YEAR IN REVIEW : 2014 American League

Off the field...

An outbreak of Ebola started in West Africa and began to spread rapidly in 2014, mainly across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The global health crisis took the lives of 6,000+ people, infected more than 17,000, and made the World a much smaller place.

On March 8, 2014, a script from a Hollywood television series actually occurred when a Malaysian Airline flight from Kuala Lumpur simply vanished, leaving no evidence of it's existance, no crash site to investigate and no trace of 239 passengers who were on board the still not found airliner.

In the American League...

The Kansas City Royals chose not to listen to pre-season predictions, book making experts, and statistical experts - who had proven their WAR was not on par with the Orioles, the Angels, the Tigers, and hardly even in the same league with everyone else, which made for a great Cinderella story throughout the year and deep into the playoffs. Though they lost the World Series 3-4 to the war-proven Giants, they left all the underdog rooting traditional fans with a great war story...

The Cleveland Indians brok the record set by the 2013 Detroit Tigers for strikeouts in a season by a pitching staff when Corey Kluber struck out David DeJesus in the eighth inning of a game on September 26, 2014. It was the Indians 1,429th strikeout of the season, breaking the tie with the Tigers, and they finished the year with 1,450.

The Oakland Athletics started the 2014 season setting a new (not so desirable) Major League record when the lost their tenth straight home opener, this time courtesy of the Cleveland Indians.

In the National League...

The Chicago Cub - playing in their 100th season in Wrigley Field - lost to the Atlanta Braves on May 11, 2014, their 10,000 loss in franchise history joining two other senior circuit teams in the "10,000 Games Lost Club", the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves.

The New York Mets were one of several National League teams in 2014 to wear patriotic / military themed jersyes, throwback jerseys, and commemorative patches (one for Ralph Kiner and one for Frank Cashen), but they added their mascot, Mr. Met, to their alternate home jersey (blue) and road jerseys.

The San Francisco Giants like even numbered years as they won their third World Championship in the previous five years, adding World Series titles to their truly historic franchise for 2010, 2012 and 2014.

Around the League...

The 2014 Major League Baseball season began on March 22, 2014, in Sydney, Australia, between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks. It was the first time in baseball history where the season opener was played in that particular continenet.

The 2014 season was the final for it's reigning Commissioner of Baseball, Bud Selig, who had been steering the ship since 1992. From 1992 through 1998, Selig was the acting commissioner, and in 1998 he was (finally) appointed the official Commissioner of Baseball.

The 2014 season featured an expanded video review process that allowed maangers to challenge certain plays no more than twice per game, including force plays, fair or foul balls, and batters hit by a pitch. If the manager exhausted his abilty to challenge a play the Crew Chief could, after the completion of the sixth inning, choose to invoke instant reply themselves.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"The '90s were difficult. We had a lot of headaches. We lost the 1994 World Series. That was a sad thing. … But history has proven that set up the next 21 years of labor peace. I can say the sport has never been more popular. In the last 10 years, we have had the most attendance ever. We have a labor peace that was unheard of. When I took over, the game's revenues were $1.7 billion. They are now $8.5 billion. People refer to the post-war era as the Golden Age of Baseball. Any way you look at it, this is the Golden Age of Baseball." - Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig (Tracy Ringolsby, 05/02/2014, 'Selig having fun in his farewell tour of ballparks', Source)

2014 American League Player Review

Hitting Statistics League Leaderboard

Base on Balls Carlos Santana Cleveland 113 Top25
Batting Average Jose Altuve Houston .341 Top25
Doubles Miguel Cabrera Detroit 52 Top25
Hits Jose Altuve Houston 225 Top25
Home Runs Nelson Cruz Baltimore 40 Top25
On Base Percentage Victor Martinez Detroit .974 Top25
RBI Mike Trout Los Angeles 111 Top25
Runs Mike Trout Los Angeles 115 Top25
Slugging Average Jose Abreu Chicago .581 Top25
Stolen Bases Jose Altuve Chicago 56 Top25
Total Bases Mike Trout Los Angeles 338 Top25
Triples Michael Bourn Cleveland 10 Top25
Adam Eaton Chicago

2014 American League Pitcher Review

Pitching Statistics League Leaderboard

Complete Games Dallas Keuchel Houston 5 Top25
ERA Felix Hernandez Seattle 2.14 Top25
Games Bryan Shaw Cleveland 80 Top25
Saves Fernando Rodney Seattle 48 Top25
Shutouts Rick Porcello Detroit 3 Top25
Strikeouts David Price Tampa Bay / Detroit 271 Top25
Winning Percentage Matt Shoemaker Los Angeles .800 Top25
Wins Colby Lewis Texas 14 Top25

2014 American League

Team Standings

Baltimore Orioles 96 66 0 .593 -- $107,406,623
New York Yankees 84 78 0 .518 12 $203,812,506
Toronto Blue Jays 83 79 0 .512 13 $132,628,700
Tampa Bay Rays 77 85 0 .475 19 $77,062,891
Boston Red Sox 71 91 0 .438 25 $162,817,411
Detroit Tigers 90 72 0 .556 -- $162,228,527
Kansas City Royals 89 73 0 .549 1 $92,034,345
Cleveland Indians 85 77 0 .525 5 $82,534,800
Chicago White Sox 73 89 0 .451 17 $91,159,254
Minnesota Twins 70 92 0 .432 20 $85,776,500
LosAngelesAngelsofAnaheim 98 64 0 .605 -- $155,692,000
Oakland Athletics 88 74 0 .543 10 $83,401,400
Seattle Mariners 87 75 0 .537 11 $92,081,943
Houston Astros 70 92 0 .432 28 $44,544,174
Texas Rangers 67 95 0 .414 31 $136,036,172
2014 American League Final Standings
Seasonal Events: All-Star Game | Home Run Derby | World Series
Navigation: Year in Review Menu | Previous Season | Next Season
Miscellaneous: N.L. Leaderboard | Rookies List
baseball almanac flat baseball

baseball almanac fast facts

The Texas Rangers took a risk when they signed Yu Darvish and in 2014, he recorded his 500th career strikeout, reaching the plateau on April 6, in 401.2 innings - a new Major League record (previously held by Kerry Wood, 404.2).

Did you know that the New York Yankees were the first franchise to amass 15,000 home runs? Brett Gardner hit the record setting home run on September 21, 2014.

The American League Rookie of the Year went to Jose Abreu who set a new rookie record for home runs in April (10), breaking the mark (8) set by Kent Hrbek which was tied by Carlos Delgado and Albert Pujols. Abreu, during that same month, drove in 32 runs, breaking the mark of 27 set by Albert Pujols.