Sports74 Gold: Boxing, Tennis, and Golf

Three more sports have legends to be made and stories to be told.

BOXING

Muhammad Ali (216 1/2 pounds, 32 years old) is once again world heavyweight champion after knocking out George Foreman (220 pounds, 26 years old) in the eighth round at Kinshasa, Zaire, in the early morning local time Oct. 30. Ali, a 4-to-1 underdog, uses the "rope-a-dope" strategy, wherein he lies on the ropes and takes blows, bringing Foreman to keep punching and get tired. He wins the championship and $5 million. The "Rumble in the Jungle" is Don King's first big promotion, and it's the Fight of the Year as selected by The Ring magazine, which names Ali Fighter of the Year.

Before all that, Foreman (224 3/4 pounds, 25 years old) defends his title March 26 at Caracas, Venezuela, with a two-round TKO against Ken Norton (212 1/4 pounds, 30 years old).

Ali's second match against Joe Frazier, Jan. 28 in New York, ends in 12 rounds with Ali winning by unanimous decision.

The AP and UPI both name Ali Male Athlete of the Year. Sports Illustrated names him Sportsman of the Year, and he also wins the Hickok Belt (a pro sports award given annually from 1950 to 1976). The Sporting News, however, chooses baseball stolen bases king Lou Brock.

Roberto Duran is in the process of setting a lightweight title defenses record. Among his 12 from 1972 to 1979 are an eleventh-round knockout delivered to Esteban de Jesus March 16 and a first-round kayo on Masataka Takayama Dec. 21.

Carlos Monzon is in the middle of a record-setting run of 14 title defenses as a middleweight (1970-1977) as he defeats welterweight champion Jose Napoles in the sixth round Feb. 9 and knocks out Tony Mundine in the seventh round Oct. 4. Monzon's wife had shot him in '73.

The middleweight title is actually disputed; Monzon is recognized by the WBA, Rodrigo Valdez by the WBC. Also disputed is Duran's lightweight title; Guts Ishimatsu is the WBC's lightweight champ after an April 11 victory over Rodolfo Gonzalez.

Besides Ali and Napoles (who has held his title since 1971), junior middleweight champion Oscar Albarado is the only undisputed titleholder at the end of the year, having gained both belts from Koichi Wajima in a June 4 bout.

Among bantamweights, Soo-hwan Hong defeats Arnold Taylor for the WBA title in a July 3 fight, the win being the result of a unanimous decision after 15 rounds. Hong defends that championship Dec. 28 against Fernando Cabanela and wins by a split decision (the Japanese and Korean judges rule in his favor, the Philippine judge in Cabanela's).

The WBA featherweight title changes hands several times. Ernesto Marcel retires after he wins his Feb. 16 fight in a unanimous decision over Alexis Arguello. Ruben Olivares knocks out Zensuke Utagawa for the belt July 9 but goes down for the count against Arguello Nov. 23. This is the first of three weight classes in which Arguello will be a champion.

In amateur boxing, Leon Spinks wins the AAU championship in the 178-pound class, and his brother, Michael Spinks, wins the Golden Gloves in the 156-pound class. Ray Leonard is the AAU and Golden Gloves winner in the 139.

TENNIS

The best of the men is Jimmy Connors, who has won three of the four majors. This is one of ten times so far that one man has won three or more Grand Slam singles titles. As a participant in the 16-team league known as World Team Tennis, Connors is locked out of the French Open and other tournaments on the European continent.

The French Open champion is 18-year-old Bjorn Borg, with his first of six titles at Roland Garros and his first of eleven Grand Slam titles.

Chris Evert wins the French Open and the title at Wimbledon, and these are the first of what will be 18 Grand Slam singles titles. At one point winning 56 consecutive matches and setting a record that will stand for a decade, Evert is the AP Female Athlete of the Year.

Evonne Goolagong wins the Australian Open, while Billie Jean King, with a narrow victory over Goolagong, adds a fourth U.S. Open title.

