1973 New York Yankees season

1973 New York Yankees
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Yankee Stadium (since 1923)
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.

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

• November 24, 1972: Rob Gardner and a player to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Matty Alou. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Rich McKinney to the Athletics on December 1.
• November 27, 1972: John Ellis, Jerry Kenney, Charlie Spikes, and Rusty Torres were traded by the Yankees to the Cleveland Indians for Graig Nettles and Jerry Moses.
• Bobby Murcer signed a $100,000 contract with the Yankees. He was just the second player in Yankees history (behind Mickey Mantle) to earn a base salary of $100,000 in one season.

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.

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: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
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

• April 5, 1973: Frank Baker was traded by the Yankees to the Baltimore Orioles for Tom Matchick.
• June 5, 1973: Kerry Dineen was drafted by the Yankees in the 4th round of the 1973 Major League Baseball Draft.
• June 7, 1973: Frank Tepedino, Wayne Nordhagen and players to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Atlanta Braves for Pat Dobson. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Dave Cheadle to the Braves on August 15 and Al Closter to the Braves on September 5.
• June 7, 1973: Sam McDowell was purchased by the Yankees from the San Francisco Giants.
• June 12, 1973: Mike Kekich was traded by the Yankees to the Cleveland Indians for Lowell Palmer.
• July 30, 1973: Jerry Kenney was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
• August 7, 1973: The Yankees sent a player to be named later and cash to the St. Louis Cardinals for Wayne Granger. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Ken Crosby to the Cardinals on September 12.
• August 13, 1973: Bernie Allen was purchased from the Yankees by the Montreal Expos.
• August 18, 1973: Johnny Callison was released by the Yankees.

Roster

1973 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 47 Fred Beene 29 Tom Buskey 29 Casey Cox 36 Pat Dobson 39 Wayne Granger 18 Mike Kekich 38 Steve Kline 28 Sparky Lyle 39 Jim Magnuson 40 Lindy McDaniel 29,48 Sam McDowell 42 Doc Medich 18,50 Dave Pagan 19 Fritz Peterson 30 Mel Stottlemyre		Catchers 46 Rick Dempsey 23 Jerry Moses 15 Thurman Munson 41 Duke Sims Infielders 11 Bernie Allen 24 Felipe Alou 12 Ron Blomberg 20 Horace Clarke 18 Mike Hegan 22 Hal Lanier 17 Gene Michael  9 Graig Nettles 10 Celerino Sánchez 11 Fred Stanley		Outfielders  2 Matty Alou 25 Johnny Callison  1 Bobby Murcer 14 Ron Swoboda 24,53 Otto Vélez  6 Roy White Other batters 43 Jim Ray Hart		Manager 35 Ralph Houk Coaches 44 Jim Hegan 32 Elston Howard 34 Dick Howser 31 Jim Turner

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	Thurman Munson	147	519	156	.301	20	74
1B	Felipe Alou	93	280	66	.236	4	27
2B	Horace Clarke	148	590	155	.263	2	35
3B	Graig Nettles	160	552	129	.234	22	81
SS	Gene Michael	129	418	94	.225	3	47
LF	Roy White	162	639	157	.246	18	60
CF	Bobby Murcer	160	616	187	.304	22	95
RF	Matty Alou	123	497	147	.296	2	28
DH	Jim 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
Johnny Callison	45	136	24	.176	1	10
Otto Vélez	23	77	15	.195	2	7
Jerry Moses	21	59	15	.254	0	3
Bernie 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
Pat Dobson	22	142.1	9	8	4.17	70
Sam McDowell	16	95.2	5	8	3.95	75
Mike 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
Fred Beene	19	91	6	0	1.68	49
Dave 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
Tom Buskey	8	0	1	1	5.40	8
Wayne Granger	7	0	1	0	1.76	10
Casey Cox	1	0	0	0	6.00	0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

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

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

• Thurman Munson, Catcher
• Bobby Murcer, Outfield, Starter
• Sparky Lyle, Pitcher

References

• 1973 New York Yankees
• 1973 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com