1973 New York Yankees season

Season for the Major League Baseball team the New York Yankees March 2026 November 2013 New York Yankees 1973 American League 80-82 (.494) East Yankee Stadium New York City George Steinbrenner Lee MacPhail Ralph Houk WPIX(Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White) WMCA(Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White) The 1973 New York Yankees season was the 71st season for the team. The Yankees finished fourth in the American League East with a record of 80–82 under manager Ralph Houk, 17 games behind the division champion Baltimore Orioles. This was the last time that the Yankees finished the season below .500 until 1982. This was also their last year in the "old" Yankee Stadium (on the south side of 161st Street), which was targeted for major reconstruction in 1974–1975. During this period, the Yankees shared a home field with a National League team for the third time in their history, moving into Shea Stadium for two years. George Steinbrenner The Yankees had been struggling during their years under CBS ownership, which had acquired the team in 1965. In 1972, CBS Chairman William S. Paley told team president E. Michael Burke the media company intended to sell the club. As Burke later told writer Roger Kahn, Paley offered to sell the franchise to Burke if he could find financial backing. Burke ran across Steinbrenner's name and veteran baseball executive Gabe Paul, a Cleveland-area acquaintance of Steinbrenner, helped bring the two men together. On January 3, 1973, a group of investors led by George Steinbrenner and minority partner Burke bought the Yankees from CBS for $10 million. The announced intention was that Burke would continue to run the team as club president. But Burke later became angry when he found out that Paul had been brought in as a senior Yankee executive, crowding his authority, and quit the team presidency on April 29, 1973. (Burke remained a minority owner of the club into the following decade.) He handed in his resignation to the New York Yankees, so that he could become president of Madison Square Garden.Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball 47–48 Bill Madden Harper Collins Publishing New York 2010 978-0-06-169031-0 Bill Madden (sportswriter) registration https://archive.org/details/steinbrennerlast00madd/page/47 It would be the first of many high-profile departures by employees who crossed paths with "The Boss". At the conclusion of the 1973 season, two more prominent names departed: manager Ralph Houk, who resigned and then signed to manage the Detroit Tigers; and general manager Lee MacPhail, who became president of the American League. Offseason November 24, 1972: Rob Gardner and a player to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Matty Alou. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Rich McKinney to the Athletics on December 1.Rich McKinney page at Baseball Reference November 27, 1972: John Ellis, Jerry Kenney, Charlie Spikes, and Rusty Torres were traded by the Yankees to the Cleveland Indians for Graig Nettles and Jerry Moses.Graig Nettles page at Baseball Reference Bobby Murcer signed a $100,000 contract with the Yankees. He was just the second player in Yankees history (behind Mickey Mantle) to earn a base salary of $100,000 in one season.Yankee for Life https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780061473418 registration Bobby Murcer Glen Waggoner 75 Harper Collins 2008 New York 978-0-06-147342-5 Bobby Murcer Regular season After the last game of the 1973 season on September 30, fans ripped out parts of the stadium, including the seats, to take as souvenirs. The stadium would be remodeled, and reopen in 1976. On July 1, the Yankees were 45–33 and leading the American League East by four games, but posted a 35–49 record in their remaining games.https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/09/21/sports/20080921_MOMENTS_SLIDESHOW_6.html The New York Times Memorable Stadium Moments September 21, 2008 Season standings Record vs. opponents NYY Opening Day lineup Notable transactions April 5, 1973: Frank Baker was traded by the Yankees to the Baltimore Orioles for Tom Matchick.Tom Matchick page at Baseball Reference June 5, 1973: Kerry Dineen was drafted by the Yankees in the 4th round of the 1973 Major League Baseball draft.Kerry Dineen page at Baseball Reference June 7, 1973: Frank Tepedino, Wayne Nordhagen and players to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Atlanta Braves for Pat Dobson. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Dave Cheadle to the Braves on August 15 and Al Closter to the Braves on September 5.Al Closter page at Baseball Reference June 7, 1973: Sam McDowell was purchased by the Yankees from the San Francisco Giants.Sam McDowell page at Baseball Reference June 12, 1973: Mike Kekich was traded by the Yankees to the Cleveland Indians for Lowell Palmer.Mike Kekich page at Baseball-Reference July 30, 1973: Jerry Kenney was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.Jerry Kenney page at Baseball Reference August 7, 1973: The Yankees sent a player to be named later and cash to the St. Louis Cardinals for Wayne Granger. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Ken Crosby to the Cardinals on September 12.Ken Crosby page at Baseball Reference August 13, 1973: Bernie Allen was purchased from the Yankees by the Montreal Expos.Bernie Allen page at Baseball Reference August 18, 1973: Johnny Callison was released by the Yankees.Johnny Callison page at Baseball Reference Roster 1973 New York Yankees Roster Pitchers 47 Fred Beene 29 Tom Buskey 29 Casey Cox 36 Pat Dobson 39 Wayne Granger 18 Mike Kekich 38 Steve Kline 28 Sparky Lyle 39 Jim Magnuson 40 Lindy McDaniel 29,48 Sam McDowell 42 Doc Medich 18,50 Dave Pagan 19 Fritz Peterson 30 Mel Stottlemyre Catchers 46 Rick Dempsey 23 Jerry Moses 15 Thurman Munson 41 Duke Sims Infielders 11 Bernie Allen 24 Felipe Alou 12 Ron Blomberg 20 Horace Clarke 18 Mike Hegan 22 Hal Lanier 17 Gene Michael  9 Graig Nettles 10 Celerino Sánchez 11 Fred Stanley Outfielders  2 Matty Alou 25 Johnny Callison  1 Bobby Murcer 14 Ron Swoboda 24,53 Otto Vélez  6 Roy White Other batters 43 Jim Ray Hart Manager 35 Ralph Houk Coaches 44 Jim Hegan 32 Elston Howard 34 Dick Howser 31 Jim Turner 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 Thurman Munson 147 519 156 .301 20 74 1B Felipe Alou 93 280 66 .236 4 27 2B Horace Clarke 148 590 155 .263 2 35 3B Graig Nettles 160 552 129 .234 22 81 SS Gene Michael 129 418 94 .225 3 47 LF Roy White 162 639 157 .246 18 60 CF Bobby Murcer 160 616 187 .304 22 95 RF Matty Alou 123 497 147 .296 2 28 DH Jim Ray Hart 114 339 86 .254 13 52 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 Ron Blomberg 100 301 99 .329 12 57 Johnny Callison 45 136 24 .176 1 10 Mike Hegan 37 131 36 .275 6 14 Hal Lanier 35 86 18 .209 0 5 Otto Vélez 23 77 15 .195 2 7 Fred Stanley 26 66 14 .212 1 5 Celerino Sánchez 34 64 14 .219 1 9 Jerry Moses 21 59 15 .254 0 3 Bernie Allen 17 57 13 .228 0 4 Ron Swoboda 35 43 5 .116 1 2 Rick Dempsey 6 11 2 .182 0 0 Duke Sims 4 9 3 .333 1 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 Mel Stottlemyre 38 273.0 16 16 3.07 95 Doc Medich 34 235.0 14 9 2.95 145 Fritz Peterson 31 184.1 8 15 3.95 59 Pat Dobson 22 142.1 9 8 4.17 70 Sam McDowell 16 95.2 5 8 3.95 75 Steve Kline 14 74.0 4 7 4.01 19 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 Fred Beene 19 91.0 6 0 1.68 49 Mike Kekich 5 14.2 1 1 9.20 4 Dave Pagan 4 12.2 0 0 2.84 9 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 Sparky Lyle 51 5 9 27 2.51 63 Lindy McDaniel 47 12 6 10 2.86 93 Jim Magnuson 8 0 1 0 4.28 9 Tom Buskey 8 0 1 1 5.40 8 Wayne Granger 7 0 1 0 1.76 10 Casey Cox 1 0 0 0 6.00 0 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Syracuse Chiefs International League Bobby Cox AA West Haven Yankees Eastern League Doc Edwards A Kinston Eagles Carolina League Gene Hassell A Fort Lauderdale Yankees Florida State League Pete Ward A-Short Season Oneonta Yankees New York–Penn League Hank Majeski Rookie Johnson City Yankees Appalachian League Steve HamiltonKinston affiliation shared with Atlanta BravesJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007 Awards and honors All-Star Game Thurman Munson, catcher Bobby Murcer, outfield, starter Sparky Lyle, pitcher http://www.baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1973as.shtml 1973 All-Star Game Notes 2 References 1973 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference 1973 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:New York Yankees seasons New York Yankees New York Yankees Category:1970s in the Bronx