1970 Detroit Tigers season
The 1970 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 70th season and the 59th season at Tiger Stadium. 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.
- 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
Notable transactions
- April 8, 1970: Tom Tresh was released by the Tigers.
- August 2, 1970: Kevin Collins was purchased by the Tigers from the Montreal Expos.
Player stats
Batting
Starters by position
Note: 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 | 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 |
| 89 | 191 | 42 | .220 | 6 | 21 | |
| 52 | 132 | 24 | .182 | 5 | 15 | |
| Gates Brown | 81 | 124 | 28 | .226 | 3 | 24 |
| Ike Brown | 56 | 94 | 27 | .287 | 4 | 15 |
| 47 | 84 | 9 | .107 | 3 | 9 | |
| Gene Lamont | 15 | 44 | 13 | .295 | 1 | 4 |
| Russ Nagelson | 28 | 32 | 6 | .188 | 0 | 2 |
| 25 | 24 | 5 | .208 | 1 | 3 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.30 | 7 | |
| Dennis Saunders | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.21 | 8 |