1974 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1974 Season

The 1974 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 1974 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1974

I calculate Player won-lost records two ways: pWins, which tie to team wins and eWins, which control for context and the ability of one's teammates. For players with more pWins than eWins, their Player wins contributed to more team wins than one might expect; for players with more eWins than pWins, just the opposite is true: their Player wins translated into fewer team wins than expected. Or more briefly: a player with more pWins than eWins was better in context, a player with more eWins than pWins was worse in context.

The top 10 players in pWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		pWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Fergie Jenkins	22.7	14.4	8.4	10.6	1	Fergie Jenkins	22.7	14.4	8.4	10.6
2	Joe L. Morgan	23.8	16.9	7.4	9.2	2	Joe L. Morgan	23.8	16.9	7.4	9.2
3	Luis Tiant Jr.	20.1	13.5	6.6	8.6	3	Luis Tiant Jr.	20.1	13.5	6.6	8.6
4	Mike Schmidt	23.8	16.7	6.5	8.4	4	Mike Schmidt	23.8	16.7	6.5	8.4
5	Johnny Bench	21.9	15.7	6.5	8.2	5	Johnny Bench	21.9	15.7	6.5	8.2
6	Jimmy Wynn	23.8	16.9	5.8	7.7	6	Jimmy Wynn	23.8	16.9	5.8	7.7
7	Bobby Grich	23.0	18.3	5.7	7.5	7	Bobby Grich	23.0	18.3	5.7	7.5
8	Ron Cey	22.2	16.1	5.4	7.2	8	Dave Concepcion	23.1	19.1	5.3	7.2
9	Andy Messersmith	18.4	13.7	5.3	7.0	9	Ron Cey	22.2	16.1	5.4	7.2
10	Darrell Evans	22.9	17.0	5.3	7.1	10	Darrell Evans	22.9	17.0	5.3	7.1

The top 10 players in eWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		eWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						eWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL		Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
1	Joe L. Morgan	23.8	16.9	7.3	9.2	1	Joe L. Morgan	23.8	16.9	7.3	9.2
2	Mike Schmidt	24.0	16.5	7.0	8.8	2	Mike Schmidt	24.0	16.5	7.0	8.8
3	Johnny Bench	21.7	15.9	6.0	7.8	3	Fergie Jenkins	21.4	15.7	5.7	7.9
4	Fergie Jenkins	21.4	15.7	5.7	7.9	4	Johnny Bench	21.7	15.9	6.0	7.8
5	Jimmy Wynn	23.3	17.4	5.0	6.8	5	Jimmy Wynn	23.3	17.4	5.0	6.8
6	Luis Tiant Jr.	19.2	14.4	4.8	6.8	6	Luis Tiant Jr.	19.2	14.4	4.8	6.8
7	Rod Carew	22.5	18.7	4.7	6.6	7	Rod Carew	22.5	18.7	4.7	6.6
8	Gaylord Perry	18.6	14.0	4.6	6.5	8	Gaylord Perry	18.6	14.0	4.6	6.5
9	Jon Matlack	17.0	13.4	4.6	6.2	9	Jon Matlack	17.0	13.4	4.6	6.2
10	Willie Stargell	21.4	15.9	4.3	6.0	10	Bobby Grich	22.3	19.0	4.2	6.1

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1974 at the end of this article.

1974 Postseason

The 1974 postseason was a clash of four 1970s powerhouses. The four teams who made the 1974 postseason won a combined 11 pennants in the 1970s and won 6 of the 10 World Series of the 1970s. In the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers won their first NL West division title and defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in four games.

In the American League, the Baltimore Orioles won the AL East for the fifth time in the six years since divisions were introduced in 1969. They were defeated in four games in the ALCS by the Oakland A's, who won their fourth consecutive AL West title.

The World Series saw the Oakland A's win their third straight World Championship.

The top players in the 1974 postseason, as measured by Player won-lost records, are shown next.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	1974 Postseason: Total

Don Sutton	LAN	2.3	1.1	1.4
Ken Holtzman	OAK	1.8	0.7	1.3
Rollie Fingers	OAK	1.5	0.6	1.1
Vida Blue	OAK	1.7	1.0	1.0
Sal Bando	OAK	1.5	0.7	1.0
Reggie Jackson	OAK	1.4	0.5	0.9
Willie Stargell	PIT	1.0	0.3	0.7
Joe Rudi	OAK	1.2	0.8	0.4
Catfish Hunter	OAK	1.4	1.2	0.4
Claudell Washington	OAK	0.8	0.5	0.4

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1974 World Series

Reggie Jackson	OAK	1.0	0.3	0.7
Ken Holtzman	OAK	1.1	0.5	0.6
Rollie Fingers	OAK	1.0	0.5	0.6
Catfish Hunter	OAK	0.7	0.3	0.4
Joe Rudi	OAK	0.8	0.4	0.4

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1974 Postseason: League Championship Series

Don Sutton	LAN	1.5	0.5	1.0
Vida Blue	OAK	1.0	0.1	0.9
Willie Stargell	PIT	1.0	0.3	0.7
Steve Garvey	LAN	1.0	0.3	0.6
Sal Bando	OAK	0.8	0.3	0.5

Best of 1974 by Factor and Position

Next, let's look at the top players in various aspects of the game.

