1964 season Tigers manager
Charlie Dressen assigned Demeter to center field, moving previous starter Bruton to left. Commenting on the trade, Dressen remarked, "Demeter is a better all-around player than
Rocky Colavito." Dressen's plan early on was to have Demeter bat third in the lineup against right-handed pitchers and fifth against lefties. The ballplayer was excited to perform alongside right fielder
Al Kaline, saying, "I've always thought he was the greatest thing to put on a uniform." In spring training, Demeter hit .364 in his first eight games as a Tiger, including a bases-loaded three-RBI triple against the Cardinals on March 18. In 27 spring training games, he recorded 12 RBI, second only to
Norm Cash. Demeter injured his ankle in the first game of a doubleheader against the
Minnesota Twins on April 19, hitting two foul balls off of it. After
X-rays came back negative, he rejoined the team on April 22 against the
Los Angeles Angels with a special guard for the ankle. The setback resulted in a .138 batting average in his first seven games in the AL. However, on April 26, he hit his first home run as a Tiger off
Jim Kaat. On April 29, he hit a decisive home run in the top of the 10th inning against
John Wyatt of the
Kansas City Athletics, leading the Tigers to a 5–4 win. On May 23, against the Indians, Demeter went back to catch a long fly ball from
Leon Wagner. As he tried to catch the ball, he hit his head on a padded metal bar on top of the outfield fence. The ball bounced off his glove and over the fence, resulting in a three-run home run for the Indians. Dressen remarked that he had seen the same incident occur with Bruton on a three-run home run by
Tommie Reynolds at Kansas City on April 30. For the first two months of the season, Demeter recorded two home runs and 14 RBI in 37 games to go along with a batting average of .238. On June 8 and 9, he hit a combined two home runs and recorded nine RBI in two games against the Twins. He homered again on June 13 against the Angels, and he delivered a game-winning double on June 14 to complete a sweep of the three-game series. On July 14, Demeter hit a home run and drove in two runs, also making what was described as a "spectacular" diving catch that denied the Angels an opportunity to score the tying run in the ninth inning. He commented that the game was his best since joining the Tigers. On July 31, Demeter set an MLB record with 206 consecutive errorless games in the outfield, passing former Phillies teammate Tony González's mark of 205. The streak began two seasons prior on September 3, 1962. The player deemphasized the record, citing it as "deceptive." He remarked, "With the Phillies, I started quite a few games at third base and went to the outfield in the late innings." He claimed that he thought he made two errors throughout the 1964 season. "I lost one ball in the sun. Another one I didn't play very well in the wind. They were scored as hits. In my mind, they are errors." In the September 7, 1964 issue of
Sports Illustrated, he was named the Player of the Week for his clutch performances. Demeter finished the 1964 season with similar numbers to the prior season with the Phillies. He had 22 home runs and 80 RBI, batting .256. The ballplayer led all MLB outfielders with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. eight of these tied games for the Tigers, and 28 gave the Tigers the go ahead run.
1965 and early 1966 seasons In January 1965, Demeter signed a new contract with the Tigers for the amount of $30,000. Demeter was cited by sportswriter Allen Lewis as the Tigers most clutch hitter, but he still was unsatisfied with his power output. He trained in Oklahoma during the winter, chopping wood and gaining 12 pounds to raise his total weight to 202. In spring training, Demeter had a two homer outing against the
Washington Senators on April 2, followed by another solo home run against the Reds on April 4. He later admitted after his two-homer outing, in which he hit one over the left field wall and another over the right, that he wanted to try for a third home run over the wall in center field. However, he didn't get the chance as he was walked and subsequently pulled for a pinch runner. "It tears me up to walk when I'm swinging that good", Demeter said. Demeter was the Opening Day starter in center field on April 12, 1965, in Kansas City. Though hit by a pitch from
Moe Drabowsky in the first inning, he finished the game with hits in all three of his at bats, including a triple. He scored two runs as well. Although he began the year in the outfield, he started playing first base in May due to struggles by Cash. Later that month, Demeter sat out several games with a minor case of
whiplash sustained from a head-first slide into third base. Demeter played at first for almost every game for two months before returning to the outfield full time in July to resume his record errorless streak, only for it to abruptly come to an end at 266 games on July 15 in improbable fashion against Kansas City.
Charlie Finley, the Athletics owner, had some trained dogs serving on the grounds crew at
Municipal Stadium, and one of these ran onto the field as Demeter fielded a ball hit to him. The dog and the throw arrived at shortstop at about the same time,
Dick McAuliffe was unable to handle the ball, and Demeter was charged with the error. On August 12 against the Athletics, Demeter hit a grand slam and had seven RBI, tying a career high. Against the Angels the next evening, in the fifth inning, a pitch from
Dean Chance struck Demeter in the head. Carried off the field in a stretcher, Demeter was hospitalized overnight, and he would miss two games. He suffered another injury against the Angels on August 27, damaging his left wrist while trying to make a diving catch on a line drive hit by
Jimmy Piersall. After 12 X-rays, it was finally determined to be a sprain and not a broken wrist as originally diagnosed. It was the same wrist he broke in 1961 during his tenure with the Dodgers. Several key players were injured at the time, leading Demeter to remark, "I really feel sick for Charlie (Dressen). The poor guy gets his team where it can make a move and then injuries hit him." Injuries limited Demeter to 122 games, in which he had 16 home runs and 58 RBI. He was hit by six pitches on the year, tied with
Pete Ward and
Willie Horton for sixth in the AL. As a pinch hitter, he batted .400, furthering his reputation as the most clutch hitter for the Tigers. Demeter was one of the last players to sign his contract for the 1966 season, receiving a raise to $33,000 in March. Unlike years past, Demeter's spot as everyday starter in center field was not guaranteed. By March, it was already being predicted that Demeter was going to lose his position to a young
Mickey Stanley, who was described by
Baseball Digest as a defensive ace. Demeter had trouble with a sore right shoulder during spring training, requiring a cortisone shot. Eventually, it was officially announced that he had lost his slot in center field to Stanley. After Stanley batted .143 in his first six games, Demeter began getting most of the starts in center field on April 19. However, from April 25 through May 3, Demeter had an 0-for-23 slump, the worst of his career. It got to the point where Dressen told him to "not pick up a bat," benching him for six games. A broken finger suffered by Stanley helped ensure Demeter's return to the lineup. On May 17 against the Yankees, he broke a 2–2 tie with a two-run homer off New York pitcher
Fritz Peterson. Demeter remarked that the day was his wedding anniversary. "I've hit home runs six of the last seven years for her." Later, against the
Baltimore Orioles on May 21, Demeter started a six-run rally in the fourth inning with a three-run home run off pitcher
John Miller to tie the game 4–4. He again lost the starting job on May 4, as Kaline was shifted to center and
Jim Northrup began getting the starts in right field. In 32 games through June 14, Demeter batted .212 with five home runs and 12 RBI. ==Boston Red Sox==