The 1974 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 93rd season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 83rd season in the National League. The Cardinals went 86–75 during the season and finished second in the National League East, games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Offseason October 26, 1973: Eddie Fisher was released by the St. Louis Cardinals. October 26, 1973: Bernie Carbo and Rick Wise were traded by the Cardinals to the Boston Red Sox for Reggie Smith and Ken Tatum. December 5, 1973: Tommie Agee was traded by the Cardinals to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Pete Richert.Tommie Agee page at Baseball Reference December 7, 1973: Diego Seguí, Reggie Cleveland and Terry Hughes were traded by the Cardinals to the Boston Red Sox for Lynn McGlothen, John Curtis, and Mike Garman.Diego Segui page at Baseball Reference

Regular season Outfielder Lou Brock led the NL with 118 stolen bases, breaking the modern-era (post-1901) MLB single-season mark of 104, set by Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Maury Wills in 1962. He also broke the all-time National League record of 111 set by John Montgomery Ward in 1887, when stolen bases were counted differently. Brock broke Wills' record on September 10 in a game against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. Brock's record still stands as the NL record, but Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics broke the modern MLB mark in 1982, with 130 steals. The all-time MLB record was, and still is, held by Hugh Nicol, who stole 138, also in 1887, while playing in the American Association.

Outfielder Bake McBride won the Rookie of the Year Award this year, batting .309, with 6 home runs and 56 RBIs.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions June 5, 1974: 1974 Major League Baseball draft Bill Caudill was drafted by the Cardinals in the 8th round. Player signed June 15, 1974.Bill Caudill page at Baseball Reference Paul Molitor was drafted by the Cardinals in the 28th round, but did not sign.Paul Molitor page at Baseball Reference August 11, 1974: Steve Barber was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.Steve Barber page at Baseball Reference August 15, 1974: Ron Selak (minors) and a player to be named later were traded by the Cardinals to the Houston Astros for Claude Osteen. The Cardinals completed the trade by sending Dan Larson to the Astros on October 14.Dan Larson page at Baseball Reference September 5, 1974: Ron Hunt was selected off waivers by the Cardinals from the Montreal Expos.Ron Hunt page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1974 St. Louis Cardinals 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 Ted Simmons 152 599 163 .272 20 103 1B Joe Torre 147 529 149 .282 11 70 2B Ted Sizemore 129 504 126 .250 2 47 SS Mike Tyson 151 422 94 .223 1 37 3B Ken Reitz 154 579 157 .271 7 54 LF 153 635 194 .306 3 48 CF Bake McBride 150 559 173 .309 6 56 RF Reggie Smith 143 517 160 .309 23 100

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 José Cruz 107 161 42 .261 5 20 Luis Meléndez 83 124 27 .218 0 8 Tim McCarver 74 106 23 .217 0 11 Jim Dwyer 74 86 24 .279 2 11 Tom Heintzelman 38 74 17 .230 1 6 Jack Heidemann 47 70 19 .271 0 3 50 60 16 .267 2 4 Jerry DaVanon 30 40 6 .150 0 4 Luis Alvarado 17 36 5 .139 0 1 Keith Hernandez 14 34 10 .294 0 2 Ron Hunt 12 23 4 .174 0 0 Marc Hill 10 21 5 .238 0 2 Danny Godby 13 13 2 .154 0 1 Bob Heise 3 7 1 .143 0 0 Richie Scheinblum 6 6 2 .333 0 0 Dick Billings 1 5 1 .200 0 0 Stan Papi 8 4 1 .250 0 1 Jerry Mumphrey 5 2 0 .000 0 0 Larry Herndon 12 1 1 1.000 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 Bob Gibson 33 240.0 11 13 3.83 129 31 237.1 16 12 2.69 142 33 195.0 10 14 3.78 89 Alan Foster 31 162.1 7 10 3.88 78 Sonny Siebert 28 133.2 8 8 3.84 68 Bob Forsch 19 100.0 7 4 2.97 39

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 Mike Thompson 19 38.1 0 3 5.63 25 10 24.1 1 2 5.92 6 Claude Osteen 8 22.2 0 2 4.37 6

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 Al Hrabosky 65 8 1 9 2.95 82 64 7 2 6 2.64 45 55 6 2 2 3.00 57 Orlando Peña 42 5 2 1 2.60 23 13 0 0 1 2.38 4 2 0 0 0 0.00 1 Barry Lersch 1 0 0 0 40.50 0

Awards and honors

League leaders Lou Brock, National League stolen base leader, 118Stolen Bases Single Season National League Leaders by Baseball Almanac

Farm system

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

References

External links 1974 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1974 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com