Best by Factor: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, Fielding

There are four basic factors for which players earn Player won-lost records: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, and Fielding. The top players in 1974 in wins over positional average (WOPA) by factor were as follows.


Batting
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Mike Schmidt	16.6	10.6	5.6	1	Jimmy Wynn	16.5	10.4	5.8
2	Joe L. Morgan	15.3	9.7	5.3	2	Mike Schmidt	16.7	10.5	5.8
3	Jimmy Wynn	16.2	10.7	5.2	3	Johnny Bench	17.9	12.0	5.5
4	Johnny Bench	17.4	12.5	4.6	4	Joe L. Morgan	15.4	9.6	5.5
5	Reggie Jackson	15.0	10.5	4.5	5	Willie Stargell	14.5	8.9	5.3
6	Willie Stargell	14.1	9.3	4.5	6	Richie Zisk	14.8	9.2	5.3
7	Jeff Burroughs	15.0	10.7	4.4	7	Steve Garvey	16.8	11.3	5.1
8	Richie Zisk	14.1	9.9	3.9	8	Reggie Jackson	15.2	10.3	4.9
9	Dick Allen	12.7	8.9	3.8	9	Darrell Evans	16.0	11.0	4.6
10	Carl Yastrzemski	13.8	10.3	3.4	10	Jeff Burroughs	15.1	10.6	4.5

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Davey Lopes	2.5	1.3	1.1	1	Bert Campaneris	2.6	1.3	1.3
2	Larry Lintz	2.1	1.1	1.0	2	Davey Lopes	2.5	1.2	1.2
3	Willie Davis	2.0	1.0	1.0	3	Willie Davis	2.1	0.9	1.2
4	Bert Campaneris	2.3	1.6	0.7	4	Larry Lintz	2.1	1.1	1.0
5	Bake McBride	2.0	1.3	0.7	5	Paul Blair	1.8	0.9	0.9
6	Lou Brock	3.6	2.8	0.7	6	Lou Brock	3.7	2.7	0.8
7	Paul Blair	1.7	1.0	0.6	7	Joe L. Morgan	2.5	1.7	0.7
8	Mickey Rivers	2.0	1.5	0.6	8	Bake McBride	2.0	1.3	0.7
9	Bobby Bonds	2.0	1.4	0.5	9	Mickey Rivers	2.1	1.5	0.6
10	Rod Carew	2.2	1.7	0.5	10	Gene Clines	1.1	0.5	0.6

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Fergie Jenkins	20.2	15.7	4.5	1	Fergie Jenkins	22.1	13.8	8.3
2	Jon Matlack	15.1	11.3	3.8	2	Luis Tiant Jr.	19.8	13.2	6.6
3	Luis Tiant Jr.	18.4	14.7	3.7	3	Catfish Hunter	17.6	13.0	4.5
4	Gaylord Perry	17.5	14.0	3.5	4	Lynn McGlothen	14.7	10.5	4.1
5	Bert Blyleven	15.6	12.6	3.0	5	Jim Kaat	16.7	12.6	4.1
6	Catfish Hunter	16.8	13.8	3.0	6	Andy Messersmith	16.0	11.9	4.0
7	Jim Barr	13.5	10.6	2.9	7	Jim Barr	14.1	10.1	4.0
8	Phil Niekro	16.7	14.1	2.6	8	Mike Cuellar	17.5	13.6	4.0
9	Nolan Ryan	20.9	18.4	2.5	9	Buzz Capra	13.4	9.5	3.9
10	Steve Busby	16.2	13.8	2.4	10	Tommy John	8.8	5.0	3.8

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Jim Rooker	0.5	0.2	0.3	1	Mike Caldwell	0.5	0.1	0.4
2	Mike Caldwell	0.5	0.2	0.3	2	Jim Rooker	0.5	0.2	0.3
3	Dave A. Roberts	0.6	0.3	0.3	3	Tom Seaver	0.5	0.2	0.3
4	Bill Campbell	0.5	0.2	0.3	4	Bill Campbell	0.5	0.2	0.3
5	Tom Seaver	0.5	0.2	0.3	5	Ken Holtzman	0.5	0.2	0.3


