Having finished the previous season a mere game behind pennant-winning St. Louis, the Detroit Tigers entered spring training in 1945 determined to complete their drive to the top. Led by the pitching duo of Hal Newhouser and Paul Trout, benefiting from the signature career year of Roy Cullenbine and Eddie Mayo, and buoyed by the July return of Hank Greenberg, the team battled past the Browns and Senators for the American League title. In the World Series that followed, the Tigers and the last of the great Chicago Cubs teams of the century squared off in a memorable, seven-game World Series.

Burge Carmon Smith is a retired Lutheran parochial school teacher, athletic administrator, and coach. A member of the Society for American Baseball Research, he lives in Texas.

Burge Carmon Smith
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 303
Bibliographic Info: 55 photos, statistics, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2010
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4196-9
eISBN: 978-0-7864-6022-9
Imprint: McFarland

Preface and Acknowledgments      1
Introduction: 1945—A Watershed Year      3

1. Sunday, September 30, 1945      7
2. Historical Background      20
3. Players of That Time      28
4. 1945 Spring Training      35
5. April      55
6. May      72
7. June      87
8. July      100
9. August      117
10. September      130
11. How Detroit Succeeded in Winning the Pennant      155
12. 1945 Statistics      160
13. The Fall Classic      166
14. Game One      172
15. Game Two      183
16. Game Three      193
17. Game Four      203
18. Game Five      215
19. Game Six      228
20. Game Seven      244

Epilogue: Where Did They Go?      263
Chapter Notes      275
Bibliography      287
Index      291