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1974 Boston Red Sox season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1974 Boston Red Sox
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkFenway Park
CityBoston, Massachusetts
Record84–78 (.519)
Divisional place3rd
OwnerTom Yawkey
PresidentTom Yawkey
General managerDick O'Connell
ManagerDarrell Johnson
TelevisionWBZ-TV, Ch. 4
(Ken Coleman, Johnny Pesky)
RadioWHDH-AM 850
(Ned Martin, Jim Woods)
StatsESPN.com
Baseball Reference
← 1973 Seasons 1975 →

The 1974 Boston Red Sox season was the 74th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League East with a record of 84 wins and 78 losses, seven games behind the Baltimore Orioles.

Offseason

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Regular season

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Record by month[6]
Month Record Cumulative AL East Ref.
Won Lost Won Lost Position GB
April 10 12 10 12 6th 2+1⁄2 [7]
May 15 10 25 22 2nd 1⁄2 [8]
June 16 10 41 32 1st +2+1⁄2 [9]
July 14 15 55 47 1st +2+1⁄2 [10]
August 17 12 72 59 1st +3 [11]
September 11 18 83 77 3rd 6 [12]
October 1 1 84 78 3rd 7 [13]

Season summary

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The injury bug struck Boston

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Two calamities befell the Red Sox in 1974, and they would work to make the year a disappointing one and let the team get the nickname of "chokers". First Carlton Fisk, who appeared to be ready for greatness, tore up his left knee while blocking the plate in a June 28 game against the Cleveland Indians at Cleveland. He had surgery and was out for the rest of the season. Catching, meant to be a Sox strongpoint, became a weak one instead. Then Rick Wise, who was expected to join with Luis Tiant and Bill Lee to give the Sox a solid 1–2–3 punch on the mound, missed much of the early part of the season with a shoulder injury, and when he was coming back from that he broke a finger when his wife accidentally closed a door on his hand. He ended up at 3–4 with Boston in 1974.

Falling short again

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Despite the injuries, the team persevered, actually holding a seven-game lead as of August 23. After that, the Sox went into an incredible slump, losing 24 of the final 38 games and dropping all the way to third. As late as August 29, they were still up on the second place New York Yankees by 5 and the Baltimore Orioles by 8. Boston lost 8 in a row, including an infamous Labor Day doubleheader to the streaking Orioles, both games by the score of 1–0. Boston finished the season seven games behind the division-winning Orioles and five behind second-place New York. They went 5–13 in one and two run games during the slump, including several 1–0 losses to either Baltimore or New York.

As a team they batted .203 over their last 33 games. Boston fans were livid, and some said that the Sox had been playing over their heads all along and that it had finally caught up with them, especially when they lacked Fisk and Wise. Boston licked its wounds, taking some consolation from Carl Yastrzemski's .301 average, with 15 homers and 79 RBIs. Dwight Evans had a .281 average, 10 homers and 70 RBIs. There were 22 wins for Tiant and 17 for Bill Lee. Twice in three years, the Red Sox fans thought they had the pennant, and twice the team had failed them.

Season standings

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AL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Baltimore Orioles 91 71 .562 — 46‍–‍35 45‍–‍36
New York Yankees 89 73 .549 2 47‍–‍34 42‍–‍39
Boston Red Sox 84 78 .519 7 46‍–‍35 38‍–‍43
Cleveland Indians 77 85 .475 14 40‍–‍41 37‍–‍44
Milwaukee Brewers 76 86 .469 15 40‍–‍41 36‍–‍45
Detroit Tigers 72 90 .444 19 36‍–‍45 36‍–‍45

Record vs. opponents

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1974 American League record

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 lineup

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  4 Tommy Harper DH
20 Juan Beníquez CF
17 Cecil Cooper 1B
  8 Carl Yastrzemski     LF
  6 Rico Petrocelli 3B
  1 Bernie Carbo RF
10 Bob Montgomery C
  2 Doug Griffin 2B
18 Mario Guerrero SS
23 Luis Tiant P

Source:[14]

Roster

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1974 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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Batting

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Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging average

Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB AVG SLG
Carl Yastrzemski 148 515 93 155 25 2 15 79 12 104 .301 .445
Dwight Evans 133 463 60 130 19 8 10 70 4 38 .281 .421
Rico Petrocelli 129 454 53 121 23 1 15 76 1 48 .267 .421
Tommy Harper 118 443 66 105 15 3 5 24 28 46 .237 .318
Cecil Cooper 121 414 55 114 24 1 8 43 2 32 .275 .396
Juan Beníquez 106 389 60 104 14 3 5 33 19 25 .267 .357
Rick Burleson 114 384 36 109 22 0 4 44 3 21 .284 .372
Bernie Carbo 117 338 40 84 20 0 12 61 4 58 .249 .414
Doug Griffin 93 312 35 83 12 4 0 33 2 28 .266 .330
Mario Guerrero 93 284 18 70 6 2 0 23 3 13 .246 .282
Rick Miller 114 280 41 73 8 1 5 22 13 37 .261 .350
Dick McAuliffe 100 272 32 57 13 1 5 24 2 39 .210 .320
Bob Montgomery 88 254 26 64 10 0 4 38 3 13 .252 .339
Carlton Fisk 52 187 36 56 12 1 11 26 5 24 .299 .551
Danny Cater 56 126 14 31 5 0 5 20 1 10 .246 .405
Tim Blackwell 44 122 9 30 1 1 0 8 1 10 .246 .270
Terry Hughes 41 69 5 14 2 0 1 6 0 6 .203 .275
Jim Rice 24 67 6 18 2 1 1 13 0 4 .269 .373
Fred Lynn 15 43 5 18 2 2 2 10 0 6 .419 .698
Tim McCarver 11 28 3 7 1 0 0 1 1 4 .250 .286
Deron Johnson 11 25 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 .120 .120
John Kennedy 10 15 3 2 0 0 1 1 0 1 .133 .333
Bob Didier 5 14 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 .071 .071
Chuck Goggin 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000
Team Totals 162 5499 696 1499 236 31 109 658 104 569 .264 .377

