Year: 1905
Record: 79-74
Win %: .516
Win % Change: 108
Run Differential: -90
Pythagorean Record: 65-88
AL Finish: 3rd of 8
Manager: Bill Armour
Best Transaction
Purchased Ty Cobb. Do I really need to explain this one? Cobb was signed at a teenager by the Tigers in August and would go on to become, without debate, one of the ten greatest players of all-time.
Worst Transaction
Nig Clarke on loan. This one isn’t really a bad transaction, it’s just kind of funny. The Tigers received Clarke on August 1st from Cleveland and the transaction is listed as a “loan”.
Later, on the 11th of August, Clarke was simply returned to Cleveland. Can you imagine that today? “Uh, yeah, Gerald Laird is out for ten days and we don’t have a back up catcher. You’ve got an extra catcher, would you please just let us borrow Brad Ausmus for a week or so and we’ll return him as good as new?” This would never happen. Gotta love early 20th century baseball.
Upper
Ty Cobb comes to Detroit. Cobb blew through lower professional baseball in the South, but loved the South. His move to the North was not easy, but even in the early 1900s there were big-time prospects and Cobb certainly qualified.
His arrival in Detroit was a big deal and it only took a few months for them to get a serious return on their investment. Even if that investment was a bit crazy. Cobb got into only 41 games in 1905 and hit just .240, it would be the only time he hit below .300 in a season.
Downer
This was just a bad team that was disguised by a decent record.
They did exceptionally well in close games but were pounded for the bulk of the season. The offense sputtered aside from the legendary Sam Crawford. T
he pitching staff was roughly league average and maybe a bit below. They were led by George Mullin, Ed Killian and Wild Bill Donovan. However, they finished in the middle of the pack in ERA and no team in the American League walked more batters.
The Tigers offense ranked second to last in the AL in runs and home runs and ranked last in stolen bases. Cobb would eventually solve most of those issues.
Summary
This was a very unique season. While they finished above .500, they had the run differential of a team 20 games below that break-even mark. The Tigers were 32-16 in one-run games which is almost impossible to pull off and speaks to clutch performances and luck (my votes goes to luck).
In addition to a great season from Crawford, the Tigers got a decent performance from his outfield mate, Marty McIntyre. Aside from those two players, the offense really struggled in 1905. The Tigers would turn things around quickly with Cobb and Crawford and would eventually make three consecutive World Series later in the decade.
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