With no clear-cut front-runner there was much speculation about who would win the 1974 Pitcher of the Year award in the SJL.
Would it be Jacksonville's Juan Maldonado, who was the only SJL pitcher with 20 wins? Or Philadelphia's Jeff Tribble, who led the league in WAR among pitchers? Some even thought that 3-time Pitcher of the Year and future Hall-of-Famer Jake Harris could swoop in and take the award.
But as it turned out, El Paso's 24-year old Dan Bottom, who went 11-4 and led the league in ERA at 2.12 won by a fair margin over Jacksonville's Eddie Osorio with fellow Wolf Pack starter Maldonado finishing in third place.
