1974 Kansas City Royals season explained

Kansas City Royals
Season:	1974
League:	American League
Division:	West
Ballpark:	Royals Stadium
City:	Kansas City, Missouri
Owners:	Ewing Kauffman
General Managers:	Cedric Tallis, Joe Burke
Managers:	Jack McKeon (second season)
Television:	KBMA
Radio:	KMBZ (Buddy Blattner, Denny Matthews, Fred White)

The 1974 Kansas City Royals season was their sixth in Major League Baseball. The Royals finished fifth in the American League West at 77–85, 13 games behind the Oakland Athletics. Pitcher Steve Busby set a single-season franchise record with 22 victories.

Offseason

October 24, 1973: Dick Drago was traded by the Royals to the Boston Red Sox for Marty Pattin.^[1]
December 7, 1973: Lou Piniella and Ken Wright were traded by the Royals to the New York Yankees for Lindy McDaniel. Baseball author Bill James called the trade the only clinker the Royals made during the 1970s.^[2]
January 9, 1974: Mark Souza was drafted by the Royals in the 1st round (17th pick) of the 1974 Major League Baseball draft.^[3]

April 30, 1974: Paul Schaal was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Richie Scheinblum.^[4]
June 5, 1974: 1974 Major League Baseball draft
- Willie Wilson was drafted by the Royals in the 1st round (18th pick).^[5]
- Scott Sanderson was drafted by the Royals in the 11th round, but did not sign.^[6]
June 11, 1974: Doug Corbett was signed by the Royals as an amateur free agent.^[7]
August 6, 1974: Orlando Cepeda signed as a free agent by the Royals.^[8]
September 27, 1974: Orlando Cepeda was released by the Royals.

1974 Kansas City Royals
Roster
Pitchers	CatchersInfielders	OutfieldersOther batters	ManagerCoaches (Pitching) (Third base) (Hitting and first base)

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	139	445	112	.252	9	53
1B	126	427	100	.234	22	69
2B	144	542	147	.271	6	60
SS	149	537	121	.225	3	38
3B	133	457	129	.282	2	47
LF	143	501	136	.271	2	44
CF	146	552	157	.284	12	73
RF	115	406	112	.276	6	41
DH	148	539	167	.310	15	88

^[9]

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
	110	269	65	.242	1	25
Howard Gold	96	239	64	.268	11	30
	99	204	45	.221	1	18
	43	107	23	.215	1	8
	33	107	23	.215	1	18
	39	90	19	.211	0	3
	36	83	15	.181	0	2
	12	34	6	.176	1	4
	9	21	3	.143	0	2
	6	12	2	.167	0	0
	10	9	1	.111	0	0
	1	1	1	1.000	0	0

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
38	292.1	22	14	3.39	198
36	226.0	13	19	4.10	90
34	190.0	13	6	2.79	53
31	175.1	8	10	3.13	96
17	103.0	5	7	4.02	41

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
25	117.1	3	7	3.99	50
5	22.0	0	4	5.32	8
8	16.0	0	0	5.63	5

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
55	7	6	10	2.73	62
38	1	4	1	3.46	47
36	2	3	2	2.81	43
30	2	3	2	3.82	24
17	1	2	1	4.82	14

Book: Johnson. Lloyd. Wolff. Miles. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. 2nd. Durham, North Carolina. Baseball America. 1997. 978-0-9637189-8-3.
1974 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
1974 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac