Sports74 Gold: More Baseball

Here's a short section featuring men who were legends of the game by 1974 and naming a few who were on their way to the big time.

Mickey Mantle, "Whitey" Ford, and "Cool Papa" Bell are among the newest members of the Hall of Fame. So is umpire "Jocko" Conlan, with posthumous honors being bestowed upon Jim Bottomley and Sam Thompson.

After the season, Hank Aaron goes to Tokyo for a home-run contest against Sadaharu Oh, the Yomiuri Giants player who will reach one more than Aaron's eventual career mark in '77. Oh hits 9 home runs in 20 tries, and Aaron goes 10 for 18. While he is abroad, the Atlanta Braves carry out Aaron's plans to go back to where he started his career and be a designated hitter for the Milwaukee Brewers next season instead of just being a PR man for the Braves.

Topps issues its first "factory set" of 660 baseball cards instead of releasing it in installments as was done before. This is also the first year of the Topps Traded series.

The champions of the three AAA circuits are the Tulsa Oilers of the American Association, the Rochester Red Wings of the International League, and the Spokane Indians of the Pacific Coast League.

In the I.L., Jim Rice, after batting .337 with 25 home runs and 93 RBI for the Pawtucket Red Sox, is called up to play for the Boston Red Sox, and Gary Carter, with 23 home runs for the Tidewater Tides, makes his debut for the New York Mets.

Eddie Murray bats .289 with 12 home runs and 63 RBI for the Miami Orioles of the Florida State League.

Two more Hall of Famers on the farm: Bruce Sutter, training to be a reliever already, splits the season between the FSL's Key West Conchs and the Texas League's Midland Cubs, while Dennis Eckersley strikes out 163 for the T.L.'s San Antonio Brewers.

The first woman to coach in organized baseball is Lanny Moss of the Northwest League's unaffiliated Portland Mavericks.

In Japan, the 1974 pennant winners are the Lotte Orions of the Pacific League and the Chunichi Dragons of the Central League. The Orions win the Japan Series.

USC wins the College World Series for the fifth time in a row, defeating the University of Miami 7-3 in the championship game. The Most Outstanding Player of the tournament is George Milke.

A team from Kaohsiung -- with a 12-1 win over Red Bluff, Calif., in the championship game -- wins the fourth Little League World Series in a row and the fifth overall for Taiwan (Republic of China). There will be no foreign teams at next year's tournament, suspicion of Taiwanese teams using players from outside their districts being a concern.

The American Legion junior baseball champions hail from Puerto Rico.

Little League Baseball opens the gates for girls June 12 when a New Jersey court finds in favor of the National Organization for Women.

Bob Aspromonte -- who as a Houston Colt .45s player had hit a home run for an Arkansas boy in a local hospital 12 years before -- is blinded by acid from a car battery. He gets a call from that Arkansan (who in 1962 had been blinded by lightning) and eye surgery from the same doctor who had brought back the boy's eyesight.

Dizzy Dean dies July 17. Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times leads with this line: "Well, we're all 120 years older today." The St. Louis Cardinals retire the uniform number 17 in Dean's honor Sept. 22.

Soon after Hall of Famer Sam Rice's death Oct. 13, the contents of a letter about whether the former Washington Senators outfielder had in fact made a certain catch in the 1925 World Series are disclosed.

Reportedly inspired by the WFL, Sean Morton Downey Jr. (yes, that Morton Downey Jr.) is one of the founders of a phantom league called the World Baseball Association. Three-ball walks, the awarding of two runs for late-inning steals of home, and the use of not one but five designated hitters are ideas for this concept for a 32-team operation in the Americas and Asia.

In Peanuts strips for late September, Linus Van Pelt, in his role as statistician, reveals that manager-pitcher Charlie Brown's ERA is around 80.00 and that Lucy Van Pelt has no putouts or assists this season.

Wohlhuter, Vasquez, and Petty. Run, ride, and rev it up. We take it to the track May 3.

Sports74 Gold: National League

This time around, it's the league without the DH. The senior circuit had its own share of heroes and zeroes who played on more artificial fields than their American League counterparts.

To some of this data, the following applies: 

The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at "www.retrosheet.org".

Most of the public was certain that at least one major moment in sport would happen this year. Hank Aaron hits his 715th home run April 8, breaking Babe Ruth's long-standing record. He had finished 1973 one short of 714 but ties the record in his first at-bat of the season in Cincinnati April 4. The big one comes at the Atlanta Braves' first home game of the season. The Braves wanted him to skip that road series, but no way, says Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. Aaron hits 20 homers this season, including one on his last at-bat with the Braves Oct. 2. This is also his twentieth consecutive season with 20 or more. It has to be mentioned: the pitcher of number 715 was Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Aaron also sets a new N.L. record for runs that big night of April 8, scoring his 2,063rd as he crosses the plate on that fourth-inning shot. Another N.L. mark he sets April 28 with his 15th grand slam. On a day in the Hammer's honor, Aaron matches Ty Cobb's standard for games played, taking the field for his 3034th game July 26.

The N.L. continues its All-Star Game dominance July 23 in Pittsburgh with a 7-2 win.

The Pittsburgh Pirates win the N.L. East title with a come-from-behind victory over the Chicago Cubs Oct. 2, which puts them 1 1/2 games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Pirates are the second team to win its division after being 12 games or more under .500 sometime in the season; last year's New York Mets were the first.

All four divisions have tight races; in the West, the Dodgers finish just four games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds.

Manager Walter Alston wins his seventh and last pennant in 20 years as the Dodgers beat the Pirates 3-1 in the National League Championship Series.

With 36 round-trippers, Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies leads the National League in home runs for the first of eight times. Schmidt also has 118 RBI and bats .282. He makes his All-Star Game debut by entering as a pinch hitter, walking in his first plate appearance, staying in as third baseman, and scoring a run after being walked again.

On June 10, during a game against the Houston Astros, Schmidt hits a ball in such a way that it would have gone on to be a homer in any park other than the Astrodome; it goes down off a speaker for a single.

Lou Brock of the Cardinals steals a record 118 bases in his last season leading the league in swiped bags. He has won the title eight times in nine years. He reaches 700 for his career June 29 and ends up with 753 at year's end. Over the course of the season, he passes Honus Wagner, Max Carey, and Eddie Collins. Only Cobb has more career stolen bases (no, Billy Hamilton doesn't count). The Sporting News names Brock Sportsman of the Year despite most other such awards going to Muhammad Ali.

Fellow Cardinal Bob Gibson gets his 3000th strikeout July 17, becoming the first pitcher since Walter Johnson to reach that number. For less than five years will he be the only one in the Big Train's company.

Another Cardinal, Bake McBride, is the Rookie of the Year. He steals 30 bases, finishing second to Brock on the team.

Gold Glove winner Steve Garvey of the Dodgers is the MVP of the season. He's also the All-Star Game MVP, going 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI.

Aaron may get the headlines, but his teammate Ralph Garr leads the N.L. in batting average with .353, and Bruce Capra, another Brave, has a league-best ERA of 2.28.

Saves leader Mike Marshall of the Dodgers wins the N.L.'s Cy Young Award, and he appears in a record 106 games.

There are many 20-game winners in the American League, but the National League has only two: Phil Niekro of the Braves and Andy Messersmith of the Dodgers. The former leads the senior circuit in innings pitched, and the latter becomes the 14th to have a 20-win season in each of the two leagues.

Johnny Bench of the Reds hits 33 home runs to bring his total to 212. His league-leading 129 RBI make his career total 745. The catcher also wins the seventh of his ten Gold Gloves.

Ray Kroc buys the San Diego Padres. In 1973, the league had rejected two different sales, one that might have resulted in relocation to Washington and one that involved Burt Bacharach being in the Padres' ownership group.

