The 1971 Detroit Tigers finished in second place in the

American League East The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...

with a 91–71 record, 12 games behind the

Orioles Oriole or Orioles may refer to: Animals * Old World oriole, colorful passerine birds in the family Oriolidae * New World oriole, a group of birds in the family Icteridae Music * The Orioles, an R&B and doo-wop group of the late 1940s and earl ...

. They outscored their opponents 701 to 645. They drew 1,591,073 fans to Tiger Stadium, the second highest attendance in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

Offseason

* October 9, 1970:

Denny McLain Dennis Dale McLain (born March 29, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player. He played for ten seasons in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher, most prominently as a member of the Detroit Tigers. In 1968, McLain beca ...

Elliott Maddox Elliott Maddox (born December 21, 1947) is an American former Major League Baseball player. In , he was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the first round (20th pick) of the draft (secondary phase). He made his MLB debut in 1970. Early years Maddox ...

Norm McRae Norman McRae (September 26, 1947 – July 25, 2003) was an American professional baseball player, a right-handed pitcher who appeared in 22 Major League games for the 1969–1970 Detroit Tigers. Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, he stood tall and w ...

, and

Don Wert Donald Ralph Wert (born July 29, 1938), nicknamed " Coyote", is an American former professional baseball player. He played as a third baseman in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers from 1963 to 1970 and also briefly played for the Was ...

were traded by the Tigers to the Washington Senators for

Ed Brinkman Edwin Albert Brinkman (December 8, 1941 – September 30, 2008) was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played for 15 seasons in Major League Baseball, principally as a shortstop, for the Washington Senators (1961– ...

Aurelio Rodríguez Aurelio Rodríguez Ituarte, Jr. (December 28, 1947 – September 23, 2000), sometimes known by the nickname "Chi Chi", was a Mexicans, Mexican professional baseball player, who spent the bulk of his Major League Baseball, Major League career ...

, Joe Coleman, and

Jim Hannan James John Hannan (January 7, 1940 in Jersey City, New Jersey) is an American retired professional baseball player who pitched in Major League Baseball from 1962 to 1971 for the Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers. Th ...

. * March 30, 1971: Jerry Robertson was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

for

Dean Chance Wilmer Dean Chance (June 1, 1941 – October 11, 2015) was an American professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher,https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/chancde01.shtml Dean Chance Page at Baseball-Reference.com he played in 11 Maj ...

and Bill Denehy.

Regular season

Mickey Lolich Michael Stephen Lolich (born September 12, 1940) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from 1963 until 1979, almost entirely for the Detroit Tigers. A three-time All-Star ...

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

Notable transactions

* April 9, 1971: Dave Boswell was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.Dave Boswell page at Baseball Reference
/ref> * May 28, 1971: Dave Boswell was released by the Tigers. * June 8, 1971:

Gene Pentz Eugene David Pentz (born June 21, 1953) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He played all or part of four seasons in the majors, from until for the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros. He was traded along with Leon Roberts, Terry Humphr ...

was drafted by the Tigers in the 7th round of the 1971 Major League Baseball Draft. * June 12, 1971: Carl Cavanaugh (minors) and Mike Fremuth (minors) were traded by the Tigers to the Philadelphia Phillies for Tony Taylor.Tony Taylor page at Baseball Reference
/ref>

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''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in'' ''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''

Other pitchers

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

Relief pitchers

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

Awards and honors

, Tiger of the Year award from Detroit baseball writers

League top ten finishers

* AL leader in games played at shortstop (159) * AL leader in innings played at shortstop (1395-2/3) * AL leader in assists by a shortstop (513) * #4 in AL in games played (159) * #7 in AL in times hit by pitch (7) Norm Cash * Finished 12th in AL MVP voting * AL leader in at bats per home run (14.1) * #2 in AL in home runs (32) * #3 in AL in slugging percentage (.531) * #3 in AL in OPS (.903) * #7 in AL in times hit by pitch (7) * #8 in AL in RBIs (91) * #9 in AL in runs created (93) * 7th oldest player in the AL Joe Coleman * #3 in AL in strikeouts (236) * #4 in AL in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (7.43) * #5 in AL in win percentage (.690) * #5 in AL in innings pitched (286) * #5 in AL in batters faced (1174) * #6 in AL in wins (20) * #9 in AL in complete games (16)

Bill Freehan William Ashley Freehan (November 29, 1941 – August 19, 2021) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire 15-year career with the Detroit Tigers. The premier catcher in the American League for several years from the 19 ...

