1974 Texas Rangers season

1974 Texas Rangers
Major league affiliations
American League (since 1961) Western Division (since 1972)
Location
Arlington Stadium (since 1972) Arlington, Texas (since 1972)
1974 information
Owner(s)	Bob Short, Bradford G. Corbett, Amon Carter, Jr., Ray Nasher
Manager(s)	Billy Martin
Local television	WBAP-TV (Dick Risenhoover, Jimmy Piersall, Burt Hawkins)
Local radio	WBAP (Dick Risenhoover, Bill Mercer)
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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.

Contents 1 Offseason 2 Regular season 2.1 Ten Cent Beer Night 2.2 Season standings 2.3 Notable transactions 2.4 Roster 3 Player stats 3.1 Batting 3.1.1 Starters by position 3.1.2 Other batters 3.2 Pitching 3.2.1 Starting pitchers 3.2.2 Other pitchers 3.2.3 Relief pitchers 4 Awards and honors 4.1 All-Stars 5 Farm system 6 Notes 7 References

Offseason

• October 25, 1973: Bill Madlock and Vic Harris were traded by the Rangers to the Chicago Cubs for Ferguson Jenkins.^[1]

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

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	GB	Pct.
Oakland Athletics	90	72	--	.556
Texas Rangers	84	76	5	.525
Minnesota Twins	82	80	8	.506
Chicago White Sox	80	80	9	.500
Kansas City Royals	77	85	13	.475
California Angels	68	94	22	.420

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
  • Tommy Boggs was drafted by the Rangers in the 1st round (2nd pick).^[4]
  • Gary Gray was drafted by the Rangers in the 10th round.^[5]

Roster

1974 Texas Rangers
Roster
Pitchers 30 Lloyd Allen 22 Jim Bibby 40 Pete Broberg 28 Jackie Brown 32 David Clyde 24 Steve Dunning 29 Steve Foucault 34 Bill Hands 26 Steve Hargan 31 Ferguson Jenkins 16 Jim Merritt 25 Jim Shellenback 36 Don Stanhouse 46 Jeff Terpko 23 Stan Thomas		Catchers  8 Dick Billings 14 Bill Fahey  2 Duke Sims 10 Jim Sundberg Infielders 18 Larry Brown 19 Leo Cárdenas  4 Mike Cubbage 17 Jim Fregosi 21 Mike Hargrove 11 Toby Harrah 27 Roy Howell 24 Pete Mackanin  5 Dave Nelson  7 Lenny Randle 38 Tom Robson  3 Jim Spencer		Outfielders 20 Jeff Burroughs  6 Tom Grieve 15 Alex Johnson  8 Bobby Jones  9 Joe Lovitto 12 César Tovar Other batters 30 Dave Moates		Manager  1 Billy Martin Coaches 45 Merl Combs 41 Art Fowler 44 Frank Lucchesi 42 Jackie Moore 43 Charlie Silvera

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
C	Sundberg, JimJim Sundberg	132	368	91	.247	3	36
1B	Hargrove, MikeMike Hargrove	131	415	134	.323	4	66
2B	Nelson, DaveDave Nelson	121	474	112	.236	3	42
3B	Randle, LennyLenny Randle	151	520	157	.302	1	49
SS	Harrah, TobyToby Harrah	161	573	149	.260	21	74
LF	Johnson, AlexAlex Johnson	114	453	132	.291	4	41
CF	Lovitto, JoeJoe Lovitto	113	283	63	.223	2	26
RF	Burroughs, JeffJeff Burroughs	152	554	167	.301	25	118
DH	Spencer, JimJim Spencer	118	352	98	.278	7	74

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
Tovar, CésarCésar Tovar	138	562	164	.292	4	58
Grieve, TomTom Grieve	84	259	66	.255	9	32
Fregosi, JimJim Fregosi	78	230	60	.261	12	34
Cárdenas, LeoLeo Cárdenas	34	92	25	.272	0	7
Brown, LarryLarry Brown	54	76	15	.197	0	5
Howell, RoyRoy Howell	13	44	11	.250	1	3
Billings, DickDick Billings	16	31	7	.226	0	0
Cubbage, MikeMike Cubbage	9	15	0	.000	0	0
Jones, BobbyBobby Jones	2	5	0	.000	0	0
Moates, DaveDave Moates	1	0	0	----	0	0

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
Bibby, JimJim Bibby	41	264	19	19	4.74	149
Jenkins, FergusonFerguson Jenkins	41	328.1	25	12	2.82	225
Brown, JackieJackie Brown	35	216.2	13	12	3.57	134
Clyde, DavidDavid Clyde	28	117	3	9	4.38	52

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
Broberg, PetePete Broberg	12	29	0	4	8.07	15

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
Foucault, SteveSteve Foucault	69	8	9	12	2.24	106
Merritt, JimJim Merritt	26	0	0	0	4.13	18
Allen, LloydLloyd Allen	14	0	1	0	6.55	18
Thomas, StanStan Thomas	12	0	0	0	6.59	8
Dunning, SteveSteve Dunning	1	0	0	0	19.29	1

Awards and honors

• Jeff Burroughs, AL MVP
• Mike Hargrove, AL Rookie of the Year
• Ferguson Jenkins, Comeback Player of The Year
• Billy Martin, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year

All-Stars

1974 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Jeff Burroughs, left field, starter
• Jim Sundberg, reserve

Farm system

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

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6. 
• 1974 Texas Rangers team page at Baseball Reference
• 1974 Texas Rangers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com

1974 MLB season by team AL East Baltimore • Boston • Cleveland • Detroit • Milwaukee • New York AL West California • Chicago • Kansas City • Minnesota • Oakland • Texas NL East Chicago • Montréal • New York • Philadelphia • Pittsburgh • St. Louis NL West Atlanta • Cincinnati • Houston • Los Angeles • San Diego • San Francisco 1974 All-Star Game • 1974 World Series

Texas Rangers Formerly the Washington Senators • Based in Arlington, Texas (Dallas–Ft. Worth) The Franchise Expansion Draft • History • Seasons • Team Records • No-hitters • Awards & League Leaders • Broadcasters • Owners and executives • Managers • Players • Roster • Captain • First-round draft picks • Washington Senators • Continental League Ballparks Griffith Stadium • RFK Stadium • Arlington Stadium • Rangers Ballpark in Arlington Spring Training: Pompano Beach Municipal Park • Ranger Stadium • Surprise Stadium Retired Numbers 26 • 34 • 42 Key Personnel CEO: Nolan Ryan • General Manager: Jon Daniels • Manager: Ron Washington • Team Captain: Michael Young Texas Rangers Hall of Fame Buddy Bell • Rusty Greer • Tom Grieve • Toby Harrah • Mark Holtz • Charlie Hough • Ferguson Jenkins • Johnny Oates • Kenny Rogers • Nolan Ryan • Rubén Sierra • Jim Sundberg • Tom Vandergriff • John Wetteland Division Titles Western: 1996 • 1998 • 1999 • 2010 • 2011 • Wild Card: none American League Championships 2010 • 2011 Rivalries Houston Astros Minors AAA: Round Rock Express | AA: Frisco RoughRiders | A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans • Hickory Crawdads • Spokane Indians | Rookie: AZL Rangers • DSL Rangers   Seasons (52) 1960s 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 1970s 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 1980s 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 1990s 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 2000s 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 2010s 2010 • 2011 • 2012