The Padres' selection as the first choice in the Amateur Draft, Bill Almon of Brown University, is the first and only Ivy League man to be an overall No. 1 pick.

This is a good year to start an MLB career on a high note. Benny Ayala of the Mets hits a home run in his first big-league at-bat Aug. 27, and John Montefusco of the San Francisco Giants does the same seven days later.

Al Oliver of the Pirates hits in 23 straight games June 25 to July 28, then 21 in succession Aug. 4 to Aug. 28. Teammate Richie Zisk also has a 20-game hit streak Aug. 6-28, and he hits for the cycle June 9. On the same day as Oliver's second streak begins, the Phillies' Willie Montanez fails to get a hit for the first time in 24 games.

Three-homer games are achieved by George Mitterwald of the Cubs April 17, Jim Wynn of the Dodgers May 11, and Davey Lopes of the Dodgers Aug. 20. The latter follows his Wrigley Field feat four days later by stealing five bases against the Cardinals at home.

The only player to score five runs in a game this season is Bill Madlock of the Cubs, who gets two hits in three at-bats April 17, reaching on error in the other and walking twice. Madlock's opponents in that high-scoring Wrigley Field game? The Pirates.

Having been drafted by the Padres, been brought straight to the major-league club, and been passed over for Rookie of the Year honors in '73, Dave Winfield plays his first full season with San Diego, hitting 20 homers and stealing 9 bases.

Pete Rose of the Reds scores a league-best 110 runs and sets a single-season record for plate appearances with 771. He also does not miss a game this year and will not for the next three.

Miked up for a TV broadcast June 1, Tommy Lasorda calls a home run hit by his Dodgers' Ron Cey from his third-base coach's box.

Former Padres manager Preston Gomez gets the keys to the Astros' dugout from Leo Durocher sometime before the season, having been a coach in '73 and gone 16-5 as pilot. He'll be in Houston's skipper role for 289 games.

Besides Juan Marichal, bought by the A.L.'s Boston Red Sox in December of '73, another Giants legend is on a different team starting this season: Willie McCovey had been traded to the Padres Nov. 25, 1973.

After the season, the Mets' Tug McGraw goes to the Phillies in a six-player December trade.

Atlanta's WSB radio wins a Peabody Award for this year's "Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream."

With increased attendance, the N.L. does its part to bring the major-league figure close to reaching 30 million as it had in '73, but thanks to a larger A.L. decrease, it misses by 6,039.

The Pirates' Mario Mendoza, in his first season, bats .221, but that's in 163 at-bats. It is years before he establishes the Mendoza Line.

As the Padres open their season April 9, Ray Kroc tells anyone who will listen the following over the P.A. system: "Ladies and gentlemen, I suffer with you." He Later on, he continues, "I've never seen such stupid baseball playing in my life." In between those comments, he addresses a situation on the field thusly: "Get that streaker out of here!"

C. Arnholt Smith ran an operation worthy of Kroc's scorn. It even included personality tests that had too much bearing on which players made the team. Under Smith, John McNamara started as Padres manager, but after a few years he proved not to be a big enough Mac for Kroc.

Cutoff throws from the outfield are a problem for the Padres. During a San Diego game April 30, Winfield throws the ball from center toward home. Derrel Thomas, playing second, decides he'll get out of the way but does not in fact get out of the way, try as he might. The ball hits him in the rear. After the game, in which the Padres beat the Montreal Expos 2-1, Winfield tells the press: "I finally hit the cutoff man."

One home game against the Astros is "Short Order Cooks Night" at the Padres' ballpark. The visitors' Doug Rader -- having said Kroc was grilling his team as if he were "dealing with a bunch of short-order cooks," which incensed actual short-order cooks -- brings the lineup card to the umpire in his capacity as captain and while wearing a chef's hat and apron. He serves it up on a skillet. No more hard feelings from the cooks in attendance.

During spring training in Arizona, Jose Cardenal, who mainly plays right field for the Cubs, is reportedly deprived of sleep after trying to catch a cricket in his room, and he drops out of the day's preseason game.

