1968 Detroit Tigers season
The 1968 baseball season, known as the "Year of the Pitcher," was the Detroit Tigers' 68th since they entered the American League in 1901, their eighth pennant, and third World Series championship.
Detroit pitcher Denny McLain won the Cy Young Award and was named the American League's Most Valuable Player after winning 31 games.
Wilson was the losing pitcher in Game 3 of the World Series, allowing 10 baserunners and three earned runs in 41⁄3 innings pitched.
The Sparma–Smith feud continued, and Sparma pitched only 1⁄3 of an inning in the 1968 World Series, giving up two earned runs for a 54.00 ERA in postseason play.
Freehan was the starting catcher for the AL All Star team in 1968 (and every other year from 1966 to 1972) and finished second in the 1968 American League MVP voting, behind McLain.
On August 22, 1968, McAuliffe was involved in a brawl in which he drove his knee into pitcher Tommy John's shoulder after almost being hit in the head by a pitch.
Late in the season, and in the World Series, Oyler was replaced at shortstop by outfielder Mickey Stanley in a historic gamble by manager Mayo Smith.
Wert was selected for the AL All Star team in 1968 and is remembered for his ninth inning, game-winning hit on September 17 to clinch the American League pennant.
The tall right-hander ready to go to work again, and the windup, and the pitch...He swings, a line shot, base hit, right field, the Tigers win it!
In the World Series, Horton batted .304 and had a solo home run to give the Tigers an early lead in Game 2.
After Gibson held the Tigers scoreless through the first six innings, Northrup hit a triple over center fielder Curt Flood's head, driving in Norm Cash and Willie Horton.
In baseball's final season before the leagues each split into two divisions, the Tigers finished with a record of 103–59 and outscored their opponents 671 to 492.
In each game, there seemed to be a new hero, with even the light-hitting Don Wert, Ray Oyler and Tom Matchick providing clutch hits to win ballgames.
The starting lineup had been intact since 1965, and several of those starters had grown up in Michigan as Detroit Tigers fans: Willie Horton in Detroit's inner city, Bill Freehan in suburban Royal Oak, Jim Northrup in a small town 25 miles (40 km) west of Saginaw, and Mickey Stanley from the west of the state in Grand Rapids.
The 1968 Tigers' winning percentage ranks as the fifth-best in team history, as follows: Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg.
In Game 1, the Cardinals' ace Bob Gibson threw a shutout, striking out 17 batters, as St. Louis won 4–0.
The only positive the Tigers could take away from Game 1 was the fact that Mickey Stanley, having moved from center field to shortstop at the end of the season, handled five chances without an error.
Norm Cash and Willie Horton both homered, and perennial Gold Glove winner, Al Kaline, made two sensational catches in right field.
Game 5 began with the unconventional, soulful singing of the national anthem by José Feliciano, drawing boos from some Detroit fans.
In Game 6, Mayo Smith passed over Earl Wilson and elected to start Denny McLain on two days' rest.
In a pre-game pep talk, Mayo Smith told his team that Gibson was not Superman, prompting Norm Cash to ask: "What was he doing in a telephone booth changing his clothes?
In the 7th inning, the Tigers broke through on a triple by Jim Northrup that went over center fielder Curt Flood's head, driving in Norm Cash and Willie Horton.
Curt Flood initially misread Northrup's hit, taking a step in, and then slipping as he chased the ball over his head.
On the plane ride back to Detroit after Game 7 of the World Series, Lolich turned to newspaper columnist, Pete Waldmeir, and said: "I guess I'm an unlikely hero.
Less than a week before Opening Day, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. took place in Memphis, triggering civil unrest in over 100 American cities, including in Detroit.
In a column published on October 11, 1968, Detroit's senior baseball writer, Joe Falls, described the impact of the Tigers championship on the city.
And so, as 1968 dawned and we all started thinking ahead to the hot summer nights in Detroit, the mood of our city was taut.
You could pull up to a light at the corner of Clairmount and 12th, which was the hub of last year's riot, and the guy in the next car would have his radio turned up: ' .... McLain looks in for the sign, he's set – here's the pitch' ...
In a letter to owner John Fetzer, Romney wrote: "The deepest meaning of this victory extends beyond the sports pages, radio broadcasts, and the telecasts that have consumed our attention for several months.
At a time of unusual tensions, when many good men lost their perspective toward others, the Tigers set an example of what human relations should really be.