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ted Simmons	2.0	1.5	0.5	1	Ted Simmons	2.0	1.5	0.5
2	Phil Roof	0.8	0.4	0.4	2	Steve Yeager	1.5	1.0	0.5
3	Johnny Bench	1.9	1.6	0.3	3	Manny Sanguillen	2.3	1.9	0.4
4	Bob Barton	0.8	0.5	0.3	4	Phil Roof	0.8	0.4	0.4
5	Darrell Porter	1.9	1.6	0.2	5	Andy Etchebarren	0.9	0.5	0.4


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	George C. Scott	3.0	2.0	1.0	1	George C. Scott	3.1	1.9	1.2
2	Joe Torre	2.0	1.6	0.4	2	Willie Montanez	2.6	2.1	0.5
3	Tony Perez	2.3	2.0	0.3	3	Craig Kusick	1.2	0.7	0.5
4	Mike Jorgensen	1.1	0.8	0.3	4	Joe Lis	0.8	0.4	0.4
5	Willie Montanez	2.5	2.2	0.2	5	Joe Torre	2.0	1.6	0.4


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Dave Cash	7.1	5.9	1.1	1	Ted Sizemore	5.3	4.1	1.2
2	Ted Sizemore	5.2	4.1	1.0	2	Bobby Grich	6.9	5.8	1.1
3	Marty Perez	4.2	3.6	0.6	3	Dave Cash	7.0	6.0	1.0
4	Denny Doyle	5.7	5.2	0.5	4	Davey Lopes	5.6	4.6	0.9
5	Derrel Thomas	3.6	3.2	0.4	5	Jim Cox	3.3	2.4	0.9


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ron Cey	5.5	4.5	1.0	1	Brooks Robinson	7.1	4.8	2.4
2	Ken Reitz	4.1	3.2	0.9	2	Ron Cey	5.9	4.0	1.9
3	Mike Schmidt	5.5	4.8	0.8	3	Ken Reitz	4.2	3.1	1.2
4	Larry Parrish	1.0	0.5	0.5	4	Graig Nettles	6.8	5.7	1.1
5	Buddy Bell	4.3	3.8	0.5	5	Aurelio Rodriguez	5.4	4.4	1.0


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Mark Belanger	7.4	5.7	1.7	1	Mark Belanger	7.8	5.2	2.6
2	Bill E. Russell	7.4	6.2	1.2	2	Dave Concepcion	7.9	6.2	1.7
3	Bud Harrelson	4.6	3.7	0.9	3	Bill E. Russell	7.2	6.4	0.8
4	Dave Concepcion	7.5	6.6	0.8	4	Chris Speier	6.3	5.7	0.7
5	Tim Foli	5.5	4.7	0.8	5	Mike Tyson	5.9	5.2	0.7


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Joe Rudi	7.0	5.8	1.3	1	Joe Rudi	7.2	5.6	1.6
2	Dave Winfield	3.8	2.7	1.0	2	Lou Piniella	5.7	4.2	1.6
3	Hal McRae	2.4	1.6	0.8	3	Bill Buckner	5.4	4.0	1.3
4	Lou Brock	6.0	5.3	0.7	4	Dave Winfield	3.9	2.6	1.3
5	Willie Stargell	6.5	5.9	0.6	5	Jim Wohlford	6.4	5.3	1.1


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Cesar Geronimo	6.2	4.6	1.7	1	Cesar Geronimo	6.4	4.5	1.9
2	Elliott Maddox	5.4	4.4	1.1	2	Cesar Cedeno	6.8	5.5	1.3
3	Paul Blair	5.8	5.2	0.6	3	Juan Beniquez	4.0	3.0	1.0
4	Cesar Cedeno	6.5	5.8	0.6	4	Elliott Maddox	5.4	4.4	1.0
5	Bake McBride	5.2	4.6	0.6	5	Dusty Baker	3.9	3.0	0.9


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Al Cowens	2.8	1.8	0.9	1	Al Cowens	2.9	1.7	1.1
2	Greg Gross	6.6	5.8	0.8	2	Greg Gross	6.6	5.8	0.9
3	Charlie Spikes	6.7	5.9	0.8	3	Bill Sharp	3.8	3.1	0.8
4	Dwight Evans	4.5	3.8	0.7	4	Willie Crawford	4.4	3.7	0.7
5	Dave May	4.0	3.4	0.5	5	Dwight Evans	4.5	3.8	0.7

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1974 Major-League leaders by position. The figures shown here only include Player decisions earned while playing this particular position.


Catcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Johnny Bench	17.8	12.9	5.2	1	Johnny Bench	18.1	12.6	5.9
2	Joe Ferguson	8.2	6.0	2.3	2	Ted Simmons	16.5	14.4	2.6
3	Gene Tenace	6.9	5.2	2.0	3	Thurman Munson	14.6	12.9	2.4
4	Ted Simmons	16.2	14.7	1.9	4	Darrell Porter	11.8	10.1	2.2
5	Darrell Porter	11.5	10.3	1.7	5	Steve Yeager	8.6	6.7	2.1


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dick Allen	14.8	11.1	2.9	1	Steve Garvey	20.3	14.0	4.9
2	Willie McCovey	11.5	8.5	2.1	2	Dick Allen	14.6	11.3	2.5
3	Steve Garvey	19.0	15.4	2.1	3	Tony Perez	19.1	15.1	2.5
4	Mike Jorgensen	6.7	4.6	1.7	4	Mike Jorgensen	6.7	4.6	1.7
5	George C. Scott	17.2	14.7	1.5	5	George C. Scott	17.2	14.7	1.5


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Joe L. Morgan	23.0	16.9	6.6	1	Joe L. Morgan	23.5	16.3	7.7
2	Rod Carew	22.1	18.9	4.1	2	Bobby Grich	23.0	18.3	5.7
3	Bobby Grich	22.2	19.1	4.0	3	Rod Carew	22.2	18.7	4.4
4	Jorge Orta	16.8	15.2	2.4	4	Davey Lopes	17.8	15.0	3.3
5	Davey Lopes	17.3	15.5	2.2	5	Dave Cash	22.7	21.0	2.3


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Mike Schmidt	23.7	16.7	6.4	1	Mike Schmidt	23.8	16.7	6.5
2	Darrell Evans	22.0	17.9	3.5	2	Ron Cey	22.2	16.1	5.4
3	Ron Cey	20.7	17.7	2.4	3	Darrell Evans	22.9	17.0	5.3
4	Sal Bando	18.2	15.7	2.2	4	Brooks Robinson	19.7	15.3	4.3
5	Richie Hebner	18.4	16.4	1.5	5	Sal Bando	18.8	15.1	3.6


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dave Concepcion	22.0	20.1	3.3	1	Dave Concepcion	23.1	19.0	5.4
2	Bert Campaneris	18.6	17.2	2.9	2	Mark Belanger	17.8	16.1	3.1
3	Toby Harrah	19.6	18.6	2.5	3	Bert Campaneris	18.6	17.2	3.0
4	Mark Belanger	17.2	16.7	1.8	4	Bill E. Russell	19.1	18.0	2.3
5	Bill E. Russell	18.8	18.3	1.7	5	Toby Harrah	19.4	18.8	2.2


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Willie Stargell	21.2	16.0	4.0	1	Willie Stargell	21.8	16.0	5.4
2	Joe Rudi	20.8	17.3	2.5	2	Joe Rudi	21.6	17.3	4.2
3	Hal McRae	6.3	4.4	1.7	3	Lou Piniella	15.8	13.2	3.3
4	Dave Winfield	10.1	8.0	1.5	4	Hank Aaron	13.5	10.4	3.0
5	Hank Aaron	12.8	10.4	1.5	5	Bill Buckner	17.5	15.7	1.5


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jimmy Wynn	23.1	17.4	4.8	1	Jimmy Wynn	23.8	16.8	6.0
2	Cesar Cedeno	22.3	18.8	2.3	2	Cesar Geronimo	17.9	13.4	3.7
3	Rick Monday	17.4	14.6	2.0	3	Paul Blair	20.4	16.3	3.6
4	Elliott Maddox	15.3	13.0	1.9	4	Cesar Cedeno	22.7	18.4	3.3
5	Bake McBride	18.8	16.4	1.4	5	Dusty Baker	13.7	10.5	2.6


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Reggie Jackson	19.3	15.9	2.8	1	Reggie Jackson	20.0	15.2	4.1
2	Richie Zisk	18.8	15.3	2.5	2	Richie Zisk	19.5	14.6	3.9
3	Jeff Burroughs	20.9	17.8	2.3	3	Willie Crawford	16.9	12.8	3.1
4	Reggie Smith	19.8	16.5	2.2	4	Reggie Smith	20.1	16.2	2.8
5	Bobby Bonds	19.8	16.5	2.1	5	Bernie Carbo	8.4	5.5	2.7