At the commencement of a Pirates home game May 1, Dock Ellis hits Rose, Joe Morgan, and Dan Driessen. He walks Tony Perez for the Reds' first run and is not allowed to finish pitching to Bench.

May 12 at Riverfront Stadium is a day the Astros' Bob Watson gets a treatment to remember, with an entry in the inaugural Baseball Hall of SHAME book coming in 11 years. Watson falls after colliding with the wall in left field, and some fans drop "beer, ice and other debris" on him. He doesn't move because he's concerned about glass in his right eye. The spectators' words hurt while teammate Cesar Cedeno helps Watson. The left fielder goes to the same hospital where three of the Cincinnati cranks are getting stitches, "apparently from beating their heads on the cops' [security guards] nightsticks."

Cesar Geronimo of the Reds is on the receiving end of Gibson's 3000th strikeout July 17. Almost six years later, another will join the club at his expense, that being Nolan Ryan (who will have joined the Astros).

Twenty-five innings come and go Sept. 11-12, in a game that takes until 3:15 in the morning to play. In that last inning, by which time easily more than 90 percent of the Wednesday crowd has gone to bed, Mets pitcher Hank Webb attempts a pickoff, but the throw is way off. McBride touches second and third with the ball still live (it's not a balk because of what Retrosheet will call "a recent rule change") and scores thanks to another error by catcher Ron Hodges. The Cardinals retire the Mets in order and win 4-3.

During practice one day, veteran Pirates left fielder Willie Stargell tells Miguel Dilone, a 19-year-old outfielder, that he'll race him from first base to second for $100. The fast runner shows what he can do, but the slow runner says he wants his cash. Stargell, something of a trickster, points out that he didn't use language suggesting Dilone would be paid for winning.

Next: future stars on the farm and an incredible-but-true story coming full circle. Extra innings start April 12.

[EDIT 3/27/2024 10:19 p.m. EDT: Adjusted font size.]

[EDIT 5/24/2024 7:36 a.m. EDT: Corrected a mistake in the attendance item.]

Did I Drop the Ball on the Hammer?

Every year I get my baseball annuals from the nearest bookstore, and the March/April issue of Baseball Digest is in this year's haul. Page 64 of that magazine tells me I might have erred greatly in relating a huge sports story for 1974. Here's what I wrote.

He [Hank Aaron] had finished 1973 one short of 714 [home runs], but ties the record in his first at-bat of the season in Cincinnati April 4...Commissioner Bowie Kuhn wanted him to skip that road series, but no way.

In this account ("The Game I'll Never Forget" by Hank Aaron as told to Bruce Levine and Joel Bierig), it is the Atlanta Braves' owner, Bill Bartholomay, who suggested that Aaron not play the two games following the first. But then, says the article:

...Commissioner Bowie Kuhn intervened. Barring tangible injury to Aaron, Kuhn ruled the Braves would face serious consequences if he didn't play in two of the season's first three contests.

Along with the first game, Aaron played the third game of that series. Two weeks from today marks the forty-fifth anniversary of the night he made history with his 715th home run.

In doing my research for the Muhammad Ali tribute, I'd been given a little doubt about the usual story of his "rope a dope," but I didn't change my post. In this case, however, I've probably been misled into posting the opposite of what really happened. Kuhn, in fact, urged the Braves to have the Hammer play ball when they didn't want to risk the milestone happening on the road. I will correct the baseball post now.

Yogi Berra, 1925-2015

Yogi Berra, baseball great, died two weeks ago Tuesday.

He managed the NL All-Stars in 1974, being the manager of the senior circuit's reigning champs, the New York Mets. He got to be in the same dugout as Johnny Bench, a man with whom he's associated because there might be some debate over which one was the best catcher of all time. Also in that dugout was Hank Aaron, whose Braves were the Mets' opponents in Berra's final game as a player and the Yankees' opponents in two World Series. Another one of his former opponents calling him skipper for the day was Pete Rose, not far away from the action when Yogi pinch-hit against the Reds in '65. Aaron and Rose were the first position players on the NL side to be subbed.

