The 1973 Kansas City Royals season was their fifth in Major League Baseball and first in the new Royals Stadium. Promoted from Triple-A Omaha, Jack McKeon replaced the fired Bob Lemon as manager and the Royals finished second in the American League West in with a record of 88–74, six games behind the Oakland A's.
The 88 wins were the most in the franchise's brief history, five more than in 1971. Lefthander Paul Splittorff (20–11) became the first Royal to win twenty games in a season.
Offseason November 30, 1972: Roger Nelson and Richie Scheinblum were traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Hal McRae and Wayne Simpson.Roger Nelson at Baseball Reference February 1, 1973: Joe Keough was traded to the Chicago White Sox for Jim Lyttle.Joe Keough at Baseball Reference
Regular season The Royals opened the new Royals Stadium with a 12–1 rout of the Texas Rangers on April 10. The Tuesday night game was attended by 39,464 braving cool temperatures; at first pitch.
On April 27, Steve Busby threw the first no-hitter in Royals history,Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 144, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, as visiting KC shut out Detroit 3–0 at Tiger Stadium.
At Royals Stadium on May 15, Nolan Ryan of the California Angels threw the first no-hitter of his career.Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 12, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC,
On August 2, George Brett made his major league debut,George Brett at Baseball Reference starting at third base and hitting a single in a 3–1 road win over the`Chicago White Sox.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions April 2: Greg Minton was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Fran Healy.Greg Minton at Baseball Reference May 8: Tom Murphy was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Al Santorini.Al Santorini at Baseball-Reference June 5: 1973 Major League Baseball draft Ruppert Jones was selected in the third round.Ruppert Jones at Baseball-Reference Rob Picciolo was selected in the fourth round of the secondary phase, but did not sign.Rob Picciolo at Baseball Reference
Roster 1973 Kansas City Royals Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Coaches (Pitching) (Third base) (Hitting & first base)
Player stats
= Indicates team leader 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 95 279 77 .276 6 34 1B John Mayberry 152 510 142 .278 26 100 2B Cookie Rojas 139 551 152 .276 6 69 SS Freddie Patek 135 501 117 .234 5 45 3B Paul Schaal 121 396 114 .288 8 42 LF Lou Piniella 144 513 128 .250 9 69 CF Amos Otis 148 583 175 .300 26 93 RF Ed Kirkpatrick 126 429 113 .263 6 45 DH Gail Hopkins 74 138 34 .246 2 16
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 Hal McRae 106 338 79 .234 9 50 Kurt Bevacqua 99 276 71 .257 2 40 104 232 59 .254 2 24 69 145 33 .228 0 16 51 139 31 .223 0 5 Rick Reichardt 41 127 28 .220 3 17 Jim Wohlford 45 109 29 .266 2 10 Bobby Floyd 51 78 26 .333 0 8 13 40 5 .125 0 0 Buck Martinez 14 32 8 .250 1 6 Jerry May 11 30 4 .133 0 2 Tom Poquette 21 28 6 .214 0 3 9 25 7 .280 1 6 8 9 2 .222 0 3
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 Paul Splittorff 38 262.0 20 11 3.98 110 37 238.1 16 15 4.23 174 Dick Drago 37 212.2 12 14 4.23 98 Al Fitzmorris 15 89.0 8 3 2.83 26 Mark Littell 8 38.0 1 3 5.68 16
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 Gene Garber 48 152.2 9 9 4.24 60 Ken Wright 25 80.2 6 5 4.91 75 16 59.2 3 4 5.73 29
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 54 4 4 20 2.99 83 Bruce Dal Canton 32 4 3 3 4.81 38 Joe Hoerner 22 2 0 4 5.12 15 Steve Mingori 19 3 3 1 3.04 46 9 0 0 0 6.85 13 6 0 0 1 5.40 4 Barry Raziano 2 0 0 0 5.40 0 7 0 0 1 4.91 3
Awards and honors
All-Star Game
Amos Otis, Outfield, Starter John Mayberry, 1B, Reserve Cookie Rojas, 2B, Reserve
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Kingsport, Billings
References
External links
1973 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference 1973 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac