1974 St. Louis Cardinals season

This article is about the Major League Baseball team. For the National Football League team, see 1974 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season.

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, 1+1⁄2 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1974 St. Louis Cardinals
League	National League
Division	East
Ballpark	Busch Memorial Stadium
City	St. Louis, Missouri
Record	86–75 (.534)
Divisional place	2nd
Owners	August "Gussie" Busch
General managers	Bing Devine
Managers	Red Schoendienst
Television	KSD-TV (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Jay Randolph)
Radio	KMOX (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Bob Starr)
← 1973 Seasons 1975 →

Offseason

• October 26, 1973: Eddie Fisher was released by the St. Louis Cardinals.^[1]
• October 26, 1973: Bernie Carbo and Rick Wise were traded by the Cardinals to the Boston Red Sox for Reggie Smith and Ken Tatum.^[2]
• December 5, 1973: Tommie Agee was traded by the Cardinals to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Pete Richert.^[3]
• 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.^[4]

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

• v
• t
• e

NL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Pittsburgh Pirates	88	74	.543	—	52‍–‍29	36‍–‍45
St. Louis Cardinals	86	75	.534	1½	44‍–‍37	42‍–‍38
Philadelphia Phillies	80	82	.494	8	46‍–‍35	34‍–‍47
Montreal Expos	79	82	.491	8½	42‍–‍38	37‍–‍44
New York Mets	71	91	.438	17	36‍–‍45	35‍–‍46
Chicago Cubs	66	96	.407	22	32‍–‍49	34‍–‍47

Record vs. opponents

1974 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MTL	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

• June 5, 1974: 1974 Major League Baseball draft
  • Bill Caudill was drafted by the Cardinals in the 8th round. Player signed June 15, 1974.^[5]
  • Paul Molitor was drafted by the Cardinals in the 28th round, but did not sign.^[6]
• August 11, 1974: Steve Barber was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.^[7]
• 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.^[8]
• September 5, 1974: Ron Hunt was selected off waivers by the Cardinals from the Montreal Expos.^[9]

Roster

1974 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers 40 Ray Bare 22 John Curtis 36 John Denny 28 Rich Folkers 31 Bob Forsch 27 Alan Foster 43 Mike Garman 45 Bob Gibson 39 Al Hrabosky 15 Barry Lersch 47 Lynn McGlothen 34 Claude Osteen 36 Orlando Peña 34 Pete Richert 42 Sonny Siebert 46 Mike Thompson		Catchers 12 Dick Billings 16 Marc Hill 15 Tim McCarver 23 Ted Simmons Infielders  1 Luis Alvarado 29 Jerry DaVanon 11 Jack Heidemann  5 Tom Heintzelman 29 Bob Heise 18 Keith Hernandez 24 Jim Hickman 32 Ron Hunt 29 Stan Papi 44 Ken Reitz 41 Ted Sizemore  9 Joe Torre 10 Mike Tyson		Outfielders 20 Lou Brock 38 José Cruz 25 Jim Dwyer 24 Danny Godby 46 Larry Herndon 21 Bake McBride 26 Luis Meléndez 29 Jerry Mumphrey  7 Reggie Smith Other batters 19 Richie Scheinblum		Manager  2 Red Schoendienst Coaches  8 Vern Benson  3 George Kissell 30 Johnny Lewis 14 Dave Ricketts 33 Barney Schultz

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	Lou Brock	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
Jim Hickman	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
Lynn McGlothen	31	237.1	16	12	2.69	142
John Curtis	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
Ray Bare	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
Mike Garman	64	7	2	6	2.64	45
Rich Folkers	55	6	2	2	3.00	57
Orlando Peña	42	5	2	1	2.60	23
Pete Richert	13	0	0	1	2.38	4
John Denny	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, 118^[10]

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tulsa Oilers	American Association	Ken Boyer
AA	Arkansas Travelers	Texas League	Jack Krol
A	Modesto Reds	California League	Lee Thomas
A	St. Petersburg Cardinals	Florida State League	Roy Majtyka
Rookie	GCL Cardinals	Gulf Coast League	Tom Burgess and Bobby Dews

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tulsa^[11]