# 1974 Major League Baseball season

The 1974 Major League Baseball season: The Oakland Athletics won their third consecutive World Series, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers four games to one.
Two notable personal milestones were achieved during the 1974 season. The first came on April 8, when Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves blasted his 715th career home run, breaking the all-time career home run mark of 714 set by Babe Ruth. Aaron would finish his career with 755 home runs, a record that would stand until Barry Bonds broke it in 2007. The second milestone came on September 10, when the St. Louis Cardinals' Lou Brock stole his 105th base off pitcher Dick Ruthven and catcher Bob Boone of the Philadelphia Phillies. This broke the single-season stolen base record of 104, set by Maury Wills in 1962. Brock stole 118 bases for the season, a record that would stand until 1982, when Rickey Henderson stole 130.

## Standings
### American League

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 |
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 |

### National League

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 88 | 74 | .543 | — | 52‍–‍29 | 36‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 86 | 75 | .534 | 1½ | 44‍–‍37 | 42‍–‍38 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 80 | 82 | .494 | 8 | 46‍–‍35 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Montreal Expos | 79 | 82 | .491 | 8½ | 42‍–‍38 | 37‍–‍44 |
| New York Mets | 71 | 91 | .438 | 17 | 36‍–‍45 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Chicago Cubs | 66 | 96 | .407 | 22 | 32‍–‍49 | 34‍–‍47 |
vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 102 | 60 | .630 | — | 52‍–‍29 | 50‍–‍31 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 98 | 64 | .605 | 4 | 50‍–‍31 | 48‍–‍33 |
| Atlanta Braves | 88 | 74 | .543 | 14 | 46‍–‍35 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Houston Astros | 81 | 81 | .500 | 21 | 46‍–‍35 | 35‍–‍46 |
| San Francisco Giants | 72 | 90 | .444 | 30 | 37‍–‍44 | 35‍–‍46 |
| San Diego Padres | 60 | 102 | .370 | 42 | 36‍–‍45 | 24‍–‍57 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| League Championship Series (ALCS, NLCS) | League Championship Series (ALCS, NLCS) | League Championship Series (ALCS, NLCS) | World Series | World Series | World Series |
| East | Baltimore | 1 | | | |
| West | Oakland | 3 | | | |
| West | Oakland | 3 | AL | Oakland | 4 |
| | | | NL | Los Angeles | 1 |
| East | Pittsburgh | 1 | NL | Los Angeles | 1 |
| West | Los Angeles | 3 | | | |

## Awards and honors

* Baseball Hall of Fame
** Cool Papa Bell
** Jim Bottomley
** Jocko Conlan
** Whitey Ford
** Mickey Mantle
** Sam Thompson
* Most Valuable Player
** Jeff Burroughs, Texas Rangers (AL)
** Steve Garvey, Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)
* Cy Young Award
** Catfish Hunter, Oakland Athletics (AL)
** Mike Marshall, Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)
* Rookie of the Year
** Mike Hargrove, Texas Rangers (AL)
** Bake McBride, St. Louis Cardinals (NL)
* Gold Glove Award
** George Scott (1B) (AL)
** Bobby Grich (2B) (AL)
** Brooks Robinson (3B) (AL)
** Mark Belanger (SS) (AL)
** Paul Blair (OF) (AL)
** Amos Otis (OF) (AL)
** Joe Rudi (OF) (AL)
** Thurman Munson (C) (AL)
** Jim Kaat (P) (AL)

## Statistical leaders

| Statistic | American League | American League | National League | National League |
| AVG | Rod Carew MIN | .364 | Ralph Garr ATL | .353 |
| HR | Dick Allen CWS | 32 | Mike Schmidt PHI | 36 |
| RBI | Jeff Burroughs TEX | 118 | Johnny Bench CIN | 129 |
| Wins | Catfish Hunter OAK Ferguson Jenkins TEX | 25 | Phil Niekro ATL Andy Messersmith LA | 20 |
| ERA | Catfish Hunter OAK | 2.49 | Buzz Capra ATL | 2.28 |
| SO | Nolan Ryan CAL | 367 | Steve Carlton PHI | 240 |
| SV | Terry Forster CWS | 24 | Mike Marshall LA | 21 |
| SB | Billy North OAK | 54 | Lou Brock STL | 118 |

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 102 | 7.4% | 2,632,474 | 23.2% | 32,500 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 98 | −1.0% | 2,164,307 | 7.3% | 26,394 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 86 | 6.2% | 1,838,413 | 16.8% | 22,696 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 80 | 12.7% | 1,808,648 | 22.5% | 22,329 |
| New York Mets | 71 | −13.4% | 1,722,209 | −9.9% | 21,262 |
| Boston Red Sox | 84 | −5.6% | 1,556,411 | 5.1% | 19,215 |
| New York Yankees | 89 | 11.3% | 1,273,075 | 0.9% | 15,717 |
| Detroit Tigers | 72 | −15.3% | 1,243,080 | −27.9% | 15,347 |
| Texas Rangers | 84 | 47.4% | 1,193,902 | 74.0% | 14,924 |
| Kansas City Royals | 77 | −12.5% | 1,173,292 | −12.8% | 14,485 |
| Chicago White Sox | 80 | 3.9% | 1,149,596 | −11.7% | 14,019 |
| Cleveland Indians | 77 | 8.5% | 1,114,262 | 81.1% | 13,756 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 88 | 10.0% | 1,110,552 | −15.9% | 13,711 |
| Houston Astros | 81 | −1.2% | 1,090,728 | −21.8% | 13,466 |
| San Diego Padres | 60 | 0.0% | 1,075,399 | 75.8% | 13,277 |
| Montreal Expos | 79 | 0.0% | 1,019,134 | −18.3% | 12,739 |
| Chicago Cubs | 66 | −14.3% | 1,015,378 | −24.9% | 12,536 |
| Atlanta Braves | 88 | 15.8% | 981,085 | 22.5% | 12,112 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 91 | −6.2% | 962,572 | 0.4% | 11,884 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 76 | 2.7% | 955,741 | −12.5% | 11,799 |
| California Angels | 68 | −13.9% | 917,269 | −13.3% | 11,324 |
| Oakland Athletics | 90 | −4.3% | 845,693 | −15.5% | 10,441 |
| Minnesota Twins | 82 | 1.2% | 662,401 | −27.0% | 8,078 |
| San Francisco Giants | 72 | −18.2% | 519,987 | −37.7% | 6,420 |

## Events

On August 30, Texas Rangers player Dave Nelson steals three bases – 2nd, 3rd and home in the first inning against the Cleveland Indians.

## Television coverage

NBC was the exclusive national TV broadcaster of MLB, airing the weekend Game of the Week, Monday Night Baseball, the All-Star Game, both League Championship Series, and the World Series.