1974 Kansas City Royals season

1974 Kansas City Royals
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1969)
West Division (since 1969)
Location
Royals Stadium (since 1973)
Kansas City, Missouri (since 1969)
Other information
Owner(s)	Ewing Kauffman
General manager(s)	Cedric Tallis, Joe Burke
Manager(s)	Jack McKeon
Local television	KBMA
Local radio	KMBZ (Buddy Blattner, Denny Matthews, Fred White)
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The 1974 Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing fifth in the American League West with a record of 77 wins and 85 losses.

Offseason

• October 24, 1973: Dick Drago was traded by the Royals to the Boston Red Sox for Marty Pattin.^[1]
• December 7, 1973: Lou Piniella and Ken Wright were traded by the Royals to the New York Yankees for Lindy McDaniel.^[2]
• January 9, 1974: Mark Souza was drafted by the Royals in the 1st round (17th pick) of the 1974 Major League Baseball draft.^[3]

Regular season

Notable transactions

• April 30, 1974: Paul Schaal was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Richie Scheinblum.^[4]
• June 5, 1974: 1974 Major League Baseball draft
  • Willie Wilson was drafted by the Royals in the 1st round (18th pick).^[5]
  • Scott Sanderson was drafted by the Royals in the 11th round, but did not sign.^[6]
• June 11, 1974: Doug Corbett was signed by the Royals as an amateur free agent.^[7]
• August 6, 1974: Orlando Cepeda signed as a free agent by the Royals.^[8]
• September 27, 1974: Orlando Cepeda was released by the Royals.^[8]

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	90	72	0.556	—	49–32	41–40
Texas Rangers	84	76	0.525	5	42–38	42–38
Minnesota Twins	82	80	0.506	8	48–33	34–47
Chicago White Sox	80	80	0.500	9	46–34	34–46
Kansas City Royals	77	85	0.475	13	40–41	37–44
California Angels	68	94	0.420	22	36–45	32–49

Record vs. opponents

1974 American League Records 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	—

Roster

1974 Kansas City Royals
Roster
Pitchers 29 Doug Bird 19 Nelson Briles 40 Steve Busby 43 Bruce Dal Canton 39 Al Fitzmorris 32 Gene Garber 27 Joe Hoerner 22 Dennis Leonard 38 Aurelio López 41 Lindy McDaniel 23 Steve Mingori 33 Marty Pattin 34 Paul Splittorff		Catchers 16 Fran Healy 21 Buck Martinez 17 Dennis Paepke Infielders  2 Kurt Bevacqua 25 George Brett 15 Bobby Floyd 13 Fernando González  7 John Mayberry 37 Freddie Patek  1 Cookie Rojas 10 Paul Schaal  8 Tony Solaita 20 Frank White		Outfielders 18 Al Cowens 11 Hal McRae 26 Amos Otis 28 Vada Pinson  5 Richie Scheinblum  6 Jim Wohlford Other batters 30 Orlando Cepeda 48 Rick Reichardt		Manager 31 Jack McKeon Coaches  3 Galen Cisco  4 Harry Dunlop 24 Charley Lau

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
3B	Brett, GeorgeGeorge Brett	133	457	129	.282	2	47

^[9]

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
Schaal, PaulPaul Schaal	12	34	6	.176	1	4
Scheinblum, RichieRichie Scheinblum	36	83	15	.181	0	2

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
Busby, SteveSteve Busby	38	292.1	22	14	3.39	198
Dal Canton, BruceBruce Dal Canton	31	175.1	8	10	3.13	96
Briles, NelsonNelson Briles	17	103	5	7	4.02	41

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
Pattin, MartyMarty Pattin	25	117.1	3	7	3.99	50

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
Bird, DougDoug Bird	55	7	6	10	2.73	62
McDaniel, LindyLindy McDaniel	38	1	4	1	3.46	47

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Omaha Royals	American Association	Harry Malmberg
AA	Jacksonville Suns	Southern League	Billy Gardner
A	San Jose Bees	California League	Steve Boros
A	Waterloo Royals	Midwest League	John Sullivan
Rookie	GCL Royals	Gulf Coast League	Bill Scripture
Rookie	GCL Royals Academy	Gulf Coast League	Billy Goodman

Notes

1. Dick Drago at Baseball Reference
2. Lou Piniella at Baseball Reference
3. Mark Souza at Baseball Reference
4. Paul Schaal at Baseball Reference
5. Willie Wilson at Baseball Reference
6. Scott Sanderson at Baseball Reference
7. Doug Corbett at Baseball Reference
8. Orlando Cepeda at Baseball Reference
9. 1974 Kansas City Royals Statistics and Roster Baseball-Reference.com

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1974 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
• 1974 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac