When people think of the Tiger teams of the late 1960s, the two pitchers who come to mind are Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich. They combined to throw six of the seven games in the 1968 World Series while both of them made a name for themselves that season (McLain with 31 wins and Lolich with his three World Series wins). The other Tiger to get a start in that 1968 World series was Earl Wilson. Better known as the Duke of Earl, Wilson led the way for the Tigers in a big way in 1967 and he was the one pitcher who brought the Tigers closer to a pennant then any other pitcher that season.
Wilson was traded to the Tigers by the Boston Red Sox in 1966 for Dom Demeter (never played beyond 1967) and Julio Navarro (never touched the field for the Red Sox). For the four months that the Tigers had Wilson in 1966, Wilson went 13-6 with a 2.59 ERA and 1.004 WHIP. Let’s just say the Tigers made out big time in this trade and had the Red Sox kept Wilson, they might have won the 1967 pennant by a lot more then one game.
In 1967, Earl Wilson led the American League with 22 wins. He was third in innings pitched (264) and tenth in strikeouts (184). He led the Tigers, with rotation mainstays like McLain, Lolich and Joe Sparma throwing for Detroit, in all of those categories.
His most unusual (and best) start of the season came on April 30, 1967 against the Baltimore Orioles. In that game, he gave up only two hits the entire game but he walked the bases loaded in the eighth inning of that game and a run scored on a sac. fly. While not odd in and of itself, the amazing thing about the game was that the Tigers (and Wilson) won despite not getting a single hit the entire game. You’ll see this one once the diary is up, but it’s definitely one of the more bizarre play by plays I’ve ever seen.
Earl Wilson also helped out his own cause a lot and he was one of the best pitchers at hitting. In 108 at bats in 1967, Wilson hit four homeruns and drove in 15. In two other seasons, Wilson hit seven homeruns in each and he hit 35 homeruns and drove in 111 runs in 740 career at bats.
For his efforts, Wilson finished twelth in the American League in the MVP voting. He was third on the team on the ballot behind Bill Freehan (third) and Al Kaline (fifth).
Here are Wilson’s numbers in 1967.
Wins 22
Losses 11
Games 39
Games Started 38
Complete Games 12
Innings Pitched 264
Hits 216
Runs 103
Earned Runs 96
Walks 92
Strikeouts 184
ERA 3.27
Runs Saved Above Average -2
Shutouts 0
H/9 7.36
BR/9 10.60
SO/9 6.27
BB/9 3.14
SO/BB 2.00
Neutral Wins 16
Neutral Losses 17