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Fergie Jenkins	20.7	16.3	4.4	1	Fergie Jenkins	22.6	14.3	8.3
2	Jon Matlack	15.4	11.5	3.9	2	Luis Tiant Jr.	20.1	13.5	6.6
3	Luis Tiant Jr.	18.7	14.9	3.7	3	Catfish Hunter	17.8	13.2	4.6
4	Gaylord Perry	18.0	14.5	3.6	4	Andy Messersmith	16.3	12.1	4.2
5	Bert Blyleven	15.9	12.8	3.1	5	Lynn McGlothen	15.1	11.0	4.1
6	Catfish Hunter	17.0	14.0	3.0	6	Mike Cuellar	18.0	13.9	4.1
7	Nolan Ryan	21.4	18.5	2.9	7	Jim Kaat	16.8	12.7	4.0
8	Phil Niekro	16.9	13.9	2.9	8	Tommy John	9.1	5.5	3.6
9	Steve Busby	16.7	14.2	2.5	9	Buzz Capra	12.3	8.8	3.5
10	Jim Kaat	15.9	13.6	2.3	10	Steve Busby	17.2	13.7	3.5


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Mike G. Marshall	13.7	11.7	2.0	1	Terry Forster	10.9	8.0	3.0
2	Rollie Fingers	8.0	6.3	1.7	2	Bill Campbell	9.3	6.3	3.0
3	Tom House	6.2	4.5	1.6	3	Rollie Fingers	8.6	5.7	2.9
4	Steve Foucault	8.6	7.1	1.5	4	Al Hrabosky	5.4	2.8	2.7
5	John Hiller	11.0	9.8	1.3	5	Tom House	6.5	4.3	2.2
6	Terry Forster	10.1	8.8	1.3	6	Oscar Zamora	6.7	4.5	2.2
7	Bill Campbell	8.4	7.2	1.2	7	Clay Carroll	5.0	2.9	2.2
8	Tom A. Murphy	8.9	7.7	1.2	8	Tom A. Murphy	9.3	7.3	2.0
9	Clay Carroll	4.5	3.4	1.2	9	Dave Giusti	5.8	3.9	1.9
10	Dale Murray	3.1	1.9	1.2	10	John Hiller	11.3	9.5	1.9


Designated Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Frank Robinson	12.4	9.6	2.6	1	Oscar Gamble	11.6	8.7	2.7
2	Oscar Gamble	11.4	8.9	2.4	2	Al Kaline	12.9	11.2	1.5
3	Hal McRae	8.5	7.3	1.1	3	Frank Robinson	11.8	10.2	1.4

Finally, here are the best at three oft-forgotten positions that can nevertheless matter: pitcher offense, pinch hitting, and pinch running.


Pitcher Offense
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Ken Brett	1.8	1.4	1.0	1	Andy Messersmith	2.1	1.5	1.2
2	Andy Messersmith	1.8	1.7	0.8	2	Ken Brett	1.7	1.5	0.8
3	Jim Rooker	1.6	1.6	0.7	3	Jim Rooker	1.7	1.6	0.8


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Harmon Killebrew	2.3	1.1	1.3	1	Harmon Killebrew	2.5	1.0	1.6
2	Cliff Johnson	2.3	1.1	1.2	2	Tom Hutton	2.0	0.5	1.5
3	Tom Hutton	1.8	0.8	1.1	3	Cliff Johnson	2.3	1.0	1.4


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Len Randle	0.2	0.0	0.2	1	Len Randle	0.3	0.0	0.2
2	Lee Richard	0.2	0.0	0.2	2	Bob Gallagher	0.2	0.0	0.2
3	Bob Gallagher	0.2	0.0	0.1	3	Lee Richard	0.2	0.0	0.2

Noteworthy Players of 1974

One name that is a familiar face on top 10 lists of the 1970s is Cincinnati Reds second baseman Joe Morgan. As I showed in my article about the 1977 season, Joe Morgan's 6-year stretch from 1972 through 1977 is one of the best consecutive 6-year stretch, as measured by pWins over replacment level, of any player for whom I have calculated Player won-lost records.

I take a bit closer look next at a couple of other players on the above lists.

Fergie Jenkins

The best player in the major leagues in 1974, as measured by pWins over either positional average or replacement level was long-time Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Fergie Jenkins. Of course, in a somewhat classic pre-2016 Cubs move (says a man who lived on the North Side of Chicago for 27 years), Fergie Jenkins's brilliant 1974 season came in his first season as a member of the Texas Rangers.

