1973 Oakland Athletics season

1973 Oakland Athletics 1973 AL West Champions 1973 AL Champions 1973 World Series Champions
Major league affiliations
American League (since 1901) Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (since 1968) Oakland, California (since 1968)
1973 information
Owner(s)	Charles O. Finley
Manager(s)	Dick Williams
Local television	KTVU
Local radio	KEEN (Monte Moore, Jim Woods, Bill Rigney)
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The 1973 Oakland Athletics season involved the A's winning their third consecutive American League West title with a record of 94 wins and 68 losses. The A's went on to defeat the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS for their second straight AL Championship, and won the World Series in seven games over the New York Mets to take their second consecutive World Championship.

Offseason

November 24, 1972: Matty Alou was traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Rob Gardner and a player to be named later. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Rich McKinney to the Athletics on December 1.^[1]
November 30, 1972: Mike Epstein was traded by the Athletics to the Texas Rangers for Horacio Piña.^[2]
December 18, 1972: Orlando Cepeda was released by the Athletics.^[3]
January 10, 1973: 1973 Major League Baseball Draft (January Draft) notable picks:^[4]

Round 1: Mike Norris(24th pick).^[5]

Secondary Phase

Round 1: Warren Cromartie (10th pick) (did not sign).^[6]

January 23, 1973: Jerry McNertney was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[7]
March 24, 1973: Dave Duncan and George Hendrick were traded by the Athletics to the Cleveland Indians for Ray Fosse and Jack Heidemann.^[8]
March 31, 1973: Jay Johnstone signed as a free agent with the Athletics.^[9]

Regular season

The 1973 A’s had three 20-game winners in Jim (Catfish) Hunter, Ken Holtzman and Vida Blue.^[10]

The A's were on the receiving end of some milestones as well. On July 3, Nolan Ryan struck out Sal Bando of the Athletics for the 1000th strikeout in his career.^[11] On July 30, Jim Bibby threw the first no-hitter in Texas Rangers history as he no-hit the Athletics.^[12] The Rangers won the game 6-0.

Opening Day starters

Season standings

AL West	W	L	GB	Pct.
Oakland Athletics	94	68	--	.580
Kansas City Royals	88	74	6	.543
Minnesota Twins	81	81	13	.500
California Angels	79	83	15	.488
Chicago White Sox	77	85	17	.475
Texas Rangers	57	105	37	.352

Notable transactions

April 3, 1973: Don Shaw was traded by the Athletics to the Detroit Tigers for Tim Hosley.^[13]
May 4, 1973: Jerry McNertney was purchased from the Athletics by the Pittsburgh Pirates.^[7]
May 11, 1973: Mark Budaska was signed as an amateur free agent by the Athletics.^[14]
June 24, 1973: Steve McCatty was signed by the Athletics as an amateur free agent.^[15]
July 7, 1973: Dal Maxvill was purchased from the Athletics by the Pittsburgh Pirates.^[16]
July 31, 1973: Jesús Alou was purchased by the Athletics from the Houston Astros.^[17]
August 29, 1973: Gonzalo Márquez was traded by the Athletics to the Chicago Cubs for Pat Bourque.^[18]
September 11, 1973: Rico Carty was purchased by the Athletics from the Chicago Cubs.^[19]

Draft picks

June 5, 1973: 1973 Major League Baseball Draft
- Floyd Bannister was drafted by the Athletics in the 3rd round, but did not sign.^[20]
- Matt Keough was drafted by the Athletics in the 7th round.^[21]
- Derek Bryant was drafted by the Athletics in the 8th round.^[22]
- Craig Mitchell was drafted by the Athletics in the 1st round (1st pick) of the secondary phase.^[23]

Roster

1973 Oakland Athletics

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

12 Rico Carty
35 José Morales

Manager

23 Dick Williams

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Fosse, RayRay Fosse	143	492	37	126	.256	7	52	2
1B	Tenace, GeneGene Tenace	160	510	83	132	.259	24	84	2
2B	Green, DickDick Green	133	332	33	87	.262	3	42	0
3B	Bando, SalSal Bando	162	592	97	170	.287	29	98	4
SS	Campaneris, BertBert Campaneris	151	601	89	150	.250	4	46	34
LF	Rudi, JoeJoe Rudi	120	437	53	118	.270	12	66	0
CF	North, BillyBilly North	146	554	98	158	.285	5	34	53
RF	Jackson, ReggieReggie Jackson	151	539	99	158	.293	32	117	22
DH	Johnson, DeronDeron Johnson	131	464	61	114	.246	19	81	0

^[24]

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
Mangual, ÁngelÁngel Mangual	74	192	20	43	.224	3	13	1
Kubiak, TedTed Kubiak	106	182	15	40	.220	3	17	1
Conigliaro, BillyBilly Conigliaro	48	110	5	22	.200	0	14	1
Alou, JesúsJesús Alou	36	108	10	33	.306	1	11	0
Hegan, MikeMike Hegan	75	71	8	13	.183	1	5	0
McKinney, RichRich McKinney	48	65	9	16	.246	1	7	0
Davalillo, VicVic Davalillo	38	64	5	12	.188	0	4	0
Bourque, PatPat Bourque	23	42	8	8	.190	2	9	0
Johnstone, JayJay Johnstone	23	28	1	3	.107	0	3	0
Márquez, GonzaloGonzalo Márquez	23	25	1	6	.240	0	2	0
Andrews, MikeMike Andrews	18	21	1	4	.190	0	0	0
Maxvill, DalDal Maxvill	29	19	0	4	.211	0	1	0
Hosley, TimTim Hosley	13	14	3	3	.214	0	2	0
Morales, JoséJosé Morales	6	14	0	4	.286	0	1	0
Trillo, MannyManny Trillo	17	12	0	3	.250	0	3	0
Carty, RicoRico Carty	7	8	1	2	.250	1	1	0
Garner, PhilPhil Garner	9	5	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Haney, LarryLarry Haney	2	2	0	1	.500	0	0	0
Lewis, AllanAllan Lewis	35	0	16	0	----	0	0	7

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games played; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	BB	SO
Holtzman, KenKen Holtzman	40	297.1	21	13	2.97	66	157
Blue, VidaVida Blue	37	263.2	20	9	3.28	105	158
Hunter, CatfishCatfish Hunter	36	256.1	21	5	3.34	69	124
Odom, Blue MoonBlue Moon Odom	30	150.1	5	12	4.49	67	83
Hamilton, DaveDave Hamilton	16	69.2	6	4	4.39	24	34
Dobson, ChuckChuck Dobson	1	2.1	0	1	7.71	2	3

^[24]

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games played; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	BB	SO
Abbott, GlennGlenn Abbott	5	18.2	1	0	3.86	7	6

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games played; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	BB	SO
Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers	62	126.2	7	8	22	1.92	39	110
Knowles, DaroldDarold Knowles	52	99	6	8	9	3.09	49	46
Piña, HoracioHoracio Piña	47	88	6	3	8	2.76	34	41
Lindblad, PaulPaul Lindblad	36	78	1	5	2	3.69	28	33
Gardner, RobRob Gardner	3	7.1	0	0	0	4.91	2	4

Postseason

ALCS

Main article: 1973 American League Championship Series

Game 1

October 6, 1973 at Memorial Stadium

In Game 1, the Orioles jumped on Oakland starter Vida Blue and reliever Horacio Piña for four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Jim Palmer pitched a 5-hit shutout as the Orioles won, 6-0.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	1
Baltimore	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	X	6	12	0
W: Jim Palmer (1-0) L: Vida Blue (0-1)
HR: None

Game 2

October 7, 1973 at Memorial Stadium

In Game 2, the Athletics hit three home runs off Baltimore starter Dave McNally, and won 6-3 behind Catfish Hunter.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	1	6	9	0
Baltimore	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	3	8	0
W: Catfish Hunter (1-0) L: Dave McNally (0-1) S: Rollie Fingers (1)
HR: OAK – Bert Campaneris (1), Joe Rudi (1), Sal Bando 2 (2)

Game 3

October 9, 1973 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

In Game 3, the Athletics won 2-1 when shortstop Bert Campaneris homered to lead off the bottom of the 11th inning.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
Baltimore	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	0
Oakland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	4	3
W: Ken Holtzman (1-0) L: Mike Cuellar (0-1)
HR: OAK – Bert Campaneris (2) BAL – Earl Williams (1)

Game 4

October 10, 1973 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

In Game 4, the Athletics held a 4-0 lead after six innings, but the Orioles scored four in the seventh off Blue to tie the game; the key blow was a three-run home run by catcher Andy Etchebarren. Baltimore second baseman Bobby Grich broke the tie with a solo home run in the 8th inning, and the Orioles went on to win, 5-4.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Baltimore	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1	0	5	8	0
Oakland	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4	7	0
W: Grant Jackson (1-0) L: Rollie Fingers (0-1)
HR: BAL – Andy Etchebarren (1), Bobby Grich (1)

Game 5

October 11, 1973 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

In Game 5, Hunter pitched a 5-hit shutout as the Athletics won, 3-0, and took the series 3 games to 2.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Baltimore	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	2
Oakland	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	X	3	7	0
W: Catfish Hunter (2-0) L: Doyle Alexander (0-1)
HR: None

World Series

Main article: 1973 World Series

The Athletics' victory over the New York Mets in the 1973 Series was marred by Charlie O. Finley's antics. Finley forced Mike Andrews to sign a false affidavit saying he was injured after the reserve second baseman committed two consecutive errors in the 12th inning of the A's Game Two loss to the Mets. This would allow Manny Trillo, ineligible because he was not a member of the team on Sept. 1, to be activated.^[25]

By demeaning Mike Andrews, Finley brought on open rebellion, the logical progression for a team that has never deluded itself about being a happy ship. The A's worked out at Shea with Andrews' No. 17 taped to their uniforms as a sign of sympathy with him. By then he was back home in Peabody, Massachusetts.^[25] When other team members, manager Dick Williams, and virtually the entire viewing public rallied to Andrews' defense, Kuhn forced Finley to back down. Andrews entered Game 4 in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter. As he walked to the on-deck circle the crowd of 54,817 at Shea Stadium spotted his No. 17 and commenced cheering.^[25] He promptly grounded out, and Finley ordered him benched for the remainder of the Series.

Andrews never played another major league game. As it was, the incident allowed the Mets, a team that went but 82–79 during the regular season, to go seven games before losing to a superior team. Williams was so disgusted by the affair that he resigned after the Series.^[10] Finley retaliated by vetoing Williams' attempt to become manager of the Yankees. Finley claimed that since Williams still owed Oakland the last year of his contract, he could not manage anywhere else. Finley relented later in 1974 and allowed Williams to take over as manager of the California Angels.

Summary

AL Oakland Athletics (4) vs. NL New York Mets (3)

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance	Time of Game
1	Mets – 1, A’s – 2	October 13	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	46,021	2:26
2	Mets – 10, A’s – 7 (12 inns)	October 14	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	55,989	4:13
3	A's – 3, Mets – 2 (11 inns)	October 16	Shea Stadium	54,817	3:15
4	A's – 1, Mets – 6	October 17	Shea Stadium	54,817	2:41
5	A's – 0, Mets – 2	October 18	Shea Stadium	54,817	2:39
6	Mets – 1, A’s – 3	October 20	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	49,333	2:07
7	Mets – 2, A’s – 5	October 21	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	49,333	2:37

Awards and honors

Bert Campaneris, Babe Ruth Award
Reggie Jackson, OF, American League RBI Champion
Reggie Jackson, OF, World Series Most Valuable Player Award

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tucson Toros	Pacific Coast League	Sherm Lollar
AA	Birmingham A's	Southern League	Harry Bright
A	Burlington Bees	Midwest League	Rene Lachemann
Short-Season A	Lewiston Broncos	Northwest League	Mike Sgobba

Notes

^ Rich McKinney page at Baseball Reference
^ Horacio Piña page at Baseball Reference
^ Orlando Cepeda page on Baseball Reference
^ 1973 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB January Amateur Draft
^ Mike Norris page at Baseball Reference
^ Warren Cromartie page on Baseball Reference
^ ^a ^b Jerry McNertney page at Baseball Reference
^ Ray Fosse page at Baseball Reference
^ Jay Johnstone page at Baseball Reference
^ ^a ^b Sporting News: Baseball History of the World Series
^ http://www.smackbomb.com/nolanryan/strikeouts.html
^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 144, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, NY, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
^ Tim Hosley page at Baseball Reference
^ Mark Budaska page at Baseball Reference
^ Steve McCatty page at Baseball Reference
^ Dal Maxvill page at Baseball Reference
^ Jesus Alou page at Baseball Reference
^ Pat Bourque page at Baseball Reference
^ Rico Carty page at Baseball Reference
^ Floyd Bannister page at Baseball Reference
^ Matt Keough page at Baseball Reference
^ Derek Bryant page at Baseball Reference
^ Craig Mitchell page at Baseball Reference
^ ^a ^b http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/OAK/1973.shtml
^ ^a ^b ^c CNN/SI - 1998 MLB Postseason - 1973 World Series

