Editing Detroit Tigers (section)

====1961====
{{Main|1961 Detroit Tigers season}}
As the American League expanded from 8 to 10 teams, Detroit began its slow ascent back to success with an outstanding 1961 campaign. The Tigers led the majors in runs scored and won 101 games, a whopping 30-game improvement over the 71–83 [[1960 Detroit Tigers season|1960 team]], but still finished eight games behind the [[1961 New York Yankees season|Yankees]].<ref name=Alder>{{cite web|first=David|last=Adler|title=The 9 times a 100-win team didn't finish first|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/100-win-mlb-teams-that-finished-in-2nd-place/c-289601578|website=MLB.com|date=August 12, 2018|access-date=September 8, 2018|archive-date=September 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921072647/https://www.mlb.com/news/100-win-mlb-teams-that-finished-in-2nd-place/c-289601578|url-status=live}}</ref> This marked one of the few times in major league history that a team failed to reach the postseason despite winning 100 or more games, though it had happened once before to the Tigers in 1915.<ref name=Alder/> First baseman [[Norm Cash]] won the batting title with a .361 average, while teammate Al Kaline finished second.<ref name=Alder/><ref name="1961 batting">{{cite web|title=1961 American League Batting Leaders|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1961-batting-leaders.shtml|website=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=September 8, 2018|archive-date=September 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908164606/https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1961-batting-leaders.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> Cash never hit over .286 before or after the 1961 season, and would later say of the accomplishment: "It was a freak. Even at the time, I realized that."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCI/is_9_60/ai_76928886 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710070550/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCI/is_9_60/ai_76928886 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 10, 2012 |title=Former Tiger Norm Cash |work= Baseball Digest|access-date=August 7, 2008 | first=Bill | last=Dow | year=2001}}</ref> Cash's plate heroics, which also included 41 home runs and 132 RBI, might have earned him MVP honors were it not for New York's [[Roger Maris]] bashing a then record 61 homers the same season.<ref name=Alder/> Cash also drew 124 walks for a league-leading .487 on-base percentage.<ref name="1961 batting"/> Tigers outfielder [[Rocky Colavito]] actually bettered Cash's home run and RBI totals, with 45 and 140, respectively.<ref>{{cite web|title=1961 Detroit Tigers Statistics|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/DET/1961.shtml|website=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=September 28, 2021|archive-date=August 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812173643/https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/DET/1961.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 1961 club featured two non-white starters, [[Bill Bruton]] and [[Jake Wood (baseball)|Jake Wood]], and later in the 1960s, black players such as [[Willie Horton (baseball)|Willie Horton]], [[Earl Wilson (baseball)|Earl Wilson]], and [[Gates Brown]] would contribute to Detroit's rise in the standings.<ref>{{cite web|first=Bruce|last=Markusen|title=Speedy Bill Bruton covered center field for the Tigers in the early 1960s|url=https://www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2014/05/20/speedy-bill-bruton-covered-center-field-tigers-early-1960s/|website=Vintage Detroit|date=May 20, 2014|access-date=January 15, 2020|archive-date=January 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115222235/https://www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2014/05/20/speedy-bill-bruton-covered-center-field-tigers-early-1960s/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Bruce|last=Markusen|title=Wood was the first African-American star for the Tigers|url=https://www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2015/10/21/wood-was-first-african-american-star-for-the-tigers/|website=Vintage Detroit|date=October 21, 2015|access-date=January 15, 2020|archive-date=January 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115231438/https://www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2015/10/21/wood-was-first-african-american-star-for-the-tigers/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Horton>{{cite web|first=Dan|last=Holmes|title=Willie Horton|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/e320ca42|website=Society for American Baseball Research|access-date=September 8, 2018|archive-date=September 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908202401/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/e320ca42|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Wilson>{{cite web|first=Don|last=Hyslop|title=Earl Wilson|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/9e0a9624|website=Society for American Baseball Research|access-date=September 8, 2018|archive-date=September 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909000219/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/9e0a9624|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Bruce|last=Markusen|title=Gates Brown went from troublemaker to team leader|url=https://www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2017/02/22/gates-brown-went-troublemaker-team-leader/|website=Vintage Detroit|date=February 22, 2017|access-date=January 15, 2020|archive-date=January 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115222021/https://www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2017/02/22/gates-brown-went-troublemaker-team-leader/|url-status=dead}}</ref>