| Oakland Athletics | |
| Season: | 1974 |
| Misc: | World Series Champions American League Champions American League West Champions |
| League: | American League |
| Division: | West |
| Ballpark: | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum |
| City: | Oakland, California |
| Record: | 90–72 (.556) |
| Owners: | Charles O. Finley |
| Managers: | Alvin Dark |
| Television: | KTVU |
| Radio: | KEEN (Monte Moore, Jon Miller) |
| Divisional Place: | 1st |
The 1974 Oakland Athletics season involved the A's winning their fourth consecutive American League West title with a record of 90 wins and 72 losses. In the playoffs, the A's defeated the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS for their third straight AL pennant, and in the World Series, the first ever played entirely on the West Coast, defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games to take their third consecutive World Series championship. Paid attendance for the season was 845,693.[1]
In early 1974, owner Charlie Finley tried to sell the team with an asking price of $15 million.[2] [3]
In 1974, "Hurricane" Herb Washington was tapped by Oakland owner Charlie Finley to become the A's "designated runner." Despite having no professional baseball experience, and having last played baseball in high school, Washington was signed to a major league contract prior to the season. His major league debut was on April 4, 1974, against the Texas Rangers. Appearing as a pinch runner for Joe Rudi in game two of the 1974 World Series, Washington was picked off first base in a crucial ninth-inning situation by Dodgers' reliever Mike Marshall.
| 1974 Oakland Athletics | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | CatchersInfielders | OutfieldersDesignated runner | ManagerCoaches | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
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 | 64 | 204 | 40 | .196 | 4 | 23 | ||
| 1B | 158 | 484 | 102 | .211 | 26 | 73 | ||
| 2B | 100 | 287 | 61 | .213 | 2 | 22 | ||
| 3B | 146 | 498 | 121 | .243 | 22 | 103 | ||
| SS | 134 | 527 | 153 | .290 | 2 | 41 | ||
| LF | 158 | 593 | 174 | .293 | 22 | 99 | ||
| CF | 149 | 543 | 141 | .260 | 4 | 33 | ||
| RF | 148 | 506 | 146 | .289 | 29 | 93 | ||
| DH | 115 | 365 | 85 | .233 | 9 | 43 |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 115 | 365 | 85 | .233 | 9 | 43 | ||
| 73 | 221 | 63 | .285 | 0 | 19 | ||
| 99 | 220 | 46 | .209 | 0 | 18 | ||
| 50 | 174 | 34 | .195 | 7 | 23 | ||
| 76 | 121 | 20 | .165 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 73 | 96 | 22 | .229 | 1 | 16 | ||
| 60 | 52 | 10 | .192 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 30 | 42 | 6 | .143 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 18 | 41 | 10 | .244 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 21 | 33 | 5 | .152 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 30 | 28 | 5 | .179 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 10 | 15 | 2 | .133 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 11 | 7 | 2 | .286 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 5 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 92 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | 318.1 | 25 | 12 | 2.49 | 143 | |
| 40 | 282.1 | 17 | 15 | 3.25 | 174 | |
| 39 | 255.1 | 19 | 17 | 3.07 | 117 | |
| 19 | 96.0 | 5 | 7 | 3.00 | 38 | |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | 117.0 | 7 | 4 | 3.69 | 69 | |
| 34 | 87.1 | 1 | 5 | 3.81 | 52 | |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 76 | 9 | 5 | 18 | 2.65 | 95 | ||
| 45 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 2.06 | 46 | ||
| 45 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4.22 | 18 | ||
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.24 | 1 | ||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
See main article: article and 1974 American League Championship Series.
The Athletics defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 3 games to 1.
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baltimore – 6, Oakland – 3 | October 5 | Oakland Coliseum | 41,609 | |
| 2 | Baltimore – 0, Oakland – 5 | October 6 | Oakland Coliseum | 42,810 | |
| 3 | Oakland – 1, Baltimore – 0 | October 8 | Memorial Stadium | 32,060 | |
| 4 | Oakland – 2, Baltimore – 1 | October 9 | Memorial Stadium | 28,136 |
See main article: article and 1974 World Series.
| width= | Game | width= | Score | width= | Date | width= | Location | width= | Attendance | width= | Time of Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Athletics – 3, Dodgers – 2 | October 12 | Dodger Stadium | 55,974 | 2:43 | ||||||
| 2 | Athletics – 2, Dodgers – 3 | October 13 | Dodger Stadium | 55,989 | 2:40 | ||||||
| 3 | Dodgers – 2, Athletics – 3 | October 15 | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | 49,347 | 2:35 | ||||||
| 4 | Dodgers – 2, Athletics – 5 | October 16 | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | 49,347 | 2:17 | ||||||
| 5 | Dodgers – 2, Athletics – 3 | October 17 | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | 49,347 | 2:23 | ||||||
1974 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
See also: Minor League Baseball.