1974 Oakland Athletics season

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]

1974 Oakland Athletics
1974 American League West Division Champion
1974 American League Champion
1974 World Series Champion
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record90–72 (.556)
Divisional place1st
Other information
OwnersCharles O. Finley
ManagersAlvin Dark
Local televisionKTVU
Local radioKEEN
(Monte Moore, Jon Miller)
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In early 1974, owner Charlie Finley tried to sell the team with an asking price of $15 million.[2][3]

Offseason

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.

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
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 9072 0.556 — 49–32 41–40
Texas Rangers 8476 0.525 5 42–38 42–38
Minnesota Twins 8280 0.506 8 48–33 34–47
Chicago White Sox 8080 0.500 9 46–34 34–46
Kansas City Royals 7785 0.475 13 40–41 37–44
California Angels 6894 0.420 22 36–45 32–49

Record vs. opponents
1974 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK TEX
Baltimore —10–87–55–712–614–48–48–106–611–76–64–8
Boston 8–10—4–88–49–911–74–810–86–611–78–45–7
California 5–78–4—10–8–13–95–78–103–98–103–96–129–9
Chicago 7–54–88–10–1—8–47–511–78–47–11–14–87–119–7–1
Cleveland 6–129–99–34–8—9–98–410–86–67–115–74–8
Detroit 4–147–117–55–79–9—7–59–93–911–75–75–7
Kansas City 4–88–410–87–114–85–7—11–18–104–88–108–10
Milwaukee 10–88–109–34–88–109–91–11—6–69–95–77–5
Minnesota 6–66–610–811–7–16–69–310–86–6—4–85–139–9
New York 7–117–119–38–411–77–118–49–98–4—7–58–4
Oakland 6–64–812–611–77–57–510–87–513–55–7—8–10
Texas 8–47–59–97–9–18–47–510–85–79–94–810–8—

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

Roster
1974 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Designated runner

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats
= Indicates team leader

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
CRay Fosse6420440.196423
1BGene Tenace158484102.2112673
2BDick Green10028761.213222
3BSal Bando146498121.24322103
SSBert Campaneris134527153.290241
LFJoe Rudi158593174.2932299
CFBilly North149543141.260433
RFReggie Jackson148506146.2892993
DHÁngel Mangual11536585.233943

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 Mangual11536585.233943
Claudell Washington7322163.285019
Ted Kubiak9922046.209018
Deron Johnson5017434.195723
Larry Haney7612120.16523
Pat Bourque739622.229116
Dal Maxvill605210.19202
Jim Holt30426.14300
Gaylen Pitts184110.24403
Manny Trillo21335.15202
Phil Garner30285.17901
John Donaldson10152.13300
Tim Hosley1172.28601
Rich McKinney571.14300
Herb Washington9200----00

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 Hunter41318.125122.49143
Vida Blue40282.117153.25174
Ken Holtzman39255.119173.07117
Glenn Abbott1996.0573.0038

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 Hamilton29117.0743.6969
Blue Moon Odom3487.1153.8152

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 Fingers7695182.6595
Paul Lindblad454462.0646
Darold Knowles453334.2218
Leon Hooten60003.241
Bill Parsons40000.002

Postseason

ALCS
Main article: 1974 American League Championship Series

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

GameScoreDateLocationAttendance
1Baltimore – 6, Oakland – 3October 5Oakland Coliseum41,609
2Baltimore – 0, Oakland – 5October 6Oakland Coliseum42,810
3Oakland – 1, Baltimore – 0October 8Memorial Stadium32,060
4Oakland – 2, Baltimore – 1October 9Memorial Stadium28,136

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
1Athletics – 3, Dodgers – 2October 12Dodger Stadium55,9742:43
2Athletics – 2, Dodgers – 3October 13Dodger Stadium55,9892:40
3Dodgers – 2, Athletics – 3October 15Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum49,3472:35
4Dodgers – 2, Athletics – 5October 16Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum49,3472:17
5Dodgers – 2, Athletics – 3October 17Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum49,3472:23

Awards and honors

All-Stars

1974 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

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. "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
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