Alright, so the other day, I was digging around the internet, looking for some baseball trivia. And I came across this idea: “Detroit Tigers 20 game winners”. Sounds simple enough, right? But, man, it turned out to be a whole thing.
First, I started with a simple search. Just typed in “Detroit Tigers 20 game winners” into the search bar. What I found out was that this team, the Tigers, they’ve been around for over a hundred years! 123, to be exact. And in all that time, they’ve only snagged four World Series championships. 1935, they beat the Cubs.
Then I dove a bit deeper. I wanted to see who these 20-game winners were. I mean, winning 20 games in a season? That’s a big deal for a pitcher. Turns out, the very first guy to do it for the Tigers was this dude named George Mullin, also called “Rubberlegs”. I guess because he could throw a ton of pitches. This was way back in the early 1900s. The managerial era of the colorful Hughie Jennings.
From there, I decided to make a list of these 20-game winners. I found out there weren’t as many as you’d think. A couple of names popped up, like Hooks Dauss. He’s actually got the most wins in Tigers history, 223! Mullin is right behind him with 209 wins. They were the old-timers, playing way back when.
And you know what I discovered? The Tigers have won 14 times in their last 20 games all-time. I also saw that they’re 10-10 in their last 20 games overall. That’s pretty even, isn’t it? It is interesting.
But here’s the kicker. I learned about this guy, Denny McLain. He’s a more recent pitcher, from the 1960s. And in 1968, he won 31 games! That’s insane. I read somewhere that if a few things had happened differently, he might have won only 25 games in 1968. Imagine that, “only” 25 games.
I ended up spending hours on this. Making notes, comparing stats, all that stuff. Here’s what I put together:
The Big Wins
- Most Wins in Tigers History: Hooks Dauss (223 wins)
- Second Most Wins: George Mullin (209 wins)
- Recent 20-Game Winner: Denny McLain (31 wins in 1968)
And that’s just scratching the surface. I mean, I didn’t even get into Ty Cobb yet, who is the most famous Tiger ever. He was around the same time as Mullin and Dauss.
It’s wild to think about all the history behind these players and this team.
So yeah, that’s my rabbit hole on the Detroit Tigers and their 20-game winners. I thought it’d be a quick little search, but it turned into a whole afternoon of exploring baseball history. It is worth it, I think. Maybe next time I’ll look up something a bit simpler. Or maybe not. Who knows what I’ll stumble upon next!
