1974 Minnesota Twins season

1974 Minnesota Twins
82-80, third in the AL Western Division
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Metropolitan Stadium (since 1961)
Bloomington, Minnesota (since 1961)
Other information
Owner(s)	Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General manager(s)	Calvin Griffith
Manager(s)	Frank Quilici
Local television	WCCO-TV (Larry Calton, Ralph Fritz)
Local radio	830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Larry Calton)
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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.^[1]
• December 3, 1973: Sergio Ferrer was drafted by the Twins from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1973 rule 5 draft.^[2]
• On February 11, 1974, Dick Woodson became the first player to invoke the new free agency clause,^[3] as he sought $30,000, and the Twins offered $23,000.^[4] 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

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	—

Notable transactions

• May 4, 1974: Dick Woodson was traded by the Twins to the New York Yankees for Mike Pazik and cash.^[5]
• June 5, 1974: Joe Lis was purchased from the Twins by the Cleveland Indians.^[6]
• June 5, 1974: Butch Wynegar was drafted by the Twins in the 2nd round of the 1974 Major League Baseball draft.^[7]
• August 19, 1974: Jim Holt was traded by the Twins to the Oakland Athletics for Pat Bourque.^[8]

Roster

1974 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers 20 Vic Albury 28 Bert Blyleven 19 Tom Burgmeier 17 Bill Butler 24 Bill Campbell 23 Ray Corbin 21 Joe Decker 16 Danny Fife 30 Dave Goltz 49 Bill Hands 31 Jim Hughes 32 Tom Johnson 13 Dick Woodson		Catchers 14 Glenn Borgmann 15 Randy Hundley  8 Phil Roof Infielders 10 Pat Bourque 29 Rod Carew  1 Sergio Ferrer 25 Luis Gómez 26 Jim Holt 10 Joe Lis  3 Harmon Killebrew 22 Craig Kusick 12 Eric Soderholm  7 Jerry Terrell  5 Danny Thompson		Outfielders  4 Steve Braun 11 Steve Brye  2 Bobby Darwin  9 Larry Hisle Other batters  6 Tony Oliva		Manager 43 Frank Quilici Coaches 44 Vern Morgan 45 Buck Rodgers 42 Ralph Rowe

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	Borgmann, GlennGlenn Borgmann	128	345	87	.252	3	45
1B	Kusick, CraigCraig Kusick	76	201	48	.239	8	26
2B	Carew, RodRod Carew	153	599	218	.364	3	55
SS	Thompson, DannyDanny Thompson	97	264	66	.250	4	25
LF	Braun, SteveSteve Braun	129	453	127	.280	8	40
RF	Darwin, BobbyBobby Darwin	152	575	152	.264	25	94
DH	Oliva, TonyTony 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
Killebrew, HarmonHarmon Killebrew	122	333	74	.222	13	54
Holt, JimJim Holt	79	197	50	.254	0	16
Gómez, LuisLuis Gómez	82	168	35	.208	0	3
Roof, PhilPhil Roof	44	97	19	.196	2	13
Hundley, RandyRandy Hundley	32	88	17	.193	0	3
Bourque, PatPat Bourque	23	64	14	.219	1	8
Ferrer, SergioSergio Ferrer	24	57	16	.281	0	0
Lis, JoeJoe 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
Blyleven, BertBert Blyleven	37	281	17	17	2.66	249
Decker, JoeJoe Decker	37	248.2	16	14	3.29	158
Goltz, DaveDave Goltz	28	174.1	10	10	3.25	89
Woodson, DickDick Woodson	5	27	1	1	4.33	12
Hughes, JimJim 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
Albury, VicVic Albury	32	164	8	9	4.12	85
Hands, BillBill Hands	35	115.1	4	5	4.45	74
Corbin, RayRay Corbin	29	112.1	7	6	5.29	50
Butler, BillBill 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
Campbell, BillBill Campbell	63	8	7	19	2.62	89
Burgmeier, TomTom Burgmeier	50	5	3	4	4.52	34
Johnson, TomTom Johnson	4	2	0	1	0.00	4
Fife, DannyDanny Fife	4	0	0	0	17.36	3

Awards and honors

• Danny Thompson, Hutch Award^[9]

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

Notes

1. Joe Keough at Baseball Reference
2. Sergio Ferrer at Baseball Reference
3. "Famous Firsts in the Expansion Era of Major league Baseball". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
4. "First baseball arbitration". www.brainyhistory.com. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
5. Mike Pazik at Baseball Reference
6. Joe Lis at Baseball Reference
7. Butch Wynegar at Baseball-Reference
8. Pat Bourque at Baseball Reference
9. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_hut.shtml

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.
• Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com
• Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com