# 1974 New York Yankees season

The 1974 New York Yankees season was the 72nd season for the team. The team finished second in the American League East with a record of 89–73, two games behind the Baltimore Orioles in Bill Virdon's first season as manager. The Yankees played at Shea Stadium due to the ongoing renovation of Yankee Stadium. This was the first season in which the away uniforms featured white outlines on the numbers and the city name. This would stay with the team for the next 50 seasons until it was retired just before the 2024 season when the white outline was removed (at the suggestion of team captain Aaron Judge) from the away jerseys, keeping the navy blue numbers.

## Offseason

The off-season became controversial when George Steinbrenner and Gabe Paul sought to hire former Oakland Athletics manager Dick Williams, who had resigned immediately after leading the team to its second straight World Series title. However, because Williams was still under contract to Oakland, A's owner Charlie Finley sought to block the move, the subsequent legal wrangling prevented the Yankees from hiring him. On the first anniversary of the team's ownership change, the Yankees hired former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Bill Virdon to lead the team on the field.

### Notable transactions

* December 6, 1973: Jim Mason was purchased by the Yankees from the Texas Rangers.
* December 7, 1973: Lindy McDaniel was traded by the Yankees to the Kansas City Royals for Lou Piniella and Ken Wright.
* December 10, 1973: Hal Lanier was released by the Yankees.
* December 11, 1973: Ron Swoboda was released by the Yankees.
* January 9, 1974: Ken Phelps was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 1974 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.
* March 19, 1974: Jerry Moses was traded by the Yankees to the Detroit Tigers as part of a 3-team trade. The Cleveland Indians sent Walt Williams and Rick Sawyer to the Yankees, and the Tigers sent Ed Farmer to the Yankees. The Tigers sent Jim Perry to the Indians.

## Regular season

* August 25, 1974: Nolan Ryan of the California Angels struck out Sandy Alomar Sr. of the Yankees for the 1500th strikeout of his career. Ryan and Alomar had been teammates at the beginning of the season, but Alomar had been sold to the Yankees on July 8.
* September 7, 1974: The Yankees' Graig Nettles hit a home run against the Detroit 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 that made all the difference as the Yankees won 1–0.

### Hall of Fame

Mickey Mantle and former teammate Whitey Ford were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame together in 1974, Mantle in his first year of eligibility, Ford in his second. Ford's number 16 was retired as well. Although Ford wore number 19 in his rookie season, following his return from the army in 1953, he wore number 16 for the remainder of his career.

### 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

* April 26, 1974: Fritz Peterson, Steve Kline, Fred Beene, and Tom Buskey were traded by the Yankees to the Cleveland Indians for Chris Chambliss, Dick Tidrow and Cecil Upshaw.
* May 4, 1974: Mike Pazik and cash were traded by the Yankees to the Minnesota Twins for Dick Woodson.
* May 31, 1974: Horace Clarke and Lowell Palmer were purchased from the Yankees by the San Diego Padres.
* June 5, 1974: Dennis Sherrill was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round (12th pick) of the 1974 Major League Baseball Draft.
* June 15, 1974: Rudy May was purchased by the Yankees from the California Angels.
* July 8, 1974: Sandy Alomar Sr. was purchased by the Yankees from the California Angels.
* September 29, 1974: Jesús Figueroa was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees.

### 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 | Thurman Munson | 144 | 517 | 135 | .261 | 13 | 60 |
| 1B | Chris Chambliss | 110 | 400 | 97 | .243 | 6 | 43 |
| 2B | Sandy Alomar Sr. | 76 | 279 | 75 | .269 | 1 | 27 |
| 3B | Graig Nettles | 155 | 566 | 139 | .246 | 22 | 75 |
| SS | Jim Mason | 152 | 440 | 110 | .250 | 5 | 37 |
| LF | Lou Piniella | 140 | 518 | 158 | .305 | 9 | 70 |
| CF | Elliott Maddox | 137 | 466 | 141 | .303 | 3 | 45 |
| RF | Bobby Murcer | 156 | 606 | 166 | .274 | 10 | 88 |
| DH | Ron Blomberg | 90 | 264 | 82 | .311 | 10 | 48 |

#### 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 |
| Roy White | 136 | 473 | 130 | .275 | 7 | 43 |
| Bill Sudakis | 89 | 259 | 60 | .232 | 7 | 39 |
| Gene Michael | 81 | 177 | 46 | .260 | 0 | 13 |
| Fernando González | 51 | 121 | 26 | .215 | 1 | 7 |
| Rick Dempsey | 43 | 109 | 26 | .239 | 2 | 12 |
| Otto Vélez | 27 | 67 | 14 | .209 | 2 | 10 |
| Mike Hegan | 18 | 53 | 12 | .226 | 2 | 9 |
| Walt Williams | 43 | 53 | 6 | .113 | 0 | 3 |
| Horace Clarke | 24 | 47 | 11 | .234 | 0 | 1 |
| Fred Stanley | 33 | 38 | 7 | .184 | 0 | 3 |
| Alex Johnson | 10 | 28 | 6 | .214 | 1 | 2 |
| Jim Ray Hart | 10 | 19 | 1 | .053 | 0 | 0 |
| Duke Sims | 5 | 15 | 2 | .133 | 0 | 2 |
| Terry Whitfield | 2 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Deidel | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Larry Murray | 6 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Pat Dobson | 39 | 281.0 | 19 | 15 | 3.07 | 157 |
| Doc Medich | 38 | 279.2 | 19 | 15 | 3.60 | 154 |
| Dick Tidrow | 33 | 190.2 | 11 | 9 | 3.87 | 100 |
| Rudy May | 17 | 114.1 | 8 | 4 | 2.28 | 90 |
| Mel Stottlemyre | 16 | 113.0 | 6 | 7 | 3.58 | 40 |
| Larry Gura | 8 | 56.0 | 5 | 1 | 2.41 | 17 |
| Steve Kline | 4 | 26.0 | 2 | 2 | 3.46 | 6 |

#### 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 |
| Dave Pagan | 16 | 49.1 | 1 | 3 | 5.11 | 39 |
| Sam McDowell | 13 | 48.0 | 1 | 6 | 4.69 | 33 |
| Dick Woodson | 8 | 28.0 | 1 | 2 | 5.79 | 12 |
| Fritz Peterson | 3 | 7.2 | 0 | 0 | 4.70 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Sparky Lyle | 66 | 9 | 3 | 15 | 1.66 | 89 |
| Cecil Upshaw | 36 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 3.02 | 27 |
| Mike Wallace | 23 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2.41 | 34 |
| Tippy Martinez | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.26 | 10 |
| Fred Beene | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.70 | 10 |
| Tom Buskey | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6.35 | 3 |
| Ken Wright | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.18 | 2 |
| Rick Sawyer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16.20 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Bill Virdon, The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Syracuse Chiefs | International League | Bobby Cox |
| AA | West Haven Yankees | Eastern League | Doc Edwards |
| A | Fort Lauderdale Yankees | Florida State League | Pete Ward |
| A-Short Season | Oneonta Yankees | New York–Penn League | Mike Ferraro |
| Rookie | Johnson City Yankees | Appalachian League | Gene Hassell |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Oneonta