1974 in sports - Definition and Overview

See also: 1973 in sports, other events of 1974, 1975 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Richard Petty won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Richard Petty
  • IROC Championship - inaugural year won by Mark Donohue
• Indianapolis 500 - Johnny Rutherford
• USAC Racing - Bobby Unser
• Formula One Championship - Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Henri Pescarolo / Gérard Larrousse won, driving a Matra MS670B
• Rally racing - In the first rally to cross the Sahara Desert, the Australian team of Ken Tubman, Andre Welenski, and Jim Reddiex won the "World Cup Rally" driving a Citroën.
• Drag racing - Don Garlits won "Top Fuel" at the NHRA World Finals

Baseball

• January 16: Former Yankees teammates Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mantle becomes only the seventh player to make it in his first try. His 536 home runs with the Yankees ranked second only to Babe Ruth and he played in more games (2,401) than any other pinstriper, including Lou Gehrig. Ford was arguably the greatest Yankees pitcher of all time, retiring with more wins (236), more innings (3,171), more strikeouts (1,956), and more shutouts (45) than anyone in club history.

• Frank Robinson becomes the first African-American manager in Major League Baseball.

• April 8: Hank Aaron hit home run # 715 in the fourth inning off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Al Downing breaking Babe Ruth's career home run record.

• June 4 - The Cleveland Indians hosted "Ten Cent Beer Night", but had to forfeit the game to the Texas Rangers due to drunken and unruly fans.

• World Series: Oakland Athletics win 4 games to 1 over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship:
  • North Carolina State wins 76-64 over Marquette

• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics win 4 games to 3 over the Milwaukee Bucks

Boxing

• February 9 in Paris, Carlos Monzon retains his world Middleweight title by a knockout in round seven over world Welterweight champion Jose Napoles.

• October 30 in Kinshasa, Zaire, Muhammad Ali regained the World Heavyweight title by knocking out George Foreman in the eighth round of what was called The Rumble in The Jungle.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Eddy Merckx of Belgium
• Tour de France - Eddy Merckx of Belgium
• World Cycling Championship: Eddy Merckx of Belgium

Field Hockey

• March 9 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium,England. The Netherlands beat England 2-0.
• April 27 - In the first ever women's World Field Hockey Cup Final.Netherlands are the World Champions.

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Jan Hoffmann, Germany
  • Women's champion: Christine Errath, Germany
  • Pairs champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexander Saizew, Soviet Union

Football (American)

• Super Bowl VIII: The Miami Dolphins won 24-7 over the Minnesota Vikings

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Richmond wins the 78th VFL Premiership (Richmond 18.20 (128) d North Melbourne 13.9 (87))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Keith Greig (North Melbourne)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Montreal Alouettes won 20-7 over the Edmonton Eskimos
• Vanier Cup: Western Ontario Mustangs won 19-15 over the Toronto Varsity Blues

Football (Soccer)

• July 7 - Football World Cup: West Germany won 2-1 over the Netherlands.
• May 4 - England - FA Cup: Liverpool won 3-0 over Newcastle United.

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Gary Player
  2. June - US Open - Hale Irwin
  3. July - British Open - Gary Player
  4. August - PGA Championship - Lee Trevino

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Johnny Miller - $353,022

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Sandra Haynie
• LPGA Championship - Sandra Haynie
• JoAnne Carner: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $87,094.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Think Big
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Amber Herod
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Allez France
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - English Prince

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Nonoalco
  2. Epsom Derby - Snow Knight
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Bustino

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Cannonade
  2. Preakness Stakes - Little Current
  3. Belmont Stakes - Little Current

Harness Racing

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Boyden Hanover
  2. Little Brown Jug - Armbro Omaha
  3. Messenger Stakes - Armbro Omaha

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Christopher T.
  2. Yonkers Trot
  3. Kentucky Futurity

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Hondo Grattan

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Phil Esposito - Boston Bruins

• Stanley Cup - Philadelphia Flyers win 4 games to 2 over the Boston Bruins

• World Hockey Championship:
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Czechoslovakia

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Piero Gros, Italy
  • The women's overall season champion: Annemarie Pröll, Austria

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Ray Reardon beats Graham Miles 22-12

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Jimmy Connors
  2. French Open - Bjorn Borg
  3. Wimbledon championships - Jimmy Connors
  4. US Open - Jimmy Connors

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Evonne Goolagong
  2. French Open - Chris Evert
  3. Wimbledon championships - Chris Evert
  4. US Open - Billie Jean King

• Davis Cup: South Africa wins over India (Walkover) in world tennis.
• Last year in which US Open was played on grass courts

General sporting events

• British Commonwealth Games held in Christchurch, New Zealand

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Carl Huntington won with lead dog: Nugget

See also: 1973 in sports, other events of 1974, 1975 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Births

• January 30 - Nataliya Burdeyna, archery star
• February 5 - Nadine Ernstine-Krienke, German field hockey international
• February 7 - Steve Nash, Canadian NBA star
• February 12 - Marianne Illing, water polo star
• March 5 - Jens Jeremies, German international footballer
• March 20 - Carsten Ramelow, German international footballer
• April 4 - Dave Mirra, extreme sports champion
• April 24 - Gabby Logan, British television sports presenter
• May 9 - Neli Boteva, badminton player
• May 28 - Cora Campbell, water polo star
• June 7 - Mahesh Bhupathi, tennis player
• July 11 - Michelle Edwards, badminton player
• August 11 - Audrey Mestre, Free-diving world record holder (d. 2002)
• September 6 - Tim Henman, tennis player
• September 10 - Ben Wallace, NBA star
• September 14 - Hicham El Guerrouj, Moroccan athlete
• October 10 - Dale Earnhardt, Jr., NASCAR driver
• October 17 - Nicole Grether, badminton player
• October 18 - Stella de Hay, Dutch field hockey goalkeeper
• October 19 - Joanne Fenn, British athlete
• November 20 - Marina Andrievskaya, badminton player
• November 21 - Karen Rolton, Australian cricketer
• December 21 - Karrie Webb, golf champion

Deaths

• February 21 - Tim Horton, NHL ice hockey player, Hockey Hall of Famer, founder of Tim Hortons doughnut shops
• March 22 - Peter Revson, U.S. F1 race car driver
• April 23 - Cy Williams, Major League Baseball player (1912-1930)
• July 17 - Dizzy Dean, MLB baseball player/broadcaster (1930-1947)
• September 19 - Zack Taylor, MLB baseball player
• October 13 - Sam Rice, Major League Baseball player (1915-1934)
• November 1 - Joe Bush, Major League Baseball pitcher (1912-1928)
• December 5 - Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, tennis player, U.S. Open champion
• December 18 - Harry Hooper, Major League Baseball player (1909-1925)