1921 Detroit Tigers season
| 1921 Detroit Tigers | |
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| Owner(s) | Frank Navin |
| Manager(s) | Ty Cobb |
| Local television | none |
| Local radio | none |
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The 1921 Detroit Tigers finished in sixth place in the American League, 27 games behind the Yankees, with a record of 71–82. Despite their sixth-place finish, the 1921 Tigers amassed 1,724 hits and a team batting average of .316—the highest team hit total and batting average in American League history. Detroit outfielders Harry Heilmann and Ty Cobb finished No. 1 and No. 2 in the American League batting race with batting averages of .394 and .389, and all three Detroit outfielders (Heilmann, Cobb, and Bobby Veach) ranked among the league leaders in batting average and RBIs. As early proof of the baseball adage that "Good Pitching Beats Good Hitting", the downfall of the 1921 Tigers was the absence of good pitching. The team ERA was 4.40, they allowed nine or more runs 28 times, and only one pitcher (Dutch Leonard) had an ERA below 4.24.
Catcher Johnny Bassler had a career on-base percentage of .416 in nine major league seasons, the second highest all time among major league catchers. He was considered the best catcher in baseball from 1921 to 1925, finishing in the top seven in the American League MVP voting three straight years: 6th in 1922, 7th in 1923, and 5th in 1924. Bassler was an outstanding offensive and defensive player. Baseball historian Bill James wrote that, "if his major league career wasn’t so short he would rank among the top 20 catchers of all time." Because of the brevity of his major league career, James ranked Bassler as the 47th best catcher of all time. Bassler was a career .304 hitter who walked 437 times, while striking out only 81 times. That is a ratio of 5.4 walks per strikeout – one of the highest in major league history. His 1925 total of 57.3 at bats per strikeout is one of the highest in American League history.
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