1975 Major League Baseball season
Sports season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1975 Major League Baseball season saw Frank Robinson become the first black manager in the Major Leagues. He managed the Cleveland Indians.
| 1975 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | Major League Baseball |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | April 7 – October 22, 1975 |
| Games | 162 |
| Teams | 24 |
| TV partner | NBC |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Danny Goodwin |
| Picked by | California Angels |
| Regular season | |
| Season MVP | AL: Fred Lynn (BOS) NL: Joe Morgan (CIN) |
| Postseason | |
| AL champions | Boston Red Sox |
| AL runners-up | Oakland Athletics |
| NL champions | Cincinnati Reds |
| NL runners-up | Pittsburgh Pirates |
| World Series | |
| Champions | Cincinnati Reds |
| Runners-up | Boston Red Sox |
| World Series MVP | Pete Rose (CIN) |
At the All-Star Break, there were discussions of Bowie Kuhn's reappointment. Charlie Finley, New York owner George Steinbrenner and Baltimore owner Jerry Hoffberger were part of a group that wanted him gone.[1] Finley was trying to convince the new owner of the Texas Rangers Brad Corbett that MLB needed a more dynamic commissioner.[2] During the vote, Baltimore and New York decided to vote in favour of the commissioner's reappointment. In addition, there were discussions of expansion for 1977, with Seattle and Washington, D.C. as the proposed cities for expansion.
Standings
American League
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Red Sox | 95 | 65 | .594 | — | 47–34 | 48–31 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 90 | 69 | .566 | 4½ | 44–33 | 46–36 |
| New York Yankees | 83 | 77 | .519 | 12 | 43–35 | 40–42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 79 | 80 | .497 | 15½ | 41–39 | 38–41 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 68 | 94 | .420 | 28 | 36–45 | 32–49 |
| Detroit Tigers | 57 | 102 | .358 | 37½ | 31–49 | 26–53 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 54–27 | 44–37 |
| Kansas City Royals | 91 | 71 | .562 | 7 | 51–30 | 40–41 |
| Texas Rangers | 79 | 83 | .488 | 19 | 39–41 | 40–42 |
| Minnesota Twins | 76 | 83 | .478 | 20½ | 39–43 | 37–40 |
| Chicago White Sox | 75 | 86 | .466 | 22½ | 42–39 | 33–47 |
| California Angels | 72 | 89 | .447 | 25½ | 35–46 | 37–43 |
National League
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 92 | 69 | .571 | — | 52–28 | 40–41 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 86 | 76 | .531 | 6½ | 51–30 | 35–46 |
| New York Mets | 82 | 80 | .506 | 10½ | 42–39 | 40–41 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 82 | 80 | .506 | 10½ | 45–36 | 37–44 |
| Chicago Cubs | 75 | 87 | .463 | 17½ | 42–39 | 33–48 |
| Montreal Expos | 75 | 87 | .463 | 17½ | 39–42 | 36–45 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds | 108 | 54 | .667 | — | 64–17 | 44–37 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 88 | 74 | .543 | 20 | 49–32 | 39–42 |
| San Francisco Giants | 80 | 81 | .497 | 27½ | 46–35 | 34–46 |
| San Diego Padres | 71 | 91 | .438 | 37 | 38–43 | 33–48 |
| Atlanta Braves | 67 | 94 | .416 | 40½ | 37–43 | 30–51 |
| Houston Astros | 64 | 97 | .398 | 43½ | 37–44 | 27–53 |
Postseason
Bracket
| League Championship Series (ALCS, NLCS) | World Series | ||||||||
| East | Boston | 3 | |||||||
| West | Oakland | 0 | |||||||
| AL | Boston | 3 | |||||||
| NL | Cincinnati | 4 | |||||||
| East | Pittsburgh | 0 | |||||||
| West | Cincinnati | 3 | |||||||
Awards and honors
- Baseball Hall of Fame
- Most Valuable Player
- Fred Lynn (AL) Boston Red Sox
- Joe Morgan (NL) Cincinnati Reds
- Cy Young Award
- Jim Palmer (AL) Baltimore Orioles
- Tom Seaver (NL) New York Mets
- Rookie of the Year
- Gold Glove Award
- George Scott (1B) (AL)
- Bobby Grich (2B) (AL)
- Brooks Robinson (3B) (AL)
- Mark Belanger (SS) (AL)
- Paul Blair (OF) (AL)
- Fred Lynn (OF) (AL)
- Joe Rudi (OF) (AL)
- Thurman Munson (C) (AL)
- Jim Kaat (P) (AL)
Statistical leaders
| Statistic | American League | National League | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVG | Rod Carew MIN | .359 | Bill Madlock CHC | .354 |
| HR | Reggie Jackson OAK George Scott MIL | 36 | Mike Schmidt PHI | 38 |
| RBI | George Scott MIL | 109 | Greg Luzinski PHI | 120 |
| Wins | Jim Palmer BAL Catfish Hunter NYY | 23 | Tom Seaver NYM | 22 |
| ERA | Jim Palmer BAL | 2.09 | Randy Jones SD | 2.24 |
| SO | Frank Tanana CAL | 269 | Tom Seaver NYM | 243 |
| SV | Rich Gossage CWS | 26 | Rawly Eastwick CIN Al Hrabosky STL | 22 |
| SB | Mickey Rivers CAL | 70 | Davey Lopes LAD | 77 |
Home field attendance
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers[3] | 88 | −13.7% | 2,539,349 | −3.5% | 31,350 |
| Cincinnati Reds[4] | 108 | 10.2% | 2,315,603 | 7.0% | 28,588 |
| Philadelphia Phillies[5] | 86 | 7.5% | 1,909,233 | 5.6% | 23,571 |
| Boston Red Sox[6] | 95 | 13.1% | 1,748,587 | 12.3% | 21,587 |
| New York Mets[7] | 82 | 15.5% | 1,730,566 | 0.5% | 21,365 |
| St. Louis Cardinals[8] | 82 | −4.7% | 1,695,270 | −7.8% | 20,674 |
| New York Yankees[9] | 83 | −6.7% | 1,288,048 | 1.2% | 16,513 |
| San Diego Padres[10] | 71 | 18.3% | 1,281,747 | 19.2% | 15,824 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[11] | 92 | 4.5% | 1,270,018 | 14.4% | 15,875 |
| Milwaukee Brewers[12] | 68 | −10.5% | 1,213,357 | 27.0% | 14,980 |
| Kansas City Royals[13] | 91 | 18.2% | 1,151,836 | −1.8% | 14,220 |
| Texas Rangers[14] | 79 | −6.0% | 1,127,924 | −5.5% | 14,099 |
| Oakland Athletics[15] | 98 | 8.9% | 1,075,518 | 27.2% | 13,278 |
| Detroit Tigers[16] | 57 | −20.8% | 1,058,836 | −14.8% | 13,235 |
| California Angels[17] | 72 | 5.9% | 1,058,163 | 15.4% | 13,064 |
| Chicago Cubs[18] | 75 | 13.6% | 1,034,819 | 1.9% | 12,776 |
| Baltimore Orioles[19] | 90 | −1.1% | 1,002,157 | 4.1% | 13,015 |
| Cleveland Indians[20] | 79 | 2.6% | 977,039 | −12.3% | 12,213 |
| Montreal Expos[21] | 75 | −5.1% | 908,292 | −10.9% | 11,213 |
| Houston Astros[22] | 64 | −21.0% | 858,002 | −21.3% | 10,593 |
| Chicago White Sox[23] | 75 | −6.3% | 750,802 | −34.7% | 9,269 |
| Minnesota Twins[24] | 76 | −7.3% | 737,156 | 11.3% | 8,990 |
| Atlanta Braves[25] | 67 | −23.9% | 534,672 | −45.5% | 6,683 |
| San Francisco Giants[26] | 80 | 11.1% | 522,919 | 0.6% | 6,456 |
Notable events
- August 14 – Atlanta Braves pitcher Phil Niekro hits the only triple of his Major League career, off of Lynn McGlothen of the St. Louis Cardinals.[27]
Television coverage
This was the last season that NBC was the exclusive national TV broadcaster of MLB, airing the weekend Game of the Week, Monday Night Baseball, the All-Star Game, both League Championship Series, and the World Series. Beginning in 1976, MLB would split the TV rights between NBC and ABC.