Berra's five pitchers in that game were new to being All-Stars. In fact, seven of the eight pitchers were first-timers. The one who wasn't, Steve Carlton, didn't even take the mound that night. Berra gave the Pirates' Ken Brett his only Midsummer Classic moment in the sun in the fourth inning, and even though Brett didn't strike anyone out, he was good in those two frames, allowing just one hit. Brett ended up being the winning pitcher as he and four others held Reggie Jackson hitless and kept Bert Campaneris and Brooks Robinson from getting on base. Reportedly, Berra said of the 7-2 win, "We had the better team."

Baseball: The 1974 Season

[EDIT 6/22/2015: Making apostrophes better]
[EDIT 6/12/2018: Changing how a fraction is expressed to avoid garble]
[EDIT 3/25/2019: Correcting a mistake in the Hank Aaron item]

[EDIT 2/4/2023 9:46 a.m.: Finally got around to that Portland Mavericks mistake]

[EDIT 6/20/2023 7:08 p.m.: Realized I had the wrong Washington the whole time; it's Herb, not Ron]

Okay, now we're getting into a sport that's in my wheelhouse, which means that I'll have much more content for this sport than for the others. I was going to post this in April, but I moved it to March so there'd be more time to celebrate the first item on this list. Enjoy.

Most people were certain that at least one major moment in sport would happen this year. Hank Aaron hits his 715th home run April 8, breaking Babe Ruth's long-standing record. He had finished 1973 one short of 714, but ties the record in his first at-bat of the season in Cincinnati April 4. The big one comes at the Atlanta Braves' first home game of the season. The Braves wanted him to skip that road series, but no way, says Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. Aaron hits 20 homers this season, including one on his last at-bat with the Braves Oct. 2. This is also his twentieth consecutive season with 20 or more. And it has to be mentioned: the pitcher of number 715 was Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Oakland A's win their third World Series championship in a row, despite their lack of .300 hitters and the resignation of manager Dick Williams. The Dodgers are on the losing side of this series, winning one game; the '72 Mets and '73 Reds each won three games against the A's. Rollie Fingers is the MVP of this Fall Classic.

Nolan Ryan pitches his third no-hitter Sept. 28; it is a 4-0 victory against the Minnesota Twins at Anaheim Stadium. Ryan's 367 strikeouts are his second-best mark for a season; he had a record 383 the year before. He now has 1,572 career K's, including 1,079 in three years with the California Angels. Ryan also allows 202 walks this season, so far second only to Bob Feller's 208 in 1938. He breaks one of Feller's records when his fastball is clocked on the radar at 100.9 miles per hour.

In other no-hitters of '74, Steve Busby of the Kansas City Royals blanks the hosting Milwaukee Brewers 2-0 June 19, and Dick Bosman of the Cleveland Indians manages to silence the A's 4-0 at Cleveland Stadium July 19.

The National League continues its All-Star dominance July 23 in Pittsburgh with a 7-2 win.

Yankee Stadium is under construction, so the New York Yankees play this season and the next at Shea Stadium.

The Pittsburgh Pirates win the NL East title with a come-from-behind victory over the Chicago Cubs Oct. 2, which puts them 1 1/2 games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Pirates are the second team since 1969 to win their division after being 12 games or more under .500 sometime in the season; last year's Mets were the first.

All four divisions have tight races; the Baltimore Orioles finish two games ahead of the Yankees in the AL East, but only after a 28-6 run to finish. The Dodgers finish four games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds, and the Texas Rangers end up just five behind the A's.

Walter Alston wins his seventh and last pennant in 20 years as the Dodgers beat the Pirates 3-1 in the NL Championship Series. The A's defeat the Orioles 3-1 to earn manager Al Dark his first and only pennant.

