Editing Detroit Tigers (section)

====1936–1939====
Despite being forecast to win the American League pennant again in [[1936 Detroit Tigers season|1936]],<ref>{{cite web|first=John P.|last=Gallagher|title=Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs Picked to Repeat Major League Victories|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/396409901.html?dids=396409901:396409901&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&date=Apr+12%2C+1936&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Detroit+Tigers+and+Chicago+Cubs+Picked+to+Repeat+Major+League+Victories&pqatl=google|website=Los Angeles Times|date=April 12, 1936|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604145427/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/396409901.html?dids=396409901:396409901&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&date=Apr+12%2C+1936&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Detroit+Tigers+and+Chicago+Cubs+Picked+to+Repeat+Major+League+Victories&pqatl=google|archive-date=June 4, 2011|access-date=August 3, 2018}}</ref> the Tigers fell to a distant second place behind the [[New York Yankees]] both that season and in [[1937 Detroit Tigers season|1937]].<ref>{{cite web|title=1936 American League Season Summary|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1936.shtml|website=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=August 3, 2018|archive-date=August 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804045718/https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1936.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=1937 American League Season Summary|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1937.shtml|website=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=August 3, 2018|archive-date=August 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804014239/https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1937.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> The team fell further down the standings with an 84–70 record in [[1938 Detroit Tigers season|1938]] and an 81–73 record in [[1939 Detroit Tigers season|1939]].<ref>{{cite web|title=1938 American League Season Summary|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1938.shtml|website=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=August 3, 2018|archive-date=August 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804014344/https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1938.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=1939 American League Season Summary|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1939.shtml|website=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=August 3, 2018|archive-date=August 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804014450/https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1939.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> Hank Greenberg nevertheless provided some excitement for Tigers fans in 1938 by challenging the single-season home run record held by [[Babe Ruth]] (60). He went into the season's final weekend against the [[1938 Cleveland Indians season|Cleveland Indians]] with 58 home runs, tied with [[Jimmie Foxx]] for the most by a right-handed batter at the time, but he failed to homer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/greenha01.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060312092740/http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/greenha01.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 12, 2006 |title=Hank Greenberg Facts from |publisher=The Baseball Page.com |access-date=March 16, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Dan|last=D'Addona|title=Two Tigers made a run at the single-season home run record|url=https://www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2017/10/10/two-tigers-made-run-single-season-home-run-record/|website=Vintage Detroit|date=October 10, 2017|access-date=January 15, 2020|archive-date=January 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115222557/https://www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2017/10/10/two-tigers-made-run-single-season-home-run-record/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Scott|last=Ferkovich|title=Hank Greenberg|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/64198864|website=Society for American Baseball Research|access-date=August 3, 2018|archive-date=August 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804014246/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/64198864|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the final week of the 1938 season, the Tigers presciently held out doubts about a pennant in 1939, but figured that 1940 would be their year.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uMYLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tFQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2621,2121213&dq=detroit-tigers-are-figuring-on-a-pennant Detroit Tigers Point to Pennant in 1940] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120230237/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uMYLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tFQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2621,2121213&dq=detroit-tigers-are-figuring-on-a-pennant |date=November 20, 2015 }}, Sid Feder, ''The Evening Independent'', St. Petersburg, Florida, September 29, 1938</ref>