# 1974 Minnesota Twins season

The 1974 Minnesota Twins finished 82–80, third in the American League West.

## Offseason

* October 14, 1973: Joe Keough was purchased by the Twins from the Chicago White Sox.
* December 3, 1973: Sergio Ferrer was drafted by the Twins from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1973 rule 5 draft.
* On February 11, 1974, Dick Woodson became the first player to invoke the new free agency clause, as he sought $30,000, and the Twins offered $23,000. The arbitrator sided with Woodson.

## Regular season

Only one Twins player made the All-Star Game, second baseman Rod Carew. Carew won his fourth AL batting title with a .364 average, and set a Minnesota record with 180 singles. Outfielder Bobby Darwin hit 25 HR and drove in 95 runs. Three pitchers had double digit wins: Bert Blyleven (17–17), Joe Decker (16–14), and Dave Goltz (10–10). Bill Campbell showed potential as a reliever, registering 19 saves and 8 relief wins.
Only 662,401 fans attended Twins games, the lowest total in the American League. It was half the number of fans that attended in the 1960s.

### 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

* May 4, 1974: Dick Woodson was traded by the Twins to the New York Yankees for Mike Pazik and cash.
* June 5, 1974: Joe Lis was purchased from the Twins by the Cleveland Indians.
* June 5, 1974: Butch Wynegar was drafted by the Twins in the 2nd round of the 1974 Major League Baseball draft.
* August 19, 1974: Jim Holt was traded by the Twins to the Oakland Athletics for Pat Bourque.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### 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 | Glenn Borgmann | 128 | 345 | 87 | .252 | 3 | 45 |
| 1B | Craig Kusick | 76 | 201 | 48 | .239 | 8 | 26 |
| 2B | Rod Carew | 153 | 599 | 218 | .364 | 3 | 55 |
| SS | Danny Thompson | 97 | 264 | 66 | .250 | 4 | 25 |
| 3B | Eric Soderholm | 141 | 464 | 128 | .276 | 10 | 51 |
| LF | Steve Braun | 129 | 453 | 127 | .280 | 8 | 40 |
| CF | Steve Brye | 135 | 488 | 138 | .283 | 2 | 41 |
| RF | Bobby Darwin | 152 | 575 | 152 | .264 | 25 | 94 |
| DH | Tony Oliva | 127 | 459 | 131 | .285 | 13 | 57 |

#### 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 |
| Larry Hisle | 143 | 510 | 146 | .286 | 19 | 79 |
| Harmon Killebrew | 122 | 333 | 74 | .222 | 13 | 54 |
| Jerry Terrell | 116 | 229 | 56 | .245 | 0 | 19 |
| Jim Holt | 79 | 197 | 50 | .254 | 0 | 16 |
| Luis Gómez | 82 | 168 | 35 | .208 | 0 | 3 |
| Phil Roof | 44 | 97 | 19 | .196 | 2 | 13 |
| Randy Hundley | 32 | 88 | 17 | .193 | 0 | 3 |
| Pat Bourque | 23 | 64 | 14 | .219 | 1 | 8 |
| Sergio Ferrer | 24 | 57 | 16 | .281 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Lis | 24 | 41 | 8 | .195 | 0 | 3 |

### 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 |
| Bert Blyleven | 37 | 281.0 | 17 | 17 | 2.66 | 249 |
| Joe Decker | 37 | 248.2 | 16 | 14 | 3.29 | 158 |
| Dave Goltz | 28 | 174.1 | 10 | 10 | 3.25 | 89 |
| Dick Woodson | 5 | 27.0 | 1 | 1 | 4.33 | 12 |
| Jim Hughes | 2 | 10.1 | 0 | 2 | 5.23 | 8 |

#### 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 |
| Vic Albury | 32 | 164.0 | 8 | 9 | 4.12 | 85 |
| Bill Hands | 35 | 115.1 | 4 | 5 | 4.45 | 74 |
| Ray Corbin | 29 | 112.1 | 7 | 6 | 5.29 | 50 |
| Bill Butler | 26 | 98.2 | 4 | 6 | 4.10 | 79 |

#### 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 |
| Bill Campbell | 63 | 8 | 7 | 19 | 2.62 | 89 |
| Tom Burgmeier | 50 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4.52 | 34 |
| Tom Johnson | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 4 |
| Danny Fife | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17.36 | 3 |

## Awards and honors

* Danny Thompson, Hutch Award

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Tacoma Twins | Pacific Coast League | Cal Ermer |
| AA | Orlando Twins | Southern League | Dick Phillips |
| A | Lynchburg Twins | Carolina League | Harry Warner |
| A | Wisconsin Rapids Twins | Midwest League | Johnny Goryl |
| Rookie | Elizabethton Twins | Appalachian League | Bob Butler |