1973 New York Yankees season

1973 New York Yankees
Major League affiliations
Location
  • New York City (since 1903)
Other information
Owner(s) George Steinbrenner
General manager(s) Lee MacPhail
Manager(s) Ralph Houk
Local television

WPIX

(Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White)
Local radio WMCA
(Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White)
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The 1973 New York Yankees season was the 71st season for the team in New York, and its 73rd season overall. The Yankees finished with a record of 80-82, finishing 17 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees were managed by Ralph Houk. The Yankees played at old Yankee Stadium, on the south side of 161st Street. This would be the last year in the "old" Yankee Stadium, which was targeted for major reconstruction in 1974–1975. During this period, the Yankees would share a home field with a National League team for the third time in their history, moving into Shea Stadium for two years.

George Steinbrenner

The Yankees had been struggling during their years under CBS ownership, which had acquired the team in 1965. In 1972, CBS Chairman William S. Paley told team president E. Michael Burke the media company intended to sell the club. As Burke later told writer Roger Kahn, Paley offered to sell the franchise to Burke if he could find financial backing. Burke ran across Steinbrenner's name, and veteran baseball executive Gabe Paul, a Cleveland-area acquaintance of Steinbrenner, helped bring the two men together.

On January 3, 1973, a group of investors led by George Steinbrenner and minority partner Burke bought the Yankees from CBS for $10 million.

The announced intention was that Burke would continue to run the team as club president. But Burke later became angry when he found out that Paul had been brought in as a senior Yankee executive, crowding his authority, and quit the team presidency on April 29, 1973. (Burke remained a minority owner of the club into the following decade.) He handed in his resignation to the New York Yankees, so that he could become president of Madison Square Garden.[1]

It would be the first of many high-profile departures by employees who crossed paths with "The Boss." At the conclusion of the 1973 season, two more prominent names departed: manager Ralph Houk, who resigned and then signed to manage the Detroit Tigers; and general manager Lee MacPhail, who became president of the American League.

Offseason

Regular season

After the last game of the 1973 season, fans ripped out parts of the stadium, including the seats, to take as souvenirs. The stadium would be remodeled, and reopen in 1976.[5]

Season standings

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

Record vs. opponents

1973 American League Records

Sources:

Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK TEX
Baltimore — 7–11 6–6 8–4 12–6 9–9 8–4 15–3 8–4 9–9 5–7 10–2
Boston 11–7 — 7–5 6–6 9–9 3–15 8–4 12–6 6–6 14–4 4–8 9–3
California 6–6 5–7 — 8–10 5–7 7–5 10–8 5–7 10–8 6–6 6–12 11–7
Chicago 4–8 6–6 10–8 — 7–5 5–7 6–12 3–9 9–9 8–4 6–12 13–5
Cleveland 6–12 9–9 7–5 5–7 — 9–9 2–10 9–9 7–5 7–11 3–9 7–5
Detroit 9–9 15–3 5–7 7–5 9–9 — 4–8 12–6 5–7 7–11 7–5 5–7
Kansas City 4–8 4–8 8–10 12–6 10–2 8–4 — 8–4 9–9 6–6 8–10 11–7
Milwaukee 3–15 6–12 7–5 9–3 9–9 6–12 4–8 — 8–4 10–8 4–8 8–4
Minnesota 4–8 6–6 8–10 9–9 5–7 7–5 9–9 4–8 — 3–9 14–4 12–6
New York 9–9 4–14 6–6 4–8 11–7 11–7 6–6 8–10 9–3 — 4–8 8–4
Oakland 7–5 8–4 12–6 12–6 9–3 5–7 10–8 8–4 4–14 8–4 — 11–7
Texas 2–10 3–9 7–11 5–13 5–7 7–5 7–11 4–8 6–12 4–8 7–11 —

Notable transactions

Roster

1973 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Munson, ThurmanThurman Munson 147 519 156 .301 20 74
1B Alou, FelipeFelipe Alou 93 280 66 .236 4 27
2B Clarke, HoraceHorace Clarke 148 590 155 .263 2 35
3B Nettles, GraigGraig Nettles 160 552 129 .234 22 81
SS Michael, GeneGene Michael 129 418 94 .225 3 47
LF White, RoyRoy White 162 639 157 .246 18 60
CF Murcer, BobbyBobby Murcer 160 616 187 .304 22 95
RF Alou, MattyMatty Alou 123 497 147 .296 2 28
DH Hart, Jim RayJim Ray Hart 114 339 86 .254 13 52

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Callison, JohnnyJohnny Callison 45 136 24 .176 1 10
Vélez, OttoOtto Vélez 23 77 15 .195 2 7
Moses, JerryJerry Moses 21 59 15 .254 0 3
Allen, BernieBernie Allen 17 57 13 .228 0 4

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Dobson, PatPat Dobson 22 142.1 9 8 4.17 70
McDowell, SamSam McDowell 16 95.2 5 8 3.95 75
Kekich, MikeMike Kekich 5 14.2 1 1 9.20 4

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Beene, FredFred Beene 19 91 6 0 1.68 49
Pagan, DaveDave Pagan 4 12.2 0 0 2.84 9

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Buskey, TomTom Buskey 8 0 1 1 5.40 8
Granger, WayneWayne Granger 7 0 1 0 1.76 10
Cox, CaseyCasey Cox 1 0 0 0 6.00 0

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Syracuse Chiefs International League Bobby Cox
AA West Haven Yankees Eastern League Doc Edwards
A Kinston Eagles Carolina League Gene Hassell
A Fort Lauderdale Yankees Florida State League Pete Ward
A-Short Season Oneonta Yankees New York–Penn League Hank Majeski
Rookie Johnson City Yankees Appalachian League Steve Hamilton

Kinston affiliation shared with Atlanta Braves[15]

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Notes

  1. ↑ Madden, Bill (2010). Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball. New York: Harper Collins Publishing. pp. 47–48. ISBN 978-0-06-169031-0.
  2. ↑ Rich McKinney page at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ Graig Nettles page at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ Murcer, Bobby; Waggoner, Glen (2008). Yankee for Life. New York: Harper Collins. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-06-147342-5.
  5. ↑ "Memorable Stadium Moments". The New York Times. September 21, 2008.
  6. ↑ Tom Matchick page at Baseball Reference
  7. ↑ Kerry Dineen page at Baseball Reference
  8. ↑ Al Closter page at Baseball Reference
  9. ↑ Sam McDowell page at Baseball Reference
  10. ↑ Mike Kekich page at Baseball-Reference
  11. ↑ Jerry Kenney page at Baseball Reference
  12. ↑ Ken Crosby page at Baseball Reference
  13. ↑ Bernie Allen page at Baseball Reference
  14. ↑ Johnny Callison page at Baseball Reference
  15. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
  16. ↑ http://www.baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1973as.shtml

References

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