Detroit Tigers (1974)

1974 Regular Season:
Tigers vs. New York Yankees

      By 1974 the Detroit Tigers were a team in transition. After winning the World Series in 1968 and just missing another pennant in 1972, the stars of those teams were aging. They finished 12 games back of the Baltimore Orioles, and fiery manager Billy Martin was canned late in the season after ordering his pitchers to bean opponents. 
     The Tigers replaced Martin with ex-Yankees manager Ralph Houk. Houk would be charged with leading the team through lean seasons as the franchise began to rebuild. The 1974 Tigers finished 72-90, bringing up the rear in the American League East, 19 games back of Baltimore. Attendance slumped as well, as 1,243,080 fans came to Tiger Stadium, a decrease of about 500,000, but still good enough for third-highest in the league.
     Longtime catcher Bill Freehan, now also playing first base to protect his knees, led the team with a .297 batting average and 18 home runs. "Mr. Tiger" Al Kaline played the final season of his legendary career primarily as designated hitter or first baseman. Kaline hit .262 with 13 home runs and 64 RBI, and also got hit number 3,000 late in the season in Baltimore. Outfielder Willie Horton hit .298, but injuries limited him to 72 games. As a group, the 1974 Tigers hit .247, 10th in the American League.
     Pitching was similarly weak for Detroit, as the staff's 4.16 ERA was last in the league. Mickey Lolich was still piling up the innings, pitching 308 2/3 innings and making 41 starts. His record that season was 16-21 with a 4.15 ERA, with 202 strikeouts. Joe Coleman was the only pitcher in the rotation that season with an above .500 record, going 14-12 with a 4.32 ERA and 177 strikeouts. Lerrin LeGrow had a forgettable season, going 8-19 with a 4.66 ERA in 34 starts. The team's closer, John Hiller, had a fine season, going 17-14 (new record for relief wins) with a 2.64 ERA, 134 strikeouts and 13 saves, earning an invitation to the All-Star Game.

1974 Detroit Tigers Yearbook

     This is a 52-page program, mostly in black-and-white. I bought this from an antique store in Lakeport, near Port Huron. New manager Houk is introduced on page 3, and the 1974 Tigers roster is included on pages 19-21. There's also an article about Al Kaline's quest for
hit #3,000, being just 139 hits shy of that milestone at the beginning of the season.

     The program is from a Tuesday, July 2nd game against the New York Yankees. Ex-Tiger Pat Dobson took the loss, allowing 3 earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, while Luke picked up the win to improve to 4-0 on the year. The Tigers improved to 40-36 on the year, but would go 32-54 the rest of the way. 

     Local advertisements include Porterfield Wilson Pontiac Sales Service, AC Spark Plugs, Stroh's Beer, Vernors Ginger Ale, Altes Golden Lager Beer and Elias Brothers Restaurants. Car advertisements include the 1974 Pontiac Firebird Espirit, the Chevrolet Monte Carlo and the 1974 Ford lineup of cars (Mustang II, Maverick and Pinto).

Reference:

"1974 Detroit Tigers Statistics", from Baseball-Reference.com