Fergie Jenkins's career, as measured by Player won-lost records, is presented in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Fergie Jenkins Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1965	PHI	22	7	0.7	0.8	-0.1	0.0	0.8	0.8	-0.0	0.1
1966	CHN	23	61	9.4	10.2	-0.3	1.2	9.7	9.8	0.5	1.9
1967	CHN	24	39	20.2	17.5	3.8	6.0	19.5	18.2	2.6	4.7
1968	CHN	25	40	21.0	17.8	4.3	6.3	20.6	18.2	3.5	5.5
1969	CHN	26	43	22.0	17.4	5.7	8.0	21.1	18.3	3.9	6.3
1970	CHN	27	40	21.6	16.9	6.0	8.0	22.0	16.5	6.9	9.0
1971	CHN	28	39	24.1	17.4	7.7	10.0	23.7	17.7	7.2	9.5
1972	CHN	29	36	18.6	16.2	3.3	5.4	18.0	16.7	2.3	4.4
1973	CHN	30	38	15.8	18.4	-1.7	0.2	16.5	17.7	-0.3	1.6
1974	TEX	31	41	22.7	14.4	8.4	10.6	21.4	15.7	5.7	7.9
1975	TEX	32	37	16.4	14.9	1.6	3.5	15.9	15.4	0.6	2.5
1976	BOS	33	30	11.1	11.4	-0.2	1.1	11.5	11.0	0.6	1.9
1977	BOS	34	28	10.2	10.2	0.1	1.5	10.4	10.0	0.5	1.8
1978	TEX	35	34	14.7	10.3	4.3	5.9	14.0	11.0	2.9	4.4
1979	TEX	36	37	14.8	14.1	0.7	2.5	14.4	14.6	-0.1	1.7
1980	TEX	37	29	12.3	11.8	0.6	2.0	12.5	11.7	1.0	2.4
1981	TEX	38	19	6.5	7.1	-0.6	0.3	6.1	7.5	-1.4	-0.4
1982	CHN	39	34	13.9	14.5	0.5	2.0	13.1	15.3	-1.1	0.4
1983	CHN	40	33	8.9	11.1	-1.5	-0.4	9.6	10.4	-0.1	1.0
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			665	285.0	252.3	42.7	74.3	280.8	256.5	35.3	66.9
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			0	0.0	0.0		0.0	0.0	0.0		0.0
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			665	285.0	252.3		74.3	280.8	256.5		66.9

Mike Schmidt

One player making his first appearance on major-league top 10 lists in 1974 was 23-year-old Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt. It was definitely not his last such appearance.

Mike Schmidt's career, as measured by Player won-lost recirds, is presented in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Mike Schmidt Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1972	PHI	22	13	1.3	1.2	0.1	0.2	1.2	1.3	-0.1	0.0
1973	PHI	23	131	14.3	12.0	1.6	2.9	13.8	12.5	0.5	1.8
1974	PHI	24	162	23.8	16.7	6.5	8.4	24.0	16.5	7.0	8.8
1975	PHI	25	158	21.4	17.2	4.0	5.8	22.5	16.1	6.2	8.0
1976	PHI	26	160	23.7	16.2	6.9	8.9	23.1	16.8	5.8	7.8
1977	PHI	27	154	21.6	15.1	5.9	7.7	21.5	15.1	5.7	7.6
1978	PHI	28	145	20.2	16.3	3.3	5.0	20.2	16.3	3.3	5.0
1979	PHI	29	160	24.3	17.2	6.5	8.4	23.7	17.8	5.5	7.5
1980	PHI	30	150	23.7	17.0	6.2	8.1	23.7	17.0	6.4	8.3
1981	PHI	31	102	17.1	10.7	5.9	7.4	16.8	11.0	5.4	6.9
1982	PHI	32	148	22.6	16.3	5.6	7.3	22.7	16.1	5.9	7.6
1983	PHI	33	154	22.5	17.0	4.6	6.4	22.6	16.8	5.0	6.8
1984	PHI	34	151	22.6	17.6	4.8	6.6	23.0	17.2	5.5	7.4
1985	PHI	35	158	19.0	16.2	1.5	3.2	20.1	15.1	3.8	5.4
1986	PHI	36	160	21.0	15.4	4.7	6.4	21.2	15.3	5.0	6.7
1987	PHI	37	147	22.3	16.8	4.7	6.5	22.5	16.6	5.1	6.9
1988	PHI	38	108	12.5	13.2	-0.9	0.3	13.2	12.4	0.6	1.8
1989	PHI	39	42	4.6	5.8	-1.3	-0.8	5.2	5.2	-0.1	0.4
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,403	338.5	257.6	70.6	98.8	341.1	255.1	76.5	104.7
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			36	4.2	4.4		0.0	4.4	4.1		0.6
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			2,439	342.6	262.0		98.8	345.5	259.2		105.3

The next table shows the top 25 players in career eWins over positional average for players for whom I have calculated Player won-lost records.

