Series Wrapup

Story

The Detroit Tigers repeated as American League champions in 1935, finishing the regular season with a record of 93-58, just three games ahead of the second-place Yankees.  Detroit had the league’s best offense for the second straight year, topping the junior circuit with a .290 batting average and 919 runs scored, while also placing second with 106 home runs.  Charlie Gehringer, Pete Fox, and Hank Greenberg led the Tigers on offense.  Gehringer hit 19 home runs and finished among the league leaders with a .330 batting average, 108 runs batted in, 123 runs scored, and 201 hits.  Fox batted .321 and scored 116 runs.  Greenberg supplied much of the team’s power, tying for the league lead with 36 home runs, finishing first with 170 runs batted in and 389 total bases, and placing among the leaders with a .328 batting average, 121 runs scored, 203 hits, 46 doubles, 16 triples, and a .628 slugging percentage.  Greenberg’s tremendous offensive production earned him A.L. MVP honors for the first of two times.

The Tigers also had solid pitching, finishing second in the league with a team ERA of 3.82.  Tommy Bridges and “Schoolboy” Rowe headed a staff that included four pitchers who won at least 16 games.  Bridges and Rowe combined for 40 victories and finished among the league leaders in both complete games and innings pitched.

The Tigers entered the World Series against the Chicago Cubs seeking to win the first world championship in franchise history.  Things looked bleak for the Bengals in the early-going when they lost Hank Greenberg to a season-ending injury in Game Two, after Chicago earlier defeated them in Game One.  However, Detroit won four of the next five contests, claiming their first world title in most dramatic fashion in Game Six.

With the score tied 3-3 in the top of the ninth inning, Chicago’s Stan Hack tripled to lead off the frame.  Hack remained at third base, though, as Tommy Bridges retired the next three Cubs batters in order.  The Tigers then earned their first world championship in the bottom of the inning when Goose Goslin drove home Mickey Cochrane with the winning run on a single to right field.
 
While Hank Greenberg clearly established himself as the American League’s Most Valuable Player in 1935, several other players made significant contributions to their respective teams over the course of the regular season.  Lou Gehrig was the driving force behind New York’s close second-place finish.  With Babe Ruth released prior to the start of the campaign, Gehrig became the focal point of New York’s offense.  He responded by leading the league with 125 runs scored, 132 bases on balls, and a .466 on-base percentage.  Gehrig also finished among the leaders with 30 home runs, 119 runs batted in, a .329 batting average, and a .583 slugging percentage.  

Mel Harder, Hal Trosky, and Joe Vosmik all performed extremely well for the third-place Cleveland Indians, who finished 12 games behind the pennant-winning Tigers.  Harder won 22 games and finished among the league leaders with a 3.29 ERA and 287 innings pitched.  Trosky placed near the top of the league rankings with 26 home runs and 113 runs batted in.  Vosmik finished a close second in the batting race with a mark of .348, and he also topped the circuit with 47 doubles, 20 triples, and 216 hits.  

Wes Ferrell and Lefty Grove both had outstanding seasons for fourth-place Boston.  Grove won 20 games and led the league with a 2.70 earned run average.  Ferrell led the league with 25 wins, 31 complete games, and 322 innings pitched.

Even though he received very little help from his teammates, Jimmie Foxx again excelled for the last-place Athletics, who owner/manager Connie Mack continued to dismantle during the previous offseason.  Foxx tied Greenberg for the league lead with 36 home runs, led the A.L. with a .636 slugging percentage, and finished among the leaders with 115 runs batted in, 118 runs scored, a .346 batting average, a .461 on-base percentage, and 340 total bases.  

Other notable events from around the league and players who distinguished themselves over the course of the season included:

• February 26 - The New York Yankees released Babe Ruth.  The Boston Braves signed him later the same day.

• July 8 - At Cleveland Municipal Stadium, home of the Cleveland Indians, the American League defeated the National League, 4–1, in the All-Star Game.

• August 31 - Vern Kennedy pitched a no-hitter as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Cleveland Indians, 5–0.  Kennedy’s gem was the first no-hitter in the American League since 1931, and the first ever at Chicago's Comiskey Park.

• December 10 - The Boston Red Sox acquired Jimmie Foxx and Johnny Marcum from the Philadelphia Athletics for Gordon Rhodes, minor leaguer George Savino and $150,000.

• Washington’s Buddy Myer edged out Cleveland’s Joe Vosmik for the batting title by going 4-for-5 on the season’s final day, to raise his average to .349.  Vosmik finished the campaign with a mark of .348.  

• Detroit’s Pete Fox led all World Series batters with 10 hits and a .385 batting average.

• Lefty Gomez became the first pitcher to win two All-Star Games.

• Wes Ferrell tied the major league record for pitchers by banging out 52 hits en route to compiling a .347 batting average.

• Tommy Bridges led all A.L. pitchers with 21 wins and 163 strikeouts.

• Detroit Tigers owner Frank Navin died shortly after seeing his club win its first World Series.

• Joe Vosmik led the American League with 216 hits, 47 doubles, and 20 triples.

• Boston's Bill Werber led the league with 29 stolen bases.

• Detroit led the major leagues in both batting (.290) and fielding (.978) for the second straight year.