# 1974 Detroit Tigers season

The 1974 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 74th season and the 63rd season at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers compiled a record of 72–90. They finished in last place in the American League East, 19 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. They were outscored by their opponents 768 to 620.

## Offseason

* October 25, 1973: Frank Howard was released by the Tigers.
* December 3, 1973: Tony Taylor was released by the Tigers.
* March 19, 1974: The Tigers traded Ed Farmer to the New York Yankees and Jim Perry to the Cleveland Indians as part of a three-team trade. The Yankees sent Jerry Moses to the Tigers. The Indians sent Walt Williams and Rick Sawyer to the Yankees.

## Regular season

1974 was Al Kaline's final season after 22 years as a Tiger (1953–1974). He became the 12th player to join the 3,000 hit club on September 24.
On September 7, the Yankees' Graig Nettles hit a home run against the Tigers. The next time up, he hit a broken-bat single. Tigers catcher Bill Freehan scrambled for the six superballs that came bouncing out. Nettles was called out on the single, but his solo homer was allowed and the made all the difference as the Yankees won 1–0.

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Baltimore Orioles | 91 | 71 | .562 | — | 46‍–‍35 | 45‍–‍36 |
| New York Yankees | 89 | 73 | .549 | 2 | 47‍–‍34 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Boston Red Sox | 84 | 78 | .519 | 7 | 46‍–‍35 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Cleveland Indians | 77 | 85 | .475 | 14 | 40‍–‍41 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 76 | 86 | .469 | 15 | 40‍–‍41 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Detroit Tigers | 72 | 90 | .444 | 19 | 36‍–‍45 | 36‍–‍45 |

### Record vs. opponents

1974 American League recordvte Sources: :
| 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

* June 10, 1974: Tim Corcoran was signed as an amateur free agent by the Tigers.

#### Draft picks

* June 5, 1974: 1974 Major League Baseball draft
** Mark Fidrych was drafted by the Tigers in the 10th round.
** Rob Picciolo was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round (6th pick) of the secondary phase, but did not sign.

### Roster
## Player stats
### 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 | Jerry Moses | 74 | 198 | 47 | .237 | 4 | 19 |
| 1B | Bill Freehan | 130 | 445 | 132 | .297 | 18 | 60 |
| 2B | Gary Sutherland | 149 | 619 | 157 | .254 | 5 | 49 |
| 3B | Aurelio Rodríguez | 159 | 571 | 127 | .222 | 5 | 49 |
| SS | Ed Brinkman | 153 | 502 | 111 | .221 | 14 | 54 |
| LF | Willie Horton | 72 | 238 | 71 | .298 | 15 | 47 |
| CF | Mickey Stanley | 99 | 394 | 87 | .221 | 8 | 34 |
| RF | Jim Northrup | 97 | 376 | 89 | .237 | 11 | 42 |
| DH | Al Kaline | 147 | 558 | 146 | .262 | 13 | 64 |

#### 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 |
| Ron LeFlore | 59 | 254 | 66 | .260 | 2 | 13 |
| Ben Oglivie | 92 | 252 | 68 | .270 | 4 | 29 |
| Norm Cash | 53 | 149 | 34 | .228 | 7 | 12 |
| Jim Nettles | 43 | 141 | 32 | .227 | 6 | 17 |
| Dick Sharon | 60 | 129 | 28 | .217 | 2 | 10 |
| Marvin Lane | 50 | 103 | 24 | .233 | 2 | 9 |
| Gates Brown | 73 | 99 | 24 | .242 | 4 | 17 |
| Reggie Sanders | 26 | 99 | 27 | .273 | 3 | 10 |
| Gene Lamont | 60 | 92 | 20 | .217 | 3 | 8 |
| John Knox | 55 | 88 | 27 | .307 | 0 | 6 |
| Leon Roberts | 17 | 63 | 17 | .270 | 0 | 7 |
| Ron Cash | 20 | 62 | 14 | .226 | 0 | 5 |
| Tom Veryzer | 22 | 55 | 13 | .236 | 2 | 9 |
| Dan Meyer | 13 | 50 | 10 | .200 | 3 | 7 |
| John Wockenfuss | 13 | 29 | 4 | .138 | 0 | 2 |
| Ike Brown | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Mickey Lolich | 41 | 308.0 | 16 | 21 | 4.15 | 202 |
| Joe Coleman | 41 | 285.2 | 14 | 12 | 4.32 | 177 |
| Lerrin LaGrow | 37 | 216.1 | 8 | 19 | 4.66 | 85 |
| Woodie Fryman | 27 | 141.2 | 6 | 9 | 4.32 | 92 |

