The 1974 New York Yankees season was the 72nd season for the team. The team finished second in the American League East with a record of 89–73, two games behind the Baltimore Orioles in Bill Virdon's first season as manager. The Yankees played at Shea Stadium due to the ongoing renovation of Yankee Stadium. This was the first season in which the away uniforms featured white outlines on the numbers and the city name. This would stay with the team for the next 50 seasons until it was retired just before the 2024 season when the white outline was removed (at the suggestion of team captain Aaron Judge) from the away jerseys, keeping the navy blue numbers.

Offseason The off-season became controversial when George Steinbrenner and Gabe Paul sought to hire former Oakland Athletics manager Dick Williams, who had resigned immediately after leading the team to its second straight World Series title. However, because Williams was still under contract to Oakland, A's owner Charlie Finley sought to block the move, the subsequent legal wrangling prevented the Yankees from hiring him. On the first anniversary of the team's ownership change, the Yankees hired former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Bill Virdon to lead the team on the field.

Notable transactions December 6, 1973: Jim Mason was purchased by the Yankees from the Texas Rangers.Jim Mason page at Baseball Reference December 7, 1973: Lindy McDaniel was traded by the Yankees to the Kansas City Royals for Lou Piniella and Ken Wright.Lou Piniella page at Baseball Reference December 10, 1973: Hal Lanier was released by the Yankees.Hal Lanier page at Baseball Reference December 11, 1973: Ron Swoboda was released by the Yankees.Ron Swoboda page at Baseball Reference January 9, 1974: Ken Phelps was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 1974 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.Ken Phelps page at Baseball Reference March 19, 1974: Jerry Moses was traded by the Yankees to the Detroit Tigers as part of a 3-team trade. The Cleveland Indians sent Walt Williams and Rick Sawyer to the Yankees, and the Tigers sent Ed Farmer to the Yankees. The Tigers sent Jim Perry to the Indians.Walt Williams page at Baseball Reference

Regular season August 25, 1974: Nolan Ryan of the California Angels struck out Sandy Alomar Sr. of the Yankees for the 1500th strikeout of his career. Ryan and Alomar had been teammates at the beginning of the season, but Alomar had been sold to the Yankees on July 8. September 7, 1974: The Yankees' Graig Nettles hit a home run against the Detroit Tigers. The next time up, he hit a broken-bat single. Tigers catcher Bill Freehan scrambled for the six superballs that came bouncing out. Nettles was called out on the single, but his solo homer was allowed and that made all the difference as the Yankees won 1–0.

Hall of Fame

Mickey Mantle and former teammate Whitey Ford were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame together in 1974, Mantle in his first year of eligibility, Ford in his second. Ford's number 16 was retired as well. Although Ford wore number 19 in his rookie season, following his return from the army in 1953, he wore number 16 for the remainder of his career.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 26, 1974: Fritz Peterson, Steve Kline, Fred Beene, and Tom Buskey were traded by the Yankees to the Cleveland Indians for Chris Chambliss, Dick Tidrow and Cecil Upshaw.Chris Chambliss page at Baseball Reference May 4, 1974: Mike Pazik and cash were traded by the Yankees to the Minnesota Twins for Dick Woodson.Mike Pazik page at Baseball Reference May 31, 1974: Horace ClarkeHorace Clarke page at Baseball-Reference and Lowell PalmerLowell Palmer page at Baseball-Reference were purchased from the Yankees by the San Diego Padres. June 5, 1974: Dennis Sherrill was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round (12th pick) of the 1974 Major League Baseball draft.Dennis Sherrill page at Baseball Reference June 15, 1974: Rudy May was purchased by the Yankees from the California Angels.Rudy May page at Baseball Reference July 8, 1974: Sandy Alomar Sr. was purchased by the Yankees from the California Angels.Sandy Alomar page at Baseball Reference September 29, 1974: Jesús Figueroa was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees.Jesús Figueroa page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1974 New York Yankees Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

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 C 144 517 135 .261 13 60 1B 110 400 97 .243 6 43 2B 76 279 75 .269 1 27 3B 155 566 139 .246 22 75 SS 152 440 110 .250 5 37 LF 140 518 158 .305 9 70 CF 137 466 141 .303 3 45 RF 156 606 166 .274 10 88 DH 90 264 82 .311 10 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 136 473 130 .275 7 43 89 259 60 .232 7 39 81 177 46 .260 0 13 51 121 26 .215 1 7 43 109 26 .239 2 12 27 67 14 .209 2 10 18 53 12 .226 2 9 43 53 6 .113 0 3 24 47 11 .234 0 1 33 38 7 .184 0 3 10 28 6 .214 1 2 10 19 1 .053 0 0 5 15 2 .133 0 2 2 5 1 .200 0 0 2 2 0 .000 0 0 6 1 0 .000 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 39 281.0 19 15 3.07 157 38 279.2 19 15 3.60 154 33 190.2 11 9 3.87 100 17 114.1 8 4 2.28 90 16 113.0 6 7 3.58 40 8 56.0 5 1 2.41 17 4 26.0 2 2 3.46 6

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 16 49.1 1 3 5.11 39 13 48.0 1 6 4.69 33 8 28.0 1 2 5.79 12 3 7.2 0 0 4.70 5

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 66 9 3 15 1.66 89 36 1 5 6 3.02 27 23 6 0 0 2.41 34 10 0 0 0 4.26 10 6 0 0 1 2.70 10 4 0 1 1 6.35 3 3 0 0 0 3.18 2 1 0 0 0 16.20 0

Awards and honors Bill Virdon, The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: OneontaJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

Notes

References 1974 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference 1974 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com