The 1973 New York Mets season was the 12th regular season for the Mets, who played home games at Shea Stadium. Manager Yogi Berra led the team to a National League East title with an 82–79 record and the National League pennant, though they were defeated by the Oakland Athletics in the World Series. Their .509 winning percentage is the lowest of any pennant-winner in major league history. Having won only 82 games during the regular season, the 1973 Mets set the record in qualifying for the postseason with the fewest regular season wins since MLB expanded to a 162-game season in 1961, and the fewest of any team since 1885.
The record (which excludes the strike-shortened 1981 season and the 2020 season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic) was matched by the 2005 San Diego Padres before the record was eclipsed by the 2026 Houston Astros. The season was well known for pitcher Tug McGraw's catchphrase "Ya Gotta Believe!!!"
The Mets would not return to the postseason again until 1986, a 12-year drought that currently remains the longest in franchise history.
Offseason November 1, 1972: Danny Frisella and Gary Gentry were traded by the Mets to the Atlanta Braves for Félix Millán and George Stone. November 27, 1972: Brent Strom and Bob Rauch were traded by the Mets to the Cleveland Indians for Phil Hennigan. November 27, 1972: Tommie Agee was traded by the Mets to the Houston Astros for Rich Chiles and Buddy Harris.Tommie Agee page at Baseball Reference November 30, 1972: Dave Marshall was traded by the Mets to the San Diego Padres for Al Severinsen. March 28, 1973: Bill Sudakis was traded by the Mets to the Texas Rangers for Bill McNulty.
Regular season
Season highlights
Initial turmoil The 1973 Mets were much improved from their "miracle" 1969 team. They had a group of young proven stars—including Jon Matlack, Rusty Staub, John Milner, and Félix Millán—mixed in with veterans from the 1969 club, such as Jerry Grote, Cleon Jones, Wayne Garrett, and Bud Harrelson. Their pitching staff, led by Tom Seaver, was among the finest in baseball. But injuries hampered the Mets throughout the entire season.
The Mets got off to a 4–0 start to the season, and were still at first place by April 29 with a 12–8 record. But then, injuries to their key players caused turmoil. By July 26, the Mets were in last place, yet still only games behind. On August 16, they were 12 games below .500, with 44 games to play.
On August 30, the Mets were in last place, with only a month left to play. However, the division was so tight-knit that the last place standing consisted of only a game deficit. At the completion of August (one day later), the Mets were in fifth place, nine games under .500, but, in the balanced mediocrity of that year's division, just games out of first. The mathematical inequities of divisional play were beginning to show up. On September 11, the Mets were in fourth place, five games under .500, but just three games out. Ahead of them were the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Montreal Expos.
"You Gotta Believe!!!" With Tug McGraw urging his teammates on and celebrating victories with what soon became the catch phrase of 1973, "You Gotta Believe!!!" the Mets clinched the most unlikely of pennants. Yogi Berra, a veteran of pennant races, used a four-man rotation down the stretch: Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack, and George Stone, with the suddenly unhittable McGraw coming out of the pen with boisterous, justified confidence. In his last 19 games, the screwball-throwing lefty recorded 5 wins, converted 12 saves and had an ERA of 0.88.
"Ball on the wall" play One of the most famous plays in Mets folklore occurred when their September 20 match-up against the Pirates at Shea Stadium went into extra innings. The Pirates had Richie Zisk on first base when Dave Augustine hit what appeared to be a two-run home run to left. Instead, the ball hit the top of the wall, and caromed directly into left fielder Cleon Jones' glove. Jones fired a strike to Wayne Garrett as the cut-off man, who in turn, fired a strike to catcher Ron Hodges to nail Zisk at the plate. The Mets went on to win the game in the bottom of the inning as part of a three-game sweep.