#### 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 |
| Luke Walker | 28 | 92.0 | 5 | 5 | 4.99 | 52 |
| Bill Slayback | 16 | 54.2 | 1 | 3 | 4.77 | 23 |
| Fred Holdsworth | 8 | 35.2 | 0 | 3 | 4.29 | 16 |
| Vern Ruhle | 5 | 33.0 | 2 | 0 | 2.73 | 10 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W= Wins; L= Losses; SV = Saves; GF = Games Finished; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | GF | ERA | SO |
| John Hiller | 59 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 52 | 2.64 | 134 |
| Jim Ray | 28 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 19 | 4.47 | 26 |
| Dave Lemanczyk | 22 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 4.00 | 52 |
| Chuck Seelbach | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4.70 | 0 |

## Awards and honors
### Records

John Hiller
* American League record, most wins in one season by a relief pitcher (17)
* Major league record (since broken), most saves in one season by a left-handed pitcher (38)

### Milestones

Al Kaline became the 12th player in the 3,000 hit club on September 24

### League top ten finishers

Joe Coleman
* AL leader in hit batsmen (12)
* #2 in MLB in games started (41)
* #2 in MLB in home runs allowed (30)
* #2 in MLB in bases on balls allowed (158)
* #3 in MLB in earned runs allowed (137)
* #3 in AL in wild pitches (13)
* #6 in MLB in batters faced (1262)
Bill Freehan
* #5 in AL in slugging percentage (.479)
John Hiller
* #6 in AL in games finished (52)
* #7 in AL in saves (13)
Al Kaline
* 3rd oldest player in AL (39)
Lerrin LaGrow
* #3 in AL in losses (19)
* #4 in AL in wild pitches (12)
* #8 in AL in earned runs allowed (112)
Mickey Lolich
* MLB leader in home runs allowed (38)
* AL leader in losses (21)
* MLB leader in earned runs allowed (142)
* #2 in MLB in games started (41)
* #2 in MLB in hits allowed (310)
* #3 in MLB in complete games (27)
* #4 in AL in strikeout to walk ratio (2.59)
* #5 in AL in strikeouts (202)
* #5 in MLB in batters faced (1263)
* #7 in MLB in innings pitched (308)
Aurelio Rodríguez
* AL leader in games at third base (159)
* AL leader in innings at third base (1391-2/3)
* #4 in AL in games played (159)
* #5 in AL in outs (470)
Gary Sutherland
* AL leader in outs (489)
* #2 in AL in at bats per strikeout (16.7)
* #3 in AL in at bats (619)
* #4 in AL in singles (131)

### Players ranking among top 100 all time at position

The following members of the 1975 Detroit Tigers are among the Top 100 of all time at their position, as ranked by The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001:
* Bill Freehan: 12th best catcher of all time
* Norm Cash: 20th best first baseman of all time
* Aurelio Rodríguez: 91st best third baseman of all time
* Al Kaline: 11th best right fielder of all time
* Willie Horton: 55th best left fielder of all time
* Mickey Lolich: 72nd best pitcher of all time

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Evansville Triplets | American Association | Fred Hatfield |
| AA | Montgomery Rebels | Southern League | Jim Leyland |
| A | Lakeland Tigers | Florida State League | Stubby Overmire |
| A | Clinton Pilots | Midwest League | Len Okrie |
| Rookie | Bristol Tigers | Appalachian League | Joe Lewis |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Bristol