Cabrera and Fielder Can be Best Tigers Duo Ever

Newly acquired first baseman Prince Fielder joins soon to be third baseman Miguel Cabrera to form what is probably the best offensive one-two punch in the majors.  It won't be the first dynamic duo in Tigers history though.  Fearsome twosomes such as Deadball stars Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford and Depression era greats Charlie Gehringer and Hank Greenberg quickly come to mind.  So, I am going to rank the best Tigers hitting pairs in franchise history.

Hitting performance can be measured by Batting Runs (BR) which was discussed in an earlier post.  In Summary, Batting Runs is the estimated number of runs a player would contribute to an average team beyond what an average player would have contributed in his place.  For example, Cabrera had 71 Batting Runs in 2011.  So, he contributed 71 runs above what an average player would have been expected to contribute in the same number of outs.  The Batting Runs statistic is described in more detail towards the bottom of the linked article.

The table below lists all seasons where the Tigers had a pair of players combining for 80 or more Batting Runs.  To be certain that both players had great seasons, each was required to have 35+ Batting Runs.

Table: Top Tigers Batting Duos by Batting Runs

Year	Player 1	BR	Player 2	BR	Total
1961	Norm Cash	85	Rocky Colavito	51	136
1911	Ty Cobb	76	Sam Crawford	50	126
1917	Ty Cobb	75	Bobby Veach	41	116
1921	Ty Cobb	52	Harry Heilmann	60	112
1937	Charlie Gehringer	44	Hank Greenberg	67	111
1940	Hank Greenberg	64	Rudy York	42	106
1925	Ty Cobb	48	Harry Heilmann	55	103
1922	Ty Cobb	56	Harry Heilmann	46	102
1934	Charlie Gehringer	50	Hank Greenberg	49	99
1935	Charlie Gehringer	36	Hank Greenberg	62	98
1909	Ty Cobb	62	Sam Crawford	35	97
1913	Ty Cobb	52	Sam Crawford	36	88
1946	Roy Cullenbine	41	Hank Greenberg	43	84
1919	Ty Cobb	43	Bobby Veach	40	83
1914	Ty Cobb	42	Sam Crawford	39	81
1926	Harry Heilmann	42	Heinie Manush	38	80

Data Source: Baseball-Reference.com

The best combined Batting Runs total by two players in Tigers history was 136 by first baseman Norm Cash (85 BR) and outfielder Rocky Colavito (51) in 1961. The pairs appearing most frequently on the list were Cobb and Crawford (four times from 1909-1917), Cobb and under-rated slugger Harry Heilmann (three times from 1921-1925) and Gehringer and Greenberg (three times from 1934-1937).

Where might Cabrera and Fielder fit on this list in the future? They have already had three seasons where their combined totals would have made the table: 127 in 2011, 101 in 2009 and 96 in 2007.  In fact their 2011total would have been the second highest total ever for the Tigers.

Indeed, Detroi's new power duo has a good chance to be one of the best or perhaps the best hitting pair in franchise history.