1915 Detroit Tigers season


The 1915 Detroit Tigers won a then club-record 100 games and narrowly lost the American League pennant to the Boston Red Sox, who won 101 games. Though four other Tigers teams have won 100 games, only the 1934 Tigers had a better winning percentage. The 1915 Detroit Tigers team is remembered for its all-star outfield of Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford, and Bobby Veach—who finished #1, #2, and #3 in the American League in both runs batted in and total bases. Baseball historian Bill James ranks the Tigers' 1915 outfield as the best in major league history.

Offseason

The 1915 Tigers' winning percentage of.649 ranks as the 2nd best in team history, as follows:

The Players

Catcher: Oscar Stanage

Catcher Oscar Stanage was a weak hitter but one of the best defensive catchers of the deadball era. In thirteen seasons with the Tigers, Stanage caught 1,074 games – second only to Bill Freehan in team history. Known for his strong throwing arm, Stanage threw out more baserunners than any other catcher in the 1910s. Stanage still holds the American League record for most assists by a catcher, with 212 in 1911, and his career average of 1.29 assists per game is the fifth best in major league history. Stanage was not as skilled with the glove; his 41 errors in 1911 was the most by a catcher for the 20th Century.

Infield: Burns, Young, Bush and Vitt

First baseman "Tioga George" Burns played for the Tigers from 1914 to 1917. In 1915, Burns hit only.243 with 18 doubles. Burns went on to become a star after leaving the Tigers. In 1926, he was named the American League's MVP with a.358 batting average and an all-time MLB record 64 doubles.
Second baseman Ralph Young played for the Tigers from 1915 to 1921. In 1915, Young had a.243 batting average, but a much more respectable.339 on-base percentage. At 5'5", Young was one of the shortest players ever to play in a Tigers uniform. His small stature, and correspondingly small strike zone, assisted him in both collecting walks and avoiding strikeouts. In nine seasons, Young collected 495 bases on balls and struck out only 254 times. Young led all American League second basemen with 32 errors in 1915.
Shortstop Donie Bush was Detroit's starting shortstop for thirteen seasons from 1909 to 1921. In 1914, Bush had 425 putouts and 969 chances. He led the American League in assists by a shortstop in 1915 with 504. In 1915, he also collected 118 walks. During the decade from 1910 to 1919, no one had more bases on balls than Bush. Bush also ranked among the league leaders in stolen bases nine times, including 1915 when he stole 35 bases. With his ability to get on base, and having Cobb and Crawford batting behind him, Bush was also among the league leaders in runs scored ten times, including his 1915 total of 99 runs.
Third baseman Ossie Vitt played seven seasons with the Tigers and was a poor hitter but a good fielder. In 1915, he hit.250 with 48 RBIs. He led all American League third basemen in 1915 and 1916 in putouts, assists and fielding percentage. His 208 assists in 1916 has not been exceeded by a Detroit third baseman since that time. While not a good hitter for average, Vitt was a good contact hitter and one of the best bunters of the era. He led the American League with 42 sacrifice hits in 1915, and his career total of 259 sacrifice hits ranks 32nd best in major league history. Vitt was also one of the toughest players to strike out in MLB history. For his career, he struck out an average of once every 26.6 at bats, 35th best in MLB history.

Outfield: Veach, Cobb, and Crawford

The Tigers' 1915 outfield, with Bobby Veach in left, Ty Cobb in center, and Sam Crawford in right, has been ranked by baseball historian Bill James as the greatest outfield of all time. Though the league batting average in 1915 was.248, Cobb hit.369 with 99 RBIs and 144 runs scored, Crawford hit.313 and drove in 112 runs, and Veach hit.299 with 112 RBIs. The three Detroit outfielders ranked #1, #2, and #3 in total bases and RBIs.
Cobb also set a major league record with 96 stolen bases in 1915, a record which would not be broken for nearly 50 years until Maury Wills stole 104 bases in 1962.

Pitching: Coveleski, Dauss, Dubuc and Boland

Pitcher Hooks Dauss played his entire fifteen-year career with the Tigers and is the team's all-time wins leader. In 1915, Dauss won 24 games and lost 13, while ending up with a 2.50 ERA in 309⅔ innings. Dauss was also an excellent fielding pitcher. His career range factor of 2.28 is 65 points higher than the average pitcher of his era. He had 1128 assists in his career, including an American League leading 137 in 1915. His career fielding percentage of.968 was also 20 points higher than the average pitcher of his era.
Pitcher Harry Coveleski joined the Tigers in 1914. He was a 20-game winner in his first three seasons in Detroit. In 1915, he had a record of 22–13 with an ERA of 2.45, and followed in 1916 with a 1.97 ERA. In four of his five seasons with the Tigers, Coveleski's ERA was under three, and his 2.34 ERA with the Tigers is still the franchise's all-time career record.
Pitcher Jean Dubuc was a pitching phenom at Notre Dame before entering professional baseball. In 1915, he went 17–12 for the Tigers with a 3.21 ERA. He is most remembered for his role in the 1918 Chicago Black Sox scandal. Pitcher Rube Benton testified that he had seen a telegram addressed to Dubuc, from Sleepy Bill Burns advising Dubuc: "Bet on the Cincinnati team today." After being linked to the scandal, Dubuc went to Canada and continued to play minor league ball. Dubuc is also credited with having signed Hank Greenberg while serving as a major league scout for the Tigers.
Bernie Boland was an early relief specialist who made his major league debut in 1915. Boland was 13–7 with a 3.11 ERA in his rookie season and came within one batter of throwing a perfect game. On August 16, 1915, Boland retired the first 26 Cleveland Indians batters he faced, only to give up a hit to Ben Paschal. Ironically, Paschal's hit off Boland was his only hit of the 1915 season. Boland and the Tigers went on to win the game 3–1. In 1926, Boland returned to the news for comments he made concerning a game-fixing scandal involving Ty Cobb. Boland, then a paving contractor in Detroit, was the Tigers pitcher in a 1919 game against Cleveland that Cobb had reportedly agreed to fix. Boland told the Detroit News in 1926 that he figured "about one in every 300 games is crooked," and he was glad that "some of them are getting justice at last."

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster

Season highlights

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
PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C10030067.223131
1B10539299.253550
2B12337892.243031
3B152560140.250148
SS155561128.228144
OF156612183.2994112
OF156563208.369399
OF152569178.3133112

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
11333298.295449
6813433.246015
5510629.274117
376514.21504
31388.21100
14325.15602
130.00000

Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
50312.222132.45150
46309.224132.50132
3925817123.2174
1167732.4224

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
45202.21373.1172
2079.1512.7228
1771424.0626
728414.1818
411.1016.352

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGWLSVERASO
173042.8117
81101.807
10000.000

Awards and honors

League leaders

The following members of the 1915 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 players of all time at their position, as ranked in The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001: