1974 Boston Red Sox season

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.

1974 Boston Red Sox
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record84–78 (.519)
Divisional place3rd (7 GB)
Other information
Owner(s)Tom Yawkey
General manager(s)Dick O'Connell
Manager(s)Darrell Johnson
Local televisionWBZ-TV, Ch. 4
(Ken Coleman, Johnny Pesky)
Local radioWHDH-AM 850
(Ned Martin, Jim Woods)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
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Offseason

Regular season
Record by month[5]
MonthRecordCumulativeAL EastRef.
WonLostWonLostPositionGB
April101210126th​2 1⁄2[6]
May151025222nd​1⁄2[7]
June161041321st+​2 1⁄2[8]
July141555471st+​2 1⁄2[9]
August171272591st+3[10]
September111883773rd6[11]
October1184783rd7[12]

The injury bug struck Boston

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

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 4 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.

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 .281, 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
AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Baltimore Orioles 9171 0.562 — 46–35 45–36
New York Yankees 8973 0.549 2 47–34 42–39
Boston Red Sox 8478 0.519 7 46–35 38–43
Cleveland Indians 7785 0.475 14 40–41 37–44
Milwaukee Brewers 7686 0.469 15 40–41 36–45
Detroit Tigers 7290 0.444 19 36–45 36–45

Record vs. opponents
1974 American League Records

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 lineup
  4Tommy HarperDH
20Juan BeníquezCF
17Cecil Cooper1B
  8Carl Yastrzemski    LF
  6Rico Petrocelli3B
  1Bernie CarboRF
10Bob MontgomeryC
  2Doug Griffin2B
18Mario GuerreroSS
23Luis TiantP

Source:[13]

Roster
1974 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Statistical leaders
Luis Tiant
CategoryPlayerStatistic
Youngest playerTim Blackwell
Jim Rice		21
Oldest playerBob Veale38
Wins Above ReplacementLuis Tiant7.7

Source:[14]

Batting
Abbr.CategoryPlayerStatistic
GGames playedCarl Yastrzemski148
PAPlate appearancesCarl Yastrzemski633
ABAt batsCarl Yastrzemski515
RRuns scoredCarl Yastrzemski93
HHitsCarl Yastrzemski155
2BDoublesCarl Yastrzemski25
3BTriplesDwight Evans8
HRHome runsRico Petrocelli15
Carl Yastrzemski
RBIRuns batted inCarl Yastrzemski79
SBStolen basesTommy Harper28
CSCaught stealingTommy Harper12
BBBase on ballsCarl Yastrzemski104
SOStrikeoutsBernie Carbo90
BABatting averageCarl Yastrzemski.301
OBPOn-base percentageCarl Yastrzemski.414
SLGSlugging percentageCarl Yastrzemski.445
OPSOn-base plus sluggingCarl Yastrzemski.859
OPS+Adjusted OPSCarl Yastrzemski140
TBTotal basesCarl Yastrzemski229
GIDPGrounded into double playRick Burleson13
HBPHit by pitchBernie Carbo4
SHSacrifice hitsTommy Harper10
SFSacrifice fliesCarl Yastrzemski11
IBBIntentional base on ballsCarl Yastrzemski16

Source:[14]

Pitching
Abbr.CategoryPlayerStatistic
WWinsLuis Tiant22
LLossesBill Lee15
W-L %Winning percentageJuan Marichal.833 (5–1)
ERAEarned run averageLuis Tiant2.92
GGames pitchedDiego Seguí58
GSGames startedLuis Tiant38
GFGames finishedDiego Seguí46
CGComplete gamesLuis Tiant25
SHOShutoutsLuis Tiant7
SVSavesDiego Seguí10
IPInnings pitchedLuis Tiant​311 1⁄3
SOStrikeoutsLuis Tiant176
WHIPWalks plus hits per inning pitchedLuis Tiant1.166

Source:[14]

Farm system
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:[15]

References
  1. Dick Drago page at Baseball Reference
  2. Juan Marichal page at Baseball Reference
  3. Diego Seguí page at Baseball Reference
  4. Orlando Cepeda page at Baseball Reference
  5. "The 1974 Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  6. https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1974/04301974.htm
  7. https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1974/05311974.htm
  8. https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1974/06301974.htm
  9. https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1974/07311974.htm
  10. https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1974/08311974.htm
  11. https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1974/09301974.htm
  12. https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1974/10021974.htm
  13. "Boston Red Sox 9, Milwaukee Brewers 8". Retrosheet. April 5, 1974. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  14. "1974 Boston Red Sox Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  15. Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
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