1974 in baseball

The following are the baseball events of the year 1974 throughout the world.

Major League Baseball

 * 1974 World Series: Oakland Athletics over Los Angeles Dodgers (4-1); Rollie Fingers, MVP
 * American League Championship Series: Oakland Athletics (West) over Baltimore Orioles (East) (3-1)
 * National League Championship Series: Los Angeles Dodgers (West) over Pittsburgh Pirates (East) (3-1)
 * All-Star Game, July 23 at Three Rivers Stadium: National League, 7-2; Steve Garvey, MVP

Other champions

 * Caribbean World Series: Criollos de Caguas (Puerto Rico)
 * College World Series: USC
 * Japan Series: Lotte Orions over Chunichi Dragons (4-2)
 * Little League World Series: Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Awards and honors

 * Most Valuable Player
 * Jeff Burroughs (AL)
 * Steve Garvey (NL)
 * Cy Young Award
 * Catfish Hunter (AL)
 * Mike Marshall (NL)
 * Rookie of the Year
 * Mike Hargrove (AL)
 * Bake McBride (NL)

January-March

 * January 16 - The Baseball Writers Association of America elects former New York Yankees teammates Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford to the Hall of Fame. Mantle becomes only the seventh player to make it in his first try.


 * February 13 - Cool Papa Bell is named for Hall of Fame honors by the Special Committee on the Negro Leagues.


 * February 23 - The California Angels send veteran Vada Pinson to Kansas City for a minor leaguer and cash consideration. Pinson will call it quits at the end of the 1975 season, having rung up 2757 hits.


 * March 26 - The Boston Red Sox release future Hall of Fame shortstop Luis Aparicio, who retires, and designated hitter Orlando Cepeda, who will sign with the Kansas City Royals.

April-June

 * April 14 - Graig Nettles of the New York Yankees hits four home runs during a doubleheader split against his former team, the Cleveland Indians. The Yankees win 9–5, then lose 6–9. Nettles will go on to tie a major league record with 11 home runs in the month of April.


 * May 1 - Dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits three consecutive batters with pitches in the first inning, setting a ML record, and walks another in the frame before being lifted. Pittsburgh loses 5–3 to the Cincinnati Reds.


 * May 30 - Sadaharu Oh becomes the first player in Japanese baseball to hit 600 home runs. Only Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays are ahead of Oh among U.S. players, but he will surpass them all.


 * June 11 - Mel Stottlemyre of the New York Yankees makes his 272nd consecutive start, with no relief appearances, to set an American League record.


 * June 19 - George Scott, who walks to lead off the second inning, is the Brewers' only base runner as Steve Busby of the Kansas City Royals hurls a 2–0 no-hitter. Busby is the first major league pitcher to throw no-hitters in his first two seasons.


 * June 21 - The Braves fire manager Eddie Mathews, the only man to have played for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta.


 * June 24 - Steve Busby of the Kansas City Royals retires the first nine batters he faces to set an American League record with 33 consecutive batsmen retired. The Royals lose, however, 3–1 to the Chicago White Sox.

July-September

 * July 11 - The San Diego Padres release outfielder Matty Alou. Alou's brother Felipe was released by the Milwaukee Brewers on April 29. Younger brother Jesús keeps the Alou name alive in the majors, playing for the Oakland Athletics.


 * July 14 - In a doubleheader with the Brewers, the Rangers' Billy Martin is the first American League manager to be removed by umpires from two games in one day.


 * July 17:
 * Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals strike outs César Gerónimo of the Cincinnati Reds to become the second pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters in the majors. Gerónimo will become Nolan Ryan's 3,000th strikeout victim six years later.
 * Milwaukee third baseman Don Money commits a first-inning error in a 10–5 loss to Minnesota, ending his perfect defensive season after 86 games and 257 chances. He will end the season with just five errors, breaking George Kell's record set in 1950. Money also holds the National League record with just 10 errors, set with the Phillies in 1972, and holds both the National League and American League records for most consecutive chances without an error in a season.


 * July 19 - Dick Bosman of the Cleveland Indians no-hits the Oakland Athletics 4–0. Bosman has no one but himself to blame for not picking up a rare perfect game. His throwing error in the fourth inning puts the only A's runner on base. The two clubs combine to set an American League record with two runners left on base.


 * July 23 - The National League triumphs in the All-Star Game at Pittsburgh, winning 7–2 over the American League. Steve Garvey is named the MVP.


 * August 20 - Davey Lopes sets a Dodgers record when he totals 15 bases against the Cubs in an 18–8 drubbing at Wrigley Field. Lopes has three home runs, a double and a single in his team's 24-hit attack. The Dodgers totaled 48 bases in the game, a team record.


 * August 27 - Hal McRae of the Kansas City Royals ties a ML record with six extra base hits with five doubles and a home run.


 * September 3 - In an amazing performance, SF Giants' John Montefusco makes his major league debut, hits a home run in his first official time at bat off Charlie Hough, and pitches nine innings of relief to earn a 9–5 victory over the Dodgers.


 * September 4 - Pitcher Don Wilson has a no-hitter through eight innings, but is pulled from the game by Houston Astros manager Preston Gomez. Reliever Mike Cosgrove gives up a leadoff single to Tony Pérez, and the Astros lose to the Cincinnati Reds, 2–1. Gomez made the same mistake in San Diego on July 21, 1970. Clay Kirby had a no-hitter going for eight innings, but with two outs in the 8th and trailing 1–0, Gomez lifted him for pinch hitter Cito Gaston. Gaston fails to get a hit, and reliever Jack Baldschun gives up two runs in the 9th. The Padres lose 3–0.


 * September 7 - During a 3–1 win over the Chicago White Sox, Nolan Ryan of the California Angels has a fastball clocked at 100.8 miles per hour (161.28 kilometres per hours)— the fastest pitch ever recorded.


 * September 10 - Cardinal Lou Brock breaks Maury Wills' major league record by stealing his 104th and 105th bases of the season. It also gives him 740 career stolen bases, breaking Max Carey's National League record of 738.


 * September 11 - The St. Louis Cardinals win a marathon night game against the New York Mets, after seven hours four minutes, and 25 innings, the longest game to a decision in major league history. Two Mets errors lead to the Cardinals' winning run, starting with an errant pickoff throw that allows Bake McBride to scamper all the way around from first. St. Louis wins, 4–3. The Mets go to the plate 103 times, the only time the century mark has been reached in a major league game; the Cards are not far behind with 99 plate appearances. All told, a record 175 official at-bats are recorded, with a major-league record 45 runners stranded. Only a thousand fans are on hand when the game ends at 3:13 a.m..


 * September 12 - Tigers pitcher John Hiller picks up his 17th victory in relief, an American League record, as he beats the Brewers, 9–7.


 * September 24:
 * Al Kaline of the Detroit Tigers doubles off Dave McNally for his 3,000th career hit, as the Tigers beat the Orioles 5–4.
 * Clarence Jones of the Kintetsu Buffaloes hits his 38th home run to become the first foreign player to win a HR title in Japanese baseball, topping the Pacific League. Sadaharu Oh will lead the Central League with 49 homers. Jones will lead the PL again with 36 HR in 1976.


 * September 28:
 * In his last start of the year, Nolan Ryan of the California Angels pitches his third career no-hitter, victimizing the Minnesota Twins, 4–0. In the process, Ryan strikes out 15 batters for the sixth time this season. He also walks eight to run his season total to 202 base on balls, joining Bob Feller in 1938 as the only pitcher to walk more than 200 in a season. Ryan will top 200 in 1977.
 * Don Wilson of the Houston Astros throws a 5–0, two-hit shutout against the Braves. It would be Wilson's last major league game, followed barely three months later by his suicide.

October-December

 * October 3 - Frank Robinson becomes the first black manager in major league history, as the Cleveland Indians name him to replace Ken Aspromonte for the 1975 season.


 * October 17 - At the Oakland Coliseum, the Oakland Athletics win the World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game Five, clinching a third straight World Championship. Reliever Rollie Fingers is named the Series MVP.


 * October 23 - Wally Yonamine, an American of Japanese descent, becomes the only non-Japanese manager ever to win the Japan Series when his Chunichi Dragons beat the Lotte Orions.


 * November 2 - The Atlanta Braves trade Hank Aaron to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Dave May and a minor league pitcher. Aaron will finish his major league career in Milwaukee, where he started it in 1954. Meanwhile, Aaron, the home run king of American baseball, and Sadaharu Oh, his Japanese counterpart, square off for a home run contest at Korakuen Stadium. Aaron wins 10–9.


 * November 27 - Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspends New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner for two years as a result of Steinbrenner's conviction for illegal campaign contributions to Richard Nixon and others.


 * December 26 - The Little League is officially open to girls as President Gerald Ford signs legislation amending the charter of the organization. Little League had sought changes in their charter after a series of lawsuits challenged its boys-only rule.

Deaths

 * January 18 - Pete Appleton, 69, relief pitcher for seven teams who won 14 games for 1936 Senators
 * March 1 - Larry Doyle, 87, second baseman, primarily for the New York Giants whom he captained, who batted .300 five times and won the NL's 1912 MVP award; led NL in hits twice and stole home 17 times
 * March 14 - Alex Pompez, 83, owner of the Negro Leagues' Cuban Stars and New York Cubans from 1916 to 1950, later a scouting director for the Giants
 * April 5 - Fred Snodgrass, 86, center fielder for the New York Giants who made a critical drop of an easy fly ball in the tenth inning of the deciding game in the 1912 World Series
 * April 23 - Cy Williams, 86, center fielder for the Cubs and Phillies who became the first NL player to hit 200 home runs, leading the league four times
 * June 30 - Mule Haas, 70, center fielder for the Athletics and White Sox who hit two home runs in the 1929 World Series
 * July 17 - Dizzy Dean, 64, Hall of Fame pitcher who won MVP award in 1934 with 30-7 campaign, the last 30-win season by an NL pitcher; was MVP runnerup the next two years, but an injury in 1937 All-Star game led to end of career; became a broadcaster known for folksy mangling of the English language
 * August 8 - Howie Pollet, 53, All-Star pitcher who twice won 20 games for the St. Louis Cardinals
 * September 19 - Zack Taylor, 76, NL catcher for fifteen seasons, later a coach, manager and scout for 35 years
 * September 26 - Lefty Stewart, 74, pitcher who won 20 games for the 1930 St. Louis Browns
 * October 13 - Sam Rice, 84, Hall of Fame right fielder for the Washington Senators who batted .322 lifetime and led AL in steals and triples once each, remembered for disputed catch in 1925 World Series; finished career with 2987 hits, at a time when little attention was paid to career totals
 * October 31 - Buddy Myer, 70, All-Star second baseman for the Washington Senators who batted .303 lifetime and won 1935 batting title
 * November 1 - Joe Bush, 81, pitcher who won 195 games including a no-hitter, had 26 wins for 1922 Yankees
 * November 24 - Johnny Weekly, 37, outfielder for the Houston Colt .45s from 1962-1964
 * December 18 - Harry Hooper, 87, Hall of Fame right fielder for the Red Sox and White Sox who starred on four Boston champions; outstanding defensive player and leadoff hitter retired with 5th-most walks in history