Connors and Evert winning their respective titles at Wimbledon is noteworthy because the two are engaged at the time, although the planned November wedding does not come to fruition.

Connors is the annual men's No. 1 for the first of five times. His first time as the weekly No. 1 is July 29, and he will stay there for 160 weeks straight. The last time Ilie Nastase is in the top spot is the week of June 2 (40 weeks total), while John Newcombe's eight-week reign starts June 9 and ends when Connors takes over.

In the women's rankings, King is the women's No. 1 for the last of five times.

The power couple sits atop the money leaderboard. At the end of the year, Connors just beats out Guillermo Vilas and Newcombe with $281,309. Evert sets a record by winning $261,460.

India refuses to play South Africa at the Davis Cup final. The international team trophy is ultimately won by default.

Australia wins the Federation Cup, the women's equivalent of the Davis Cup, by defeating the United States in the final.

Vilas defeats Nastase at the final of the Tennis Masters Cup. Goolagong beats Evert at the WTA Championship.

Newcombe now has three singles titles and six doubles titles at Wimbledon. The doubles championship with Tony Roche this year is the fifth and last for the pair. By 1976, Newcombe and Roche will have a record 16 titles in Grand Slam doubles competition.

Goolagong and Peggy Michel win women's doubles in Australia and England, Evert and Olga Morozova in France, King and Rosemary Casals in the U.S.

While Evert's star is rising, another star is born. Martina Navratilova wins her first singles title in Orlando, and she also gets her first taste of Grand Slam glory in French Open mixed doubles, which she and Ivan Molina of Colombia win.

At the Italian Open, Borg wins the men's singles competition, while Evert defeats Navratilova in the women's singles final.

In World Team Tennis, the championship goes to the Denver Racquets, who win the final over the Philadelphia Freedoms. The season MVP is Philadelphia's King, winner of four Virginia Slims events over the year. The playoff MVP is Denver's Andrew Pattison, who in 1974 wins International Championship Tennis events in Monte Carlo and Johannesburg.

The collegiate champion team is Stanford, whose own John Whitlinger is the individual champ.

This is the U.S. Open's last year on grass; there will be clay at Forest Hills in '75 and a hard court at Flushing Meadows in '78.

GOLF

For one year, Johnny Miller, who wins the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, is the top golfer in America instead of Jack Nicklaus. He is the money leader with over $350,000, interrupting what would have been a six-year streak for Nicklaus. Miller also interrupts what would have been a five-year streak of PGA Tour Player of the Year awards for Nicklaus.

Miller's victories include the Crosby at Pebble Beach, the Heritage Classic at Harbour Town, the Westchester Classic at Westchester C.C., and the World Open at Pinehurst.

Gary Player wins the Masters (which he had also won in 1961) and the Open Championship, the latter at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.

Hale Irwin wins the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. This is his first major victory.

Lee Trevino wins the PGA Championship at Tanglewood. He also finishes the season with his fourth and last Vardon Trophy for best scoring average.

Nicklaus finishes one stroke behind Trevino at the PGA Championship, an event the Golden Bear had won in '73. Although he doesn't win a major, he has a busy year. Nicklaus finishes first at the Hawaiian Open, wins the inaugural Tournament Players Championship, is in the first class for the World Golf Hall of Fame, gets Golf My Way published, and opens Muirfield Village Golf Club.

Sam Snead, 61, takes third place at the PGA Championship.

Bobby Nichols wins the Canadian Open.

Peter Oosterhuis, who finishes second to Player by four strokes at the Open, is the money leader on the European Tour, with the French Open and Italian Open as two of his wins. However, his loss in a playoff at Pensacola Country Club makes a major headline.

By winning the Monsanto Open at Pensacola, Lee Elder becomes the first African-American to gain automatic invitation to the Masters.

Deane Beman is the first PGA Tour commissioner.

Jerry Pate wins the U.S. Amateur. He will finish at the top of the leaderboard when the '76 U.S. Open is held.

Future professional Curtis Strange of Wake Forest wins the NCAA individual title and the Western Amateur.