* AL leader in games at catcher (144) * AL leader in complete games at catcher (128) * AL leader in innings played at catcher (1265) * AL leader in putouts by a catcher (912) * #3 in AL in times hit by pitch (9) * #8 in AL in doubles (26) * #9 in AL in extra base hits (51) * #9 in AL in at bats per strikeout (10.8)

Willie Horton William R. Horton (born August 12, 1951), commonly referred to as "Willie Horton", is an American convicted felon who became notorious for committing violent crimes while on furlough from prison, where he was serving a life sentence without the ...

* #7 in AL in slugging percentage (.496) * #7 in AL in times hit by pitch (7) * #10 in AL in extra base hits (48) * #10 in AL in at bats per home run (20.5)

Al Kaline Albert William Kaline ( ; December 19, 1934 – April 6, 2020), nicknamed "Mr. Tiger", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers. For most of his career, Kali ...

* #3 in AL in on-base percentage (.416) * #6 in AL in OPS (.878) * #7 in AL in time hit by pitch (7) * #8 in AL in batting average (.294) * #10 in AL in bases on balls (82) * 9th oldest player in the AL

* Finished 2nd in AL Cy Young Award voting (behind

Vida Blue Vida Rochelle Blue Jr. (born July 28, 1949) is a former American professional baseball player. He was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball between and , most notably as an integral member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won thr ...

) * Finished 5th in AL MVP voting * MLB leader in wins (25) * MLB leader in strikeouts (308) * MLB leader in innings pitched (376) * MLB leader in games started (45) * AL leader in complete games (29) * MLB leader in hits allowed (336) * MLB leader in batters faced (1538) * #2 in MLB in home runs allowed (36) * #2 in MLB in earned runs allowed (122) * #4 in AL in sacrifice hits (16) * #4 in AL in strikeout to walk ratio (3.35) * #5 in AL in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (7.37) * #7 in AL in

Adjusted ERA+ Adjusted ERA+, often simply abbreviated to ERA+ or ERA plus, is a pitching statistic in baseball. It adjusts a pitcher's earned run average (ERA) according to the pitcher's ballpark (in case the ballpark favors batters or pitchers) and the ERA of ...

(125) * #8 in AL in bases on balls per 9 innings pitched (2.20) * #10 in AL in ERA (2.92)

* #3 in AL in doubles (30) * #4 in AL in triples (7) * #4 in AL in outs (476) * #5 in AL in at bats (604) * #8 in AL in extra base hits (52) * #10 in AL in strikeouts (104)

Fred Scherman Frederick John Scherman, Jr. (born July 25, 1944) is a former left-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1969 to 1976. He compiled a 33-26 record in eight major league seasons with a 3.66 earned run average (ERA), 39 saves, and 297 ...

* #2 in AL in games by pitcher (69) * #3 in AL in saves (20) * #3 in AL in games finished (40)

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 ''The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract'' is a reference book written by Bill James featuring an overview of professional baseball decade by decade, along with rankings of the top 100 players at each position. The original edition was publi ...

in 2001: *

: 12th best catcher of all time * Norm Cash: 20th best first baseman of all time *

Dick McAuliffe Richard John McAuliffe (November 29, 1939 – May 13, 2016) was an American professional baseball shortstop / second baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers (1960–73) and Boston Red Sox (1974–75). He was a ...

: 22nd best second baseman of all time *

: 91st best third baseman of all time *

: 55th best left fielder of all time *

: 11th best right fielder of all time *

: 72nd best pitcher of all time

Farm system

Notes

References

*
Detroit Tigers 1971 Regular Season Statistics at Baseball Reference

BaseballLibrary.com Game by Game Summary of 1971 Tigers season
{{Detroit Tigers Detroit Tigers seasons Detroit Tigers season Detroit Tiger 1971 in Detroit