		Top 25 Players, Career eWOPA
		eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
1	Babe Ruth	397.5	249.3	131.9	166.7
2	Barry Bonds	462.8	314.6	127.9	165.4
3	Mel Ott	419.0	295.9	101.7	139.8
4	Ted Williams	371.1	252.0	99.8	132.7
5	Mickey Mantle	346.8	234.8	96.3	126.4
6	Willie Mays	455.3	339.9	94.8	135.2
7	Roger Clemens	314.8	230.7	90.0	125.3
8	Hank Aaron	491.8	374.0	88.2	132.2
9	Greg Maddux	329.0	269.9	85.1	120.9
10	Joe L. Morgan	369.2	296.6	81.2	113.5
11	Lou Gehrig	294.4	193.7	80.1	105.8
12	Alex Rodriguez	373.3	299.2	79.8	113.1
13	Mike Schmidt	341.1	255.1	76.5	104.7
14	Stan Musial	417.4	318.0	74.7	113.5
15	Jimmie Foxx	296.9	204.6	71.9	98.7
16	Rogers Hornsby	262.4	193.6	69.4	93.3
17	Frank Robinson	396.5	304.0	66.7	102.6
18	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	276.4	224.4	63.8	95.8
19	Eddie Mathews	317.6	244.0	63.4	92.3
20	Rickey Henderson	428.2	350.5	63.1	100.6
21	Joe DiMaggio	275.2	205.0	61.7	87.2
22	Pedro J. Martinez	191.6	138.6	61.3	82.9
23	Albert Pujols	353.0	274.2	58.4	90.8
24	Warren Spahn	343.4	302.5	57.8	97.4
25	Lefty Grove	246.4	202.2	55.6	84.4

Oh, look, there's Schmidt (and Morgan)!

Notable Debuts

The 1974 season saw the debut of two players who have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame: Jim Rice and Gary Carter. Their careers, as measured by Player won-lost records, are presented in the next table.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Jim Rice						Gary Carter
1974	24	2.1	1.4	0.609	0.7	0.9	9	1.0	0.6	0.641	0.5	0.5
1975	144	20.1	15.4	0.565	4.2	6.0	144	16.2	15.8	0.505	-0.4	1.1
1976	153	17.5	17.5	0.499	-0.7	1.1	91	8.7	9.8	0.471	-1.1	-0.2
1977	160	18.4	13.9	0.569	3.9	5.9	153	15.6	13.7	0.531	1.5	3.0
1978	163	26.5	16.9	0.610	8.9	11.0	157	16.1	14.3	0.529	2.0	3.4
1979	158	21.4	18.4	0.537	2.3	4.3	140	15.2	13.3	0.533	2.0	3.3
1980	124	17.2	15.4	0.527	1.0	2.5	154	16.7	13.7	0.549	3.2	4.6
1981	108	15.5	14.2	0.522	0.6	2.2	100	12.4	9.8	0.559	2.8	4.0
1982	145	22.2	19.8	0.528	1.5	3.4	154	18.8	15.4	0.549	3.6	5.2
1983	155	26.5	21.6	0.551	4.0	6.2	145	15.5	13.8	0.529	2.0	3.4
1984	159	23.6	22.0	0.517	0.3	2.4	159	19.8	16.2	0.551	4.0	5.7
1985	140	19.9	19.7	0.502	-0.6	1.3	149	20.1	14.0	0.590	6.4	8.0
1986	157	24.9	19.3	0.563	4.8	6.9	132	17.9	13.3	0.573	4.9	6.4
1987	108	13.0	14.3	0.474	-2.0	-0.7	139	13.2	13.7	0.490	0.5	1.7
1988	135	11.8	12.3	0.489	-1.0	0.5	130	12.4	11.6	0.517	1.2	2.4
1989	56	4.5	4.7	0.487	-0.2	0.4	50	3.6	4.7	0.435	-0.8	-0.4
1990							91	6.0	6.1	0.495	-0.0	0.5
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,089	284.8	246.9	0.536	27.7	54.3	2,097	229.2	200.0	0.534	32.2	52.4

Rice and Carter are an interesting comparison. Rice's career is relatively short for a Hall-of-Fame corner outfielder and his election was fairly controversial. Gary Carter, on the other hand, ranks as one of the best catchers in recent major-league history. And yet, as measured by pWins, their careers end up looking surprisingly similar (although Carter bests Rice somewhat handily when they are compared using (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) eWins).