Trevor Homer wins the Amateur Championship of the U.K. for the second time in three years.

JoAnne Carner is the LPGA Tour money leader with a record total of $87,094 and the winner of the Vare Trophy (female counterpart to the Vardon Trophy). Sandra Haynie, however, wins the U.S. Women's Open and the LPGA Championship. After a playoff with Haynie and Jane Blalock, it is Jo Ann Prentice who wins the Dinah Shore tournament.

In women's amateur golf, Cynthia Hill is the U.S. champion, and the American team defends the Curtis Cup by defeating the British team 13-5.

Nancy Lopez wins the U.S. Girls' Junior Amateur tournament.

The PGA Hall of Fame (whose last new inductees will be honored in 1982) adds to its ranks Julius Boros and Cary Middlecoff.

On Sept. 25 at the U.S. National Seniors Open Championship in Las Vegas, 64-year-old Mike Austin sets a record by driving a ball 515 yards. The 35-mph tailwind helps.

These are all good sports, but for some around the world, there's only one true sport. A wide variety of soccer stuff, starting with the biggest event of all, is the subject of the next installment, coming June 14.

[EDITS 7:07-7:22 a.m. EDT: A few edits so fewer last words are dangling on their own lines on mobile view.]

Sports74 Gold: Racing

By foot, by horse, and by car, the pursuit of "faster" is the topic this time around. Well, except for a few events that involve "higher" and "stronger."

TRACK AND FIELD

At the Bislett Games in Oslo, Rick Wohlhuter runs 1000 meters in 2 minutes and 13.9 seconds, a world record for now and what will prove to be an enduring U.S. record for this event that isn't run often. He also sets a world record for 880 yards. Wohlhuter wins the James E. Sullivan Memorial Award for best amateur athlete.

Wohlhuter's accolades also include wins in the 800 meters at the Russian-American outdoor meet in Durham, N.C., and at the AAU outdoor championships; in the half mile at the Millrose Games in New York; in the 1000 yards at the AAU indoor championships and at the Maple Leaf Indoor Games in Toronto; and in the mile at the U.S. Track and Field Federation outdoor championships.

Jim Bolding should not be ignored. He runs the 440-yard hurdles in a record 48.7 seconds.

Brendon Foster of Great Britain also makes the record books with a time of 7 minutes 35.2 seconds in the 3000 meters.

In Knoxville, Ivory Crockett sets a world record in the hundred-yard dash May 11 with an even nine seconds. In New York on Feb. 22, he finishes third in the sixty-yard dash at the AAU indoor championships.

The winner of the AAU indoor 60 is future Oakland A's "baseball player" Herb Washington, who also wins at the Maple Leaf Indoor Games. Washington runs the fifty-yard dash in 5.1 seconds to take first place at the Millrose Games.

At the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand, Filbert Bayi of Tanzania sets a new 1500 meters mark of 3 minutes 32.2 seconds.

After winning the steeplechase and 5000 meters at Christchurch, Kenya's Ben Jipcho turns professional and becomes the year's money leader in pro track.

Among the track and field stars of the '70s having good years athletics-wise is Dwight Stones, AAU outdoor high jump winner and world record holder starting in '73.

Neil Cusack of Ireland wins the Boston Marathon with a time of 2 hours 13 minutes 39 seconds. Miki Gorman is the third women's champion with the first time under three hours for a woman, 2 hours 47 minutes 11 seconds.

In walking, West German Gerhard Weidner sets a record for 20 miles, ambling that distance in 2 hours 20 minutes 38.6 seconds. His countryman Bernd Kannenberg establishes new marks for two hours (16 miles 1270 yards) and for 30 kilometers (2:12:58.0). These standards join Weidner's best times the previous year for 30 miles and for 50 kilometers.

East German Reinhard Theimer throws a hammer 251 feet 3 inches on July 4, beating the world record -- held by West German Walter Schmidt since 1971 -- by 8 inches. Soviet Aleksey Spiridonov breaks this new record Sept. 11 by 2 1/4 inches.

