# 1974 Kansas City Royals season

The 1974 Kansas City Royals season was their sixth in Major League Baseball. The Royals finished fifth in the American League West at 77–85, 13 games behind the Oakland Athletics. Pitcher Steve Busby set a single-season franchise record with 22 victories.

## Offseason

* October 24, 1973: Dick Drago was traded by the Royals to the Boston Red Sox for Marty Pattin.
* December 7, 1973: Lou Piniella and Ken Wright were traded by the Royals to the New York Yankees for Lindy McDaniel. Baseball author Bill James called the trade the only clinker the Royals made during the 1970s.
* January 9, 1974: Mark Souza was drafted by the Royals in the 1st round (17th pick) of the 1974 Major League Baseball draft.

## Regular season
### Notable transactions

* April 30, 1974: Paul Schaal was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Richie Scheinblum.
* June 5, 1974: 1974 Major League Baseball draft
** Willie Wilson was drafted by the Royals in the 1st round (18th pick).
** Scott Sanderson was drafted by the Royals in the 11th round, but did not sign.
* June 11, 1974: Doug Corbett was signed by the Royals as an amateur free agent.
* August 6, 1974: Orlando Cepeda signed as a free agent by the Royals.
* September 27, 1974: Orlando Cepeda was released by the Royals.

### Season standings

vteAL 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 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 | — |

### 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 | Fran Healy | 139 | 445 | 112 | .252 | 9 | 53 |
| 1B | John Mayberry | 126 | 427 | 100 | .234 | 22 | 69 |
| 2B | Cookie Rojas | 144 | 542 | 147 | .271 | 6 | 60 |
| SS | Freddie Patek | 149 | 537 | 121 | .225 | 3 | 38 |
| 3B | George Brett | 133 | 457 | 129 | .282 | 2 | 47 |
| LF | Jim Wohlford | 143 | 501 | 136 | .271 | 2 | 44 |
| CF | Amos Otis | 146 | 552 | 157 | .284 | 12 | 73 |
| RF | Vada Pinson | 115 | 406 | 112 | .276 | 6 | 41 |
| DH | Hal McRae | 148 | 539 | 167 | .310 | 15 | 88 |

#### 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 |
| Al Cowens | 110 | 269 | 65 | .242 | 1 | 25 |
| Howard Gold | 96 | 239 | 64 | .268 | 11 | 30 |
| Frank White | 99 | 204 | 45 | .221 | 1 | 18 |
| Buck Martinez | 43 | 107 | 23 | .215 | 1 | 8 |
| Orlando Cepeda | 33 | 107 | 23 | .215 | 1 | 18 |
| Kurt Bevacqua | 39 | 90 | 19 | .211 | 0 | 3 |
| Richie Scheinblum | 36 | 83 | 15 | .181 | 0 | 2 |
| Paul Schaal | 12 | 34 | 6 | .176 | 1 | 4 |
| Fernando González | 9 | 21 | 3 | .143 | 0 | 2 |
| Dennis Paepke | 6 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Floyd | 10 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 0 | 0 |
| Rick Reichardt | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 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 |
| Steve Busby | 38 | 292.1 | 22 | 14 | 3.39 | 198 |
| Paul Splittorff | 36 | 226.0 | 13 | 19 | 4.10 | 90 |
| Al Fitzmorris | 34 | 190.0 | 13 | 6 | 2.79 | 53 |
| Bruce Dal Canton | 31 | 175.1 | 8 | 10 | 3.13 | 96 |
| Nelson Briles | 17 | 103.0 | 5 | 7 | 4.02 | 41 |

#### 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 |
| Marty Pattin | 25 | 117.1 | 3 | 7 | 3.99 | 50 |
| Dennis Leonard | 5 | 22.0 | 0 | 4 | 5.32 | 8 |
| Aurelio López | 8 | 16.0 | 0 | 0 | 5.63 | 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 |
| Doug Bird | 55 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 2.73 | 62 |
| Lindy McDaniel | 38 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3.46 | 47 |
| Steve Mingori | 36 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2.81 | 43 |
| Joe Hoerner | 30 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3.82 | 24 |
| Gene Garber | 17 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4.82 | 14 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Omaha Royals | American Association | Harry Malmberg |
| AA | Jacksonville Suns | Southern League | Billy Gardner |
| A | San Jose Bees | California League | Steve Boros |
| A | Waterloo Royals | Midwest League | John Sullivan |
| Rookie | GCL Royals | Gulf Coast League | Bill Scripture |
| Rookie | GCL Royals Academy | Gulf Coast League | Billy Goodman |