1974 Detroit Tigers season

The 1974 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 74th season and the 63rd season at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers compiled a record of 72–90. They finished in last place in the American League East, 19 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. They were outscored by their opponents 768 to 620.

Offseason October 25, 1973: Frank Howard was released by the Tigers.Frank Howard at Baseball Reference December 3, 1973: Tony Taylor was released by the Tigers.Tony Taylor at Baseball Reference March 19, 1974: The Tigers traded Ed Farmer to the New York Yankees and Jim Perry to the Cleveland Indians as part of a three-team trade. The Yankees sent Jerry Moses to the Tigers. The Indians sent Walt Williams and Rick Sawyer to the Yankees.Walt Williams at Baseball Reference

Regular season 1974 was Al Kaline's final season after 22 years as a Tiger (1953–1974). He became the 12th player to join the 3,000 hit club on September 24.

On September 7, the Yankees' Graig Nettles hit a home run against the Tigers. The next time up, he hit a broken-bat single. Tigers catcher Bill Freehan scrambled for the six superballs that came bouncing out. Nettles was called out on the single, but his solo homer was allowed and the made all the difference as the Yankees won 1–0.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions June 10, 1974: Tim Corcoran was signed as an amateur free agent by the Tigers.Tim Corcoran at Baseball Reference

Draft picks June 5, 1974: 1974 Major League Baseball draft Mark Fidrych was drafted by the Tigers in the 10th round.Mark Fidrych at Baseball Reference Rob Picciolo was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round (6th pick) of the secondary phase, but did not sign.Rob Picciolo at Baseball Reference

Roster 1974 Detroit Tigers Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches (Pitching) (Bullpen) (Third base) {First base)

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C 74 198 47 .237 4 19 1B 130 445 132 .297 18 60 2B 149 619 157 .254 5 49 3B 159 571 127 .222 5 49 SS 153 502 111 .221 14 54 LF 72 238 71 .298 15 47 CF 99 394 87 .221 8 34 RF 97 376 89 .237 11 42 DH 147 558 146 .262 13 64

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 59 254 66 .260 2 13 92 252 68 .270 4 29 53 149 34 .228 7 12 43 141 32 .227 6 17 60 129 28 .217 2 10 50 103 24 .233 2 9 Gates Brown 73 99 24 .242 4 17 26 99 27 .273 3 10 Gene Lamont 60 92 20 .217 3 8 John Knox 55 88 27 .307 0 6 Leon Roberts 17 63 17 .270 0 7 Ron Cash 20 62 14 .226 0 5 Tom Veryzer 22 55 13 .236 2 9 13 50 10 .200 3 7 John Wockenfuss 13 29 4 .138 0 2 Ike Brown 2 2 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 41 308.0 16 21 4.15 202 41 285.2 14 12 4.32 177 37 216.1 8 19 4.66 85 27 141.2 6 9 4.32 92

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 28 92.0 5 5 4.99 52 16 54.2 1 3 4.77 23 8 35.2 0 3 4.29 16 5 33.0 2 0 2.73 10

Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W= Wins; L= Losses; SV = Saves; GF = Games Finished; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV GF ERA SO 59 17 14 13 52 2.64 134 28 1 3 2 19 4.47 26 22 2 1 0 10 4.00 52 Chuck Seelbach 4 0 0 0 2 4.70 0

Awards and honors

Records John Hiller American League record, most wins in one season by a relief pitcher (17)Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.290, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, Major league record (since broken), most saves in one season by a left-handed pitcher (38)Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, p. 289

Milestones Al Kaline became the 12th player in the 3,000 hit club on September 24

League top ten finishers Joe Coleman AL leader in hit batsmen (12) #2 in MLB in games started (41) #2 in MLB in home runs allowed (30) #2 in MLB in bases on balls allowed (158) #3 in MLB in earned runs allowed (137) #3 in AL in wild pitches (13) #6 in MLB in batters faced (1262)

Bill Freehan #5 in AL in slugging percentage (.479)

John Hiller #6 in AL in games finished (52) #7 in AL in saves (13)

Al Kaline 3rd oldest player in AL (39)

Lerrin LaGrow #3 in AL in losses (19) #4 in AL in wild pitches (12) #8 in AL in earned runs allowed (112)

Mickey Lolich MLB leader in home runs allowed (38) AL leader in losses (21) MLB leader in earned runs allowed (142) #2 in MLB in games started (41) #2 in MLB in hits allowed (310) #3 in MLB in complete games (27) #4 in AL in strikeout to walk ratio (2.59) #5 in AL in strikeouts (202) #5 in MLB in batters faced (1263) #7 in MLB in innings pitched (308)

Aurelio Rodríguez AL leader in games at third base (159) AL leader in innings at third base (1391-2/3) #4 in AL in games played (159) #5 in AL in outs (470)

Gary Sutherland AL leader in outs (489) #2 in AL in at bats per strikeout (16.7) #3 in AL in at bats (619) #4 in AL in singles (131)

Players ranking among top 100 all time at position The following members of the 1975 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their position, as ranked by The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001: Bill Freehan: 12th best catcher of all time Norm Cash: 20th best first baseman of all time Aurelio Rodríguez: 91st best third baseman of all time Al Kaline: 11th best right fielder of all time Willie Horton: 55th best left fielder of all time Mickey Lolich: 72nd best pitcher of all time

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Bristol

1974 Detroit Tigers season

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