1974 New York Yankees
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Shea Stadium (since 1974)
New York City, New York (since 1903)
Other information
Owner(s)	George Steinbrenner
General manager(s)	Gabe Paul
Manager(s)	Bill Virdon
Local television	WPIX (Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White)
Local radio	WMCA (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White)
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The 1974 New York Yankees season was the 72nd season for the team in New York and its 74th overall dating from its origins in Baltimore. The team finished with a record of 89-73, finishing 2 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. New York was managed by Bill Virdon. The Yankees played at Shea Stadium due to the ongoing renovation of Yankee Stadium.

Offseason[edit]

The off-season became controversial when George Steinbrenner and Gabe Paul sought to hire former Oakland Athletics manager Dick Williams, who had resigned immediately after leading the team to its second straight World Series title. However, because Williams was still under contract to Oakland, A's owner Charlie Finley sought to block the move, the subsequent legal wrangling prevented the Yankees from hiring him. On the first anniversary of the team's ownership change, the Yankees hired former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Bill Virdon to lead the team on the field.

Notable transactions[edit]

• December 6, 1973: Jim Mason was purchased by the Yankees from the Texas Rangers.^[1]
• December 7, 1973: Lindy McDaniel was traded by the Yankees to the Kansas City Royals for Lou Piniella and Ken Wright.^[2]
• December 10, 1973: Hal Lanier was released by the Yankees.^[3]
• December 11, 1973: Ron Swoboda was released by the Yankees.^[4]
• January 9, 1974: Ken Phelps was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 1974 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.^[5]
• March 19, 1974: Jerry Moses was traded by the Yankees to the Detroit Tigers as part of a 3-team trade. The Cleveland Indians sent Walt Williams and Rick Sawyer to the Yankees, and the Tigers sent Ed Farmer to the Yankees. The Tigers sent Jim Perry to the Indians.^[6]

Regular season[edit]

• August 25, 1974: Nolan Ryan of the California Angels struck out Sandy Alomar of the Yankees for the 1500th strikeout of his career.^[7] Ryan and Alomar had been teammates at the beginning of the season, but Alomar had been sold to the Yankees on July 8.
• September 7, 1974: The Yankees' Graig Nettles hit a home run against the Detroit 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.^[8]

Hall of Fame[edit]

Whitey Ford's number 16 was retired by the New York Yankees in 1974.

Mickey Mantle and former teammate Whitey Ford were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame together in 1974, Mantle in his first year of eligibility, Ford in his second. Ford's number 16 was retired as well. Although Ford wore number 19 in his rookie season, following his return from the army in 1953, he wore number 16 for the remainder of his career.

Season standings[edit]

AL East	W	L	GB	Pct.
Baltimore Orioles	91	71	--	.562
New York Yankees	89	73	2	.549
Boston Red Sox	84	78	7	.519
Cleveland Indians	77	85	14	.475
Milwaukee Brewers	76	86	15	.469
Detroit Tigers	72	90	19	.444

Record vs. opponents[edit]

1974 American League Records 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]

• April 26, 1974: Fritz Peterson, Steve Kline, Fred Beene, and Tom Buskey were traded by the Yankees to the Cleveland Indians for Chris Chambliss, Dick Tidrow and Cecil Upshaw.^[9]
• May 4, 1974: Mike Pazik and cash were traded by the Yankees to the Minnesota Twins for Dick Woodson.^[10]
• May 31, 1974: Horace Clarke^[11] and Lowell Palmer^[12] were purchased from the Yankees by the San Diego Padres.
• June 5, 1974: Dennis Sherrill was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round (12th pick) of the 1974 Major League Baseball Draft.^[13]
• June 15, 1974: Rudy May was purchased by the Yankees from the California Angels.^[14]
• July 8, 1974: Sandy Alomar was purchased by the Yankees from the California Angels.^[15]
• September 29, 1974: Jesús Figueroa was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees.^[16]

