1974 Minnesota Twins season
Major League Baseball team season
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The 1974 Minnesota Twins season was the 14th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 14th season at Metropolitan Stadium and the 74th overall in the American League. The Twins finished 82–80, third in the American League West.
(Larry Calton, Ralph Fritz)
| 1974 Minnesota Twins | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Division | West |
| Ballpark | Metropolitan Stadium |
| City | Bloomington, Minnesota |
| Owners | Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes) |
| General managers | Calvin Griffith |
| Managers | Frank Quilici |
| Television | WCCO-TV (Larry Calton, Ralph Fritz) |
| Radio | 830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Larry Calton) |
Offseason
- October 14, 1973: Joe Keough was purchased by the Twins from the Chicago White Sox.[1]
- December 3, 1973: Sergio Ferrer was drafted by the Twins from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1973 rule 5 draft.[2]
- On February 11, 1974, Dick Woodson became the first player to invoke the new free agency clause,[3] as he sought $30,000, and the Twins offered $23,000.[4] The arbitrator sided with Woodson.
Regular season
Only one Twins player made the All-Star Game, second baseman Rod Carew. Carew won his fourth AL batting title with a .364 average, and set a Minnesota record with 180 singles. Outfielder Bobby Darwin hit 25 HR and drove in 95 runs. Three pitchers had double digit wins: Bert Blyleven (17–17), Joe Decker (16–14), and Dave Goltz (10–10). Bill Campbell showed potential as a reliever, registering 19 saves and 8 relief wins.
Only 662,401 fans attended Twins games, the lowest total in the American League. It was half the number of fans that attended in the 1960s.
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics | 90 | 72 | .556 | — | 49–32 | 41–40 |
| Texas Rangers | 84 | 76 | .525 | 5 | 42–38 | 42–38 |
| Minnesota Twins | 82 | 80 | .506 | 8 | 48–33 | 34–47 |
| Chicago White Sox | 80 | 80 | .500 | 9 | 46–34 | 34–46 |
| Kansas City Royals | 77 | 85 | .475 | 13 | 40–41 | 37–44 |
| California Angels | 68 | 94 | .420 | 22 | 36–45 | 32–49 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
- May 4, 1974: Dick Woodson was traded by the Twins to the New York Yankees for Mike Pazik and cash.[5]
- June 5, 1974: Joe Lis was purchased from the Twins by the Cleveland Indians.[6]
- June 5, 1974: Butch Wynegar was drafted by the Twins in the 2nd round of the 1974 Major League Baseball draft.[7]
- August 19, 1974: Jim Holt was traded by the Twins to the Oakland Athletics for Pat Bourque.[8]
Roster
| 1974 Minnesota Twins | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
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 | Glenn Borgmann | 128 | 345 | 87 | .252 | 3 | 45 |
| 1B | Craig Kusick | 76 | 201 | 48 | .239 | 8 | 26 |
| 2B | Rod Carew | 153 | 599 | 218 | .364 | 3 | 55 |
| SS | Danny Thompson | 97 | 264 | 66 | .250 | 4 | 25 |
| 3B | Eric Soderholm | 141 | 464 | 128 | .276 | 10 | 51 |
| LF | Steve Braun | 129 | 453 | 127 | .280 | 8 | 40 |
| CF | Steve Brye | 135 | 488 | 138 | .283 | 2 | 41 |
| RF | Bobby Darwin | 152 | 575 | 152 | .264 | 25 | 94 |
| DH | Tony Oliva | 127 | 459 | 131 | .285 | 13 | 57 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Hisle | 143 | 510 | 146 | .286 | 19 | 79 |
| Harmon Killebrew | 122 | 333 | 74 | .222 | 13 | 54 |
| Jerry Terrell | 116 | 229 | 56 | .245 | 0 | 19 |
| Jim Holt | 79 | 197 | 50 | .254 | 0 | 16 |
| Luis Gómez | 82 | 168 | 35 | .208 | 0 | 3 |
| Phil Roof | 44 | 97 | 19 | .196 | 2 | 13 |
| Randy Hundley | 32 | 88 | 17 | .193 | 0 | 3 |
| Pat Bourque | 23 | 64 | 14 | .219 | 1 | 8 |
| Sergio Ferrer | 24 | 57 | 16 | .281 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Lis | 24 | 41 | 8 | .195 | 0 | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bert Blyleven | 37 | 281.0 | 17 | 17 | 2.66 | 249 |
| Joe Decker | 37 | 248.2 | 16 | 14 | 3.29 | 158 |
| Dave Goltz | 28 | 174.1 | 10 | 10 | 3.25 | 89 |
| Dick Woodson | 5 | 27.0 | 1 | 1 | 4.33 | 12 |
| Jim Hughes | 2 | 10.1 | 0 | 2 | 5.23 | 8 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vic Albury | 32 | 164.0 | 8 | 9 | 4.12 | 85 |
| Bill Hands | 35 | 115.1 | 4 | 5 | 4.45 | 74 |
| Ray Corbin | 29 | 112.1 | 7 | 6 | 5.29 | 50 |
| Bill Butler | 26 | 98.2 | 4 | 6 | 4.10 | 79 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Campbell | 63 | 8 | 7 | 19 | 2.62 | 89 |
| Tom Burgmeier | 50 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4.52 | 34 |
| Tom Johnson | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 4 |
| Danny Fife | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17.36 | 3 |