# 1974 Chicago Cubs season

The 1974 Chicago Cubs season was the 103rd season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 99th in the National League and the 59th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished sixth and last in the National League East with a record of 66–96.

## Offseason

* October 25, 1973: Ferguson Jenkins was traded by the Cubs to the Texas Rangers for Bill Madlock and Vic Harris.
* November 3, 1973: Bob Locker was traded by the Cubs to the Oakland Athletics for Horacio Piña.
* November 7, 1973: Glenn Beckert and Bobby Fenwick were traded by the Cubs to the San Diego Padres for Jerry Morales.
* December 11, 1973: Ron Santo was traded by the Cubs to the Chicago White Sox for Steve Stone, Ken Frailing, and Steve Swisher and a player to be named later. The White Sox completed the deal by sending Jim Kremmel to the Cubs on December 18.
* March 19, 1974: Ken Rudolph was traded by the Cubs to the San Francisco Giants for Willie Prall.

## Regular season

* July 31, 1974: Bill Bonham had four strikeouts in one inning.

### Season standings

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 |

### Record vs. opponents

1974 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 4–8 | 7–11–1 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 17–1 | 8–10 | 9–3 |
| Chicago | 8–4 | — | 5–7 | 4–8 | 2–10 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–13 |
| Cincinnati | 11–7–1 | 7–5 | — | 14–4 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 6–6 |
| Houston | 12–6 | 8–4 | 4–14 | — | 5–13 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–11 | 10–8 | 8–4 |
| Los Angeles | 10–8 | 10–2 | 12–6 | 13–5 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 16–2 | 12–6 | 6–6 |
| Montreal | 3–9 | 13–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 9–9 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–9 |
| New York | 4–8 | 10–8 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 9–9 | — | 7–11 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–12 |
| Philadelphia | 4-8 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 11–7 | — | 10–8 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 9–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | — | 9–3 | 8–4 | 7–11 |
| San Diego | 1–17 | 6–6 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 2–16 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 3–9 | — | 11–7 | 5–7 |
| San Francisco | 10–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 7–11 | — | 6–6 |
| St. Louis | 3–9 | 13–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 9–8 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 1, 1974: Paul Popovich was traded by the Cubs to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Tom Dettore and cash.
* June 5, 1974: George Riley was drafted by the Cubs in the 4th round of the 1974 Major League Baseball Draft.
* June 17, 1974: Oscar Zamora was purchased by the Cubs from the Houston Astros.
* July 28, 1974: Horacio Piña was traded by the Cubs to the California Angels for Rick Stelmaszek.

### 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 | Steve Swisher | 90 | 280 | 60 | .214 | 5 | 27 |
| 1B | Andre Thornton | 107 | 303 | 79 | .261 | 10 | 46 |
| 2B | Vic Harris | 62 | 200 | 39 | .195 | 0 | 11 |
| 3B | Bill Madlock | 128 | 453 | 142 | .313 | 9 | 54 |
| SS | Don Kessinger | 153 | 599 | 155 | .259 | 1 | 42 |
| LF | Jerry Morales | 151 | 534 | 146 | .273 | 15 | 82 |
| CF | Rick Monday | 142 | 538 | 158 | .294 | 20 | 58 |
| RF | José Cardenal | 143 | 542 | 159 | .293 | 13 | 72 |

#### 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 |
| Billy Williams | 117 | 404 | 113 | .280 | 16 | 68 |
| George Mitterwald | 78 | 215 | 54 | .251 | 7 | 28 |
| Carmen Fanzone | 65 | 158 | 30 | .190 | 4 | 22 |
| Dave Rosello | 62 | 148 | 30 | .203 | 0 | 10 |
| Chris Ward | 92 | 137 | 28 | .204 | 1 | 15 |
| Billy Grabarkewitz | 53 | 125 | 31 | .248 | 1 | 12 |
| Pete LaCock | 35 | 110 | 20 | .182 | 1 | 8 |
| Rob Sperring | 42 | 107 | 22 | .206 | 1 | 5 |
| Jim Tyrone | 57 | 81 | 15 | .185 | 3 | 3 |
| Ron Dunn | 23 | 68 | 20 | .294 | 2 | 15 |
| Matt Alexander | 45 | 54 | 11 | .204 | 0 | 0 |
| Rick Stelmaszek | 25 | 44 | 10 | .227 | 1 | 7 |
| Tom Lundstedt | 22 | 32 | 3 | .094 | 0 | 0 |
| Gene Hiser | 12 | 17 | 4 | .235 | 0 | 1 |
| Gonzalo Márquez | 11 | 11 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Adrian Garrett | 10 | 8 | 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 |
| Bill Bonham | 44 | 242.2 | 11 | 22 | 3.86 | 191 |
| Rick Reuschel | 41 | 240.2 | 13 | 12 | 4.30 | 160 |

#### 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 |
| Burt Hooton | 48 | 176.1 | 7 | 11 | 4.80 | 94 |
| Steve Stone | 38 | 169.2 | 8 | 6 | 4.14 | 90 |
| Ken Frailing | 55 | 125.1 | 6 | 9 | 3.88 | 71 |
| Jim Todd | 43 | 88.0 | 4 | 2 | 3.89 | 42 |
| Ray Burris | 40 | 75.0 | 3 | 5 | 6.60 | 40 |
| Tom Dettore | 16 | 64.2 | 3 | 5 | 4.18 | 43 |

#### 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 |
| Oscar Zamora | 56 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 3.12 | 38 |
| Dave LaRoche | 49 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4.79 | 49 |
| Horacio Piña | 34 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3.99 | 32 |
| Jim Kremmel | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5.23 | 22 |
| Herb Hutson | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.45 | 22 |
| Mike Paul | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 27.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Wichita Aeros | American Association | Mike Roarke |
| AA | Midland Cubs | Texas League | Walt Dixon |
| A | Key West Conchs | Florida State League | Jack Mull and Q. V. Lowe |
| Rookie | GCL Cubs | Gulf Coast League | Jack Mull |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL Cubs