Tony Waldrop of UNC runs a world indoor record mile in 3 minutes 55 seconds, one of seven indoor mile runs under four minutes for him. He ties for the seventh-fastest mile in history outdoors by finishing in 3:53.2, and another time he barely beats four minutes. In his next outdoor race, Waldrop is denied his tenth consecutive performance of the sort.

An American indoor shot-put record that endures into the mid-'80s is that of George Woods, whose distance is 72 feet 2 3/4 inches at Inglewood on Feb. 8. This year Woods wins the shot put at the San Francisco Examiner Games and at the Millrose Games.

As coach of the U.S. Olympic track team, Leroy Walker of North Carolina Central stands alongside baseball's Frank Robinson in the category of upcoming firsts.

The Track and Field Hall of Fame is founded. Its first class includes Babe Didrikson, Ray Ewry, Rafer Johnson, Bob Mathias, Al Oerter, Jesse Owens, and Wilma Rudolph.

Polish track star Irena Szewinska sets a women's world record June 13 at Potsdam, East Germany, by running 200 meters in 22 seconds. Nine days later in Warsaw, she also becomes a women's record holder in the 400 meters with a time of 49.9 seconds. UPI institutes Athlete of the Year awards, and Szewinska is the women's winner.

At the AAU indoor championships, last year's long jump champion, Randy Williams, sprains his ankle in the ill-kept pit. Carmen Brown, out in front in the women's sprint medley, trips over a crossbar from the pole vault. A different vaulting attempt is ruined when a starter's pistol is fired not far away.

HORSE RACING

After finishing fifth at the Kentucky Derby, Little Current, with Jacinto Vasquez as jockey, wins the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. The horse is soon retired after an injury.

Cannonade, with Miguel Rivera as jockey, wins the Derby, which has an all-time record crowd of 163,628 and an all-time high field of 23 horses the year after Secretariat's historic run. Cannonade shows at the other two Triple Crown races.

The money leader among horses is a three-year-old filly named Chris Evert. Unlike her tennis-playing namesake, she doesn't win any major events. She does win five out of her eight races, and she easily defeats Miss Musket in a match race at Hollywood Park.

Although Laffit Pincay Jr. rides neither of the Triple Crown winners, he is the money leader for a fifth consecutive year and the Eclipse Award winner for Jockey of the Year. Although Pancho Martin trains neither of the Triple Crown winners, he is the money leader among trainers.

In the Eclipse Awards, the Horse of the Year for the first of three times is a four-year-old named Forego, who is also the Best Sprinter. The Two-year-old Male of the Year is the undefeated Foolish Pleasure, who will win the '75 Kentucky Derby. The top two-year-old filly, despite a broken leg in September, is Ruffian. Little Current and Chris Evert win their respective awards for three-year-olds.

Dahlia is not one to overlook. The Man o' War Stakes race at Belmont Park (which she wins) represents $71,700 of the French four-year-old filly's career winnings, a total in excess of $1.2 million. Five years before there is an award for best turf female, she wins the Eclipse for best turf horse.

At Delaware Park on July 28, the ten horses Charles Lamb of the Baltimore News-American had predicted to be the winners all finish first.

At Gulfstream on Feb. 26, El Macho runs the shortest distance, three furlongs, in the fastest time to date, 32 1/5 seconds.

On the Atlantic City Race Track on Aug. 26, Basic Witness, a favorite at the Longport Handicap, gets his tail stuck in the back of the starting gate. Those who bet on him get their money back.

Having been afraid of horses in the past, Chris McCarron begins his horse racing career Jan. 24. He has enough wins by Dec. 7 to break a record of 515 wins by a jockey in a year, set in '73 by Sandy Hawley. In the Laurel Park race that puts him over the top, he finally wins a race his brother (Gregg McCarron) is also in. The younger McCarron ends 1974 with 546 first-place finishes and wins the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey.

