1974 Oakland Athletics season

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1974 Oakland Athletics
1974 AL West Champions
1974 AL Champions
1974 World Series Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
  • Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (since 1968)
  • Oakland, California (since 1968)
Results
Record90–72 (.556)
Other information
Owner(s)Charles O. Finley
Manager(s)Alvin Dark
Local televisionKTVU
Local radioKEEN
(Monte Moore, Jon Miller)
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The 1974 Oakland Athletics season involved the A's winning their fourth consecutive American League West title with a record of 90 wins and 72 losses. In the playoffs, the A's defeated the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS for their third straight AL pennant, and in the World Series, the first ever played entirely on the West Coast, defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games to take their third consecutive World Series championship. Paid attendance for the season was 845,693.[1]

In early 1974, owner Charlie Finley tried to sell the team with an asking price of $15 million.[2][3]

Offseason[]

  • November 3, 1973: Horacio Piña was traded by the Athletics to the Chicago Cubs for Bob Locker.[4]
  • December 12, 1973: Rico Carty was released by the Athletics.[5]
  • February 22, 1974: Reggie Jackson won an arbitration case for a $135,000 salary for the season, nearly doubling his previous year's $70,000.[6][7]

Regular season[]

  • June 5, 1974: Outfielders Billy North and Reggie Jackson engaged in a clubhouse fight at Detroit's Tiger Stadium[8] Jackson injured his shoulder, and catcher Ray Fosse, attempting to separate the combatants,[8] suffered a crushed disk in his neck, costing him three months on the disabled list.[citation needed]

The pinch runner[]

In 1974, "Hurricane" Herb Washington was tapped by Oakland owner Charlie Finley to become the A's "designated runner." Despite having no professional baseball experience, and having last played baseball in high school, Washington was signed to a major league contract prior to the season. His major league debut was on April 4, 1974, against the Texas Rangers. Appearing as a pinch runner for Joe Rudi in game two of the 1974 World Series, Washington was picked off first base in a crucial ninth-inning situation by Dodgers' reliever Mike Marshall.

Season standings[]

  • v
  • t
AL West 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 90 72 0.556 — 49–32 41–40
Texas Rangers 84 76 0.525 5 42–38 42–38
Minnesota Twins 82 80 0.506 8 48–33 34–47
Chicago White Sox 80 80 0.500 9 46–34 34–46
Kansas City Royals 77 85 0.475 13 40–41 37–44
California Angels 68 94 0.420 22 36–45 32–49

Record vs. opponents[]

1974 American League Records
  • v
  • t

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK TEX
Baltimore — 10–8 7–5 5–7 12–6 14–4 8–4 8–10 6–6 11–7 6–6 4–8
Boston 8–10 — 4–8 8–4 9–9 11–7 4–8 10–8 6–6 11–7 8–4 5–7
California 5–7 8–4 — 10–8–1 3–9 5–7 8–10 3–9 8–10 3–9 6–12 9–9
Chicago 7–5 4–8 8–10–1 — 8–4 7–5 11–7 8–4 7–11–1 4–8 7–11 9–7–1
Cleveland 6–12 9–9 9–3 4–8 — 9–9 8–4 10–8 6–6 7–11 5–7 4–8
Detroit 4–14 7–11 7–5 5–7 9–9 — 7–5 9–9 3–9 11–7 5–7 5–7
Kansas City 4–8 8–4 10–8 7–11 4–8 5–7 — 11–1 8–10 4–8 8–10 8–10
Milwaukee 10–8 8–10 9–3 4–8 8–10 9–9 1–11 — 6–6 9–9 5–7 7–5
Minnesota 6–6 6–6 10–8 11–7–1 6–6 9–3 10–8 6–6 — 4–8 5–13 9–9
New York 7–11 7–11 9–3 8–4 11–7 7–11 8–4 9–9 8–4 — 7–5 8–4
Oakland 6–6 4–8 12–6 11–7 7–5 7–5 10–8 7–5 13–5 5–7 — 8–10
Texas 8–4 7–5 9–9 7–9–1 8–4 7–5 10–8 5–7 9–9 4–8 10–8 —


Opening Day starters[]

Notable transactions[]

  • May 10, 1974: Dal Maxvill was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.[10]
  • June 5, 1974: Rick Lysander was drafted by the Athletics in the 19th round of the 1974 Major League Baseball Draft.[11]
  • August 19, 1974: Pat Bourque was traded by the Athletics to the Minnesota Twins for Jim Holt.[12]

Roster[]

1974 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Designated runner

  •  3 Herb Washington
 Manager
  •  5 Alvin Dark

Coaches

Player stats[]

= Indicates team leader

Batting[]

Starters by position[]

