1974 Boston Red Sox
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkFenway Park
CityBoston, Massachusetts
Record84–78 (.519)
Divisional place3rd (7 GB)
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
BB-reference
Seasons

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

Regular season

Record by month[6]
MonthRecordCumulativeAL EastRef.
WonLostWonLostPositionGB
April101210126th2+1⁄2[7]
May151025222nd1⁄2[8]
June161041321st+2+1⁄2[9]
July141555471st+2+1⁄2[10]
August171272591st+3[11]
September111883773rd6[12]
October1184783rd7[13]

Season summary

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 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

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 record

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:[14]

Roster

1974 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

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 Yastrzemski14851593155252157912104.301.445
Dwight Evans133463601301981070438.281.421
Rico Petrocelli129454531212311576148.267.421
Tommy Harper118443661051535242846.237.318
Cecil Cooper12141455114241843232.275.396
Juan Beníquez106389601041435331925.267.357
Rick Burleson11438436109220444321.284.372
Bernie Carbo11733840842001261458.249.414
Doug Griffin933123583124033228.266.330
Mario Guerrero93284187062023313.246.282
Rick Miller1142804173815221337.261.350
Dick McAuliffe1002723257131524239.210.320
Bob Montgomery882542664100438313.252.339
Carlton Fisk5218736561211126524.299.551
Danny Cater56126143150520110.246.405
Tim Blackwell441229301108110.246.270
Terry Hughes4169514201606.203.275
Jim Rice24676182111304.269.373
Fred Lynn15435182221006.419.698
Tim McCarver112837100114.250.286
Deron Johnson112503000200.120.120
John Kennedy101532001101.133.333
Bob Didier51401000102.071.071
Chuck Goggin2100000000.000.000
Team Totals1625499696149923631109658104569.264.377

Source:

Pitching

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 Tiant22132.9238380311.128110610182176
Bill Lee17153.5138370282.13201231106795
Reggie Cleveland12144.3141270221.123412110669103
Dick Drago7103.4833183175.216571685690
Roger Moret9103.7431212173.1158797279111
Diego Seguí684.0058010108.010654484976
Juan Marichal514.87119057.16132311421
Rick Wise343.8699049.04723211625
Dick Pole114.20152145.05528211332
Bob Veale015.54180213.01588416
Steve Barr104.001109.074463
Lance Clemons109.956006.188741
Don Newhauser019.822003.254442
Team Totals84783.72162162181455.11462661601463751

Source:

Statistical leaders

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

Source:[15]

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:[15]

Pitching

Abbr.CategoryPlayerStatistic
WWinsLuis Tiant22
LLossesBill Lee15
W-L %Winning percentageLuis Tiant.629 (22-13)
ERAEarned run averageLuis Tiant2.92
GGames pitchedDiego Seguí58
GSGames startedLuis Tiant38
GFGames finishedDiego Seguí46
CGComplete gamesLuis Tiant25
SHOShutoutsLuis Tiant7
SVSavesDiego Seguí10
IPInnings pitchedLuis Tiant311+1⁄3
SOStrikeoutsLuis Tiant176
WHIPWalks plus hits per inning pitchedLuis Tiant1.166

Source:[15]

Farm system

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

  1. ↑ Dick Drago page at Baseball Reference
  2. ↑
  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. 1 2 3 "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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