1973 Major League Baseball season

1973 MLB season
League	Major League Baseball
Sport	Baseball
Duration	April 5 – October 21, 1973
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
Finals MVP	Reggie Jackson (OAK)

The 1973 Major League Baseball season was the first season of the designated hitter rule in the American League.[1]

California Angels ace pitcher 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 their home games 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 before the stadium closed for remodeling during the 1974 and 1975 seasons.

On June 19, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds and Willie Davis of the Los Angeles Dodgers both collect their 2000th career hit. It is a single for Rose against the San Francisco Giants while Davis hits a home run against the Atlanta Braves.[2]

Awards and honors

Baseball Hall of Fame
Most Valuable Player
- Reggie Jackson (AL) Oakland Athletics
- Pete Rose (NL) Cincinnati Reds
Cy Young Award
- Jim Palmer (AL) Baltimore Orioles
- Tom Seaver (NL) New York Mets
Rookie of the Year
- Al Bumbry (AL) Baltimore Orioles
- Gary Matthews (NL) San Francisco Giants
Gold Glove Award
- George Scott (1B) (AL)
- Bobby Grich (2B) (AL)
- Brooks Robinson (3B) (AL)
- Mark Belanger (SS) (AL)
- Paul Blair (OF) (AL)
- Amos Otis (OF) (AL)
- Mickey Stanley (OF) (AL)
- Thurman Munson (C) (AL)
- Jim Kaat (P) (AL)

Regular season standings

American League

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	97	65	0.599	—	50–31	47–34
Boston Red Sox	89	73	0.549	8	48–33	41–40
Detroit Tigers	85	77	0.525	12	47–34	38–43
New York Yankees	80	82	0.494	17	50–31	30–51
Milwaukee Brewers	74	88	0.457	23	40–41	34–47
Cleveland Indians	71	91	0.438	26	34–47	37–44

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	94	68	0.580	—	50–31	44–37
Kansas City Royals	88	74	0.543	6	48–33	40–41
Minnesota Twins	81	81	0.500	13	37–44	44–37
California Angels	79	83	0.488	15	43–38	36–45
Chicago White Sox	77	85	0.475	17	40–41	37–44
Texas Rangers	57	105	0.352	37	35–46	22–59

National League

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Mets	82	79	0.509	—	43–38	39–41
St. Louis Cardinals	81	81	0.500	1½	43–38	38–43
Pittsburgh Pirates	80	82	0.494	2½	41–40	39–42
Montreal Expos	79	83	0.488	3½	43–38	36–45
Chicago Cubs	77	84	0.478	5	41–39	36–45
Philadelphia Phillies	71	91	0.438	11½	38–43	33–48

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	99	63	0.611	—	50–31	49–32
Los Angeles Dodgers	95	66	0.590	3½	50–31	45–35
San Francisco Giants	88	74	0.543	11	47–34	41–40
Houston Astros	82	80	0.506	17	41–40	41–40
Atlanta Braves	76	85	0.472	22½	40–40	36–45
San Diego Padres	60	102	0.370	39	31–50	29–52

Postseason

League Championship Series (ALCS, NLCS)			World Series

East	Baltimore	2
West	Oakland	3
			AL	Oakland	4
			NL	NY Mets	3
East	NY Mets	3
West	Cincinnati	2

Statistical leaders

Statistic	American League		National League
AVG	Rod Carew MIN	.350	Pete Rose CIN	.338
HR	Reggie Jackson OAK	32	Willie Stargell PIT	44
RBI	Reggie Jackson OAK	117	Willie Stargell PIT	119
Wins	Wilbur Wood CHW	24	Ron Bryant SF	24
ERA	Jim Palmer BAL	2.40	Tom Seaver NYM	2.08
SO	Nolan Ryan CAL	383	Tom Seaver NYM	251
SV	John Hiller DET	38	Mike Marshall MTL	31
SB	Tommy Harper BOS	54	Lou Brock STL	70

References

"The Historical Evolution of the Designated Hitter Rule," Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), John Cronin, Fall 2016.
June 19 in Baseball. Baseball Reference. Retrieved on June 19, 2019.

External links

1973 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[Historical_Evolution_of_the_Designated_Hitter_Rule,_SABR,_Fall_2016-1] "The Historical Evolution of the Designated Hitter Rule," Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), John Cronin, Fall 2016.

[2] June 19 in Baseball. Baseball Reference. Retrieved on June 19, 2019.

1973 MLB season by team
AL East	Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee New York
AL West	California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Texas
NL East	Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
NL West	Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco
1973 MLB draft 1973 All-Star Game 1973 World Series