Pitchers that can go deep into games are at a premium nowadays. They spare bullpen wear and tear as well as keep their teams in a position to win games. Although the complete game is going the way of the dinosaur, pitchers used to plan to go nine innings every time out. Over the course of the last century, 14 Tigers have led the league in complete games. Notice the decrease in complete games for league leaders between 1901 and the early twenty-first century. All statistics courtesy Baseballreference.com, but also available at Detroittigers.com and the Baseball Encyclopedia.
1903 Bill Donovan 34
1905 George Mullin 35
1939 Bobo Newsom 24
1944 Dizzy Trout 33
1945 Hal Newhouser 29
1947 Hal Newhouser 24
1958 Frank Lary 19
1960 Frank Lary 15
1961 Frank Lary 22
1968 Denny McLain 28
1971 Mickey Lolich 29
1976 Mark Fidrych 24
1990 Jack Morris 11
2001 Steve Sparks 8
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