1903 Detroit Tigers season

1903 was the third year for the Detroit Tigers in the still-new American League. The team finished in fifth place with a record or 65–71 (.478), 25 games behind the Boston Americans. The 1903 Tigers outscored their opponents 567 to 539. The team's attendance at Bennett Park was 224,523, sixth out of the eight teams in the AL.

1903 Detroit Tigers
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkBennett Park
CityDetroit, Michigan
OwnersSamuel F. Angus
ManagersEd Barrow
← 1902Seasons1904 →

Regular season

The 1903 Detroit Tigers

Season standings

American LeagueWLPct.GBHomeRoad
Boston Americans91470.65949–2042–27
Philadelphia Athletics75600.55614½44–2131–39
Cleveland Naps77630.5501549–2528–38
New York Highlanders72620.5371741–2631–36
Detroit Tigers65710.4782537–2828–43
St. Louis Browns65740.46826½38–3227–42
Chicago White Stockings60770.43830½41–2819–49
Washington Senators43940.31447½29–4014–54

Record vs. opponents


Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
TeamBOSCWSCLEDETNYHPHASLBWSH
Boston14–612–810–9–113–713–614–615–5–2
Chicago6–1410–1010–97–11–16–149–1112–8
Cleveland8–1210–109–1114–69–1111–916–4
Detroit9–10–19–1011–910–911–96–149–10
New York7–1311–7–16–149–1010–8–115–514–5
Philadelphia6–1314–611–99–118–10–111–816–3–1
St. Louis6–1411–99–1114–65–158–1112–8
Washington5–15–28–124–1610–95–143–16–18–12

Roster

1903 Detroit Tigers
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

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

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
CDeacon McGuire7224862.250021
1BCharlie Carr135548154.281279
2BHeinie Smith9333675.223122
3BJoe Yeager109402103.256043
SSSport McAllister7826569.260022
OFSam Crawford137550184.335489
OFJimmy Barrett136517163.315231
OFBilly Lush119423116.274133

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Herman Long6923953.222023
Fritz Buelow6319241.214113
Kid Elberfeld3513245.341019
Doc Gessler2910525.238012
Ernie Courtney237417.23006
Jack Burns113710.27003
John Murphy5224.18201
Simon Nicholls283.37500
Paddy Greene130.00000

Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
George Mullin41320.219152.25170
Bill Donovan35307.017162.29187
Frank Kitson31257.2151622.58102
Rube Kisinger16118.2792.9633
John Deering1060.2343.8614
Mal Eason756.1253.3621
John Skopec639.1223.4314
Harry Kane318.0028.5010
Joe Yeager19.0014.001
Alex Jones28.20112.462

Awards and honors

League top five finishers

Jimmy Barrett

  • AL leader in on-base percentage (.407)
  • AL leader in bases on balls (74)
  • AL leader in times on base (243)
  • #4 in AL in batting average (.315)
  • #3 in AL in runs scored (95)
  • #3 in AL in plate appearances (615)
  • #4 in AL in singles (138)

Sam Crawford

  • AL leader in runs created (98)
  • MLB leader in triples (25)
  • #2 in AL in batting average (.335)
  • #2 in AL in hits (184)
  • #2 in AL in total bases (269)
  • #3 in AL in OPS (.855)
  • #3 in AL in times on base (211)
  • #4 in AL in slugging percentage (.489)
  • #4 in AL in sacrifice hits (25)
  • #5 in AL in RBIs (89)

Bill Donovan

  • #2 in AL in strikeouts (187)
  • #2 in MLB in hits allowed per 9 innings pitched (7.24)
  • #2 in AL in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (5.48)
  • #2 in AL in bases on balls allowed (95)
  • #5 in AL in wild pitches (7)

Harry "Candy" Kane

  • 2nd youngest player in AL (19)

Frank Kitson

  • #4 in AL in home runs allowed (8)

Billy Lush

  • MLB leader in sacrifice hits (34)
  • #2 in AL in bases on balls (70)
  • #3 in on-base percentage (.379)

Deacon McGuire

  • 2nd oldest player in the AL (39)

George Mullin

  • AL leader in saves (2)
  • AL leader in bases on balls allowed (106)
  • #2 in AL in shutouts (6)
  • #2 in games (41)
  • #3 in AL in batters faced (1345)
  • #5 in AL in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (4.77)
  • #5 in AL in strikeouts (170)
  • #6 in AL in ERA (2.26)

Joe Yeager

  • #4 in AL in times hit by pitch (9)

References