1974 Kansas City Royals season

Major League Baseball team season

1974 Kansas City Royals

League| American League
Division| West
Ballpark| Royals Stadium
City| Kansas City, Missouri
Owners| Ewing Kauffman
General managers| Cedric Tallis, Joe Burke
Managers| Jack McKeon (second season)
Television| KBMA
Radio| KMBZ
(Buddy Blattner, Denny Matthews, Fred White)
| <- 1973 | Seasons | 1975 ->

|
|

The 1974 Kansas City Royals season was their sixth in Major League Baseball. The Royals finished fifth in the American League West at 77–85, 13 games behind the Oakland Athletics. Pitcher Steve Busby set a single-season franchise record with 22 victories.

## Offseason[edit]

* 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. Baseball author Bill James called the trade the only clinker the Royals made during the 1970s.[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[edit]

### Notable transactions[edit]

* 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[edit]

* v
* t
* e

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[edit]

1974 American League record

* v
* t
* e

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

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[edit]

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 (Pitching)
* 4 Harry Dunlop (Third base)
* 24 Charley Lau (Hitting and first base)

## Player stats[edit]

### Batting[edit]

#### Starters by position[edit]

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 | Fran Healy | 139 | 445 | 112 | .252 | 9 | 53
1B | John Mayberry | 126 | 427 | 100 | .234 | 22 | 69
2B | Cookie Rojas | 144 | 542 | 147 | .271 | 6 | 60
SS | Freddie Patek | 149 | 537 | 121 | .225 | 3 | 38
3B | George Brett | 133 | 457 | 129 | .282 | 2 | 47
LF | Jim Wohlford | 143 | 501 | 136 | .271 | 2 | 44
CF | Amos Otis | 146 | 552 | 157 | .284 | 12 | 73
RF | Vada Pinson | 115 | 406 | 112 | .276 | 6 | 41
DH | Hal McRae | 148 | 539 | 167 | .310 | 15 | 88

[9]

#### Other batters[edit]

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

|
|
|
|
|
|

Al Cowens | 110 | 269 | 65 | .242 | 1 | 25
Tony Solaita | 96 | 239 | 64 | .268 | 7 | 30
Frank White | 99 | 204 | 45 | .221 | 1 | 18
Buck Martinez | 43 | 107 | 23 | .215 | 1 | 8
Orlando Cepeda | 33 | 107 | 23 | .215 | 1 | 18
Kurt Bevacqua | 39 | 90 | 19 | .211 | 0 | 3
Richie Scheinblum | 36 | 83 | 15 | .181 | 0 | 2
Paul Schaal | 12 | 34 | 6 | .176 | 1 | 4
Fernando González | 9 | 21 | 3 | .143 | 0 | 2
Dennis Paepke | 6 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 0 | 0
Bobby Floyd | 10 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 0 | 0
Rick Reichardt | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 0

### Pitching[edit]

#### Starting pitchers[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player  | G  | IP  | W  | L  | ERA  | SO

|
|
|
|
|
|

Steve Busby | 38 | 292.1 | 22 | 14 | 3.39 | 198
Paul Splittorff | 36 | 226.0 | 13 | 19 | 4.10 | 90
Al Fitzmorris | 34 | 190.0 | 13 | 6 | 2.79 | 53
Bruce Dal Canton | 31 | 175.1 | 8 | 10 | 3.13 | 96
Nelson Briles | 17 | 103.0 | 5 | 7 | 4.02 | 41

#### Other pitchers[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player  | G  | IP  | W  | L  | ERA  | SO

|
|
|
|
|
|

Marty Pattin | 25 | 117.1 | 3 | 7 | 3.99 | 50
Dennis Leonard | 5 | 22.0 | 0 | 4 | 5.32 | 8
Aurelio López | 8 | 16.0 | 0 | 0 | 5.63 | 5

#### Relief pitchers[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player  | G  | W  | L  | SV  | ERA  | SO

|
|
|
|
|
|

Doug Bird | 55 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 2.73 | 62
Lindy McDaniel | 38 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3.46 | 47
Steve Mingori | 36 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2.81 | 43
Joe Hoerner | 30 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3.82 | 24
Gene Garber | 17 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4.82 | 14

## Farm system[edit]

See also: Minor League Baseball

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[edit]

1. ^ Dick Drago at Baseball Reference
2. ^ James, Bill (1986). The Bill James Baseball Abstract 1987. Ballantine Books. p. 46.
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. ^ a b Orlando Cepeda at Baseball Reference
9. ^ 1974 Kansas City Royals Statistics and Roster Baseball-Reference.com

## References[edit]

* 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

* v
* t
* e

1974 MLB season by team

| AL East|

* Baltimore
* Boston
* Cleveland
* Detroit
* Milwaukee
* New York

|

AL West|

* California
* Chicago
* Kansas City
* Minnesota
* Oakland
* Texas

| NL East|

* Chicago
* Montréal
* New York
* Philadelphia
* Pittsburgh
* St. Louis

|

NL West|

* Atlanta
* Cincinnati
* Houston
* Los Angeles
* San Diego
* San Francisco

* 1974 MLB draft
* 1974 All-Star Game
* 1974 World Series

* v
* t
* e

Kansas City Royals

* Established in 1969
* Based in Kansas City, Missouri

Franchise|

* History
* Expansion and draft
* Seasons
* Current roster
* Owners and executives
* Managers
* Opening Day starting pitchers
* All-time roster
* First-round draft picks
* Records
* No-hitters
* Awards and league leaders
* Broadcasters
* Kansas City Royals Baseball Academy
* Fox Sports Kansas City
* Royals Sports Television Network

Ballparks|

Municipal Stadium
Kauffman Stadium
Spring training
Terry Park
Baseball City Stadium
Surprise Stadium

Culture|

* Sluggerrr
* Denny Matthews
* Ryan Lefebvre
* George Toma
* American Royal
* "Royals (song)"

Lore|

* Pine Tar Incident
* The Call
* 2014 AL Wild Card Game
* MLB in Omaha

Team Hall of Fame|

* Steve Busby
* Amos Otis
* Dick Howser
* Cookie Rojas
* Paul Splittorff
* Dennis Leonard
* Hal McRae
* Joe Burke
* Larry Gura
* Freddie Patek
* Ewing Kauffman
* George Brett
* Frank White
* Muriel Kauffman
* John Mayberry
* Dan Quisenberry
* Whitey Herzog
* Willie Wilson
* Jeff Montgomery
* Denny Matthews
* Bret Saberhagen
* Mark Gubicza
* Art Stewart
* Kevin Appier
* Mike Sweeney
* Ned Yost

Minor league
affiliates|

Triple-A
Omaha Storm Chasers
Double-A
Northwest Arkansas Naturals
High-A
Quad Cities River Bandits
Single-A
Columbia Fireflies
Rookie
ACL Royals
DSL Royals Blue
DSL Royals Gold

Key personnel|

* Owner: John Sherman
* President & General Manager: J. J. Picollo
* Manager: Matt Quatraro

World Series
championships (2)|

* 1985
* 2015

American League
pennants (4)|

* 1980
* 1985
* 2014
* 2015

Division titles|

West
1976
1977
1978
1980
1981 (second half)
1984
1985
Central
2015
Wild Card
2014

Seasons (56)

1960s|

* 1960 · 1961 · 1962 · 1963 · 1964 · 1965 · 1966 · 1967 · 1968 ·  1969

1970s|

* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979

1980s|

* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989

1990s|

* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999

2000s|

* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009

2010s|

* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019

2020s|

* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

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