In foreign races for three-year-old thoroughbreds, Harry White wins his first of a record four times at the VRC Melbourne Cup and Yves Saint-Martin wins his second of four times at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

In harness racing, Billy Haughton wins the Hambletonian with Christopher T and the Little Brown Jug with Ambro Omaha. Aboard the latter horse, he also wins his fifth Messenger Stakes.

Alert Bret and Handle With Care set mile records for two-year-old pacers, the colt running the Lexington track in one minute 55 4/5 seconds and the filly in 1:54 2/5.

Herve Filion, the first of the North American harness drivers to pass the 5,000-win mark in his career, is the money leader with over $3.4 million. For the sixth time in a row, he is named U.S. Trotting Association Driver of the Year.

Delmonica Hanover is the repeat winner of the Roosevelt International at Westbury, N.Y. (a richer race than the Hambletonian). She is the second mare to be named U.S. Trotting Association Horse of the Year. The trotter is also the money leader with over $252,000.

In quarter horse racing, two-year-old filly Easy Date wins the All-American Futurity, a 440-yard race at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico. She also wins The Kindergarten at Los Alamitos.

A horse named Gran Kan is voted steeplechase champion in the Eclipse Awards.

Secretariat, Damascus (1966 Preakness and Belmont winner), and Dark Mirage (1968 New York Filly Triple Crown winner) are the new equine members of the National Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

MOTORSPORTS

Richard Petty, driving a '74 Dodge sponsored by STP, wins the Daytona 500 for the fifth time. The race is 450 miles this year as a statement in response to the energy crisis. Petty goes on to win the Winston Cup for the fifth time as well, earning $432,019 along the way. The Talladega 500 and the Dixie 500 in Atlanta are two more of his conquests.

This year's total of 59 lead changes is a record for the Daytona 500, unbroken until 2011. In total, Petty leads 74 laps. Donnie Allison leads 41, but on Lap 190, his left front tire is damaged, and his No. 88 DiGard Racing Chevrolet finishes sixth.

Cale Yarborough wins the Southern 500 in Darlington and finishes second in the year-end standings. He and Petty each get the checkered flag for ten of the thirty Winston Cup races. Among Yarborough's victories are the Atlanta 500 and the season-opening Winston Western 500 at Riverside.

Third-place David Pearson wins both the Winston 500 (Talladega) and the World 600 (Charlotte) from the pole, and although he runs only 19 races, he finishes in the top five for 15 of them, winning seven overall. Those victories also include Charlotte's National 500 and Daytona's Firecracker 400.

The only others to see victory lane in the Winston Cup are fourth-place Bobby Allison -- who wins from the pole at the Richmond 500 and also finishes first at the Los Angeles Times 500 at Ontario -- and Canadian newcomer Earl Ross, whose victory is at Martinsville's Old Dominion 500.

Ray Elder is the champion of the NASCAR Winston West Series, being the winner at Corona, Westwood, Cajon, Ascot Park, and Altamont, with 15 more top-five finishes. Jack Ingram is, for the third time in a row, on top of the Late Model Sportsman Division.

At the Indianapolis 500, whose purse is over a million dollars, Johnny Rutherford wins, having started in the twenty-fifth position. He has three other victories this year, including the big-money Schafer 500 at Pocono.

Only thirteen of the 33 cars are still running at the end of the Indy 500, but hardly anyone is so much as injured, which is considered notable at the time. A.J. Foyt gets the pole at the big race and leads 70 laps but does not finish, while future pole-sitter Pancho Carter (who finishes 7th) is named the 500's Rookie of the Year.

Rutherford is also the top money earner in the USAC Championship Car Series, with $382,925, but his point total is second-best.

Bobby Unser, with four victories (including the lucrative California 500 at Ontario) and twelve top-five finishes in total (including second at the Indy 500), wins his second USAC national driving championship and the third for the Unser family.