With 36 round-trippers, Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies leads the National League in home runs for the first of eight times. Schmidt also has 118 RBI and bats .282. He makes his All-Star Game debut by entering as a pinch hitter, walking in his first plate appearance, staying in as third baseman, and scoring a run after being walked again.

Lou Brock of the Cardinals steals a record 118 bases in his last season leading the NL in swiped bags. He has won the title eight times in nine years. He reaches 700 for his career on June 29 and ends up with 753. Over the course of the season, he passes Honus Wagner, Max Carey, and Eddie Collins, and only Ty Cobb has more career stolen bases (no, Billy Hamilton doesn't count). The Sporting News names Brock Sportsman of the Year, despite most other such awards going to Muhammad Ali.

Rod Carew of the Twins is the American League batting champion with a .364 average.

Gold Glove winner Steve Garvey of the Dodgers and AL RBI leader Jeff Burroughs of the Rangers (with 118) are the MVPs of their respective leagues. Garvey is also the All-Star Game MVP, going 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI.

The Rookies of the Year are Bake McBride of the Cardinals and Mike Hargrove of the Rangers.

Dick Allen of the Chicago White Sox, despite leading the league with 32 home runs, "retires." He will be back next season, going from the Sox to the Braves Dec. 3.

The infamous 10-Cent Beer Night promotion June 4 in Cleveland results in fans going onto the field, throwing things, streaking, and assaulting the visiting Rangers. The potential winning run for the Indians is on base when umpire Nestor Chylak declares the Rangers winners by forfeit. This is one of four games to be forfeited in the '70s.

Aaron may get the headlines, but his teammate Ralph Garr leads the NL in batting average with .353, and Bruce Capra, another Brave, has a league-best ERA of 2.28.

NL saves leader Mike Marshall of the Dodgers wins the NL Cy Young Award, and he appears in a record 106 games.

Oakland's Catfish Hunter wins the Cy Young for the AL; he has the best ERA in the league with 2.49, and his record is 25-12.

Johnny Bench of the Reds hits 33 home runs to bring his total to 212. His league-leading 129 RBI bring his career total to 745. Bench also wins the seventh of his ten Gold Gloves.

On Sept. 25, Yankees pitcher Tommy John gets the unprecedented tendon transplant surgery that now bears his name. 

Herb Washington, "designated runner," steals 29 bases in 92 games for the A's. Another Oakland player, Bill North, leads the AL in stolen bases with 54.

Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, and "Cool Papa" Bell are among the newest members of the Hall of Fame.

Ray Kroc buys the San Diego Padres and prevents them from possibly moving to Washington.

The Padres' selection as the #1 pick in the Amateur Draft, Bill Almon of Brown University, is the only Ivy League man to be a #1 pick in MLB, and will be for at least 40 years.

This is a good year to start an MLB career on a high note. Benny Ayala of the New York Mets (August 27), Reggie Sanders of the Detroit Tigers (Sept. 1), and John Montefusco of the San Francisco Giants (Sept. 3) all hit home runs in their respective first at-bats in the big leagues.

On June 10, Schmidt hits a ball that would have gone on to be a homer in any park other than the Astrodome; it hits a speaker for a single.

Bill Virdon is the new manager of the Yankees after Ralph Houk's resignation following the previous season. This is the first of many manager changes under George Steinbrenner. In his second year as the team's owner, Steinbrenner is suspended after the '74 season, having pleaded guilty for his illegal contributions to Richard Nixon's '72 campaign.

Having been drafted by the Padres, brought straight to the major league club, and not won Rookie of the Year honors last year, Dave Winfield plays his first full season with the Padres, hits 20 home runs, and steals 9 bases.

George Brett plays his rookie season with the Royals, and Robin Yount plays his with the Brewers.

Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox has a batting average of .301, and this is his last time batting .300 or better. He also hits his 300th home run and finishes the season with 303. Yaz is the AL leader in runs scored with 93.

Al Kaline of the Tigers plays his final season, and he finishes his career with 3007 hits and 399 home runs.

