[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
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
