The 1973 Oakland Athletics season was the 73rd season for the Oakland Athletics franchise, all as members of the American League, and their 6th season in Oakland. The Athletics won 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. Before the season, the numbers on the front of the jersey were removed and wouldn't return until 1987.

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.Rich McKinney page at Baseball Reference November 30, 1972: Mike Epstein was traded by the Athletics to the Texas Rangers for Horacio Piña.Horacio Piña page at Baseball Reference December 18, 1972: Orlando Cepeda was released by the Athletics.Orlando Cepeda page on Baseball Reference January 10, 1973: 1973 Major League Baseball draft (January Draft) notable picks: Round 1: Mike Norris (24th pick).Mike Norris page at Baseball Reference Secondary Phase Round 1: Warren Cromartie (10th pick) (did not sign).Warren Cromartie page on Baseball Reference January 23, 1973: Jerry McNertney was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Jerry McNertney page at Baseball Reference March 24, 1973: Dave Duncan and George Hendrick were traded by the Athletics to the Cleveland Indians for Ray Fosse and Jack Heidemann.Ray Fosse page at Baseball Reference March 31, 1973: Jay Johnstone signed as a free agent with the Athletics.Jay Johnstone page at Baseball Reference

Regular season The 1973 A's had three 20-game winners in Jim (Catfish) Hunter, Ken Holtzman and Vida Blue.

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. On July 30, Jim Bibby threw the first no-hitter in Texas Rangers history as he no-hit the Athletics.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 144, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, The Rangers won the game 6–0.

Opening Day starters Billy North, DH Dal Maxvill, SS Joe Rudi, LF Reggie Jackson, RF Sal Bando, 3B Gene Tenace, 1B Billy Conigliaro, CF Ray Fosse, C Dick Green, 2B Catfish Hunter, P

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 3, 1973: Don Shaw was traded by the Athletics to the Detroit Tigers for Tim Hosley.Tim Hosley page at Baseball Reference May 4, 1973: Jerry McNertney was purchased from the Athletics by the Pittsburgh Pirates. May 11, 1973: Mark Budaska was signed as an amateur free agent by the Athletics.Mark Budaska page at Baseball Reference June 24, 1973: Steve McCatty was signed by the Athletics as an amateur free agent.Steve McCatty page at Baseball Reference July 7, 1973: Dal Maxvill was purchased from the Athletics by the Pittsburgh Pirates.Dal Maxvill page at Baseball Reference July 31, 1973: Jesús Alou was purchased by the Athletics from the Houston Astros.Jesus Alou page at Baseball Reference August 29, 1973: Gonzalo Márquez was traded by the Athletics to the Chicago Cubs for Pat Bourque.Pat Bourque page at Baseball Reference September 11, 1973: Rico Carty was purchased by the Athletics from the Chicago Cubs.Rico Carty page at Baseball Reference

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.Floyd Bannister page at Baseball Reference Matt Keough was drafted by the Athletics in the 7th round.Matt Keough page at Baseball Reference Derek Bryant was drafted by the Athletics in the 8th round.Derek Bryant page at Baseball Reference Craig Mitchell was drafted by the Athletics in the 1st round (1st pick) of the secondary phase.Craig Mitchell page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1973 Oakland Athletics Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

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 143 492 37 126 .256 7 52 2 1B 160 510 83 132 .259 24 84 2 2B 133 332 33 87 .262 3 42 0 3B 162 592 97 170 .287 29 98 4 SS 151 601 89 150 .250 4 46 34 LF 120 437 53 118 .270 12 66 0 CF 146 554 98 158 .285 5 34 53 RF 151 539 99 158 .293 32 117 22 DH 131 464 61 114 .246 19 81 0

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 74 192 20 43 .224 3 13 1 106 182 15 40 .220 3 17 1 48 110 5 22 .200 0 14 1 36 108 10 33 .306 1 11 0 75 71 8 13 .183 1 5 0 48 65 9 16 .246 1 7 0 38 64 5 12 .188 0 4 0 23 42 8 8 .190 2 9 0 23 28 1 3 .107 0 3 0 23 25 1 6 .240 0 2 0 18 21 1 4 .190 0 0 0 29 19 0 4 .211 0 1 0 13 14 3 3 .214 0 2 0 6 14 0 4 .286 0 1 0 17 12 0 3 .250 0 3 0 7 8 1 2 .250 1 1 0 9 5 0 0 .000 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 .500 0 0 0 35 0 16 0 ---- 0 0 7

Pitching

Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; 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 40 297.1 21 13 2.97 66 157 37 263.2 20 9 3.28 105 158 36 256.1 21 5 3.34 69 124 30 150.1 5 12 4.49 67 83 16 69.2 6 4 4.39 24 34 1 2.1 0 1 7.71 2 3

Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; 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 5 18.2 1 0 3.86 7 6

Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; 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 62 126.2 7 8 22 1.92 39 110 52 99.0 6 8 9 3.09 49 46 47 88.0 6 3 8 2.76 34 41 36 78.0 1 5 2 3.69 28 33 3 7.1 0 0 0 4.91 2 4

Postseason

ALCS

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.

Team123456789RHEOakland000000000051Baltimore40000011X6120W: 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.

Team123456789RHEOakland100002021690Baltimore100001010380W: 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.

Team1234567891011RHEBaltimore01000000000130Oakland00000001001243W: 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.

Team123456789RHEBaltimore000000410580Oakland030001000470W: 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.

Team123456789RHEBaltimore000000000052Oakland00120000X370W: Catfish Hunter (2–0)   L: Doyle Alexander (0–1)HR: None

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 Sep 1, to be activated.CNN/SI – 1998 MLB Postseason – 1973 World Series

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. When other team members, manager Dick Williams, and virtually the entire viewing public rallied to Andrews' defense, commissioner Bowie 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. He promptly grounded out, and Finley ordered him benched for the remainder of the Series.

Andrews never played another major league game. Williams was so disgusted by the affair that he announced his resignation as manager while the series was still being played.Williams to resign from Oakland job 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.

The A's won the World Series in seven games after rallying from a three games to two deficit.

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

Farm system

References

External links 1973 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference 1973 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com