Kaline gets his 3000th hit Sept. 24, and Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson gets his 3000th strikeout July 17.

Harmon Killebrew plays with the Twins one more year before spending the last season of his career with the Royals. His 13 homers in '74 bring his all-time total to 559, making him the fifth player to get to 550.

The fourth, Frank Robinson, is traded from the Angels to the Indians Sept. 12. On Oct. 3, Robinson signs a contract to manage the team in '75. It is a historic first that makes him a future Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.

Brooks Robinson of the Orioles wins the 15th in his string of 16 Gold Gloves.

Pete Rose of the Reds scores a league-best 110 runs.

After the season, Aaron goes to Tokyo for a home-run contest against Sadaharu Oh, the Yomiuri Giants player who will reach one more than Aaron's eventual career mark in '77. Oh hits 9 home runs in 20 tries, and Aaron goes 10 for 18. While he is abroad, the Braves carry out Aaron's plans to go back to Milwaukee and be a designated hitter for the Brewers next season.

Lee MacPhail begins his ten-year service as AL President.

The first salary arbitration meetings are held Feb. 11. As a result, Dave Woodson gets $29,000 in salary like he wanted and not just the $23,000 the Twins offered.

An arbitration meeting Dec. 13 grants Hunter free agency, and the Yankees sign him for $750,000 a year on New Year's Eve. Up to that point, the Mets' Tom Seaver has the biggest contract, signed Feb. 21 at $172,000 per year (some sources say $172,500).

The Yankees retire the number 16 in honor of Whitey Ford August 3.

Topps issues its first "factory set" of 660 baseball cards instead of releasing the set in installments like they did before. This is also the first year of the Topps Traded series, one of whose cards brings the news that Juan Marichal of the Giants was bought Dec. 7, 1973, by the Red Sox. Marichal is released Oct. 24, but will be picked up by the Dodgers in '75 for his final season.

Another Giants legend is on a different team starting this season: Willie McCovey had been traded to the Padres Nov. 25, 1973.

Managers with new teams in '74: Houk is with the Tigers and Dick Williams, manager of the A's in '72 and '73, now manages the Angels. Preston Gomez gets the keys to the Houston Astros from Leo Durocher sometime before the season.

The Indians' red jerseys make their debut. By '78, the team will decide it's time for a new look.

The Tigers announce that they refuse to move to Pontiac, whose Silverdome is under construction and will be finished for the Lions in 1975. Tigers owner John Fetzer says the team "belongs to the inner city of Detroit."

Atlanta's WSB radio wins a Peabody Award for this year's "Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream."

The first woman to coach in organized baseball is Lanny Moss of the Northwest League's unaffiliated Portland Mavericks.

USC wins the College World Series for the fifth time in a row, defeating the U. of Miami 7-3 in the championship game.

A team from Kaohsiung, with a 12-1 win over Red Bluff, California, in the final, wins the fourth Little League World Series for Chinese Taipei in a row and the fifth overall. There will be no foreign teams at next year's tournament.

Little League Baseball opens the gates for girls June 12 when a New Jersey court finds in favor of the National Organization for Women.

Wagner would have been 100 years old February 24.

Dizzy Dean dies July 17. Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times leads with this line: "Well, we're all 120 years older today." The Cardinals retire the number 17 in Dean's honor Sept. 22.

In Peanuts strips for late September, Linus Van Pelt, in his role as statistician, reveals that Charlie Brown's ERA is around 80.00 and that Lucy Van Pelt has no putouts or assists this season.

LINKS
For general information about baseball in '74, start here at baseball-reference.com
No. 715 in 1999, according to Sports Illustrated
The details of 10-Cent Beer Night, from ESPN.com's Page 2
The '74 World Series, according to MLB.com
Brock's stolen bases record, from a contemporary Sports Illustrated article
More on Steinbrenner's career from NorthJersey.com
Future Hall of Famer Eddie Murray in the minor leagues
The first Topps Traded set according to Cardboard Connection

NEXT TIME: Golf, horse racing, and auto racing