1973 Major League Baseball season

Last updated

1973 MLB season
League Major League Baseball
Sport Baseball
DurationApril 5 – October 21, 1973
Number of games162
Number of teams24
TV partner(s) NBC
Draft
Top draft pick David Clyde
Picked by Texas Rangers
Regular season
Season MVP AL: Reggie Jackson (OAK)
NL: Pete Rose (CIN)
Postseason
AL champions Oakland Athletics
  AL runners-up Baltimore Orioles
NL champions New York Mets
  NL runners-up Cincinnati Reds
World Series
Champions Oakland Athletics
  Runners-up New York Mets
World Series MVP Reggie Jackson (OAK)
MLB seasons
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      Athletics
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Locations of teams for the 1973 American League season
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   Giants
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      Phillies
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Pirates   
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Locations of teams for the 1971–1976 National League seasons
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The 1973 Major League Baseball season was the first season of the designated hitter rule in the American League. [1]

Contents

American League umpires began wearing burgundy blazers with blue pants, a change from the navy blue coats and gray pants worn the previous five seasons (1968–1972). The burgundy blazers were worn through 1979.

California Angels ace Nolan Ryan broke Sandy Koufax's 1965 strikeout record of 382 when he struck out 383 batters during the season.

The Oakland Athletics won their second straight World Series championship in seven games over the New York Mets.

The Kansas City Royals moved from Municipal Stadium to the new Royals Stadium (adjacent to the Chiefs' football facility) and also hosted the All-Star Game on July 24 with the NL defeating the AL, 7–1.

The New York Yankees played their final season at the original Yankee Stadium; it was closed for remodeling during the 1974 and 1975 seasons.

In California on June 19, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds and Willie Davis of the Los Angeles Dodgers both collected their 2000th career hit. Rose singled against the San Francisco Giants while Davis hit a home run against the Atlanta Braves. [2] [3]

A lockout in the offseason (February 8–25) did not result in any regular season games being canceled, but the start of spring training was delayed. [4]

Awards and honors

Standings

American League

AL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Baltimore Orioles 9765.599—50‍–‍3147‍–‍34
Boston Red Sox 8973.549848‍–‍3341‍–‍40
Detroit Tigers 8577.5251247‍–‍3438‍–‍43
New York Yankees 8082.4941750‍–‍3130‍–‍51
Milwaukee Brewers 7488.4572340‍–‍4134‍–‍47
Cleveland Indians 7191.4382634‍–‍4737‍–‍44
AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 9468.580—50‍–‍3144‍–‍37
Kansas City Royals 8874.543648‍–‍3340‍–‍41
Minnesota Twins 8181.5001337‍–‍4444‍–‍37
California Angels 7983.4881543‍–‍3836‍–‍45
Chicago White Sox 7785.4751740‍–‍4137‍–‍44
Texas Rangers 57105.3523735‍–‍4622‍–‍59

National League

NL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Mets 8279.509—43‍–‍3839‍–‍41
St. Louis Cardinals 8181.5001½43‍–‍3838‍–‍43
Pittsburgh Pirates 8082.4942½41‍–‍4039‍–‍42
Montreal Expos 7983.4883½43‍–‍3836‍–‍45
Chicago Cubs 7784.478541‍–‍3936‍–‍45
Philadelphia Phillies 7191.43811½38‍–‍4333‍–‍48
NL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 9963.611—50‍–‍3149‍–‍32
Los Angeles Dodgers 9566.5903½50‍–‍3145‍–‍35
San Francisco Giants 8874.5431147‍–‍3441‍–‍40
Houston Astros 8280.5061741‍–‍4041‍–‍40
Atlanta Braves 7685.47222½40‍–‍4036‍–‍45
San Diego Padres 60102.3703931‍–‍5029‍–‍52

Postseason

Bracket

League Championship Series
(ALCS, NLCS)		 World Series
East Baltimore 63150
West Oakland 06211*43
ALOakland273111035
NLNY Mets1101226212
East NY Mets 15917
West Cincinnati 2*022122

*Denotes walk-off

Statistical leaders

Statistic American League National League
AVG Rod Carew MIN.350 Pete Rose CIN.338
HR Reggie Jackson OAK32 Willie Stargell PIT44
RBI Reggie Jackson OAK117 Willie Stargell PIT119
Wins Wilbur Wood CWS24 Ron Bryant SF24
ERA Jim Palmer BAL2.40 Tom Seaver NYM2.08
SO Nolan Ryan CAL383 Tom Seaver NYM251
SV John Hiller DET38 Mike Marshall MTL31
SB Tommy Harper BOS54 Lou Brock STL70

Home field attendance

Team nameWins%±Home attendance%±Per game
Los Angeles Dodgers [5] 9511.8%2,136,19214.8%26,373
Cincinnati Reds [6] 994.2%2,017,60125.2%24,909
New York Mets [7] 82−1.2%1,912,390−10.4%23,610
Detroit Tigers [8] 85−1.2%1,724,146−8.9%21,286
St. Louis Cardinals [9] 818.0%1,574,04631.5%19,433
Boston Red Sox [10] 894.7%1,481,0022.7%18,284
Philadelphia Phillies [11] 7120.3%1,475,9349.9%18,221
Houston Astros [12] 82−2.4%1,394,004−5.1%17,210
Chicago Cubs [13] 77−9.4%1,351,7054.0%16,896
Kansas City Royals [14] 8815.8%1,345,34190.1%16,609
Pittsburgh Pirates [15] 80−16.7%1,319,913−7.5%16,295
Chicago White Sox [16] 77−11.5%1,302,52710.6%16,081
New York Yankees [17] 801.3%1,262,10330.6%15,582
Montreal Expos [18] 7912.9%1,246,8639.2%15,393
Milwaukee Brewers [19] 7413.8%1,092,15881.9%13,483
California Angels [20] 795.3%1,058,20642.2%13,064
Oakland Athletics [21] 941.1%1,000,7638.6%12,355
Baltimore Orioles [22] 9721.3%958,6676.5%11,835
Minnesota Twins [23] 815.2%907,49913.7%11,204
San Francisco Giants [24] 8827.5%834,19328.8%10,299
Atlanta Braves [25] 768.6%800,6556.3%9,885
Texas Rangers [26] 575.6%686,0853.5%8,470
Cleveland Indians [27] 71−1.4%615,107−1.8%7,594
San Diego Padres [28] 603.4%611,826−5.0%7,553

Television coverage

NBC was the exclusive national TV broadcaster of MLB, airing the weekend Game of the Week , Monday Night Baseball , the All-Star Game, both League Championship Series, and the World Series.

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References

  1. ↑ "The Historical Evolution of the Designated Hitter Rule," Archived June 1, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), John Cronin, Fall 2016.
  2. ↑ "Rose gets 2,000th hit, Norman blanks Giants". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. June 20, 1973. p. 29.
  3. ↑ "Phils triumph as Lonborg, Schmidt lead". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. June 20, 1973. p. 3B.
  4. ↑ "The Lockout of 1973". MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement. August 5, 2010. Retrieved December 2, 2021– via Blogspot.
  5. ↑ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  7. ↑ "New York Mets Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  9. ↑ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Kansas City Royals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  17. ↑ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Washington Nationals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Milwaukee Brewers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Los Angeles Angels Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  24. ↑ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  26. ↑ "Texas Rangers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  27. ↑ "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  28. ↑ "San Diego Padres Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
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