1974 RECAP
Record: 81-81, 4th in AL West
An unlucky year as the Rangers go .500 despite a +58 run differential, good enough for a -6 pythag record. Our division rival Athletics went on to the World Series, only to get swept by the Dodgers. It was a good year for LAD as the title winners also had the only player elected to the Hall of Fame,
Don Drysdale.
Our elite pitching trio of Ryan, Jenkins, and Perry was as good as expected, combining for a scintillating 22.2 WAR. If only the rest of the team was average we would have done well. Only Lou Brock, our DH in his mid-thirties performed: he was among the league leaders in batting average, picked up the Silver Slugger Award, and grabbed an amazing 130 stolen bases. I'm sure at this point in time that's the modern day record, with higher numbers only coming in the wacky 19th Century.
Belanger and Blair were shipped out as previously mentioned, but ended up winning the Gold Glove Awards for their whole season. But most importantly,
Nolan Ryan won the Cy Young Award! Given that he never won one historically, I'm happy with that. He's still got a long career ahead.
Notable Ins: Gaylord Perry (SP), Lou Brock (DH), Frank White (2B), Rick Burleson (SS), Mickey Rivers (2B)
Notable Outs: Mark Belanger (SS), Paul Blair (CF)
Rookie Class: Bump Wills (2B)
Best Performers
Nolan Ryan (SP): 7.8 WAR
Fergie Jenkins (SP): 7.8 WAR
Gaylord Perry (SP): 6.6 WAR
Lou Brock (DH): 4.0 WAR
Mike Hargrove (1B): 3.0 WAR
World Series
Los Angeles Dodgers defeat Oakland Athletics 4-0
MLB Awards
AL MVP: Rod Carew (2B), MIN
NL MVP: Joe Morgan (2B), CIN
AL Cy Young:
Nolan Ryan (SP), TEX
NL Cy Young: Tom Seaver (SP), NYM
Hall of Fame Inductees
Don Drysdale (SP), LAD
Texas Rangers in the Hall of Fame Watch
Locks:
Fergie Jenkins,
Nolan Ryan,
Gaylord Perry*
Even Odds:
Buddy Bell
Longshots:
Mike Hargrove,
Jeff Burroughs
*:
Lock for Hall of Fame but could go in a different cap