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1974 Detroit Tigers season
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Major League Baseball season
March 2026
November 2013
Detroit Tigers 1974 American League East Tiger Stadium Detroit, Michigan John Fetzer Jim Campbell Ralph Houk WJBK(George Kell, Larry Osterman) WJR(Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey)
The 1974 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 74th season and the 63rd season at Tiger Stadium. The 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.
Offseason
October 25, 1973: Frank Howard was released by the Tigers.Frank Howard at Baseball Reference
December 3, 1973: Tony Taylor was released by the Tigers.Tony Taylor at Baseball Reference
March 19, 1974: The Tigers traded Ed Farmer to the New York Yankees and Jim Perry to the Cleveland Indians as part of a three-team trade. The Yankees sent Jerry Moses to the Tigers. The Indians sent Walt Williams and Rick Sawyer to the Yankees.Walt Williams at Baseball Reference
Regular season
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. https://www.espn.com/page2/s/list/cheaters/ballplayers.html ESPN.com - Page2 - Biggest cheaters in baseball
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
DET
Notable transactions
June 10, 1974: Tim Corcoran was signed as an amateur free agent by the Tigers.Tim Corcoran at Baseball Reference
Draft picks
June 5, 1974: 1974 Major League Baseball draft
Mark Fidrych was drafted by the Tigers in the 10th round.Mark Fidrych at Baseball Reference
Rob Picciolo was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round (6th pick) of the secondary phase, but did not sign.Rob Picciolo at Baseball Reference
Roster
1974 Detroit Tigers Roster Pitchers
15 Joe Coleman
38 Woodie Fryman
18 John Hiller
20 Fred Holdsworth
30 Lerrin LaGrow
19 Dave Lemanczyk
29 Mickey Lolich
36 Jim Ray
31 Vern Ruhle
37 Chuck Seelbach
14 Bill Slayback
17 Luke Walker Catchers
10 Gene Lamont
12 Jerry Moses
45 John Wockenfuss
Infielders
8 Ed Brinkman
9 Ike Brown
25 Norm Cash
40 Ron Cash
11 Bill Freehan
2 John Knox
4 Aurelio Rodríguez
43 Reggie Sanders
3 Gary Sutherland
7 Tom Veryzer Outfielders
23 Willie Horton
21 Marvin Lane
42 Ron LeFlore
25 Dan Meyer
28 Jim Nettles
5 Jim Northrup
22 Ben Oglivie
44 Leon Roberts
27 Dick Sharon
24 Mickey Stanley
Other batters
26 Gates Brown
6 Al Kaline Manager
35 Ralph Houk
Coaches
52 Cot Deal (Pitching)
50 Jim Hegan (Bullpen)
51 Joe Schultz (Third base)
53 Dick Tracewski {First base)
Player stats
Batting
Starters by position
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 Willie Horton (baseball) 72 238 71 .298 15 47 CF Mickey Stanley 99 394 87 .221 8 34 RF Jim Northrup Jim Northrup (baseball) 97 376 89 .237 11 42 DH Al Kaline 147 558 146 .262 13 64
Other batters
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 Reggie Sanders (first baseman) 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 Dan Meyer (first baseman) 13 50 10 .200 3 7 John Wockenfuss 13 29 4 .138 0 2 Ike Brown 2 2 0 .000 0 0
Pitching
Starting pitchers
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 Joe Coleman (1970s pitcher) 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
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
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
Records
John Hiller
American League record, most wins in one season by a relief pitcher (17)Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.290, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, 978-0-451-22363-0
Major league record (since broken), most saves in one season by a left-handed pitcher (38)Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, p. 289
Milestones
Al Kaline became the 12th player in the 3,000 hit club on September 24
League top ten finishers
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
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:
Bill Freehan: 12th best catcher of all time
Norm Cash: 20th best first baseman of all time
Aurelio Rodríguez: 91st best third baseman of all time
Al Kaline: 11th best right fielder of all time
Willie Horton: 55th best left fielder of all time
Mickey Lolich: 72nd best pitcher of all time
Farm system
Minor League Baseball
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
Baseball
1974 in Michigan
References
2
External links
1974 Detroit Tigers Regular Season Statistics
Category:Detroit Tigers seasons
Detroit Tigers season
Detroit Tigers
Category:1974 in Detroit