References

Preceded by Oakland Athletics 1972	AL West Championship Season 1973	Succeeded by Oakland Athletics 1974
Preceded by Oakland Athletics 1972	American League champions 1973	Succeeded by Oakland Athletics 1974
Preceded by Oakland Athletics 1972	World Series champion 1973	Succeeded by Oakland Athletics 1974

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 All-Star Game • 1973 World Series

Oakland Athletics 1973 World Series Champions

1 Dick Green \| 2 Ángel Mangual \| 6 Sal Bando \| 7 Deron Johnson \| 9 Reggie Jackson (World Series MVP) \| 10 Ray Fosse \| 11 Ted Kubiak \| 13 Blue Moon Odom \| 14 Vida Blue \| 16 Billy Conigliaro \| 17 Mike Andrews \| 18 Gene Tenace \| 19 Bert Campaneris \| 22 Jesús Alou \| 24 Allan Lewis \| 25 Paul Lindblad \| 26 Joe Rudi \| 27 Catfish Hunter \| 28 Horacio Piña \| 30 Ken Holtzman \| 32 Darold Knowles \| 34 Rollie Fingers \| 37 Vic Davalillo \| 38 Pat Bourque Manager 23 Dick Williams Coaches: 41 Jerry Adair \| 42 Wes Stock \| 43 Irv Noren \| 44 Vern Hoscheit

Regular season • American League Championship Series

Oakland Athletics

Formerly the Philadelphia Athletics and the Kansas City Athletics • Based in Oakland, California (Bay Area)

The Franchise

History • Seasons • Records • No-hitters • Players • Owners and executives • Managers • Broadcasters • Award winners and league leaders • First-round draft picks

Ballparks

Columbia Park • Shibe Park • Municipal Stadium • O.co Coliseum • Cashman Field • Cisco Field (proposed)
Spring Training: Barrs Field • Terry Park Ballfield • Wilmington Park • McCurdy Field • Connie Mack Field • McKechnie Field • Scottsdale Stadium I • Phoenix Municipal Stadium

Culture

Philadelphia Athletics (football) • Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame • Athletics Nation • Charlie-O • Bash Brothers (Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire) • Stomper • $100,000 Infield • "Holy Toledo!" • Billyball • Celebration • White Cleats • Moneyball (book) • Moneyball (film)

Lore

The Mack Attack • Kirk Gibson's 1988 World Series home run • 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake • Dallas Braden's perfect game

Rivalries

City Series • Bay Bridge Series

Important figures

Hall of Fame members	Home Run Baker • Chief Bender • Mickey Cochrane • Eddie Collins • Dennis Eckersley • Rollie Fingers • Jimmie Foxx • Lefty Grove • Rickey Henderson • Catfish Hunter • Reggie Jackson • Nap Lajoie • Connie Mack • Eddie Plank • Al Simmons • Rube Waddell • Dick Williams

Wall of Fame members	Sam Chapman • Jack Coombs • Jimmy Dykes • George Earnshaw • Ferris Fain • Bob Johnson • Eddie Joost • Bing Miller • Wally Moses • Rube Oldring • Bobby Shantz • Eddie Rommel • Elmer Valo • Rube Walberg • Gus Zernial

Franchise record holders	Don Baylor • Bert Campaneris • José Canseco • Jason Giambi • Ben Grieve • Dave Kingman • Bill Lamar • Mark McGwire • Cy Morgan • Danny Murphy • Elmer Myers • Roy Grover • Blue Moon Odom • Scott Perry • Vic Power • Pete Suder

Retired numbers

9 • 24 • 27 • 34 • 42 • 43

World Series
Champions (9)

1910 • 1911 • 1913 • 1929 • 1930 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1989

American League
Championships (15)

1902 • 1905 • 1910 • 1911 • 1913 • 1914 • 1929 • 1930 • 1931 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990

Minors

AAA: Sacramento River Cats • AA: Midland RockHounds • A: Stockton Ports, Burlington Bees, Vermont Lake Monsters • Rookie: Arizona League Athletics, DSL Athletics

Seasons (112)

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1960s-1970s	1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979

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