The unexpected clincher After completing the three-game sweep of the Pirates on September 21, the Mets' record stood at an even 77–77, but that .500 record was good enough for first place and a half-game lead. Illustrating just how dense the crowd was at the top, the fifth-place Chicago Cubs were just out. The Mets won five of their last seven to finish as National League East champions. The clinching took place at Wrigley Field on October 1 as the Mets beat the Cubs 6–4 as Tom Seaver won his 19th game of 1973 and Tug McGraw recorded the save. The Cardinals finished second, games back, Pittsburgh third at , Montreal fourth at , and Chicago fifth at 5 games back.
This was the only NL East title between 1970 and 1980 not to be won by either the Philadelphia Phillies or the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Opening Day starters Duffy Dyer Jim Fregosi Bud Harrelson Cleon Jones Willie Mays Félix Millán John Milner Tom Seaver Rusty Staub
Notable transactions June 5, 1973: Lee Mazzilli was drafted by the Mets in the 1st round (14th pick) of the 1973 Major League Baseball draft.Lee Mazzilli page at Baseball Reference July 11, 1973: Jim Fregosi was sold by the Mets to the Texas Rangers.Jim Fregosi page at Baseball Reference
Roster 1973 New York Mets Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches
Game log Regular season LegendMets WinMets LossGame Postponed Clinched divisionBold = Mets team member
|- bgcolor="bbbbbb" | — || || 8:30p.m. EDT || 44th All-Star Game || colspan=8 | National League vs. American League (Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri)
Playoffs Game log LegendMets WinMets LossBold = Mets team member
|- style="background:#fbb;" | 1 || || 4:00p.m. EDT || @ Athletics || 1–2 || Holtzman (1–0) || Matlack (0–1) || Knowles (1) || 2:26 || Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (46,021) || OAK 1–0 || L1 |- style="background:#bfb;" | 2 || || 4:30p.m. EDT || @ Athletics || 10–7 || McGraw (1–0) || Fingers (0–1) || Stone (1) || 4:13 || Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (49,151) || TIE 1–1 || W1 |- style="background:#fbb;" | 3 || || 8:30p.m. EDT || Athletics || 2–3 || Lindblad (1–0) || Parker (0–1) || Fingers (1) || 3:15 || Shea Stadium (54,817) || OAK 2–1 || L1 |- style="background:#bfb;" | 4 || || 8:30p.m. EDT || Athletics || 6–1 || Matlack (1–1) || Holtzman (1–1) || Sadecki (1) || 2:41 || Shea Stadium (54,817) || TIE 2–2 || W1 |- style="background:#bfb;" | 5 || || 8:30p.m. EDT || Athletics || 2–0 || Koosman (1–0) || Blue (0–1) || McGraw (1) || 2:39 || Shea Stadium (54,817) || NYN 3–2 || W2 |- style="background:#fbb;" | 6 || || 4:00p.m. EDT || @ Athletics || 1–3 || Hunter (1–0) || Seaver (0–1) || Fingers (2) || 2:07 || Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (49,333) || TIE 3–3 || L1 |- style="background:#fbb;" | 7 || || 4:30p.m. EDT || @ Athletics || 2–5 || Holtzman (2–1) || Matlack (1–2) || Knowles (2) || 2:37 || Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (49,333) || OAK 4–3 || L2
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 84 285 73 .256 1 32 1B 129 451 108 .239 23 72 2B 153 638 185 .290 3 37 SS 106 356 92 .258 0 20 3B 140 504 129 .256 16 58 LF 92 339 88 .260 11 48 CF 93 262 60 .229 2 21 RF 152 585 163 .279 15 76