Source:[13]

Pitching

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Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts

Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER BB SO
Luis Tiant 22 13 2.92 38 38 0 311.1 281 106 101 82 176
Bill Lee 17 15 3.51 38 37 0 282.1 320 123 110 67 95
Reggie Cleveland 12 14 4.31 41 27 0 221.1 234 121 106 69 103
Dick Drago 7 10 3.48 33 18 3 175.2 165 71 68 56 90
Roger Moret 9 10 3.74 31 21 2 173.1 158 79 72 79 111
Diego Seguí 6 8 4.00 58 0 10 108.0 106 54 48 49 76
Juan Marichal 5 1 4.87 11 9 0 57.1 61 32 31 14 21
Rick Wise 3 4 3.86 9 9 0 49.0 47 23 21 16 25
Dick Pole 1 1 4.20 15 2 1 45.0 55 28 21 13 32
Bob Veale 0 1 5.54 18 0 2 13.0 15 8 8 4 16
Steve Barr 1 0 4.00 1 1 0 9.0 7 4 4 6 3
Lance Clemons 1 0 9.95 6 0 0 6.1 8 8 7 4 1
Don Newhauser 0 1 9.82 2 0 0 3.2 5 4 4 4 2
Team Totals 84 78 3.72 162 162 18 1455.1 1462 661 601 463 751

Source:[14]

Statistical leaders

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Luis Tiant
Category Player Statistic
Youngest player Tim Blackwell
Jim Rice		 21
Oldest player Bob Veale 38
Wins Above Replacement Luis Tiant 7.7

Source:[15]

Batting

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Abbr. Category Player Statistic
G Games played Carl Yastrzemski 148
PA Plate appearances Carl Yastrzemski 633
AB At bats Carl Yastrzemski 515
R Runs scored Carl Yastrzemski 93
H Hits Carl Yastrzemski 155
2B Doubles Carl Yastrzemski 25
3B Triples Dwight Evans 8
HR Home runs Rico Petrocelli 15
Carl Yastrzemski
RBI Runs batted in Carl Yastrzemski 79
SB Stolen bases Tommy Harper 28
CS Caught stealing Tommy Harper 12
BB Base on balls Carl Yastrzemski 104
SO Strikeouts Bernie Carbo 90
BA Batting average Carl Yastrzemski .301
OBP On-base percentage Carl Yastrzemski .414
SLG Slugging percentage Carl Yastrzemski .445
OPS On-base plus slugging Carl Yastrzemski .859
OPS+ Adjusted OPS Carl Yastrzemski 140
TB Total bases Carl Yastrzemski 229
GIDP Grounded into double play Rick Burleson 13
HBP Hit by pitch Bernie Carbo 4
SH Sacrifice hits Tommy Harper 10
SF Sacrifice flies Carl Yastrzemski 11
IBB Intentional base on balls Carl Yastrzemski 16

Source:[15]

Pitching

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Abbr. Category Player Statistic
W Wins Luis Tiant 22
L Losses Bill Lee 15
W-L % Winning percentage Luis Tiant .629 (22-13)
ERA Earned run average Luis Tiant 2.92
G Games pitched Diego Seguí 58
GS Games started Luis Tiant 38
GF Games finished Diego Seguí 46
CG Complete games Luis Tiant 25
SHO Shutouts Luis Tiant 7
SV Saves Diego Seguí 10
IP Innings pitched Luis Tiant 311+1⁄3
SO Strikeouts Luis Tiant 176
WHIP Walks plus hits per inning pitched Luis Tiant 1.166

Source:[15]

Farm system

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See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Pawtucket Red Sox International League Joe Morgan
AA Bristol Red Sox Eastern League Stan Williams
A Winston-Salem Red Sox Carolina League Bill Slack
A Winter Haven Red Sox Florida State League Rac Slider
A-Short Season Elmira Red Sox New York–Penn League Dick Berardino

Source:[16][17]

References

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  1. ^ Dick Drago page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ "Reggie Smith Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More".
  3. ^ Juan Marichal page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Diego Seguí page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Orlando Cepeda page at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ "The 1974 Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  7. ^ "Events of Tuesday, April 30, 1974".
  8. ^ "Events of Friday, May 31, 1974".
  9. ^ "Events of Sunday, June 30, 1974".
  10. ^ "Events of Wednesday, July 31, 1974".
  11. ^ "Events of Saturday, August 31, 1974".
  12. ^ "Events of Monday, September 30, 1974".
  13. ^ "Events of Wednesday, October 2, 1974".
  14. ^ "Boston Red Sox 9, Milwaukee Brewers 8". Retrosheet. April 5, 1974. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  15. ^ a b c "1974 Boston Red Sox Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  16. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  17. ^ Boston Red Sox Official Yearbook. 1974. p. 25. Retrieved March 14, 2021 – via Wayback Machine.
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