| 1973 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | Major League Baseball |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | April 5 – October 21, 1973 |
| Number of games | 162 |
| Number of teams | 24 |
| TV partner(s) | NBC |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | David Clyde |
| Picked by | Texas Rangers |
| Regular season | |
| Season MVP | AL: Reggie Jackson (OAK) NL: Pete Rose (CIN) |
| Postseason | |
| AL champions | Oakland Athletics |
| AL runners-up | Baltimore Orioles |
| NL champions | New York Mets |
| NL runners-up | Cincinnati Reds |
| World Series | |
| Champions | Oakland Athletics |
| Runners-up | New York Mets |
| World Series MVP | Reggie Jackson (OAK) |
The 1973 Major League Baseball season was the first season of the designated hitter rule in the American League.[1]
American League umpires began wearing burgundy blazers with blue pants, a change from the navy blue coats and gray pants worn the previous five seasons (1968–1972). The burgundy blazers were worn through 1979.
California Angels ace Nolan Ryan broke Sandy Koufax's 1965 strikeout record of 382 when he struck out 383 batters during the season.
The Oakland Athletics won their second straight World Series championship in seven games over the New York Mets.
The Kansas City Royals moved from Municipal Stadium to the new Royals Stadium (adjacent to the Chiefs' football facility) and also hosted the All-Star Game on July 24 with the NL defeating the AL, 7–1.
The New York Yankees played their final season at the original Yankee Stadium; it was closed for remodeling during the 1974 and 1975 seasons.
In California on June 19, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds and Willie Davis of the Los Angeles Dodgers both collected their 2000th career hit. Rose singled against the San Francisco Giants while Davis hit a home run against the Atlanta Braves.[2][3]
A lockout in the offseason (February 8–25) did not result in any regular season games being canceled, but the start of spring training was delayed.[4]
- ^ "The Historical Evolution of the Designated Hitter Rule," Archived June 1, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), John Cronin, Fall 2016.
- ^ "Rose gets 2,000th hit, Norman blanks Giants". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. June 20, 1973. p. 29.
- ^ "Phils triumph as Lonborg, Schmidt lead". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. June 20, 1973. p. 3B.
- ^ "The Lockout of 1973". MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement. August 5, 2010. Retrieved December 2, 2021 – via Blogspot.