1974 Detroit Tigers season

Summary

The 1974 Detroit Tigers compiled a record of 72–90. They finished in last place in the American League East, 19 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. They were outscored by their opponents 768 to 620.

1974 Detroit Tigers
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkTiger Stadium
CityDetroit, Michigan
OwnersJohn Fetzer
General managersJim Campbell
ManagersRalph Houk
TelevisionWJBK
(George Kell, Larry Osterman)
RadioWJR
(Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey)
← 1973 Seasons 1975 →

Offseason edit

Regular season edit

1974 was Al Kaline's final season after 22 years as a Tiger (1953–1974). He became the 12th player to join the 3,000 hit club on September 24.

On September 7, the Yankees' Graig Nettles hit a home run against the Tigers. The next time up, he hit a broken-bat single. Tigers catcher Bill Freehan scrambled for the six superballs that came bouncing out. Nettles was called out on the single, but his solo homer was allowed and the made all the difference as the Yankees won 1–0.[4]

Season standings edit

AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Baltimore Orioles 91 71 0.562 46–35 45–36
New York Yankees 89 73 0.549 2 47–34 42–39
Boston Red Sox 84 78 0.519 7 46–35 38–43
Cleveland Indians 77 85 0.475 14 40–41 37–44
Milwaukee Brewers 76 86 0.469 15 40–41 36–45
Detroit Tigers 72 90 0.444 19 36–45 36–45 Record vs. opponents edit

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK TEX
Baltimore 10–8 7–5 5–7 12–6 14–4 8–4 8–10 6–6 11–7 6–6 4–8
Boston 8–10 4–8 8–4 9–9 11–7 4–8 10–8 6–6 11–7 8–4 5–7
California 5–7 8–4 10–8–1 3–9 5–7 8–10 3–9 8–10 3–9 6–12 9–9
Chicago 7–5 4–8 8–10–1 8–4 7–5 11–7 8–4 7–11–1 4–8 7–11 9–7–1
Cleveland 6–12 9–9 9–3 4–8 9–9 8–4 10–8 6–6 7–11 5–7 4–8
Detroit 4–14 7–11 7–5 5–7 9–9 7–5 9–9 3–9 11–7 5–7 5–7
Kansas City 4–8 8–4 10–8 7–11 4–8 5–7 11–1 8–10 4–8 8–10 8–10
Milwaukee 10–8 8–10 9–3 4–8 8–10 9–9 1–11 6–6 9–9 5–7 7–5
Minnesota 6–6 6–6 10–8 11–7–1 6–6 9–3 10–8 6–6 4–8 5–13 9–9
New York 7–11 7–11 9–3 8–4 11–7 7–11 8–4 9–9 8–4 7–5 8–4
Oakland 6–6 4–8 12–6 11–7 7–5 7–5 10–8 7–5 13–5 5–7 8–10
Texas 8–4 7–5 9–9 7–9–1 8–4 7–5 10–8 5–7 9–9 4–8 10–8


Notable transactions edit

  • June 10, 1974: Tim Corcoran was signed as an amateur free agent by the Tigers.[5]

Draft picks edit

Roster edit

1974 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats edit

Batting edit

Starters by position edit

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Jerry Moses 74 198 47 .237 4 19
1B Bill Freehan 130 445 132 .297 18 60
2B Gary Sutherland 149 619 157 .254 5 49
3B Aurelio Rodríguez 159 571 127 .222 5 49
SS Ed Brinkman 153 502 111 .221 14 54
LF Willie Horton 72 238 71 .298 15 47
CF Mickey Stanley 99 394 87 .221 8 34
RF Jim Northrup 97 376 89 .237 11 42
DH Al Kaline 147 558 146 .262 13 64

