1974 Texas Rangers season

1974 Texas Rangers
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkArlington Stadium
CityArlington, Texas
OwnersBob Short, Bradford G. Corbett, Amon Carter, Jr., Ray Nasher
General managersDan O'Brien Sr.
ManagersBilly Martin
TelevisionWBAP-TV
(Dick Risenhoover, Jimmy Piersall, Burt Hawkins)
RadioWBAP
(Dick Risenhoover, Bill Mercer)
← 1973 Seasons 1975 →

The 1974 Texas Rangers season involved the Rangers finishing second in the American League West with a record of 84 wins and 76 losses (two rained-out games were never completed). It would be only the second time in franchise history (to that point) that the club finished over .500 and the first since the club relocated to Arlington, Texas. The club became the first (and, to date, only) team to finish over .500 after two consecutive 100-loss seasons.

Offseason

Regular season

During the season, Ferguson Jenkins won 25 games for the Rangers, which was Jenkins' personal best for a season and remains the Rangers franchise record for wins by a pitcher in one season. He would also be the third pitcher in the history of the American League to win 25 games in the 20th century and not win the Cy Young Award.[2]

Ten Cent Beer Night

On June 4, in one of the most remarkably ill-conceived promotions in Major League Baseball history, fans at Cleveland Municipal Stadium for a Cleveland Indians vs. Texas Rangers game were served as many beers as they wanted for just 10¢ each. After numerous instances of drunken fans throwing debris or running onto the field—"streaking" in many instances—the situation boiled over in the 9th inning when a fan ran onto the field and snatched Rangers outfielder Jeff Burroughs' cap and glove. Burroughs' teammates charged out to his aid, followed by hundreds of rioting Cleveland fans who poured out onto the field.

Season standings

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


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


Notable transactions

Roster

1974 Texas Rangers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

= 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
C Jim Sundberg 132 368 91 .247 3 36
1B Mike Hargrove 131 415 134 .323 4 66
2B Dave Nelson 121 474 112 .236 3 42
3B Lenny Randle 151 520 157 .302 1 49
SS Toby Harrah 161 573 149 .260 21 74
LF Alex Johnson 114 453 132 .291 4 41
CF Joe Lovitto 113 283 63 .223 2 26
RF Jeff Burroughs 152 554 167 .301 25 118
DH Jim Spencer 118 352 98 .278 7 74

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
César Tovar 138 562 164 .292 4 58
Tom Grieve 84 259 66 .255 9 32
Jim Fregosi 78 230 60 .261 12 34
Duke Sims 39 106 22 .208 3 6
Leo Cárdenas 34 92 25 .272 0 7
Larry Brown 54 76 15 .197 0 5
Roy Howell 13 44 11 .250 1 3
Dick Billings 16 31 7 .226 0 0
Bill Fahey 6 16 4 .250 0 0
Mike Cubbage 9 15 0 .000 0 0
Tom Robson 6 13 3 .231 0 2
Pete Mackanin 2 6 1 .167 0 0
Bobby Jones 2 5 0 .000 0 0
Dave Moates 1 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
Ferguson Jenkins 41 328.1 25 12 2.82 225
Jim Bibby 41 264.0 19 19 4.74 149
Jackie Brown 35 216.2 13 12 3.57 134
Steve Hargan 37 186.2 12 9 3.95 98
David Clyde 28 117.0 3 9 4.38 52
Bill Hands 2 14.0 2 0 1.93 4

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
Pete Broberg 12 29.0 0 4 8.07 15

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
Steve Foucault 69 8 9 12 2.24 106
Jim Merritt 26 0 0 0 4.13 18
Don Stanhouse 18 1 1 0 4.88 26
Lloyd Allen 14 0 1 0 6.55 18
Stan Thomas 12 0 0 0 6.59 8
Jim Shellenback 11 0 0 0 5.84 14
Jeff Terpko 3 0 0 0 1.29 3
Steve Dunning 1 0 0 0 19.29 1

Awards and honors

All-Stars

1974 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Spokane Indians Pacific Coast League Del Wilber
AA Pittsfield Rangers Eastern League Joe Klein
A Gastonia Rangers Western Carolinas League Rich Donnelly
Rookie GCL Rangers Gulf Coast League Bill Haywood

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Spokane, Gastonia

Notes

  1. ^ Bill Madlock page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 236, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  3. ^ Mike Kekich page at Baseball-Reference
  4. ^ Tommy Boggs page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Gary Gray page at Baseball Reference

References

  • Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.
  • 1974 Texas Rangers team page at Baseball Reference
  • 1974 Texas Rangers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
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