Chris Chambliss
The Yankees traded 1/3rd of their pitching staff for 1st baseman Chris Chambliss, the 1971 American League Rookie of the Year, and 2 pitchers that nobody in New York had ever heard of. This trade was very unpopular at the time, both in the clubhouse and in the stands.
The night before, 3 of the pitchers had played in the Yankees' 6-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals at Shea Stadium, where the Yankees were groundsharing with the Mets while Yankee Stadium was being renovated, that season and the next. Kline started, and didn't get out of the 6th inning, which Beene finished. Peterson pitched the last 3 innings, allowing the last run.
In a little over 8 seasons with the Yankees, Peterson had gone 109-106 with a 3.10 ERA, including a 20-win season in 1970. Kline had gone 40-37 and 3.26 in a shade over 4 seasons. Beene was 7-3 with 5 saves and a 1.99 ERA in a little over 2 seasons. Buskey had appeared in only 12 games, all in relief, going 0-2 with 2 saves and a 5.64 ERA. Mainly, it was the trade of Peterson that upset Yankee fans, with whom he was still popular, in spite of his "wife swap" the season before with fellow pitcher Mike Kekich, who was traded soon thereafter.
But it turned out to be a great trade for the Yankees. As one observer wrote, it "broke up the country club." Upshaw never did much for them, but Tidrow became a key pitcher, both starting and relieving, on the team that would win 3 straight Pennants from 1976 to 1978. And Chambliss had both a Gold Glove and a power bat, hitting the home run that clinched the 1976 Pennant. Once the fans poured onto the field at the renovated Yankee Stadium following Chambliss' homer, Peterson had become "Fritz Who?"
Peterson went 14-8 for the Indians in 1975, but pitched only 1 more season and change in the majors, due to a shoulder injury. He would finish his career at 133-131. The other pitchers were not missed.
Heart attacks took the lives of Cecil Upshaw when he was only 52 in 1995, and Tom Buskey when he was only 51 in 1998. Steve Kline died in 2018, Dick Tidrow in 2021. As of April 26, 2022, Chris Chambliss and Fred Beene are still alive. So is Fritz Peterson. However, in 2018, he publicly revealed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and stepped away from public life.
(UPDATE: He died on October 19, 2023, although it wasn't publicly announced for another 6 months, until April 12, 2024.)
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April 26, 1974 was, as the title suggests, a Friday. Football was out of season. The NBA and the ABA were both between rounds of the Playoffs. The Stanley Cup and WHA Playoffs were underway, but no games were scheduled for either.
But these Major League Baseball games were played:
* The Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 4-3 at Shea Stadium. Mel Stottlemyre went the distance for his 162nd career win, all in a Yankee uniform. But he would only win 2 more before an injury ended his career on August 16. So, before the season was out, the Yankees were without 5 of the pitchers with whom they started the season.
* The New York Mets beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Tom Seaver pitched a 4-hit shutout.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-5 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Andy Etchebarren brought Don Baylor home with a sacrifice fly to win it in the bottom of the 15th inning. Grant Jackson won the game, in relief of Jim Palmer. Paul Lindblad lost it, in relief of Vida Blue. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-6 with a walk and an RBI. Reggie Jackson went 4-for-7 with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs. Brooks and Reggie shared a birthday, May 18. (Brooks was about to turn 37; Reggie, 28.)
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 9-3 at Atlanta Stadium. (It was renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium the next season.) The Braves scored 8 runs in the 7th inning. Hank Aaron went 2-for-4 with 4 RBIs, but did not hit a home run.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 4-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the California Angels, 4-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. For the Angels, Frank Robinson went 0-for-2 with 2 walks, and had an RBI when Bob Johnson of the Indians hit him with a pitch with the bases loaded. But the Indians scored 4 runs in the 7th inning to chase Nolan Ryan, and make a winning pitcher out of Tom Timmerman. In his last game as an Indian, Chris Chambliss went 1-for-4 with 3 RBIs.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 8-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Al Kaline, in his last season, went 2-for-4.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-3. Rod Carew went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Robin Yount went 0-for-4.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Pete Rose went 0-for-5. Johnny Bench went 0-for-4. Lou Brock went 2-for-4, and stole his 12th base of the season, en route to a major league record 118. But the Reds won the game.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-2 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-1 with 2 walks and an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-2 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Dave Freiselben outpitched Steve Carlton. Dave Winfield hit a home run. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-3.
* And the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Montreal Expos, 7-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
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