for Detroit ever since), he's still only 28.
Infield
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| 1B | Jose | Ayala | 103 | 432 | 62 | 132 | 23 | 1 | 15 | 63 | 30 | 2 | 66 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0.306 | 0.350 | 0.468 |
| 1B | Justin | Richens | 52 | 203 | 26 | 66 | 15 | 1 | 12 | 43 | 24 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.325 | 0.402 | 0.586 |
| 1B | Sal | Bonomi | 16 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.200 | 0.316 | 0.400 |
| 2B | Danny | Villegas | 106 | 420 | 66 | 124 | 22 | 2 | 26 | 77 | 46 | 5 | 54 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0.295 | 0.367 | 0.543 |
| 2B | Arturo | Jaquez | 68 | 189 | 26 | 68 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 0.360 | 0.384 | 0.444 |
| 2B | Alex | Ortega | 7 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.308 | 0.400 | 0.538 |
| 3B | David | Salinas | 96 | 353 | 29 | 99 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 44 | 23 | 2 | 26 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 0.280 | 0.325 | 0.357 |
| 3B | Eli | Ware | 64 | 179 | 12 | 36 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 16 | 2 | 28 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.201 | 0.257 | 0.330 |
| 3B | Beau | Dooley | 9 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.200 | 0.200 | 0.200 |
| SS | Matt | Mullen | 149 | 601 | 74 | 163 | 24 | 5 | 3 | 48 | 27 | 2 | 109 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 17 | 0.271 | 0.306 | 0.343 |
| SS | Josh | Rose | 42 | 137 | 18 | 29 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 13 | 2 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0.212 | 0.273 | 0.328 |
| SS | Erik | Dyck | 11 | 22 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.318 | 0.385 | 0.500 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
The Tigers pulled the trigger on a huge deal in mid-June, sending franchise cornerstone Justin Richens off to the New York Yankees in exchange for Jose "Joker" Ayala and David Salinas. Richens is a 10 time All Star and near-lock for the Hall of Fame but also turned 37 last year and so was not considered part of the long-term future of the team. The man they got back from him in Ayala is not even close to Richens in terms of overall quality but he's still quite good - he combined for a .300 average with 32 doubles, 20 HRs, 86 runs, and 86 RBIs for 3 teams in '69 - and has a much, much better chance of being a fixture on the next (first) Tigers contender at 28 years of age.
Danny Villegas throughout his career has been a really awesome player when he can stay healthy and 1969 was no exception, either in terms of the production - he won his first Silver Slugger - or all the missed time. He's never gotten more than 495 at-bats in a season. It'd be really cool to see him manage to stay healthy for a full year but at age 32 that's probably not going to happen. Arturo Jaquez did a fine job in his stead but was shipped off to the Red Sox in December for John Daughtry, whom the Tigers hope will push David Salinas at third, and minor league depth. That leaves 38 year old Alex Ortega, who has his own injury issues, as the primary backup at 2nd base.
David Salinas led the league in hits back in 1965 for the Yankees with 202 (he also finished 4th in the league in average that year) and followed it up with a 2nd place finish in that category in '66. It looks like his days as an elite hitter are over, however. He did manage to hit .280 for the Tigers after coming over in the Justin Richens trade, but it was a pretty empty .280 and the Tigers are going into spring training with 26 year old John Daughtry competing with him for the starting job. Both Salinas and Daughtry are well regarded as fielders at third base, with Salinas having a small edge due to possessing the best infield arm in all of baseball.
Matt Mullen hit 30 points above his career averages in 1969. Don't expect a repeat of that. He's got some real problems with offspeed pitches that will probably always limit his ability to hit for average. He's still a very good fielder and one thing he did do that we think he'll repeat is he drastically improved his gap power. Prior to last season his career high in non-HR extra base hits was 11.
Outfield
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| LF | Adam | Dittmar | 149 | 560 | 87 | 169 | 24 | 6 | 22 | 80 | 95 | 7 | 83 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 0.302 | 0.402 | 0.484 |
| LF | Alex | Vasquez | 38 | 54 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.148 | 0.319 | 0.315 |
| CF | Guillermo | Thompson | 145 | 609 | 86 | 179 | 22 | 7 | 3 | 42 | 58 | 12 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 33 | 25 | 8 | 0.294 | 0.359 | 0.368 |
| CF | Bob | Irwin | 36 | 103 | 6 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.194 | 0.220 | 0.350 |
| CF | Kevin | Belay | 13 | 31 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.129 | 0.206 | 0.161 |
| RF | Chris | Contreras | 112 | 371 | 44 | 126 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 30 | 17 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0.340 | 0.365 | 0.415 |
| RF | John | Simmons | 48 | 168 | 17 | 38 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 22 | 10 | 0 | 27 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.226 | 0.283 | 0.405 |
| RF | Sean | Hall | 73 | 169 | 23 | 45 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0.266 | 0.311 | 0.426 |
| RF | Javy | Cortez | 10 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.111 | 0.200 | 0.111 |
| RF | Pedro | Aguilar | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
With Justin Richens gone, Adam Dittmar is the new face of the franchise. He set personal bests in HRs and RBIs last year while also shortening his swing, a move that drastically cut back on his strikeouts (his 83 Ks were his lowest total since his rookie year of 1965, when he had 81 in 97 fewer at-bats) and transformed him overnight from a .220 hitter to a .302 one. As this surge is not all based on BABIP (which, I don't have listed or use for hitters because it wasn't really a thing in the 70s) I think this is probably an improvement with legs.
Guillermo Thompson followed up an All-Star worthy 1968 season with an even better campaign last year but was somehow snubbed. Well... I guess in fairness the game finally got its head on straight in putting Norm Hodge in there, and Thompson flat-out does not have the range that Hodge does. Still, though, in his 2nd year with the big league team, the 1966 2nd round pick improved in pretty much every major category and somehow even managed to reduce his strikeout totals in the process, and in 1968 he only struck out 24 times. He batted leadoff for the entire season and somehow earned 12 intentional walks. Teams did not respect the Tigers' 2-hole hitters (looking it up I think that was mostly Matt Mullen, though the game doesn't really have a screen where you can easily break that down).
Going into 1969 Chris "Loudmouth" Contreras had never played above AA ball, but after a blistering start in Toledo (22 games with -- wait for it -- slashes of 479/515/798) he landed in the Tigers' lineup and hit so well that he took home the Rookie of the Year award in spite of playing in only 112 games in the big leagues. Still only 25, the sky is the limit for this young man. Sean Hall was the main guy he displaced; Hall was the ROY himself in 1967 but has merely been league average since then.