Mario Andretti, three-time Champ Car Series champion in the '60s, is the USAC Dirt Champion and winner of three out of five races. He also gets three wins in the Formula 5000 series, a USAC-sanctioned road course circuit in which the Englishman Brian Redman is the champion. Andretti is running at the finish in three of his eleven Champ Car Series races, including the Phoenix 150, where he finishes third. In Formula One, he takes seventh place at the Canadian Grand Prix but is disqualified during the United States Grand Prix.

McLaren-Ford's Emerson Fittipaldi, winner of the Brazilian, Belgian, and Canadian Grand Prix races, wins his second Formula One championship. This year is his first with McLaren.

At the Spanish Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Niki Lauda gets the first of what will be 25 career Formula 1 victories.

Carlos Reutemann wins the U.S. Grand Prix Oct. 6 at Watkins Glen, where Fittipaldi clinches the world driving championship. Reutemann also wins the South African and Austrian Grand Prix races.

Ronnie Peterson wins the Monaco, French, and Italian Grands Prix.

Bob Gladden wins his first of what will be ten NHRA Pro Stock titles.

Henri Pescarolo and Gerard Larrousse, who together had won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in '73, repeat as champions by going around the track -- almost 8 1/2 miles in length -- 338 times in their Matra-Simca. The 24 Hours of Daytona event is not held for the same reason that the Daytona 500 goes through a tithe.

From the Rumble in the Jungle to the Golden Gloves, Jimmy and Chris to Martina, the Golden Bear to the ladies of the links -- three categories come together May 24.

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.]

Sports74 Gold: American League

So much has been collected about baseball that I decided to split the baseball section into three installments. This first one concerns the junior circuit.

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".

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 Los Angeles Dodgers are on the losing side of this series, winning one game; the '73 New York Mets and '72 Cincinnati 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 in a 2-0 victory June 19, and Dick Bosman of the Cleveland Indians manages to silence the A's 4-0 at Cleveland Stadium July 19.

Yankee Stadium is closed for renovations, so the New York Yankees play this season and the next at Shea Stadium.

Both divisions see some tight races. The Baltimore Orioles finish two games ahead of the Yankees in the East, but only after a 28-6 run to finish. In the West, the Texas Rangers end up just five behind the A's. Oakland defeats Baltimore three games to one in the American League Championship Series to earn manager Al Dark his first and only pennant.

The A's are not confident in Dark's abilities; he takes instructions from owner Charles O. Finley by telephone. Sal Bando says Dark "couldn't manage a meat market."

Rod Carew of the Twins is the American League batting champion with a .364 average, and this is his third in a string of four times with that distinction.

RBI leader Jeff Burroughs of the Rangers (with 118) is the junior circuit's MVP. Teammate Mike Hargrove is Rookie of the Year.

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 N.L.'s Atlanta 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 major-league games to be forfeited in the '70s.

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

Harmon Killebrew plays with the Twins for 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 will make for a historic first that makes him a future Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. "We needed somebody to wake up the city," says executive vice president Ted Broda.

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

Yankees pitcher Tommy John gets the unprecedented tendon transplant surgery that will come to bear his name Sept. 25.

Herb Washington, "designated runner," steals 29 bases in 92 games for the A's but gets picked off in Game 2 of the World Series, contributing to the team's only loss in that Fall Classic. Washington, the AAU indoor 60-meter dash champion who didn't play baseball at Michigan State, is also caught stealing twice against Baltimore in the ALCS.

Another Oakland player, Bill North, leads the junior circuit in stolen bases with 54.

Al Kaline of the Detroit Tigers plays his final season, and he finishes his career with 3007 hits (his 3000th comes Sept. 24) and 399 home runs.

Kaline is the ninth player to wind up a career of 20 years or more while never once playing with a different team.

George Brett of the Royals is starting on making that list. While Brett plays his rookie season with Kansas City, Robin Yount plays his with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Hitting a home run in his first at-bat Sept. 1 is Reggie Sanders of the Tigers, the second of three MLB players in a short span to make such a debut.

Speaking of dingers, Bobby Grich of the Orioles wallops three of them consecutively June 18.

