Team 69: The 1933 Detroit Tigers

• Year: 1933
• Record: 75-79
• Win Percentage: .487
• Win Percentage Change: -16
• Run Differential: -11
• Pythagorean Record: 76-78
• AL Finish: 5th of 8
• Manager: Bucky Harris and Del Baker
• Best Transaction: Signed Birdie Tebbetts as a free agent.  Tebbetts didn’t play his first game with the Tigers until 1936, but he was very good once he made it up for good.  Tebbetts was a two-time All-Star in Detroit, making a name for himself as one of the finer defense catchers of his era.  Though Tebbetts never hit that much and his career interrupted by World War II, his mark in Detroit was significant enough for him to be included on this list.
• Worst Transaction: Traded Earl Whitehill to Washington for Carl Fischer Firpo Marberry.  Marberry had a decent season, but Whitehill continued to pitch well for another five seasons after leaving Detroit.  In fact, his first season in Washington saw Whitehill win a career-high 22 games at the age of 34.  Whitehill won 133 games with the Tigers and went on to win another 85 games after the Tigers shipped him away.
• Upper: Bridges and Greenberg contribute.  1933 saw the emergence of two young future stars in Tommy Bridges and Hank Greenberg.  Bridges was 26 years old 1933 and won 14 games with an ERA+ of 140 (3.09), he also led the team in strikeouts.  Greenberg was only 22 years old and appeared in just 112 of the teams 155 games (they had one tie).  In spite of his youth and limited playing time, Greenberg still managed to co-lead the team in home runs and finished second in RBI.
• Downer:  The 1933 Tigers were unique in Tigers history as they were strong in pitching and relatively weak at the plate.  Every starting pitcher that logged serious innings was above average, while several regulars on offense were far below average.  For example, catcher Ray Hayworth played in 134 games and had a batting average of just .245 (OPS+ 58) in one of the better offensive eras in league history.  Guys like Marv Owen and Harry Davis also got a lot of playing time and completely screwed it up at the plate.
• Summary:  The Tigers got off to a 12-19 start and were basically clawing their way back the rest of the season.  They were not over .500 again until August, but by then they were about 20 games out of first place, and it was all over.  While this club clearly had some issues, they still featured loads of young talent and also still had Charlie Gehringer (OPS+ 126) and Schoolboy Rowe.  The Tigers were not a .500 team in 1933, but they were coming off a series of seasons that were even worse, they were showing improvement.  That improvement was realized the following season in 1934 when they won 101 games, the American League pennant, and came within one win of the World Series.