# 1974 Texas Rangers season

The 1974 Texas Rangers season was the 14th of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 3rd in Arlington as the Rangers, and the 3rd season at Arlington Stadium. The Rangers finished 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.

## Offseason

* October 25, 1973: Bill Madlock and Vic Harris were traded by the Rangers to the Chicago Cubs for Ferguson Jenkins.

## 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.

### 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

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 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 25, 1974: Mike Kekich was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.
* June 5, 1974: 1974 Major League Baseball Draft
** Tommy Boggs was drafted by the Rangers in the 1st round (2nd pick).
** Gary Gray was drafted by the Rangers in the 10th round.

### Roster
## 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 | Jim Sundberg | 132 | 368 | 91 | .247 | 3 | 36 |
| 1B | Mike Hargrove | 131 | 415 | 134 | .323 | 4 | 66 |
| 2B | Dave Nelson | 121 | 474 | 112 | .236 | 3 | 42 |
| 3B | Lenny Randle | 151 | 520 | 157 | .302 | 1 | 49 |
| SS | Toby Harrah | 161 | 573 | 149 | .260 | 21 | 74 |
| LF | Alex Johnson | 114 | 453 | 132 | .291 | 4 | 41 |
| CF | Joe Lovitto | 113 | 283 | 63 | .223 | 2 | 26 |
| RF | Jeff Burroughs | 152 | 554 | 167 | .301 | 25 | 118 |
| DH | Jim 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 |
| César Tovar | 138 | 562 | 164 | .292 | 4 | 58 |
| Tom Grieve | 84 | 259 | 66 | .255 | 9 | 32 |
| Jim Fregosi | 78 | 230 | 60 | .261 | 12 | 34 |
| Duke Sims | 39 | 106 | 22 | .208 | 3 | 6 |
| Leo Cárdenas | 34 | 92 | 25 | .272 | 0 | 7 |
| Larry Brown | 54 | 76 | 15 | .197 | 0 | 5 |
| Roy Howell | 13 | 44 | 11 | .250 | 1 | 3 |
| Dick Billings | 16 | 31 | 7 | .226 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Fahey | 6 | 16 | 4 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Cubbage | 9 | 15 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Robson | 6 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 2 |
| Pete Mackanin | 2 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Jones | 2 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave 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 |
| Ferguson Jenkins | 41 | 328.1 | 25 | 12 | 2.82 | 225 |
| Jim Bibby | 41 | 264.0 | 19 | 19 | 4.74 | 149 |
| Jackie Brown | 35 | 216.2 | 13 | 12 | 3.57 | 134 |
| Steve Hargan | 37 | 186.2 | 12 | 9 | 3.95 | 98 |
| David Clyde | 28 | 117.0 | 3 | 9 | 4.38 | 52 |
| Bill Hands | 2 | 14.0 | 2 | 0 | 1.93 | 4 |

#### 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 |
| Pete Broberg | 12 | 29.0 | 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 |
| Steve Foucault | 69 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 2.24 | 106 |
| Jim Merritt | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.13 | 18 |
| Don Stanhouse | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.88 | 26 |
| Lloyd Allen | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.55 | 18 |
| Stan Thomas | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.59 | 8 |
| Jim Shellenback | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.84 | 14 |
| Jeff Terpko | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.29 | 3 |
| Steve 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