1974 Texas Rangers season

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.

1974 Texas Rangers
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Bob Short, Bradford G. Corbett, Amon Carter, Jr., Ray Nasher
General manager(s)Dan O'Brien, Sr.
Manager(s)Billy Martin
Local televisionWBAP-TV
(Dick Risenhoover, Jimmy Piersall, Burt Hawkins)
Local radioWBAP
(Dick Risenhoover, Bill Mercer)
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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
Main article: 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 9072 0.556 — 49–32 41–40
Texas Rangers 8476 0.525 5 42–38 42–38
Minnesota Twins 8280 0.506 8 48–33 34–47
Chicago White Sox 8080 0.500 9 46–34 34–46
Kansas City Royals 7785 0.475 13 40–41 37–44
California Angels 6894 0.420 22 36–45 32–49

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—

Notable transactions
  • April 25, 1974: Mike Kekich was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.[3]
  • June 5, 1974: 1974 Major League Baseball Draft

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
CJim Sundberg13236891.247336
1BMike Hargrove131415134.323466
2BDave Nelson121474112.236342
3BLenny Randle151520157.302149
SSToby Harrah161573149.2602174
LFAlex Johnson114453132.291441
CFJoe Lovitto11328363.223226
RFJeff Burroughs152554167.30125118
DHJim Spencer11835298.278774

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 Tovar138562164.292458
Tom Grieve8425966.255932
Jim Fregosi7823060.2611234
Leo Cárdenas349225.27207
Larry Brown547615.19705
Roy Howell134411.25013
Dick Billings16317.22600
Mike Cubbage9150.00000
Bobby Jones250.00000
Dave Moates100----00

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
Jim Bibby4126419194.74149
Ferguson Jenkins41328.125122.82225
Jackie Brown35216.213123.57134
David Clyde28117394.3852

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 Broberg1229048.0715

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 Foucault6989122.24106
Jim Merritt260004.1318
Lloyd Allen140106.5518
Stan Thomas120006.598
Steve Dunning100019.291

Awards and honors

All-Stars

1974 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
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
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