[Joy in Mudville]

Here are some of the key events of real-life baseball circa 1974. These events were taken from The Baseball Timeline.

*Lee McPhail is the new American League president, replacing Joe Cronin who retires after 15 years.

*Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's, buys the San Diego Padres.

*Minnesota pitcher Dick Woodson becomes the first player to settle a salary dispute through the new binding arbitration process.

*The Mets' Tom Seaver signs a new contract for $172,500 to become the highest paid player in the game.

*Hank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth's career home run record by swatting No. 715 off Al Downing of Los Angeles on April 8.

*The Dodgers' Ron Cey drives in seven runs in a 10-0 rout of the Cubs on June 1 at Wrigley Field.

*Charles O. Finley, owner of the Oakland A's, signs record-holding sprinter Herb Washington as a "designated runner." Washington will appear in 92 games without batting; he steals 29 bases and scores 29 runs. He also gets picked off in the World Series by the Dodgers' Mike Marshall.

*A TV biography of Roy Campanella, "It's Good to Be Alive", stars Paul Winfield and Ruby Dee.

*Lou Brock gets his 700th stolen base on June 29. Brock steals a then-record 118 bases for the '74 season.

*Cardinal ace Bob Gibson records his 3,000th career strikeout.

*Angels' fireballer Nolan Ryan strikes out 19 Red Sox to tie the major league record on August 12.

*St. Louis defeats the New York Mets 4-3 in a 25-inning game that began the night before on Sept. 12.

*Nolan Ryan notches his third career no-hitter in a 4-0 Angels' win over the Twins on Sept. 28.

*Frank Robinson becomes the first African-American manager when he is named to that post with the Cleveland Indians.

*Four of the five games in the 1974 World Series end in 3-2 scores as Oakland defeats Los Angeles.

*Hank Aaron and Japanese home run king Sadaharu Oh begin a home run contest in Tokyo after the regular season.

*While Aaron is in Japan, the Braves trade him to the Milwaukee Brewers at his own request.