The 1907 Detroit Tigers won the American League pennant with a record of 92–58, but lost to the Chicago Cubs in the 1907 World Series, four games to none (with one tie). The season was their 7th since they entered the American League in 1901.
Offseason
In March 1907, Detroit manager Hughie Jennings actually offered Ty Cobb to the Cleveland Naps in exchange for Elmer Flick. The Naps refused the deal.
Regular season
Season summary
The 1907 season was the first year the Tigers won the American League pennant. Their 1907 record of 92–58 was the team's best record to that point. Led by Ty Cobb, who led the American League in batting average (Cobb's first batting crown), RBIs, and slugging percentage, and Sam Crawford, who led the league in runs scored and extra base hits, they scored 89 more runs than any other team in the American League and outscored their opponents 694 to 532. They finished 1½ games ahead of the A's.
The 1907 Tigers' winning percentage ranks as the 9th best in team history, as follows:
The players
Catchers: Boss Schmidt and Fred Payne
Catching duties were split between Boss Schmidt (67 games), Fred Payne (46 games), and Jimmy Archer (17 games).
Schmidt hit .244 in 1907. As a young man, Schmidt worked in the coal mines and was a skilled brawler who fought an exhibition match with the heavyweight champion, Jack Johnson. Schmidt also beat Ty Cobb in at least two fights. In the second fight, Schmidt knocked Cobb unconscious but admired Cobb's resiliency, and the two became friends until Schmidt's death in 1932. Schmidt never wore shinguards and could force nails into the floor with his bare fists.
Infield: Rossman, Downs, O'Leary, Coughlin, and Schaefer
First baseman Claude Rossman played for the Tigers from 1907 to 1909. In 1907, Rossman hit .277 and had 69 RBIs—third most on the team after Cobb and Crawford. Rossman had a peculiar emotional quirk where he sometimes froze and could not throw the ball when he became excited. Runners would lead off first to draw a throw from the pitcher, then run to second when Rossman froze. He was 28 when he played his last major league game and died at age 46 in a New York hospital for the insane where he had been a patient for several years.
Red Downs and Germany Schaefer platooned at the second base position for the Tigers in 1907 and 1908. Downs hit .219 in 1907 with 42 RBIs and 28 runs scored. In March 1932, Downs and another man robbed a jewelry store at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Downs was convicted of first-degree robbery and sentenced to five years to life. He was paroled after 3½ years and returned to Iowa.
Germany Schaefer was a backup second baseman and utility infielder for the 1907 Tigers. He played 74 games at second base, 18 at shortstop, and 14 at third base. Schaefer is remembered more for his antics than for his performance on the field, including trying to steal first base (from second base) and, coming to bat in the rain with a raincoat and boots (to persuade the umpire to call the games). Schaefer was a pioneer of baseball clowning, and his vaudeville act with teammate Charley O'Leary was inspiration for the MGM musical film "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. In 1919, a little over a year after Schaefer played his last game, he died at age 42 of tuberculosis at the sanitarium in Saranac Lake, New York.
Charley O'Leary was Detroit's starting shortstop from 1904 to 1907. In 1907, he hit .241 and scored 61 runs. On September 30, 1934, O'Leary pinch hit for the St. Louis Browns at age 51 and became one of the oldest players to collect a hit and score a run.
Third baseman Bill Coughlin, known as "Scranton Bill", was named team captain in 1907 and 1908. He was a light-hitting defensive player, who never hit higher than .252 for the Tigers. His 232 putouts in 1901 is the 8th highest single season total in history by a major league third baseman. He is also one of the few MLB players to have stolen 2nd base, 3rd base and home in a single game. Coughlin was also the maestro of the hidden ball trick. Although no known comprehensive list is known to exist of all times when the hidden ball trick has worked, Coughlin reportedly pulled it off seven times (and at three different positions) – more than any other player in MLB history. In Game 2 of the 1907 World Series, Coughlin caught Jimmy Slagle with a hidden ball trick, the only one in World Series history.