Other batters edit

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Ron LeFlore 59 254 66 .260 2 13
Ben Oglivie 92 252 68 .270 4 29
Norm Cash 53 149 34 .228 7 12
Jim Nettles 43 141 32 .227 6 17
Dick Sharon 60 129 28 .217 2 10
Marvin Lane 50 103 24 .233 2 9
Gates Brown 73 99 24 .242 4 17
Reggie Sanders 26 99 27 .273 3 10
Gene Lamont 60 92 20 .217 3 8
John Knox 55 88 27 .307 0 6
Leon Roberts 17 63 17 .270 0 7
Ron Cash 20 62 14 .226 0 5
Tom Veryzer 22 55 13 .236 2 9
Dan Meyer 13 50 10 .200 3 7
John Wockenfuss 13 29 4 .138 0 2
Ike Brown 2 2 0 .000 0 0

Pitching edit

Starting pitchers edit

Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Mickey Lolich 41 308.0 16 21 4.15 202
Joe Coleman 41 285.2 14 12 4.32 177
Lerrin LaGrow 37 216.1 8 19 4.66 85
Woodie Fryman 27 141.2 6 9 4.32 92

Other pitchers edit

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Luke Walker 28 92.0 5 5 4.99 52
Bill Slayback 16 54.2 1 3 4.77 23
Fred Holdsworth 8 35.2 0 3 4.29 16
Vern Ruhle 5 33.0 2 0 2.73 10

Relief pitchers edit

Note: G = Games pitched; W= Wins; L= Losses; SV = Saves; GF = Games Finished; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV GF ERA SO
John Hiller 59 17 14 13 52 2.64 134
Jim Ray 28 1 3 2 19 4.47 26
Dave Lemanczyk 22 2 1 0 10 4.00 52
Chuck Seelbach 4 0 0 0 2 4.70 0

Awards and honors edit

Records edit

John Hiller

  • American League record, most wins in one season by a relief pitcher (17)[8]
  • Major league record (since broken), most saves in one season by a left-handed pitcher (38)[9]

Milestones edit

Al Kaline became the 12th player in the 3,000 hit club on September 24

League top ten finishers edit

Joe Coleman

  • AL leader in hit batsmen (12)
  • #2 in MLB in games started (41)
  • #2 in MLB in home runs allowed (30)
  • #2 in MLB in bases on balls allowed (158)
  • #3 in MLB in earned runs allowed (137)
  • #3 in AL in wild pitches (13)
  • #6 in MLB in batters faced (1262)

Bill Freehan

  • #5 in AL in slugging percentage (.479)

John Hiller

  • #6 in AL in games finished (52)
  • #7 in AL in saves (13)

Al Kaline

  • 3rd oldest player in AL (39)

Lerrin LaGrow

  • #3 in AL in losses (19)
  • #4 in AL in wild pitches (12)
  • #8 in AL in earned runs allowed (112)

Mickey Lolich

  • MLB leader in home runs allowed (38)
  • AL leader in losses (21)
  • MLB leader in earned runs allowed (142)
  • #2 in MLB in games started (41)
  • #2 in MLB in hits allowed (310)
  • #3 in MLB in complete games (27)
  • #4 in AL in strikeout to walk ratio (2.59)
  • #5 in AL in strikeouts (202)
  • #5 in MLB in batters faced (1263)
  • #7 in MLB in innings pitched (308)

Aurelio Rodríguez

  • AL leader in games at third base (159)
  • AL leader in innings at third base (1391-2/3)
  • #4 in AL in games played (159)
  • #5 in AL in outs (470)

Gary Sutherland

  • AL leader in outs (489)
  • #2 in AL in at bats per strikeout (16.7)
  • #3 in AL in at bats (619)
  • #4 in AL in singles (131)

Players ranking among top 100 all time at position edit

The following members of the 1975 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their position, as ranked by The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001:

Farm system edit

Level Team League Manager
AAA Evansville Triplets American Association Fred Hatfield
AA Montgomery Rebels Southern League Jim Leyland
A Lakeland Tigers Florida State League Stubby Overmire
A Clinton Pilots Midwest League Len Okrie
Rookie Bristol Tigers Appalachian League Joe Lewis

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Bristol

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Frank Howard at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Tony Taylor at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Walt Williams at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ "ESPN.com - Page2 - Biggest cheaters in baseball".
  5. ^ Tim Corcoran at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Mark Fidrych at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Rob Picciolo at Baseball Reference
  8. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.290, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  9. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, p. 289

External links edit

  • 1974 Detroit Tigers Regular Season Statistics