1975 In Baseball

Champions

Major League Baseball

*World Series: Cincinnati Reds over Boston Red Sox (4–3); Pete Rose, MVP

*All-Star Game, July 15 at County Stadium: National League, 6–3; Bill Madlock and Jon Matlack, MVPs

Other champions

*College World Series: Texas
*Japan Series: Hankyu Braves over Hiroshima Toyo Carp (4–0–1)
* Big League World Series: Taipei, Taiwan
*Little League World Series: Lakewood, New Jersey
* Senior League World Series: Pingtung, Taiwan
*Pan American Games: Cuba over United States
Winter Leagues
* 1975 Caribbean Series: Vaqueros de Bayamón
* Dominican Republic League: Águilas Cibaeñas
*Mexican Pacific League: Naranjeros de Hermosillo
* Puerto Rican League: Vaqueros de Bayamón
* Venezuelan League: Tigres de Aragua

Awards and honors

*Baseball Hall of Fame
** Earl Averill
**Bucky Harris
** Billy Herman
** Judy Johnson
** Ralph Kiner
*Most Valuable Player
**Fred Lynn (AL) Boston Red Sox
** Joe Morgan (NL) Cincinnati Reds
*Cy Young Award
** Jim Palmer (AL) Baltimore Orioles
** Tom Seaver (NL) New York Mets
* Rookie of the Year
**Fred Lynn (AL) Boston Red Sox
** John Montefusco (NL) San Francisco Giants
*Gold Glove Award
**(P) Jim Kaat, Chicago White Sox ( AL); Andy Messersmith, Los Angeles Dodgers ( NL)
**(C) Thurman Munson, New York Yankees (AL); Johnny Bench, Cincinnati Reds (NL)
**(1B) George Scott, Milwaukee Brewers (AL); Steve Garvey, Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)
**(2B) Bobby Grich, Baltimore Orioles (AL); Joe Morgan, Cincinnati Reds (NL)
**(3B) Brooks Robinson, Baltimore Orioles (AL); Ken Reitz, St. Louis Cardinals (NL)
**(SS) Mark Belanger, Baltimore Orioles (AL); Dave Concepción, Cincinnati Reds (NL)
**(OF) Paul Blair, Baltimore Orioles (AL); César Cedeño, Houston Astros (NL)
**(OF) Fred Lynn, Boston Red Sox (AL); César Gerónimo, Cincinnati Reds (NL)
**(OF) Joe Rudi, Oakland Athletics (AL); Garry Maddox, San Francisco Giants/Philadelphia Phillies (NL)

Statistical leaders

Major League Baseball final standings

Events

The year will see the two Major League Baseball teams located in the San Francisco Bay Area ponder possible relocation scenarios.
*The proposed sale of the Chicago White Sox presents opportunities for Charlie Finley's Oakland Athletics. A group from Seattle is ready to purchase the White Sox and move them there. With Chicago the site of Finley's insurance business headquarters, he is prepared to move his Athletics there to take the White Sox' place. But, due to his 20-year stadium lease with the city of Oakland (to expire in 1987), Finley is blocked. In December, Bill Veeck buys the ChiSox from owner John Allyn and keeps them in Chicago.
*Meanwhile, plunging attendance and cash flow problems create an ownership crisis for the San Francisco Giants. The financial woes facing club president Horace Stoneham—who moved the Giants to California in , and whose father purchased the team in 1919 when it was based in New York—force him to put the team on the market during the summer. By the end of 1975, the most likely outcome sees the team being sold to a Canadian group that plans to move them to Toronto.

January

*January 5 – Tragedy strikes the Houston Astros when starting pitcher Don Wilson, 29, and his five-year-old son die by accidental carbon monoxide poisoning at their Houston home. His wife and nine-year-old daughter are hospitalized but survive. Author of two no-hitters and a 1971 National League All-Star, Wilson has posted double-digit victory seasons in each of his eight full MLB seasons; a workhorse, he also exceeded 180 innings pitched in each of those campaigns. The Astros retire Wilson's #40 when the 1975 season begins. (See ''Deaths'' entry for this date below.)
*January 16 – Harmon Killebrew, 38, is released by the Minnesota Twins. The future Baseball Hall of Famer, a 13-time American League All-Star and the Most Valuable Player, has hit 559 home runs for the franchise over 21 seasons, and his #3 uniform will be retired. Eight days later, Killebrew signs with the Kansas City Royals.

*January 22 – The New York Mets sign free agent pitcher Juan Berenguer.
*January 23 – Slugger Ralph Kiner, who led or co-led the National League in home runs seven years in a row (1946–1952), is elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He earns his HoF membership by a single vote.

February

*February 3 – Former second baseman Billy Herman, outfielder Earl Averill and manager Bucky Harris are selected for the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee.
*February 10 – The Special Committee on the Negro Leagues picks Judy Johnson for the Hall of Fame.
*February 25
**The Baltimore Orioles trade pitcher Don Hood and first baseman Boog Powell to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for catcher Dave Duncan and minor leaguer Alvin McGrew. The trade reunites the veteran Powell with his former Baltimore teammate Frank Robinson, now the Indians' player-manager.
**The Indians also acquire southpaw relief pitcher Dave LaRoche, along with outfielder Brock Davis, from the Chicago Cubs for right-hander Milt Wilcox.
*February 28 – The New York Mets purchase the contract of right-handed slugger Dave Kingman, 26, from the San Francisco Giants for $150,000. He will bash 73 home runs for them over the next two full seasons and make the NL All-Star team during his first term as a Met.

March

*March 5 – The Boston Red Sox sign Tony Conigliaro as a free agent. Conigliaro, 30, returns to the hometown team where he starred during the 1960s until an August 18, 1967 beanball compromised his vision, sidelined him for the full season, and drove his early retirement from the California Angels in July of . Conigliaro is trying to make a comeback for the 1975 Red Sox as their designated hitter.
*March 15 – The Los Angeles Dodgers sign future Hall-of-Fame pitcher Juan Marichal, 37-year-old former longtime ace of the arch-rival San Francisco Giants, as a free agent.
*March 21 – Georgia Tech shuts out Earlham, 41–0, setting an NCAA record for scoring and for winning margin.
*March 27 – The Pittsburgh Pirates release their former top starting pitcher, Steve Blass. A 103-game winner in a Pittsburgh uniform, a hero of the Bucs' 1971 World Series triumph (two complete game victories, no losses, 1.00 earned run average), and the runner-up for the NL Cy Young Award, Blass suddenly and inexplicably developed severe control problems in , forcing his retirement at age 32. He will go on to spend 34 years as a member of the Pirates' broadcasting team.
*March 29 – The New York Yankees release former ace starting pitcher Mel Stottlemyre, who won 164 games for them over an 11-year (1964–1974) career.

April

*April 4 – The Pittsburgh Pirates release infielder Tony La Russa, 30, from his minor league contract. He signs a Triple-A pact three days later with the Chicago White Sox and will continue his playing career into 1977 in the organizations of the ChiSox and the St. Louis Cardinals—two teams he will later manage during his Hall-of-Fame career.
*April 5 – The Pirates obtain veteran outfielder Bill Robinson from the Philadelphia Phillies for right-hander Wayne Simpson. Robinson will be a key contributor to the Bucs' 1979 world-championship season.
*April 6
**The Atlanta Braves sell the contract of pitcher Joe Niekro to the Houston Astros for $35,000. Niekro, 30, will pitch for Houston for almost 11 full seasons; he will rack up two 20-win campaigns (, ), and capture 144 victories in his 397 games in an Astro uniform.
**The defending world champion Oakland Athletics pick up an important bullpen arm, Jim Todd, from the Chicago Cubs for cash and a " PTBNL" (outfielder Champ Summers, who is added to the deal April 29). Todd will finish with 12 saves and 31 games finished, second only to Oakland's Hall-of-Fame closer, Rollie Fingers.
*April 7 – The Los Angeles Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds, who battled each other for supremacy in the National League West Division in , open the NL season at Riverfront Stadium, with Cincinnati winning 2–1 in 14 innings.

*April 8
**Hall of Fame outfielder Frank Robinson becomes the first African American man to manage a Major League Baseball team, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 5–3 victory over the New York Yankees. Robinson homers in his first at bat as a playing manager; Boog Powell, Robinson's longtime teammate in Baltimore, adds another solo blow in the fourth. Both homers are off Yankee starter Doc Medich. A crowd of 56,715 watch the historic game at Cleveland Stadium.
** Lyman Bostock makes his MLB debut for the Minnesota Twins, getting one hit in four at bats against the Texas Rangers. Bostock will become a star, batting .311 in 526 games, before his life comes to a tragic end in late September 1978 when he is shot while sitting in a parked car at age 27.
*April 11
**Hank Aaron returns to Milwaukee as a member of the Brewers, then in the American League. A crowd of 48,160 fans watches Aaron drive in a run in the Brewers' 6–2 victory over the Cleveland Indians. Aaron starred for the Milwaukee Braves for a dozen years before the franchise moved to Atlanta for the 1966 season.
**At Memorial Stadium, Tony Conigliaro homers off southpaw Mike Cuellar of the Baltimore Orioles in the third game of his comeback attempt. The solo shot helps his Boston Red Sox triumph, 6–5. Conigliaro has been out of baseball for nearly four full years, as he battles vision problems.
*April 14 – Days after he is released by the New York Yankees, pitcher Skip Lockwood is signed by the Oakland A's.
*April 15 – In his final major league appearance, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Juan Marichal gives up six hits in 2 innings against the Cincinnati Reds before Rick Rhoden relieves him.

May

*May 1 – Hank Aaron goes 4-for-4, driving in two runs in the Milwaukee Brewers' 17–3 win over the Detroit Tigers. This brings his career RBI total to 2,211, breaking Babe Ruth's published record of 2,209. On February 3, 1976, the Records Committee will revise Ruth's total to 2,204, meaning that in actuality, Aaron set the record on April 18.
*May 2 – The Los Angeles Dodgers trade pitchers Eddie Solomon and Geoff Zahn to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for pitcher Burt Hooton, 25. Hooton will win 18 games for the 1975 Dodgers and be a key member of three NL pennant winners, including 1981's world champions.
*May 4
**The San Francisco Giants beat the Houston Astros 8–6 in the first game of a doubleheader at Candlestick Park. In the second inning, Houston's Bob Watson scores what is calculated as the major leagues' one-millionth run of all time, as Milt May hits John Montefusco's first pitch to drive him home. Meanwhile, Dave Concepción of the Cincinnati Reds hits a home run at about the same moment and races around the bases, but Watson, running from second base, scores first. Cincinnati loses to Atlanta, 3–2. (On April 22, 1876, the opening game of the National League's first-ever season, the Boston Red Caps came out ahead of the Philadelphia Athletics by the score of 6–5. Athletics first baseman Wes Fisler scored the very first run in major league history.)
**The Philadelphia Phillies acquire centerfielder Garry Maddox from the San Francisco Giants for first baseman Willie Montañez. Maddox will win eight consecutive Gold Glove Awards, starting this season, patrolling center field for the Phillies as they transform into consistent pennant contenders in the National League.
**At 5 a.m., the New York Mets' Cleon Jones is arrested for indecent exposure in St. Petersburg, Florida after police find him naked in a van with a teenaged girl who is holding a stash of narcotics. Although the charges are later dropped, Mets board chairman M. Donald Grant fines Jones $2,000, four times as much as a Met has ever been assessed before, and forces Jones to publicly apologize during a press conference held in New York, with his wife, Angela, by his side.
*May 5 – The Oakland Athletics release pinch runner Herb Washington, the world-class sprinter who played in 104 major league games without batting, pitching or fielding. On the bases, Washington stole 31 bags and scored 33 runs. His 1975 trading card (#407) is the only Topps card ever issued showing the player's position as "pinch runner".
*May 7 – Paul Owens, the aggressive general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, makes another trade, reacquiring 1960s Phil slugging star Dick Allen and backup catcher Johnny Oates from the Atlanta Braves for catcher Jim Essian, outfielder Barry Bonnell and $150,000.
*May 9 – The San Francisco Giants deal former ace left-hander Ron Bryant to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder Larry Herndon and minor-league southpaw Tony González. Bryant won 24 games for the 1973 Giants, but he will pitch in only ten more games for the 1975 Redbirds before exiting the majors.
*May 10 – In a triumphant return to the East Bay, Catfish Hunter of the New York Yankees shuts out the three-time defending world champion Athletics, his former team, on two hits, 3–0, at the Oakland Coliseum. Hunter faces 28 hitters, only one over the minimum, in winning his third game against four defeats. He had departed the Athletics as a free agent thanks to an arbitrator's ruling in December 1974, then signed a multi-year, multi-million-dollar contract with the Yankees.
*May 15 – After a curfew halts their 2–2 tie in the 14th inning at Arlington Stadium earlier today, the Milwaukee Brewers eke out a one-run victory over the Texas Rangers when the game resumes in the top of the 15th. The winning run crosses the plate when Milwaukee's Don Money is hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
*May 25
**Dennis Eckersley, in his first major league start, hurls a three-hit shutout as the Cleveland Indians beat the Oakland Athletics, 6–0.
** Mickey Lolich's 200th career victory is a rain-shortened, 4–1 win for his Detroit Tigers over the Chicago White Sox. His catcher is Bill Freehan, who also caught him in his first major league start on May 21, 1963.
*May 28 – The Atlanta Braves trade ten-year team veteran and former All-Star pitcher Ron Reed and outfielder Wayne Nordhagen (" PTBNL)" to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitchers Ray Sadecki and Elias Sosa.
*May 30 – Willie McCovey pinch-hits a grand slam to lift the San Diego Padres over the New York Mets, 6–2. It is McCovey's third career pinch slam, tying the major league record held by Ron Northey and Rich Reese. It is also his 16th lifetime bases-loaded homer, tying the National League record held by Hank Aaron.
*May 31 – César Tovar gets the Texas Rangers' only hit in Catfish Hunter's 6–0 victory. It's the fifth time in his career that Tovar has spoiled no-hitters by getting his club's lone safety. Future Hall-of-Famer Hunter, in his first season with the New York Yankees, improves his record to 7–5 ( 3.05) and nine complete games.

June

*June 1 – The California Angels' Nolan Ryan pitches his fourth career no-hitter, winning 1–0 over the Baltimore Orioles, to tie the record set by Sandy Koufax. Ryan's win is his career win 100th. He walks four and strikes out nine.
*June 3 – The Chicago Cubs select future Baseball Hall of Fame closer Lee Smith in the second round of an otherwise drab June amateur draft. He signs with the Cubs 17 days later.
*June 4 – Center-fielder Willie Davis' stay in the American League lasts only 42 games, when the Texas Rangers send him to the St. Louis Cardinals for shortstop Ed Brinkman and pitcher Tommy Moore. After 14 seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Davis has now been traded for the third time in 18 months.
*June 6 – Luis Tiant wins his 100th game with the Boston Red Sox, defeating Kansas City 1–0. Boston's other 100+ winners include Cy Young, Mel Parnell, Smoky Joe Wood, Joe Dobson and Lefty Grove. Carl Yastrzemski draws a walk in the game, his 1,452nd, tying him for 10th on the all-time list with Jimmie Foxx.
*June 7 – The Kansas City Royals sign pitcher Dan Quisenberry as an undrafted free agent.
*June 8
**Against the Detroit Tigers at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Ken Holtzman of the Oakland Athletics has a no-hitter broken up with two out in the ninth on a Tom Veryzer double, the only hit he will allow in a 4–0 victory. Holtzman, having pitched two no-hitters in the National League (as a Chicago Cub in and ), was bidding to join Cy Young and Jim Bunning as the only pitchers to hurl no-hitters in both leagues.
**A 17-inning marathon at Cleveland Stadium sees the Texas Rangers outlast the Indians in the second game of a Sunday doubleheader.
*June 13 – The Rangers add future Hall-of-Famer Gaylord Perry to their starting rotation, acquiring the 36-year-old hurler from the Indians for pitchers Jim Bibby, Jackie Brown and Rick Waits and $100,000. Perry is 6–9 with ten complete games in 15 appearances for Cleveland.
*June 14
**The Boston Red Sox acquire second baseman Denny Doyle from the California Angels for cash and a PTBNL (minor-league pitcher Chuck Ross). The left-handed-hitting Doyle homers in his first at bat for Boston the next day. He will platoon with Doug Griffin and bat .310 during the regular season, then start at second base for each of Boston's ten postseason games.
**Two outfielders change teams when the Milwaukee Brewers swap Johnny Briggs to the Minnesota Twins for Bobby Darwin.
*June 15
**The Oakland Athletics acquire starting pitcher Stan Bahnsen and southpaw reliever Skip Pitlock from the Chicago White Sox for left-hander Dave Hamilton and 20-year-old outfield prospect Chet Lemon.
**The Baltimore Orioles send pitcher Jesse Jefferson to the White Sox for first baseman Tony Muser.
*June 18 – Rookie Fred Lynn drives in ten runs with three home runs, a triple and a single during Boston's 15–1 drubbing of the Tigers in Detroit. Lynn's 16 total bases tie an American League record.
*June 23 – Injury-plagued Boston Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk appears in an official game for the first time in almost a calendar year in an 11–3 Cleveland Indians victory at Fenway Park. Future Hall-of-Famer Fisk has been sidelined since June 28, 1974—first with knee surgery that ended his 1974 season after 52 games, then with a broken forearm suffered during spring training that kept him out of the lineup for the Bosox' first 63 games of 1975. He will stay healthy, however, throughout the rest of this season, the ALCS, and all seven games of the 1975 World Series.
*June 29 – The scorching Cincinnati Reds win their 27th game in their last 34 attempts by defeating the San Diego Padres, 4–1, in the first game of a doubleheader at Riverfront Stadium. The streak, which began May 21, has seen " The Big Red Machine" rise from five games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West to 7½ games in front.

July

*July 1 – The Philadelphia Phillies sign veteran free-agent catcher Tim McCarver, released by the Boston Red Sox on June 23. McCarver's second tour of duty in Philadelphia will see him play a valuable role through the rest of the 1970s as a left-handed pinch hitter and Steve Carlton's personal catcher; Carlton will win 81 of 126 decisions ( .643) with McCarver behind the plate.
*July 2 – For the second time in less than a month, an American League pitcher has a no-hitter broken up with two out in the ninth after having pitched one in the National League. In the first game of a doubleheader at Milwaukee County Stadium, Boston Red Sox pitcher Rick Wise has the bid foiled by a George Scott two-run home run. Wise gives up another home run to Bobby Darwin one batter later, but holds on to win, 6–3. Like Ken Holtzman, whose bid for a third career no-hitter was foiled with two out in the ninth on June 8, Wise had no-hit the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium in . In the same game, Boston's Jim Rice hits a home run that comes within four rows of exiting the stadium. Cecil Fielder will become the only player to hit a home run completely out of the stadium, in .
*July 4
**At Veterans Stadium, the New York Mets' Jerry Grote steps in as a pinch hitter for starting pitcher Tom Seaver against longtime battery-mate Tug McGraw, who had been traded to the Philadelphia Phillies during the off-season. With the Mets down 3–2, Grote connects for a game-winning two-run home run. Without McGraw to rely on in the Mets' bullpen, Rick Baldwin relieves Seaver, and earns the save.
**The standings after today's holiday action at the unofficial halfway point of the 1975 season see one tight divisional race: the American League East, where the Boston Red Sox (42–35) and Milwaukee Brewers (43–36) are in a virtual tie, with the New York Yankees (41–37) only 1½ games in arrears. In the AL West, the Oakland Athletics (50–29) lead the Kansas City Royals by six; in the NL East, the Pittsburgh Pirates (47–31) lead the Philadelphia Phillies by four; and in the NL West, the Cincinnati Reds (52–29) hold an eight-game margin over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
**The Boston Red Sox acquire right-hander Jim Willoughby from the St. Louis Cardinals as the "player to be named later" in an April 4 trade that sent shortstop Mario Guerrero to St. Louis. Willoughby will contribute eight saves and team with Dick Drago to strengthen Boston's bullpen during their pennant run and postseason.
*July 11 – The nightmare season for the last-place Houston Astros (32–57) continues when creditors force owner Roy Hofheinz, one of two NL West magnates in financial straits ( Horace Stoneham is the other), to surrender day-to-day-control of the team. Sidney Shlenker becomes club president, and he fires general manager Spec Richardson. Assistant GM John Mullen becomes acting front-office boss.
*July 15
**At Milwaukee County Stadium, the National League rallies for three runs in the ninth inning to win the All-Star Game over the American League, 6–3. Bill Madlock and the Mets' Jon Matlack share the MVP award. The game also marks the last of Hank Aaron's record-tying (along with Stan Musial and Willie Mays) 24th All-Star appearance; he lines out to Dave Concepción as a pinch hitter in the second inning. This appearance, like his first in , was before a home crowd at Milwaukee County Stadium.
**In the midsummer MLB owners' meeting, held concurrently in Milwaukee, the National League triumphs again. This time, it beats back an attempt by three American League owners— Jerry Hoffberger, Charlie Finley and George Steinbrenner—to unseat Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn. The "Dump Bowie" coup ultimately falters when Steinbrenner changes his vote, and Kuhn is re-elected to a second, seven-year term as baseball's "czar."
*July 17 – For the second consecutive Chicago White Sox game, Wilbur Wood is the starter, and he tosses his second consecutive shutout, beating the Detroit Tigers 5–0. The two starts were separated by the All-Star game.
*July 19 – In a game between the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees that starts July 12 at Shea Stadium in Minnesota (with the Yankees the "home" side), Lou Piniella's RBI single gives the Bombers an 8–7, come-from-behind win over the Twins.
*July 20
**A May 15 game between the Montreal Expos and Atlanta Braves that was initially called off because of rain during the fourth inning (with the Braves leading 4–1) is resumed from that point after Atlanta manager Clyde King successfully protests the cancellation, claiming the umpiring crew did not wait long enough or test the Fulton County Stadium field before sending everyone home. Today, with a different crew in place, the May 15 game ends with the Braves hanging on to win, 5–4, in nine innings as part of a Sunday doubleheader. Phil Niekro, who started the May contest, returns to the Braves' mound and goes 4 more innings to secure the victory.
**Not even a year since leading the Texas Rangers to a surprising 84–76, second-place finish, manager Billy Martin is fired with the Rangers 44–51 and in fourth place, 15½ games behind in the AL West. Third-base coach Frank Lucchesi, former Philadelphia Phillies' pilot, replaces him. It's the third time Martin has been fired (by three different clubs) since October 1969.
*July 21 – Félix Millán of the New York Mets has four consecutive singles but is wiped out each time when Joe Torre grounds into four consecutive double plays, tying a major league record. New York loses 6–2 to the Houston Astros. Torre is the first National Leaguer to do so.
*July 23 – Another managerial firing rocks the AL West, when the Kansas City Royals (50–46) dismiss third-year pilot Jack McKeon and replace him with Whitey Herzog, who had been third-base coach of the California Angels. For Herzog, the Royals' job represents a career-saving opportunity after his dismal season at the helm of the Texas Rangers. Restoring batting coach Charley Lau to his former role, Herzog leads Kansas City to a 41–25 mark for the rest of 1975, then three consecutive division championships from through .
*July 24 – Tom Seaver fans Dan Driessen of the Cincinnati Reds in the second inning for his 2,000th career strikeout. The Reds win, 2–1.
*July 27
**Left-handers Bill Lee and Roger Moret each spin complete-game shutouts, enabling the Boston Red Sox to sweep the New York Yankees at Shea Stadium