Other batters Note: 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 1B-LF 100 284 68 .239 1 35 SS-OF 92 263 67 .255 1 14 CF-1B 66 209 44 .211 6 25 C 70 189 35 .185 1 9 C 45 127 33 .260 1 18 3B-SS 45 124 29 .234 0 11 LF George Theodore 45 116 30 .259 1 15 3B 76 110 25 .227 2 14 OF 38 92 22 .239 0 10 1B 50 61 17 .279 0 14 CF Dave Schneck 13 36 7 .194 0 0 CF Rich Chiles 8 25 3 .120 0 1 C Jerry May 4 8 2 .250 0 0 SS Brian Ostrosser 4 5 0 .000 0 0 PH-PR Greg Harts 3 2 1 .500 0 0 PH-PR Lute Barnes 3 2 1 .500 0 1
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 36 290.0 19 10 2.08 251 35 263.0 14 15 2.84 156 34 242.0 14 16 3.20 205
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 27 148.0 12 3 2.80 77 31 116.2 5 4 3.39 87 38 96.2 8 4 3.35 63 23 80.1 3 8 5.38 38 Craig Swan 3 8.1 0 1 8.64 4 Tommy Moore 3 3.1 0 1 10.80 1
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 60 5 6 25 3.87 81 30 0 4 3 6.23 22 24 2 7 4 3.86 35 7 0 0 0 8.10 5 Hank Webb 2 0 0 0 10.80 1 Bob Miller 1 0 0 0 0.00 1 1 0 0 0 inf 0
Postseason
NLCS
Game 1 October 6: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
Team123456789RHENew York010000000130Cincinnati000000011260W: Pedro Borbón (1–0) L: Tom Seaver (0–1) S: NoneHR: NYM – None CIN – Pete Rose (1), Johnny Bench (1)Pitchers: NYM – Seaver CIN – Billingham, Hall (9), Borbón (9)Attendance: 53,431
Game 2 October 7: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
Team123456789RHENew York000100004570Cincinnati000000000020W: Jon Matlack (1–0) L: Don Gullett (0–1) S: NoneHR: NYM – Rusty Staub (1) CIN – NonePitchers: NYM – Matlack CIN – Gullett, Carroll (6), Hall (9), Borbón (9)Attendance: 54,041
Game 3 October 8: Shea Stadium, New York City
Team123456789RHECincinnati002000000281New York15120000x9111W: Jerry Koosman (1–0) L: Ross Grimsley (0–1) S: NoneHR: CIN – Denis Menke (1) NYM – Rusty Staub (2), (3)Pitchers: CIN – Grimsley, Hall (2), Tomlin (3), Nelson (4), Borbón (7) NYM – KoosmanAttendance: 53,967
Game 4 October 9: Shea Stadium, New York City
Team123456789101112RHECincinnati000000100001280New York001000000000131W: Clay Carroll (1–0) L: Harry Parker (0–1) S: Pedro Borbón (1)HR: CIN – Tony Pérez (1), Pete Rose (2) NYM – NonePitchers: CIN – Norman, Gullett (6), Carroll (10), Borbón (12) NYM – Stone, McGraw (7), Parker (12)Attendance: 50,786
Game 5 October 10: Shea Stadium, New York City
Team123456789RHECincinnati001010000271New York20004100x7131W: Tom Seaver (1–1) L: Jack Billingham (0–1) S: Tug McGraw (1)HR: CIN – None NYM – NonePitchers: CIN – Billingham, Gullett (5), Carroll (5), Grimsley (7) NYM – Seaver, McGraw (9)Attendance: 50,323
World Series
+AL Oakland Athletics (4) vs. NL New York Mets (3)GameScoreDateLocationAttendanceTime of Game1 Mets – 1, A's – 2 October 13Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 46,021 2:262 Mets – 10, A's – 7 (12 inns)October 14Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 55,989 4:133 A's – 3, Mets – 2 (11 inns) October 16Shea Stadium 54,817 3:154 A's – 1, Mets – 6 October 17Shea Stadium 54,817 2:415 A's – 0, Mets – 2 October 18Shea Stadium 54,817 2:396 Mets – 1, A's – 3 October 20Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 49,333 2:077 Mets – 2, A's – 5 October 21Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 49,333 2:37
Awards and honors Cy Young Award – Tom Seaver Jerry Koosman – Player of the Month, April 1973
All-Stars All-Star Game Tom Seaver Willie Mays
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Memphis
References
Book sources
External links
1973 New York Mets at Baseball Reference 1973 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com