1971 Detroit Tigers season

The 1971 Detroit Tigers finished in second place in the American League East with a 91–71 record, 12 games behind the Orioles. They outscored their opponents 701 to 645. They drew 1,591,073 fans to Tiger Stadium, the second highest attendance in the American League.

Offseason

October 9, 1970: Denny McLain, Elliott Maddox, Norm McRae, and Don Wert were traded by the Tigers to the Washington Senators for Ed Brinkman, Aurelio Rodríguez, Joe Coleman, and Jim Hannan.
March 30, 1971: Jerry Robertson was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the New York Mets for Dean Chance and Bill Denehy.
Regular season

became the second pitcher in the history of the American League to win 25 games but not win the Cy Young Award.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup

Notable transactions

April 9, 1971: Dave Boswell was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.
May 28, 1971: Dave Boswell was released by the Tigers.
June 8, 1971: Gene Pentz was drafted by the Tigers in the 7th round of the 1971 Major League Baseball Draft.
June 12, 1971: Carl Cavanaugh and Mike Fremuth were traded by the Tigers to the Philadelphia Phillies for Tony Taylor.
Roster

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: 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		148	516	143	.277	21	71
1B		135	452	128	.283	32	91
2B		128	477	99	.208	18	57
3B		154	604	153	.253	15	39
SS		159	527	120	.228	1	37
LF		119	450	130	.289	22	72
CF		139	401	117	.292	7	55
RF		133	405	119	.294	15	54

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
	136	459	124	.270	16	71
	82	195	66	.338	11	29
	55	181	52	.287	3	19
	83	138	35	.254	5	11
	59	110	28	.255	8	19
	29	54	13	.241	1	7
	31	41	11	.268	1	4
	38	37	7	.189	0	4
	7	16	3	.188	2	6
	2	4	2	.500	0	1

Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	45	376	25	14	2.92	308
	39	286	20	9	3.15	236
	26	144.2	10	9	4.35	118

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
	31	122.1	6	7	4.49	43
	31	89.2	4	6	3.51	64
	30	86.1	4	5	5.00	47
	9	30	2	1	4.80	14

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L= Losses; SV = Saves; GF = Games finished; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	GF	ERA	SO
	69	11	6	20	40	2.71	76
	52	7	6	4	23	3.86	51
	31	0	3	1	10	4.22	27
	12	0	1	0	3	4.82	5
	7	1	0	0	3	3.27	6
	3	0	0	0	1	6.23	3
	3	0	0	0	1	18.00	2

Awards and honors

Mickey Lolich, Tiger of the Year award from Detroit baseball writers
League top ten finishers

Ed Brinkman

AL leader in games played at shortstop
AL leader in innings played at shortstop
AL leader in assists by a shortstop
#4 in AL in games played
#7 in AL in times hit by pitch

Norm Cash

Finished 12th in AL MVP voting
AL leader in at bats per home run
#2 in AL in home runs
#3 in AL in slugging percentage
#3 in AL in OPS
#7 in AL in times hit by pitch
#8 in AL in RBIs
#9 in AL in runs created
7th oldest player in the AL

Joe Coleman

#3 in AL in strikeouts
#4 in AL in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched
#5 in AL in win percentage
#5 in AL in innings pitched
#5 in AL in batters faced
#6 in AL in wins
#9 in AL in complete games

Bill Freehan

AL leader in games at catcher
AL leader in complete games at catcher
AL leader in innings played at catcher
AL leader in putouts by a catcher
#3 in AL in times hit by pitch
#8 in AL in doubles
#9 in AL in extra base hits
#9 in AL in at bats per strikeout

Willie Horton

#7 in AL in slugging percentage
#7 in AL in times hit by pitch
#10 in AL in extra base hits
#10 in AL in at bats per home run

Al Kaline

#3 in AL in on-base percentage
#6 in AL in OPS
#7 in AL in time hit by pitch
#8 in AL in batting average
#10 in AL in bases on balls
9th oldest player in the AL

Mickey Lolich

Finished 2nd in AL Cy Young Award voting
Finished 5th in AL MVP voting
MLB leader in wins
MLB leader in strikeouts
MLB leader in innings pitched
MLB leader in games started
AL leader in complete games
MLB leader in hits allowed
MLB leader in batters faced
#2 in MLB in home runs allowed
#2 in MLB in earned runs allowed
#4 in AL in sacrifice hits
#4 in AL in strikeout to walk ratio
#5 in AL in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched
#7 in AL in Adjusted ERA+
#8 in AL in bases on balls per 9 innings pitched
#10 in AL in ERA

Aurelio Rodríguez

#3 in AL in doubles
#4 in AL in triples
#4 in AL in outs
#5 in AL in at bats
#8 in AL in extra base hits
#10 in AL in strikeouts

Fred Scherman

#2 in AL in games by pitcher
#3 in AL in saves
#3 in AL in games finished
Players ranking among top 100 all time at position

The following members of the 1972 Tigers were ranked among the Top 100 of all time at their position in The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001:

Bill Freehan: 12th best catcher of all time
Norm Cash: 20th best first baseman of all time
Dick McAuliffe: 22nd best second baseman of all time
Aurelio Rodríguez: 91st best third baseman of all time
Willie Horton: 55th best left fielder of all time
Al Kaline: 11th best right fielder of all time
Mickey Lolich: 72nd best pitcher of all time
Farm system

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