Roster[edit]

1974 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 47 Fred Beene 29 Tom Buskey 36 Pat Dobson 39 Larry Gura 38 Steve Kline 28 Sparky Lyle 40 Tippy Martinez 43 Rudy May 48 Sam McDowell 42 Doc Medich 53 Dave Pagan 19 Fritz Peterson 40 Rick Sawyer 30 Mel Stottlemyre 19 Dick Tidrow 38 Cecil Upshaw 41 Mike Wallace 29 Dick Woodson 42 Ken Wright		Catchers 43 Jim Deidel 46 Rick Dempsey 15 Thurman Munson 41 Duke Sims Infielders  2 Sandy Alomar 10 Chris Chambliss 20 Horace Clarke 26 Fernando González 18 Mike Hegan 22 Jim Mason 17 Gene Michael  9 Graig Nettles 11 Fred Stanley 44 Bill Sudakis 24 Otto Vélez		Outfielders 12 Ron Blomberg 23 Alex Johnson 27 Elliott Maddox  1 Bobby Murcer 18,52 Larry Murray 14 Lou Piniella  6 Roy White 51 Terry Whitfield 13 Walt Williams Other batters 43 Jim Ray Hart		Manager 21 Bill Virdon Coaches 16 Whitey Ford 32 Elston Howard 34 Dick Howser 31 Mel Wright

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	Munson, ThurmanThurman Munson	144	517	135	.261	13	60
1B	Chambliss, ChrisChris Chambliss	110	400	97	.243	6	43
2B	Alomar, SandySandy Alomar	76	279	75	.269	1	27
3B	Nettles, GraigGraig Nettles	155	566	139	.246	22	75
SS	Mason, JimJim Mason	152	440	110	.250	5	37
LF	Piniella, LouLou Piniella	140	518	158	.305	9	70
CF	Maddox, ElliottElliott Maddox	137	466	141	.303	3	45
RF	Murcer, BobbyBobby Murcer	156	606	166	.274	10	88
DH	Blomberg, RonRon Blomberg	90	264	82	.311	10	48

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
González, FernandoFernando González	51	121	26	.215	1	7
Vélez, OttoOtto Vélez	27	67	14	.209	2	10
Williams, WaltWalt Williams	43	53	6	.113	0	3
Murray, LarryLarry Murray	6	1	0	.000	0	0

Pitching[edit]

Starting 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
Dobson, PatPat Dobson	39	281	19	15	3.07	157
Medich, DocDoc Medich	38	279⅔	19	15	3.60	154
Tidrow, DickDick Tidrow	33	190⅔	11	9	3.87	100
May, RudyRudy May	17	114⅓	8	4	2.28	90
Stottlemyre, MelMel Stottlemyre	16	113	6	7	3.58	40

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
Pagan, DaveDave Pagan	16	49.1	1	3	5.11	39
Peterson, FritzFritz Peterson	3	7.2	0	0	4.70	5

Relief pitchers[edit]

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

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Beene, FredFred Beene	6	0	0	1	2.70	10
Buskey, TomTom Buskey	4	0	1	1	6.35	3
Wright, KenKen Wright	3	0	0	0	3.18	2
Sawyer, RickRick Sawyer	1	0	0	0	16.20	0

Awards and honors[edit]

• Bill Virdon, The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award

Farm system[edit]

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Syracuse Chiefs	International League	Bobby Cox
AA	West Haven Yankees	Eastern League	Doc Edwards
A	Fort Lauderdale Yankees	Florida State League	Pete Ward
Short-Season A	Oneonta Yankees	New York-Penn League	Mike Ferraro
Rookie	Johnson City Yankees	Appalachian League	Gene Hassell

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Oneonta^[17]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• 1974 New York Yankees
• 1974 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com

1974 MLB season by team AL East Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee New York AL West California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Texas NL East Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis NL West Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco 1974 All-Star Game 1974 World Series

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