1970 Detroit Tigers
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Tiger Stadium
City	Detroit, Michigan
Owners	John Fetzer
General managers	Jim Campbell
Managers	Mayo Smith
Television	WJBK ( George Kell, Larry Osterman)
Radio	WJR ( Ernie Harwell, Ray Lane)
←  1969 Seasons 1971 →

The 1970 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. 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. ^[1]
• 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

v t e AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	108	54	0.667	—	59–22	49–32
New York Yankees	93	69	0.574	15	53–28	40–41
Boston Red Sox	87	75	0.537	21	52–29	35–46
Detroit Tigers	79	83	0.488	29	42–39	37–44
Cleveland Indians	76	86	0.469	32	43–38	33–48
Washington Senators	70	92	0.432	38	40–41	30–51

Record vs. opponents

1970 American League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	WSH
Baltimore	—	13–5	7–5	9–3	14–4	11–7	12–0	7–5	5–7	11–7	7–5	12–6
Boston	5–13	—	5–7	8–4	12–6	9–9	7–5	5–7	7–5	10–8	7–5	12–6
California	5–7	7–5	—	12–6	6–6	6–6	10–8	12–6	8–10	5–7	8–10	7–5
Chicago	3–9	4–8	6–12	—	6–6	6–6	7–11	7–11	6–12	5–7	2–16	4–8
Cleveland	4–14	6–12	6–6	6–6	—	7–11	8–4	7–5	6–6	8–10	7–5	11–7
Detroit	7–11	9–9	6–6	6–6	11–7	—	6–6	8–4	4–8	7–11	6–6	9–9
Kansas City	0–12	5–7	8–10	11–7	4–8	6–6	—	12–6	5–13	1–11	7–11	6–6
Milwaukee	5–7	7–5	6–12	11–7	5–7	4–8	6–12	—	5–13	3–9–1	8–10	5–7
Minnesota	7–5	5–7	10–8	12–6	6–6	8–4	13–5	13–5	—	5–7	13–5	6–6
New York	7–11	8–10	7–5	7–5	10–8	11–7	11–1	9–3–1	7–5	—	6–6	10–8
Oakland	5–7	5–7	10–8	16–2	5–7	6–6	11–7	10–8	5–13	6–6	—	10–2
Washington	6–12	6–12	5–7	8–4	7–11	9–9	6–6	7–5	6–6	8–10	2–10	—

Notable transactions

• April 8, 1970: Tom Tresh was released by the Tigers. ^[2]
• August 2, 1970: Kevin Collins was purchased by the Tigers from the Montreal Expos. ^[3]

Roster

1970 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers 38 Les Cain 18 John Hiller 35 Mike Kilkenny 30 Lerrin LaGrow 15 Fred Lasher 29 Mickey Lolich 17 Denny McLain 36 Norm McRae 19 Joe Niekro 43 Daryl Patterson 20 Bob Reed 27 Jerry Robertson 46 Dennis Saunders 39 Fred Scherman 28 Tom Timmermann 16 Earl Wilson		Catchers 11 Bill Freehan 34 Tim Hosley 33 Gene Lamont 12 Jim Price Infielders  9 Ike Brown 25 Norm Cash  4 Kevin Collins  7 César Gutiérrez  2 Dalton Jones 41 Elliott Maddox  3 Dick McAuliffe 42 Ken Szotkiewicz  8 Don Wert		Outfielders 26 Gates Brown 23 Willie Horton  6 Al Kaline 31 Russ Nagelson  5 Jim Northrup 24 Mickey Stanley		Manager 10 Mayo Smith Coaches 51 Wally Moses (First base/Hitting) 52 Len Okrie (Bullpen) 50 Grover Resinger (Third base) 53 Mike Roarke (Pitching)

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

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	César Gutiérrez	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
Dalton Jones	89	191	42	.220	6	21
Jim Price	52	132	24	.182	5	15
Gates Brown	81	124	28	.226	3	24
Ike Brown	56	94	27	.287	4	15
Ken Szotkiewicz	47	84	9	.107	3	9
Gene Lamont	15	44	13	.295	1	4
Russ Nagelson	28	32	6	.188	0	2
Kevin Collins	25	24	5	.208	1	3
Tim Hosley	7	12	2	.167	1	2

Pitching

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
Les Cain	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
Mike Kilkenny	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
John Hiller	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
Lerrin LaGrow	10	0	1	0	7.30	7
Dennis Saunders	8	1	1	1	3.21	8

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Toledo Mud Hens	International League	Frank Carswell
AA	Montgomery Rebels	Southern League	Stubby Overmire
A	Rocky Mount Leafs	Carolina League	Max Lanier
A	Lakeland Tigers	Florida State League	Dick Tracewski
A-Short Season	Batavia Trojans	New York–Penn League	Joe Lewis
Rookie	Bristol Tigers	Appalachian League	Al Lakeman

Notes

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN  978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1970 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference