Detroit Tigers – Ty Cobb (1917)
The question of the greatest individual season for the Detroit Tigers is really not so much about which player it belongs to, but which of Ty Cobb’s seasons it would be. The Georgia Peach holds the top five single season bWAR totals in franchise history, and six of the top ten. Cobb trails only Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, and Willie Mays among position players in career bWAR for a career, and posted a number above 10.0 three times in his 24 big league seasons.
The greatest of those years actually came in a year that, on its surface, seems to pale in comparison to others both for Cobb as a player and the Tigers as a team. In 1917, Detroit finished fourth in the American League with a 78-75 record, 21.5 games behind the pennant-winning Chicago White Sox.
Cobb slashed .383/.444/.570 that season, all of which were best in the AL. He also led the league with 225 hits, 44 doubles, 24 triples, 55 stolen bases, and OPS of 1.014, and an OPS+ of 209 at the age of 30.
1917 marked the 10th of Cobb’s 12 batting titles, the sixth of seven times he would lead the league in OBP, the eighth and final time he led in slugging, and the ninth of 10 instances with the best OPS. Despite the general understanding that he was not exactly a fun or kind man, there’s no arguing he was one of the greatest batsmen the game of baseball has ever known.
Next: Twin City hitting machine.