Last Hurrahs

Finally, 1974 was the final season for four Hall-of-Famers: Ron Santo, Al Kaline, Juan Marichal, and Orlando Cepeda. Their careers, as measured by Player won-lost records, are compared in the final tables of this article.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Ron Santo						Al Kaline
1953							30	0.7	0.7	0.490	-0.1	0.0
1954							138	14.6	16.2	0.474	-2.1	-0.3
1955							152	22.8	17.5	0.566	3.9	6.0
1956							153	24.7	18.5	0.572	4.8	7.1
1957							149	21.5	16.9	0.561	3.6	5.6
1958							146	22.8	16.4	0.582	5.0	6.9
1959							136	20.5	16.1	0.559	3.2	4.9
1960	95	10.3	10.3	0.499	-0.5	0.6	147	17.3	18.8	0.480	-2.9	-1.1
1961	154	17.2	18.6	0.480	-1.7	0.3	153	23.0	15.3	0.601	6.1	8.2
1962	162	17.2	21.7	0.442	-4.7	-2.7	100	17.0	12.8	0.571	2.9	4.4
1963	162	22.8	20.6	0.526	1.9	4.0	145	22.5	15.8	0.588	4.9	6.8
1964	161	22.9	18.6	0.552	3.6	5.7	146	19.2	16.5	0.538	1.1	2.9
1965	164	23.6	19.0	0.554	3.7	5.8	125	15.1	13.1	0.536	1.1	2.5
1966	155	21.5	18.6	0.536	2.0	3.8	142	20.8	14.6	0.589	5.1	6.7
1967	161	23.3	17.2	0.575	5.3	7.3	131	21.3	14.2	0.599	5.7	7.5
1968	162	24.1	18.1	0.571	5.6	7.7	101	13.1	8.9	0.596	3.5	4.6
1969	160	23.3	18.2	0.561	4.7	6.9	131	18.1	13.3	0.577	3.4	5.0
1970	154	20.5	17.0	0.548	2.5	4.4	131	16.0	13.7	0.539	1.2	2.7
1971	154	19.9	17.4	0.533	1.6	3.4	133	16.8	12.2	0.580	3.8	5.3
1972	133	17.0	14.4	0.541	2.3	3.8	106	10.0	7.7	0.563	1.8	2.7
1973	149	19.6	18.3	0.517	0.2	2.1	91	9.7	8.9	0.521	0.4	1.3
1974	117	10.1	11.0	0.479	-0.7	0.4	147	12.9	11.3	0.534	1.4	2.9
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,243	293.3	259.0	0.531	25.7	53.3	2,833	380.5	299.2	0.560	57.8	92.5

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Juan Marichal						Orlando Cepeda
1958							148	15.6	14.7	0.516	-0.4	1.1
1959							151	19.1	16.7	0.534	1.2	2.9
1960	11	5.1	3.4	0.601	2.1	2.5	151	19.5	18.1	0.519	-0.4	1.6
1961	30	12.7	11.7	0.519	1.5	3.0	152	20.6	16.2	0.561	2.8	4.8
1962	38	17.9	15.4	0.537	3.3	5.3	162	18.8	14.9	0.558	2.2	3.9
1963	42	22.6	16.0	0.585	7.4	9.8	156	20.0	14.7	0.576	4.1	5.8
1964	33	18.4	12.8	0.589	6.6	8.6	142	18.1	13.5	0.573	3.4	5.0
1965	39	22.0	15.2	0.591	8.0	10.2	33	0.8	0.9	0.462	-0.1	0.0
1966	37	22.6	14.3	0.613	9.2	11.3	142	15.6	13.2	0.542	0.9	2.2
1967	26	12.6	12.2	0.508	1.1	2.6	151	22.7	13.8	0.621	7.0	8.8
1968	38	20.0	16.4	0.550	4.8	6.6	157	17.9	15.1	0.542	0.8	2.5
1969	38	20.9	14.6	0.588	7.5	9.6	154	18.9	16.1	0.540	0.4	2.2
1970	34	12.7	13.2	0.491	0.4	1.8	148	16.1	15.4	0.511	-1.4	0.2
1971	37	16.6	13.9	0.545	3.8	5.5	71	7.7	6.7	0.534	0.2	0.9
1972	25	9.5	12.5	0.432	-2.3	-1.0	31	2.2	2.4	0.478	-0.5	-0.3
1973	34	13.4	13.0	0.508	1.1	2.6	142	14.3	13.1	0.522	1.2	3.0
1974	11	3.5	2.4	0.592	1.1	1.5	33	2.5	2.6	0.492	-0.1	0.2
1975	2	0.3	0.9	0.226	-0.6	-0.5
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	475	230.8	188.0	0.551	54.9	79.5	2,124	250.3	208.0	0.546	21.4	44.8

Article last updated: May 11, 2020

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1974 season. Positional averages for starting pitching and relief pitching are calculated using single-year data for all starting pitchers and all relief pitchers.

All articles are written so that they pull data directly from the most recent version of the Player won-lost database. Hence, any numbers cited within these articles should automatically incorporate the most recent update to Player won-lost records. In some cases, however, the accompanying text may have been written based on previous versions of Player won-lost records. I apologize if this results in non-sensical text in any cases.

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