The 1974 New York Yankees season was the 72nd season for the team. The team finished second in the American League East with a record of 89–73, two games behind the Baltimore Orioles in Bill Virdon's first season as manager. The Yankees played at Shea Stadium due to the ongoing renovation of Yankee Stadium. This was the first season in which the away uniforms featured white outlines on the numbers and the city name. This would stay with the team for the next 50 seasons until it was retired just before the 2024 season when the white outline was removed (at the suggestion of team captain Aaron Judge) from the away jerseys, keeping the navy blue numbers.
Offseason
The off-season became controversial when George Steinbrenner and Gabe Paul sought to hire former Oakland Athletics manager Dick Williams, who had resigned immediately after leading the team to its second straight World Series title. However, because Williams was still under contract to Oakland, A's owner Charlie Finley sought to block the move, the subsequent legal wrangling prevented the Yankees from hiring him. On the first anniversary of the team's ownership change, the Yankees hired former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Bill Virdon to lead the team on the field.
August 25, 1974: Nolan Ryan of the California Angels struck out Sandy Alomar Sr. of the Yankees for the 1500th strikeout of his career.[7] Ryan and Alomar had been teammates at the beginning of the season, but Alomar had been sold to the Yankees on July 8.
September 7, 1974: The Yankees' Graig Nettles hit a home run against the Detroit Tigers. The next time up, he hit a broken-bat single. Tigers catcher Bill Freehan scrambled for the six superballs that came bouncing out. Nettles was called out on the single, but his solo homer was allowed and that made all the difference as the Yankees won 1–0.[8]
Hall of Fame
Mickey Mantle and former teammate Whitey Ford were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame together in 1974, Mantle in his first year of eligibility, Ford in his second. Ford's number 16 was retired as well. Although Ford wore number 19 in his rookie season, following his return from the army in 1953, he wore number 16 for the remainder of his career.
^Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007