1974 St. Louis Cardinals season

1974 St. Louis Cardinals
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1892)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Busch Memorial Stadium (since 1966)
St. Louis, Missouri (since 1882)
Results
Record	86–75 (.534)
Divisional place	2nd
Other information
Owner(s)	August "Gussie" Busch
General manager(s)	Bing Devine
Manager(s)	Red Schoendienst
Local television	KSD-TV (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Jay Randolph)
Local radio	KMOX (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Bob Starr)
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The 1974 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 93rd season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 83rd season in the National League. The Cardinals went 86-75 during the season and finished second in the National League East, a game and-a-half behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Offseason

• October 26, 1973: Eddie Fisher was released by the St. Louis Cardinals.^[1]
• December 5, 1973: Tommie Agee was traded by the Cardinals to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Pete Richert.^[2]
• December 7, 1973: Diego Seguí, Reggie Cleveland and Terry Hughes were traded by the Cardinals to the Boston Red Sox for Lynn McGlothen, John Curtis, and Mike Garman.^[3]

Regular season

Outfielder Lou Brock led the NL with 118 stolen bases, breaking the modern-era (post-1898) MLB single-season mark of 104, set by Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Maury Wills in 1962. He also broke the all-time National League record of 111 set by John Montgomery Ward in 1887, when stolen bases were counted differently. Brock broke Wills' record on September 10 in a game against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. Brock's record still stands as the NL record, but Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics broke the modern MLB mark in 1982, with 130 steals. The all-time MLB record was, and still is, held by Hugh Nicol, who stole 138, also in 1887, while playing in the American Association.

Outfielder Bake McBride won the Rookie of the Year Award this year, batting .309, with 6 home runs and 56 RBIs.

Season standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Pittsburgh Pirates	88	74	0.543	—	52–29	36–45
St. Louis Cardinals	86	75	0.534	1½	44–37	42–38
Philadelphia Phillies	80	82	0.494	8	46–35	34–47
Montreal Expos	79	82	0.491	8½	42–38	37–44
New York Mets	71	91	0.438	17	36–45	35–46
Chicago Cubs	66	96	0.407	22	32–49	34–47

Record vs. opponents

1974 National League Records 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

• June 5, 1974: 1974 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Bill Caudill was drafted by the Cardinals in the 8th round. Player signed June 15, 1974.^[4]
  • Paul Molitor was drafted by the Cardinals in the 28th round, but did not sign.^[5]
• August 11, 1974: Steve Barber was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.^[6]
• August 15, 1974: Ron Selak (minors) and a player to be named later were traded by the Cardinals to the Houston Astros for Claude Osteen. The Cardinals completed the trade by sending Dan Larson to the Astros on October 14.^[7]
• September 5, 1974: Ron Hunt was selected off waivers by the Cardinals from the Montreal Expos.^[8]

Roster

1974 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers 40 Ray Bare 22 John Curtis 36 John Denny 28 Rich Folkers 31 Bob Forsch 27 Alan Foster 43 Mike Garman 45 Bob Gibson 39 Al Hrabosky 15 Barry Lersch 47 Lynn McGlothen 34 Claude Osteen 36 Orlando Peña 34 Pete Richert 42 Sonny Siebert 46 Mike Thompson		Catchers 12 Dick Billings 16 Marc Hill 15 Tim McCarver 23 Ted Simmons Infielders  1 Luis Alvarado 29 Jerry DaVanon 11 Jack Heidemann  5 Tom Heintzelman 29 Bob Heise 18 Keith Hernandez 24 Jim Hickman 32 Ron Hunt 29 Stan Papi 44 Ken Reitz 41 Ted Sizemore  9 Joe Torre 10 Mike Tyson		Outfielders 20 Lou Brock 38 José Cruz 25 Jim Dwyer 24 Danny Godby 46 Larry Herndon 21 Bake McBride 26 Luis Meléndez 29 Jerry Mumphrey  7 Reggie Smith Other batters 19 Richie Scheinblum		Manager  2 Red Schoendienst Coaches  8 Vern Benson  3 George Kissell 30 Johnny Lewis 14 Dave Ricketts 33 Barney Schultz

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
LF	Brock, LouLou Brock	153	635	194	.306	3	48

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
Hickman, JimJim Hickman	50	60	16	.267	2	4
Meléndez, LuisLuis Meléndez	83	124	27	.218	0	8

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
McGlothen, LynnLynn McGlothen	31	237.1	16	12	2.69	142
Curtis, JohnJohn Curtis	33	195	10	14	3.78	89

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
Bare, RayRay Bare	10	24.1	1	2	5.92	6

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
Garman, MikeMike Garman	64	7	2	6	2.64	45
Folkers, RichRich Folkers	55	6	2	2	3.00	57
Richert, PetePete Richert	13	0	0	1	2.38	4
Denny, JohnJohn Denny	2	0	0	0	0.00	1

Awards and honors

League leaders

• Lou Brock, National League stolen base leader, 118^[9]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tulsa Oilers	American Association	Ken Boyer
AA	Arkansas Travelers	Texas League	Jack Krol
A	Modesto Reds	California League	Lee Thomas
A	St. Petersburg Cardinals	Florida State League	Roy Majtyka
Rookie	GCL Cardinals	Gulf Coast League	Tom Burgess and Bobby Dews

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tulsa^[10]

References

1. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fisheed02.shtml
2. Tommie Agee page at Baseball Reference
3. Diego Segui page at Baseball Reference
4. Bill Caudill page at Baseball Reference
5. Paul Molitor page at Baseball Reference
6. Steve Barber page at Baseball Reference
7. Dan Larson page at Baseball Reference
8. Ron Hunt page at Baseball Reference
9. Stolen Bases Single Season National League Leaders by Baseball Almanac
10. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

External links

• 1974 St. Louis Cardinals
• 1974 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com