MLB Update (1974 edition)

I've decided I'm going to assemble a 1974 timeline. Here's the first draft.

Feb. 7
There's a commercial amid this Three on a Match clip that discusses a new snack product that completely intrigues me. "Hostess O's. ... The donut with filling in every bite. ... How do they do it?" Furthermore, why didn't it fly?

March 2
Grammy Awards. The "Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female" winner is Aretha Franklin's "Master of Eyes." I'm pretty sure I've never heard that song, and it doesn't appear to be available at YouTube.

March 4
People debuts.

March 7
Shaggy-stoled Lucille Ball is a limber, interesting interview—so funny, so quick, so smart, so aware—on The Dick Cavett Show. She says she was thrilled to made Cecille B. DeMille's cast as the “elephant girl” in 1952’s The Greatest Show on Earth but eventually had to let go of the role to focus on her pregnancy with her first child, Lucy. No regrets, though. “I was delighted to be pregnant,” Ball sweetly tells Cavett. “Nothing else mattered.” Ball also says that early in her career she was embarrassed to admit that Jamestown, N.Y., was her hometown because she felt it too dull. She identified Butte, Mont., instead. Over the course of her life, however, Ball says she came to love Jamestown. “Is there a plaque there?” Cavett asks. “No, Ball replies, “there’s a plot.”

March 10
"A Japanese World War II soldier, Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda, surrenders in the Philippines."

April 3
Tornadoes.

April 22
Claudine opens in the United States.

May 4
World's Fair opens in Spokane, Wash.



June 4
"... 10-Cent Beer Night was the Indians' most desperate stunt in the club's most desperate era. Cleveland was mired in the AL East cellar for half a decade despite the best efforts of ace hurler Gaylord Perry, who won 24 games and the Cy Young Award in 1972. Stagnant attendance at Municipal Stadium (their turnout in 1973 had been the second-lowest since World War II) prompted the announcement that at selected games stadium vendors would offer a 10-ounce cup of Strohs for just 10 cents. ... After the Rangers took an early lead, the alcohol-fueled frenzy that had pushed fans through the turnstiles began to push them onto the field. In the second inning, a large woman jumped into the Indians' on-deck circle and lifted her shirt; in the fourth, a naked man slid into second as Rangers outfielder Tom Grieve circled the bases with his second homer of the game; and in the fifth, a father-and-son team welcomed Hargrove to Cleveland by leaping into the infield and mooning the crowd. ..."

June 26
"The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time, to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio."

June 27
The Flip Wilson Show ends on NBC.

June 28
Elton John's Caribou is released.

August 5
Vicki is the first advancer in today's Price Is Right when she bids $404 on the (awesome) Jorges Games People Play carpeting and the actual retail price turns out to be exactly $404. I don't think Bob Barker nearly made enough hay about this accomplishment.

Aug. 8
"The president's story ... From every indication we have now, it will lead us in a tragic direction." By the way, George Montgomery knew what he was talking about.

August 16
According to the uploader of this video, Chicago had a TV special, Meanwhile Back at the Ranch, that aired on this date. Both of my brothers and sister were all into Chicago, so I'm sure this was a big evening for all of them.

Aug. 24
The previous week saw Davey Lopes record a three-homer game and then a five-steal game for the Dodgers but that the Reds won five of six to to maintain "its relentless pursuit" in the National League West, reports Herman Weiskopf in "The Week" column in the Sept. 2 Sports Illustrated. Johnny Bench, Weiskopf notes, has driven in 48 runs in Cincinnati's last 44 games. Also, Oakland manager Alvin Dark banned hard liquor on team flights.



LA 79-47 CIN 2.5GB ATL 9 HOUS 13.5 SF 13.5 SD 30



ST. L 66-61 PITT 1GB PHIL 2.5 MONT 6 NY 11 CHI 12



OAK 72-55 KC 4GB TEX 6.5 CHI 10.5 MINN 11 CAL 22



BOS 70-55 NY 6GB BALT 7 CLEV 7.5 MIL 10 DET 12.5

Sept. 2
Elvis Presley in Las Vegas.

Sept. 9
Rhoda debuts.

Sept. 21
The Lawrence Welk Show rolls on!

Sept. 28
Top 10 songs.

Nov. 19
In "There Is Nothing Like a Nurse," the 4077 nurses are evacuated upon intelligence of a forthcoming air raid. It turns out to be a harmless pamphlet drop by so-called "5 O'clock Charlie," and the nurses return to much jubilation. The end. Over the course of the episode, the show's makers appeared to have jammed in several very funny, probably leftover gags (trapping Major Burns in a latrine with a jeep, Hawkeye's riffing over a mailed-from-home wedding film, etc.) that were probably each too short to carry their own storyline. M*A*S*H was in its third season, and it has really found its stroke. The show is confident enough by this point to fly plot-light and play to its established base. This episode is probably unlikely to have won over any too many new converts to CBS at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays, but it's a treat for fans who get to explore all sorts of little idiosyncrasies of their beloved characters through this highly amusing amalgamation of one- to three-minute, only loosely associated scenes. In addition to the gags, there are three separate musical numbers led by guitar-toting Capt. Calvin Spalding, portrayed by Loudon Wainwright III, Rufus's dad. Loudon III is the 1946 yield of the union of a Life editor and yoga teacher. He's a Chapel Hill native, a former "new Dylan" and still a frequent contributor to the scores and soundtracks of hit movies, such as Knocked Up.