1963 Detroit Tigers season explained

The 1963 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The team finished tied for fifth place in the American League with a record of 79–83, games behind the New York Yankees.

A sluggish start, then a seven-game, mid-June losing streak, cost third-year manager Bob Scheffing his job on June 17. He was replaced by 68-year-old veteran former MLB manager Chuck Dressen. When the change was made, the Tigers were in ninth place at 24–36 (.400), games behind the Yankees. Scheffing's three-man coaching staff was released along with him.^[1] Under Dressen, Detroit would recover to win 55 of 102 games and move up to its fifth-place finish.

Offseason

• November 26, 1962: 1962 first-year draft
  • Tom Matchick was drafted by the Tigers from the St. Louis Cardinals.^[2]
  • Rich Reese was drafted from the Tigers by the Minnesota Twins.^[3]
  • Conrad Cardinal was drafted from the Tigers by the Houston Colt .45s.^[4]
• November 26, 1962: Dick Brown was traded by the Tigers to the Baltimore Orioles for Whitey Herzog and Gus Triandos.^[5]

Regular season

Notable transactions

• April 8, 1963: Denny McLain was selected off waivers by the Tigers from the Chicago White Sox as first-year waiver pick.^[6]
• May 8, 1963: Chico Fernández was traded by the Tigers to the Milwaukee Braves for Lou Johnson and cash.^[7]

Roster

1963 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		OutfieldersOther batters		ManagerCoaches

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
C		106	327	78	.239	14	41
1B		147	493	133	.270	26	79
2B		85	351	95	.271	11	27
SS		150	568	149	.262	13	61
3B		128	464	114	.246	5	45
LF		160	597	162	.271	22	91
CF		145	524	134	.256	8	48
RF		145	551	172	.312	27	101

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
	100	300	73	.243	9	36
	78	251	65	.259	7	25
	52	171	37	.216	0	17
	49	109	26	.239	1	11
	55	82	22	.268	2	14
	52	53	8	.151	0	7
	31	52	12	.231	0	0
	15	49	7	.143	0	1
	23	44	14	.318	0	1
	15	43	14	.326	1	4
	15	32	7	.219	0	4
	6	11	1	.091	0	2
	9	8	2	.250	0	0
	3	5	0	.000	0	0
	6	5	0	.000	0	0

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
	39	248.1	12	13	3.88	196
	38	225.2	14	15	3.67	134
	38	189.0	15	9	3.86	115
	24	122.2	7	7	3.74	68
	16	107.1	4	9	3.27	46
	3	21.0	2	1	4.29	22

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
	33	144.1	5	9	3.55	103
	28	97.0	5	6	4.64	64
	11	21.2	1	0	4.57	16
	7	10.0	1	1	10.80	5

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
	46	8	6	11	3.59	35
	32	3	1	0	3.30	38
	28	1	2	2	3.76	36
	22	1	1	7	1.98	24
	20	0	1	0	5.14	16
	9	0	1	0	8.66	7
	7	0	1	0	9.00	4
	1	0	0	0	13.50	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Thomasville

References

• Book: Johnson. Lloyd. Wolff. Miles. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. 2nd. Durham, North Carolina. Baseball America. 1997. 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1963 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference

Notes and References

1. Web site: Tigers Dismiss Scheffing as Manager and Name Dressen . . June 18, 1963 . timesmachine.nytimes.com . . November 12, 2023 .
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/matchto01.shtml Tom Matchick
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/reeseri01.shtml Rich Reese
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/cardico01.shtml Conrad Cardinal
5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/h/herzowh01.shtml Whitey Herzog
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mclaide01.shtml Denny McLain
7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fernach01.shtml Chico Fernández