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Ray Fosse 64 204 40 .196 4 23
1B Gene Tenace 158 484 102 .211 26 73
2B Dick Green 100 287 61 .213 2 22
3B Sal Bando 146 498 121 .243 22 103
SS Bert Campaneris 134 527 153 .290 2 41
LF Joe Rudi 158 593 174 .293 22 99
CF Billy North 149 543 141 .260 4 33
RF Reggie Jackson 148 506 146 .289 29 93
DH Ángel Mangual 115 365 85 .233 9 43

Other batters[]

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Ángel Mangual 115 365 85 .233 9 43
Ted Kubiak 99 220 46 .209 0 18
Claudell Washington 73 221 63 .285 0 19
Deron Johnson 50 174 34 .195 7 23
Larry Haney 76 121 20 .165 2 3
Pat Bourque 73 96 22 .229 1 16
Dal Maxvill 60 52 10 .192 0 2
Jim Holt 30 42 6 .143 0 0
Gaylen Pitts 18 41 10 .244 0 3
Manny Trillo 21 33 5 .152 0 2
Phil Garner 30 28 5 .179 0 1
John Donaldson 10 15 2 .133 0 0
Tim Hosley 11 7 2 .286 0 1
Rich McKinney 5 7 1 .143 0 0
Herb Washington 92 0 0 ---- 0 0

Pitching[]

Starting pitchers[]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Catfish Hunter 41 318.1 25 12 2.49 143
Vida Blue 40 282.1 17 15 3.25 174
Ken Holtzman 39 255.1 19 17 3.07 117
Glenn Abbott 19 96 5 7 3.00 38

Other pitchers[]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Dave Hamilton 29 117 7 4 3.69 69
Blue Moon Odom 34 87.1 1 5 3.81 52

Relief pitchers[]

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Rollie Fingers 76 9 5 18 2.65 95
Paul Lindblad 45 4 4 6 2.06 46
Darold Knowles 45 3 3 3 4.22 18
Leon Hooten 6 0 0 0 3.24 1
Bill Parsons 4 0 0 0 0.00 2

Postseason[]

ALCS[]

Main article: 1974 American League Championship Series

The Athletics defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 3 games to 1.

Game Score Date Location Attendance
1 Baltimore – 6, Oakland – 3 October 5 Oakland Coliseum 41,609
2 Baltimore – 0, Oakland – 5 October 6 Oakland Coliseum 42,810
3 Oakland – 1, Baltimore – 0 October 8 Memorial Stadium 32,060
4 Oakland – 2, Baltimore – 1 October 9 Memorial Stadium 28,136

1974 World Series[]

Main article: 1974 World Series

Summary[]

AL Oakland Athletics (4) vs. NL Los Angeles Dodgers (1)
Game Score Date Location Attendance Time of Game
1 Athletics – 3, Dodgers – 2 October 12 Dodger Stadium 55,974 2:43
2 Athletics – 2, Dodgers – 3 October 13 Dodger Stadium 55,989 2:40
3 Dodgers – 2, Athletics – 3 October 15 Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum 49,347 2:35
4 Dodgers – 2, Athletics – 5 October 16 Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum 49,347 2:17
5 Dodgers – 2, Athletics – 3 October 17 Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum 49,347 2:23

Awards and honors[]

  • Rollie Fingers, World Series Most Valuable Player Award
  • Catfish Hunter, P, American League Cy Young Award

All-Stars[]

1974 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

  • Bert Campaneris, shortstop, starter
  • Reggie Jackson, outfield, starter
  • Sal Bando, reserve
  • Rollie Fingers, reserve
  • Catfish Hunter, reserve
  • Joe Rudi, reserve

Farm system[]

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Tucson Toros Pacific Coast League Sherm Lollar
AA Birmingham A's Southern League Harry Bright
A Burlington Bees Midwest League Rene Lachemann
A-Short Season Lewiston Broncos Northwest League Bobby Hofman and Buddy Peterson

References[]

  1. ^ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.222, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  2. ^ "Not close to sale: A's Finley". Chicago Tribune. wire services. January 22, 1974. p. 4, sec. 3.
  3. ^ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.202, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  4. ^ Horacio Piña page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Rico Carty page at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ "A's Jackson gets his wish - $135,000 salary". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. February 23, 1974. p. 15.
  7. ^ "Reggie wins arbitration". Chicago Tribune. UPI. February 23, 1974. p. 5, sec. 2.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b "No 'A' for A's: Finley flunks as pep talker". Chicago Tribune. June 8, 1974. p. 2, sec. 2.
  9. ^ 1974 Oakland Athletics Roster by Baseball Almanac
  10. ^ Dal Maxvill page at Baseball Reference
  11. ^ Rick Lysander page at Baseball Reference
  12. ^ Pat Bourque page at Baseball Reference

External links[]

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