1974 San Diego Padres season

1974 San Diego Padres
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1969)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
San Diego Stadium (since 1969)
San Diego, California (since 1969)
Other information
Owner(s)	C. Arnholt Smith, Ray Kroc
General manager(s)	Peter Bavasi
Manager(s)	John McNamara
Local television	none
Local radio	KOGO (Jerry Coleman, Bob Chandler)
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The 1974 San Diego Padres season was the sixth in franchise history. The team finished last in the National League West with a record of 60-102, 42 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Offseason

• October 25, 1973: Mike Caldwell was traded by the Padres to the San Francisco Giants for Willie McCovey and Bernie Williams.^[1]
• November 7, 1973: Jerry Morales was traded by the Padres to the Chicago Cubs for Glenn Beckert and Bobby Fenwick.^[2]

Regular season

In his first home game as the Padres' new owner in 1974, Ray Kroc grabbed the public address system microphone and apologized to fans for the poor performance of the team, saying, "I've never seen such stupid ballplaying in my life." At the same time, a streaker raced across the field, eluding security personnel. Kroc shouted, "Throw him in jail!"

Opening Day starters

• Steve Arlin
• Glenn Beckert
• Nate Colbert
• Johnny Grubb
• Enzo Hernández
• Fred Kendall
• Willie McCovey
• Derrel Thomas
• Bobby Tolan^[3]

Season standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	102	60	0.630	—	52–29	50–31
Cincinnati Reds	98	64	0.605	4	50–31	48–33
Atlanta Braves	88	74	0.543	14	46–35	42–39
Houston Astros	81	81	0.500	21	46–35	35–46
San Francisco Giants	72	90	0.444	30	37–44	35–46
San Diego Padres	60	102	0.370	42	36–45	24–57

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

• May 31, 1974: Horace Clarke^[4] and Lowell Palmer^[5] was purchased by the Padres from the New York Yankees.
• June 5, 1974: 1974 Major League Baseball draft
  • Bill Almon was drafted by the Padres in the 1st round (1st pick).^[6]
  • Lenn Sakata was drafted by the Padres in the 5th round, but did not sign.^[7]
  • Bump Wills was drafted by the Padres in the 12th round, but did not sign.^[8]

Roster

1974 San Diego Padres
Roster
Pitchers 22 Steve Arlin 40 Mike Corkins 43 Dave Freisleben 46 Ralph Garcia 38 Rusty Gerhardt 27 Bill Greif 25 Larry Hardy 22 Mike Johnson 35 Randy Jones 36 Bill Laxton 36 Jim McAndrew 24 Joe McIntosh 29 Lowell Palmer 45 Vicente Romo 33 Gary Ross 48 Dan Spillner 37 Dave Tomlin 47 Rich Troedson		Catchers 26 Bob Barton 10 Chris Cannizzaro 16 Fred Kendall Infielders  6 Bill Almon 18 Glenn Beckert  7 Horace Clarke 17 Nate Colbert 11 Enzo Hernández  8 Dave Hilton 15 Mike Ivie 44 Willie McCovey  6 Rich Morales 20 Dave Roberts 30 Derrel Thomas		Outfielders 32 Matty Alou  3 Randy Elliott 23 Rod Gaspar 21 Cito Gaston  2 Johnny Grubb 32 Gene Locklear 34 John Scott 28 Bobby Tolan 42 Jerry Turner 23 Bernie Williams 31 Dave Winfield		Manager  1 John McNamara Coaches  4 Jack Bloomfield 12 Jim Davenport  9 Bill Posedel 19 Whitey Wietelmann

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	Kendall, FredFred Kendall	141	424	98	.231	8	45
1B	McCovey, WillieWillie McCovey	128	344	87	.253	22	63
2B	Thomas, DerrelDerrel Thomas	141	523	129	.247	3	41
SS	Hernández, EnzoEnzo Hernández	147	512	119	.232	0	34
LF	Winfield, DaveDave Winfield	145	498	132	.265	20	75
CF	Grubb, JohnnyJohnny Grubb	140	444	127	.286	8	42
RF	Tolan, BobbyBobby Tolan	95	357	95	.266	8	40

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
Colbert, NateNate Colbert	119	368	76	.207	14	54
Hilton, DaveDave Hilton	74	217	52	.240	1	12
Beckert, GlennGlenn Beckert	64	172	44	.256	0	7
Clarke, HoraceHorace Clarke	42	90	17	.189	0	4
Locklear, GeneGene Locklear	39	74	20	.270	1	3
Elliott, RandyRandy Elliott	13	33	7	.212	1	2
Williams, BernieBernie Williams	14	15	2	.133	0	0

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
Greif, BillBill Greif	43	226	9	19	4.66	137
Freisleben, DaveDave Freisleben	33	211.2	9	14	3.66	130
Jones, RandyRandy Jones	40	208.1	8	22	4.45	124
Arlin, SteveSteve Arlin	16	64	1	7	5.91	18

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
Palmer, LowellLowell Palmer	22	73	2	5	5.67	52

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
Hardy, LarryLarry Hardy	76	9	4	2	4.69	57
Romo, VicenteVicente Romo	54	5	5	9	4.56	26
Laxton, BillBill Laxton	30	0	1	0	4.03	40
Corkins, MikeMike Corkins	25	2	2	0	4.79	41
Gerhardt, RustyRusty Gerhardt	23	2	1	1	7.07	22
Johnson, MikeMike Johnson	18	0	2	0	4.64	15
Garcia, RalphRalph Garcia	8	0	0	0	6.10	9

Awards and honors

1974 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Johnny Grubb, OF, Reserve^[9]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Hawaii Islanders	Pacific Coast League	Roy Hartsfield
AA	Alexandria Aces	Texas League	Jackie Brandt and Ken Bracey
A-Short Season	Walla Walla Padres	Northwest League	Cliff Ditto

^[10]

References

1. Willie McCovey at Baseball Reference
2. Glenn Beckert at Baseball Reference
3. http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1974&t=SDN
4. Horace Clarke at Baseball-Reference
5. Lowell Palmer at Baseball-Reference
6. Bill Almon at Baseball Reference
7. Lenn Sakata at Baseball-Reference
8. Bump Wills at Baseball Reference
9. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/1974_all_star_game_play_by_play.shtml
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 San Diego Padres at Baseball Reference
• 1974 San Diego Padres at Baseball Almanac