The 1970 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 70th season and the 59th season at Tiger Stadium. The team finished fourth in the American League East with a record of 79–83, 29 games behind the Baltimore Orioles.
Offseason December 13, 1969: Tom Matchick was traded by the Tigers to the Boston Red Sox for Dalton Jones.Tom Matchick at Baseball Reference February 19, 1970: The Tigers' Cy Young Award winning pitcher, Denny McLain, was suspended from baseball "indefinitely" by MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. April 1, 1970: Kuhn announced that McLain's suspension would last until July 1, 1970. McLain missed the first 71 games of the 162-game season.
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions April 8, 1970: Tom Tresh was released by the Tigers.Tom Tresh at Baseball Reference August 2, 1970: Kevin Collins was purchased by the Tigers from the Montreal Expos.Kevin Collins at Baseball Reference
Roster 1970 Detroit Tigers Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Coaches (First base/Hitting) (Bullpen) (Third base) (Pitching)
Player stats
Batting = Indicates team leader
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 Bill Freehan 117 395 95 .241 16 52 1B Norm Cash 130 370 96 .259 15 53 2B Dick McAuliffe 146 530 124 .234 12 50 SS 135 415 101 .243 0 22 3B Don Wert 128 363 79 .218 6 33 LF Willie Horton 96 371 113 .305 17 69 CF Mickey Stanley 142 568 143 .252 13 47 RF Al Kaline 131 467 130 .278 16 71
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 Jim Northrup 139 504 132 .262 24 80 Elliott Maddox 109 258 64 .248 3 24 89 191 42 .220 6 21 52 132 24 .182 5 15 Gates Brown 81 124 28 .226 3 24 Ike Brown 56 94 27 .287 4 15 47 84 9 .107 3 9 Gene Lamont 15 44 13 .295 1 4 Russ Nagelson 28 32 6 .188 0 2 25 24 5 .208 1 3 7 12 2 .167 1 2
Pitching = Indicates league leader
Starting 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 Mickey Lolich 40 272.2 14 19 3.80 230 Joe Niekro 38 213.0 12 13 4.06 101 29 180.2 12 7 3.84 156 Earl Wilson 18 96.0 4 6 4.41 74 Denny McLain 14 91.1 3 5 4.63 52
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 36 129.0 7 6 5.16 105 Bob Reed 16 46.1 2 4 4.86 26
Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO Tom Timmermann 61 6 7 27 4.11 49 Fred Scherman 48 4 4 1 3.23 58 47 6 6 3 3.03 89 Daryl Patterson 43 7 1 2 4.85 55 Norm McRae 19 0 0 0 2.87 16 Fred Lasher 12 1 3 3 5.00 8 Jerry Robertson 11 0 0 0 3.68 11 10 0 1 0 7.30 7 Dennis Saunders 8 1 1 1 3.21 8
Farm system
Notes
References
1970 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference