1974 New York Yankees season

Season for the Major League Baseball team the New York Yankees March 2026 November 2013 New York Yankees 1974 American League 89-73 (.549) East Shea Stadium New York City George Steinbrenner Gabe Paul Bill Virdon WPIX(Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White) WMCA(Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White) The 1974 New York Yankees season was the 72nd season for the team. The team finished second in the American League East with a record of 89–73, two games behind the Baltimore Orioles in Bill Virdon's first season as manager. The Yankees played at Shea Stadium due to the ongoing renovation of Yankee Stadium. This was the first season in which the away uniforms featured white outlines on the numbers and the city name. This would stay with the team for the next 50 seasons until it was retired just before the 2024 season when the white outline was removed (at the suggestion of team captain Aaron Judge) from the away jerseys, keeping the navy blue numbers. Offseason 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 December 6, 1973: Jim Mason was purchased by the Yankees from the Texas Rangers.Jim Mason page at Baseball Reference December 7, 1973: Lindy McDaniel was traded by the Yankees to the Kansas City Royals for Lou Piniella and Ken Wright.Lou Piniella page at Baseball Reference December 10, 1973: Hal Lanier was released by the Yankees.Hal Lanier page at Baseball Reference December 11, 1973: Ron Swoboda was released by the Yankees.Ron Swoboda page at Baseball Reference 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.Ken Phelps page at Baseball Reference 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.Walt Williams page at Baseball Reference Regular season August 25, 1974: Nolan Ryan of the California Angels struck out Sandy Alomar Sr. of the Yankees for the 1500th strikeout of his career. http://www.smackbomb.com/nolanryan/strikeouts.html The Nolan Ryan Express The Strikeout King smackbomb.com/nolanryan July 28, 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20110716092407/http://www.smackbomb.com/nolanryan/strikeouts.html July 16, 2011 dead mdy-all 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 that 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 Hall of Fame YankeesRetired16.svg Whitey Ford 16 New York Yankees 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 Record vs. opponents NYY Notable transactions 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.Chris Chambliss page at Baseball Reference May 4, 1974: Mike Pazik and cash were traded by the Yankees to the Minnesota Twins for Dick Woodson.Mike Pazik page at Baseball Reference May 31, 1974: Horace ClarkeHorace Clarke page at Baseball-Reference and Lowell PalmerLowell Palmer page at Baseball-Reference 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.Dennis Sherrill page at Baseball Reference June 15, 1974: Rudy May was purchased by the Yankees from the California Angels.Rudy May page at Baseball Reference July 8, 1974: Sandy Alomar Sr. was purchased by the Yankees from the California Angels.Sandy Alomar page at Baseball Reference September 29, 1974: Jesús Figueroa was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees.Jesús Figueroa page at Baseball Reference Roster 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 Sr. 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 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 Thurman Munson 144 517 135 .261 13 60 1B Chris Chambliss 110 400 97 .243 6 43 2B Sandy Alomar Sr. 76 279 75 .269 1 27 3B Graig Nettles 155 566 139 .246 22 75 SS Jim Mason Jim Mason (baseball) 152 440 110 .250 5 37 LF Lou Piniella 140 518 158 .305 9 70 CF Elliott Maddox 137 466 141 .303 3 45 RF Bobby Murcer 156 606 166 .274 10 88 DH Ron Blomberg 90 264 82 .311 10 48 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 Roy White 136 473 130 .275 7 43 Bill Sudakis 89 259 60 .232 7 39 Gene Michael 81 177 46 .260 0 13 Fernando González Fernando González (baseball) 51 121 26 .215 1 7 Rick Dempsey 43 109 26 .239 2 12 Otto Vélez 27 67 14 .209 2 10 Mike Hegan 18 53 12 .226 2 9 Walt Williams Walt Williams (baseball) 43 53 6 .113 0 3 Horace Clarke 24 47 11 .234 0 1 Fred Stanley Fred Stanley (baseball) 33 38 7 .184 0 3 Alex Johnson 10 28 6 .214 1 2 Jim Ray Hart 10 19 1 .053 0 0 Duke Sims 5 15 2 .133 0 2 Terry Whitfield 2 5 1 .200 0 0 Jim Deidel 2 2 0 .000 0 0 Larry Murray Larry Murray (baseball) 6 1 0 .000 0 0 Pitching Starting 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 Pat Dobson 39 281.0 19 15 3.07 157 Doc Medich 38 279.2 19 15 3.60 154 Dick Tidrow 33 190.2 11 9 3.87 100 Rudy May 17 114.1 8 4 2.28 90 Mel Stottlemyre 16 113.0 6 7 3.58 40 Larry Gura 8 56.0 5 1 2.41 17 Steve Kline Steve Kline (right-handed pitcher) 4 26.0 2 2 3.46 6 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 Dave Pagan 16 49.1 1 3 5.11 39 Sam McDowell 13 48.0 1 6 4.69 33 Dick Woodson 8 28.0 1 2 5.79 12 Fritz Peterson 3 7.2 0 0 4.70 5 Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO Sparky Lyle 66 9 3 15 1.66 89 Cecil Upshaw 36 1 5 6 3.02 27 Mike Wallace Mike Wallace (baseball) 23 6 0 0 2.41 34 Tippy Martinez 10 0 0 0 4.26 10 Fred Beene 6 0 0 1 2.70 10 Tom Buskey 4 0 1 1 6.35 3 Ken Wright Ken Wright (baseball) 3 0 0 0 3.18 2 Rick Sawyer 1 0 0 0 16.20 0 Awards and honors Bill Virdon, The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Syracuse Chiefs International League Bobby Cox AA West Haven Yankees Eastern League Doc Edwards A Fort Lauderdale Yankees Florida State League Pete Ward A-Short Season Oneonta Yankees New York–Penn League Mike Ferraro Rookie Johnson City Yankees Appalachian League Gene Hassell LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: OneontaJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007 Notes 2 References 1974 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference 1974 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:New York Yankees seasons New York Yankees New York Yankees Category:1970s in Queens