Before 1924, it had been a long time since the Tigers were part of a pennant race.

But they had gotten quite a taste of it in '24, and wanted more in 1925. And who could blame them? Most of the core from the previous year's team was returning, and any team with Ty Cobb and Harry Heilmann in the outfield had to be considered dangerous. At least, that's what Tigers fans hoped.

New to the starting lineup was left fielder Al Wingo, a role player in 1924 but now he would be thrust into the starter's role thanks to an injury to Heinie Manush.

Cobb as a player-manager seemed to be doing OK; the 1925 season looked like it might be a good one for the Detroiters.

Not so fast; on May 4, the Tigers were 4-14 and flat bottom in the American League standings.

The Tigers managed to get their won/lost record back into shape, but they spent so long digging themselves out of their hole, it didn't really matter that they were moving above .500 as the summer wore on.

The league belonged to the Washington Senators, who went 96-55 and ran away with the pennant.

The Tigers, once again, could boast of a lot of great individual batting performances, and as usual, leading the way were Cobb and Heilmann.

Heilmann flirted with .400 before fading, although he did rally to finish the season at .393, good enough for the league batting crown. Cobb batted .378 as he again proved he wasn't distracted by playing and skippering. However, Cobb did miss 33 games due to injury.

Wingo was a pleasant surprise, batting a robust .370 and leading the team in runs scored.

In a familiar refrain, the Tigers batted well (.302 team BA) but pitched poorly (4.61 ERA), which again wasn't good enough to seriously contend. Their 81-73 record landed them in fourth place, some 16-1/2 games out of first position.

The pennant-less streak was now at 16 years and counting.