Fergie Jenkins of the Rangers leads the major leagues in complete games with 29, which after Hunter's 30 in 1975 will be a feat unreached by any pitcher.

From April 12 to July 3, Gaylord Perry of the Indians wins 15 games in 17 starts, not being involved in the decision for two of them. He's denied a share of the A.L. record when he loses the July 8 game to the A's. Gaylord Perry fails to win again until August 15, first not being the pitcher of record in an Indians loss July 18, then losing five in a row July 26-August 9.

Perry and Jim Kaat of the White Sox each have 21 wins. Kaat will also win 20 in 1975. Perry's brother Jim, who has just returned to Cleveland, gets 17 wins.

One of Kaat's wins is June 7, when a popcorn machine fire at Comiskey Park that results in some 4,000 spectators going onto the field from the smoky stands in right is the reason for a delay of over an hour.

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 A.L. leader in runs scored with 93.

This year he has another future Hall of Fame teammate. The Red Sox bought Juan Marichal of the N.L.'s San Francisco Giants during the offseason Dec. 7, 1973. Marichal is released Oct. 24, but will be picked up by the senior circuit's Dodgers in '75 for his final season.

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.

The Rangers fall under the heady ownership of Brad Corbett and his group May 29. Their manager is Billy Martin, who in mid-July draws a fine and suspension for directing pitchers to bean the Brewers.

Oakland catcher Ray Fosse tries to break up a fight between teammates Reggie Jackson and Billy North during a June 5 game, and he winds up with a crushed disc.

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.

Home sweet home? The Angels lose 15 straight Anaheim Stadium games June 30-July 28. The second game of the twinbill at Anaheim July 28, despite pinch-hit homers from the Twins' Killebrew and Carew, is a 12-9 win for Ryan, who wins 22 games with a team that finishes last in the Western Division.

The league is in the second year of what the 1974 World Book Year Book calls a "three-year experiment" with the designated hitter.

Future Hall of Famer Lee MacPhail begins his ten-year service as A.L. president.

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

Jackson is also one of sixteen players to win arbitration hearings, and he's to be paid $135,000, not just $100,000.

An arbitration meeting in December 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 new Hall of Famer Whitey Ford Aug. 3.

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 NFL's Lions in 1975. Tigers owner John Fetzer says the team "belongs to the inner city of Detroit."

Outfielder Lou Piniella (with pitcher Ken Wright) was traded from the Royals to the Yankees Dec. 7, 1973. In return, Kansas City got pitcher Lindy McDaniel. Piniella bats .305 in 1974.

Since 1970, All-Star Game ballots have been prepared prior to the start of the season, and one result of this practice is Luis Aparicio's name appearing thereon in 1974. The Red Sox had released him (and Orlando Cepeda) March 26, but some fans vote for him anyway.

Getting naked in public is all the rage this year. Some attendees at a White Sox game on Opening Day, April 5, disrobe, with four being arrested and more ejected.

Also in early April, A's pitcher Vida Blue first puts on what becomes his lucky cap. Starting this Opening Day, he will wear it game in and game out until sometime in '77.

Blue isn't the only A.L. hurler with a lucky cap. The Orioles' Mike Cuellar is separated from his by the distance between Baltimore and Cleveland when he is slated to take the mound Sept. 6. He won't pitch unless he has that particular hat on, so the team gets it to him at Cleveland Stadium in the nick of time. A five-hitter follows.

Yankees infielder Graig Nettles gets a hit Sept. 7 against the Tigers but loses the hit when he's found to have a corked bat. He had socked a homer earlier that Saturday night in a 1-0 win at Shea Stadium, and it's insinuated the same bat was used for the dinger.

That's what happened in the American League. A mammoth milestone moment and a fully frustrated franchise are the highs and lows of the National League. Celebrate this golden year March 22.

[EDIT 3/2/24 7:00-7:05 p.m. EST: I was going through Green Cathedrals and discovered the White Sox fire item I'd previously missed.]

[EDIT 3/27/24 10:17 p.m. EDT: Adjusted font size.]