The Detroit Tigers are a professional baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan. The Tigers are members of the American League Central Division in Major League Baseball. In baseball, the head coach of a team is called the manager, or more formally, the field manager. The duties of the team manager include team strategy and leadership on and off the field. The team initially began in the now defunct Western League in 1894, and later became one of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901. Since the inception of the team in 1894, it has employed 48 different managers. The Tigers' current manager is A. J. Hinch, who was named manager on October 30, 2020, following the sudden retirement of Ron Gardenhire.

The franchise's first manager after the team's arrival in the American League was George Stallings, who managed the team for one season. Hall of Famer Hughie Jennings, who managed the team from 1907 to 1920, led the team to three American League championships. Jennings however was unable to win the World Series, losing to the Chicago Cubs in 1907 and 1908 and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1909. The Detroit Tigers did not win their first World Series until 1935 under the leadership of player-manager Mickey Cochrane. Steve O'Neill later led the Tigers to another World Series victory again in 1945. The Tigers would not win another World Series until 1968 World Series when the Tigers, led by Mayo Smith, defeated the St. Louis Cardinals. Sparky Anderson's 1984 Detroit Tigers team was the franchise's last World Series victory, and marked the first time in Major League Baseball history that a manager won the World Series in both leagues. In total, the Tigers have won the American League pennant 10 times, and the World Series 4 times.

The longest tenured Tiger manager was Sparky Anderson. Anderson managed the team for 2,579 games from 1979 to 1995. Hughie Jennings, Bucky Harris and Jim Leyland are the only other Detroit Tiger managers who have managed the team for more than 1,000 games. Anderson's 1331 wins and 1248 losses also lead all Tiger managers, while Cochrane's winning percentage of .582 is the highest of any Tiger manager who has managed at least one full-season. Nine Hall of Famers have managed the Tigers: Ed Barrow, Jennings, Ty Cobb, Cochrane, Joe Gordon, Harris, Alan Trammell, Anderson, and Leyland. Barrow was elected as an executive, Jennings, Anderson, and Leyland were elected as managers; the others were elected as players.

Key #Number of managersGRegular season games managed; may not equal sum of wins and losses due to tie gamesWRegular season winsLRegular season lossesWin%Winning percentagePAPlayoff appearances: number of years this manager has led the franchise to the playoffsPWPlayoff winsPLPlayoff lossesLCLeague Championships: number of League Championships, or pennants, achieved by the managerWSWorld Series Championships: number of World Series victories achieved by the managerRefReference(s)† Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame primarily as a manager or executive* Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame primarily as a player**Manager acted as interim manager

Managers

Western League

# Image Manager Seasons W L Win% Ref189618971897–98189818981898–1900

American League Through September 18, 2020

# Image Manager Seasons W L Win% PA PW PL LC WS Ref 1901 1902 † 1903–1904 ** 1904 1905–1906 † 1907–1920 3 4 12 3 0 * 1921–1926 1927–1928 1929–1933 10 ** 1933 11 * 1934–1936 2 7 6 2 1 – 1936 – * 1937 – 1937 12 ** 1937 – * 1938 – 1938–1942 1 3 4 1 0 13 1943–1948 1 4 3 1 1 14 1949–1952 15 1952–1954 – 1955–1956 16 1957–1958 17 1958–1959 18 1959–1960 19 ** 1960 20 * 1960 21 1961–1963 22 1963–1964 23 1965 – 1965–1966 – ** 1966 24 ** 1966 25 1967–1970 1 4 3 1 1 26 1971–1973 1 2 3 0 0 27 ** 1973 28 1974–1978 29 1979 30 ** 1979 31 † 1979–1995 2 8 5 1 1 32 1996–1998 33 1998–1999 34 2000–2002 35 ** 2002 36 * 2003–2005 37 † 2006–2013 4 25 23 2 0 38 2014–2017 1 0 3 0 0 39 2018–2020 0 0 0 0 0 40 ** 2020 0 0 0 0 0 41 2021–present 2 8 7 0 0

Managers with multiple tenures # Manager Seasons G W L Win% PA PW PL LC WS Ref 1929–19331955–1956 1,078 516 557 * 1934–1936, 1937, 1938 600 348 250 2 7 6 2 1 11 1933, 1936, 1937, 1938–1942 675 417 355 22 1963–19641965–1966 411 221 189 23 1965, 1966 99 56 43

Notes A running total of the number of managers of the Tigers. Thus, any manager who has two or more separate terms as a manager is only counted once.

References