1974 Minnesota Twins season

1974 Minnesota Twins
1974 Minnesota Twins
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Metropolitan Stadium
City	Bloomington, Minnesota
Owners	Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General managers	Calvin Griffith
Managers	Frank Quilici
Television	WCCO-TV; (Larry Calton, Ralph Fritz)
Radio	830 WCCO AM ; (Herb Carneal, Larry Calton)

The 1974 Minnesota Twins finished 82–80, third in the American League West.

Offseason

October 14, 1973: Joe Keough was purchased by the Twins from the Chicago White Sox.^[1]
December 3, 1973: Sergio Ferrer was drafted by the Twins from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1973 rule 5 draft.^[2]
On February 11, 1974, Dick Woodson became the first player to invoke the new free agency clause,^[3] as he sought $30,000, and the Twins offered $23,000.^[4] The arbitrator sided with Woodson.

Regular season

Only one Twins player made the All-Star Game, second baseman Rod Carew. Carew won his fourth AL batting title with a .364 average, and set a Minnesota record with 180 singles. Outfielder Bobby Darwin hit 25 HR and drove in 95 runs. Three pitchers had double digit wins: Bert Blyleven (17–17), Joe Decker (16–14), and Dave Goltz (10–10). Bill Campbell showed potential as a reliever, registering 19 saves and 8 relief wins.

Only 662,401 fans attended Twins games, the lowest total in the American League. It was half the number of fans that attended in the 1960s.

Season standings

v
t
e
AL West
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	90	72	.556	—	49‍–‍32	41‍–‍40
Texas Rangers	84	76	.525	5	42‍–‍38	42‍–‍38
Minnesota Twins	82	80	.506	8	48‍–‍33	34‍–‍47
Chicago White Sox	80	80	.500	9	46‍–‍34	34‍–‍46
Kansas City Royals	77	85	.475	13	40‍–‍41	37‍–‍44
California Angels	68	94	.420	22	36‍–‍45	32‍–‍49

Record vs. opponents

1974 American League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	TEX
Baltimore	—	10–8	7–5	5–7	12–6	14–4	8–4	8–10	6–6	11–7	6–6	4–8
Boston	8–10	—	4–8	8–4	9–9	11–7	4–8	10–8	6–6	11–7	8–4	5–7
California	5–7	8–4	—	10–8–1	3–9	5–7	8–10	3–9	8–10	3–9	6–12	9–9
Chicago	7–5	4–8	8–10–1	—	8–4	7–5	11–7	8–4	7–11–1	4–8	7–11	9–7–1
Cleveland	6–12	9–9	9–3	4–8	—	9–9	8–4	10–8	6–6	7–11	5–7	4–8
Detroit	4–14	7–11	7–5	5–7	9–9	—	7–5	9–9	3–9	11–7	5–7	5–7
Kansas City	4–8	8–4	10–8	7–11	4–8	5–7	—	11–1	8–10	4–8	8–10	8–10
Milwaukee	10–8	8–10	9–3	4–8	8–10	9–9	1–11	—	6–6	9–9	5–7	7–5
Minnesota	6–6	6–6	10–8	11–7–1	6–6	9–3	10–8	6–6	—	4–8	5–13	9–9
New York	7–11	7–11	9–3	8–4	11–7	7–11	8–4	9–9	8–4	—	7–5	8–4
Oakland	6–6	4–8	12–6	11–7	7–5	7–5	10–8	7–5	13–5	5–7	—	8–10
Texas	8–4	7–5	9–9	7–9–1	8–4	7–5	10–8	5–7	9–9	4–8	10–8	—

Notable transactions

May 4, 1974: Dick Woodson was traded by the Twins to the New York Yankees for Mike Pazik and cash.^[5]
June 5, 1974: Joe Lis was purchased from the Twins by the Cleveland Indians.^[6]
June 5, 1974: Butch Wynegar was drafted by the Twins in the 2nd round of the 1974 Major League Baseball draft.^[7]
August 19, 1974: Jim Holt was traded by the Twins to the Oakland Athletics for Pat Bourque.^[8]

Roster

1974 Minnesota Twins

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

6 Tony Oliva

Manager

43 Frank Quilici

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

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	Glenn Borgmann	128	345	87	.252	3	45
1B	Craig Kusick	76	201	48	.239	8	26
2B	Rod Carew	153	599	218	.364	3	55
SS	Danny Thompson	97	264	66	.250	4	25
3B	Eric Soderholm	141	464	128	.276	10	51
LF	Steve Braun	129	453	127	.280	8	40
CF	Steve Brye	135	488	138	.283	2	41
RF	Bobby Darwin	152	575	152	.264	25	94
DH	Tony Oliva	127	459	131	.285	13	57

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
Larry Hisle	143	510	146	.286	19	79
Harmon Killebrew	122	333	74	.222	13	54
Jerry Terrell	116	229	56	.245	0	19
Jim Holt	79	197	50	.254	0	16
Luis Gómez	82	168	35	.208	0	3
Phil Roof	44	97	19	.196	2	13
Randy Hundley	32	88	17	.193	0	3
Pat Bourque	23	64	14	.219	1	8
Sergio Ferrer	24	57	16	.281	0	0
Joe Lis	24	41	8	.195	0	3

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
Bert Blyleven	37	281.0	17	17	2.66	249
Joe Decker	37	248.2	16	14	3.29	158
Dave Goltz	28	174.1	10	10	3.25	89
Dick Woodson	5	27.0	1	1	4.33	12
Jim Hughes	2	10.1	0	2	5.23	8

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
Vic Albury	32	164.0	8	9	4.12	85
Bill Hands	35	115.1	4	5	4.45	74
Ray Corbin	29	112.1	7	6	5.29	50
Bill Butler	26	98.2	4	6	4.10	79

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
Bill Campbell	63	8	7	19	2.62	89
Tom Burgmeier	50	5	3	4	4.52	34
Tom Johnson	4	2	0	1	0.00	4
Danny Fife	4	0	0	0	17.36	3

Awards and honors

Danny Thompson, Hutch Award^[9]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tacoma Twins	Pacific Coast League	Cal Ermer
AA	Orlando Twins	Southern League	Dick Phillips
A	Lynchburg Twins	Carolina League	Harry Warner
A	Wisconsin Rapids Twins	Midwest League	Johnny Goryl
Rookie	Elizabethton Twins	Appalachian League	Bob Butler

Notes

^ Joe Keough at Baseball Reference
^ Sergio Ferrer at Baseball Reference
^ "Famous Firsts in the Expansion Era of Major league Baseball". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved August 7, 2008.
^ "First baseball arbitration". www.brainyhistory.com. Retrieved August 7, 2008.
^ Mike Pazik at Baseball Reference
^ Joe Lis at Baseball Reference
^ Butch Wynegar at Baseball-Reference
^ Pat Bourque at Baseball Reference
^ "Hutch Award | Baseball Almanac".

References

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.
Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com
Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com

[1] Joe Keough at Baseball Reference

[2] Sergio Ferrer at Baseball Reference

[firsts-3] "Famous Firsts in the Expansion Era of Major league Baseball". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved August 7, 2008.

[brainyhistory-4] "First baseball arbitration". www.brainyhistory.com. Retrieved August 7, 2008.

[5] Mike Pazik at Baseball Reference

[6] Joe Lis at Baseball Reference

[7] Butch Wynegar at Baseball-Reference

[8] Pat Bourque at Baseball Reference

[9] "Hutch Award | Baseball Almanac".

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