1973 Los Angeles Dodgers season

The 1973 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 84th season for the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise in Major League Baseball (MLB), their 16th season in Los Angeles, California, and their 12th season playing their home games at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles California. The Dodgers finished the season in second place in the National League West with a record of 95–66.

1973 Los Angeles Dodgers
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Dodger Stadium
City	Los Angeles
Record	95–66 (.590)
Divisional place	2nd
Owners	Walter O'Malley, James Mulvey
President	Peter O'Malley
General managers	Al Campanis
Managers	Walter Alston
Television	KTTV (11)
Radio	KFI Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett XEGM Jaime Jarrín, Rudy Hoyos
← 1972 Seasons 1974 →

From June 17 through September 2, the Dodgers held first place in their division. At one point, on July 17, LA had an 8.5 game lead over the Reds. On September 4, they relinquished their lead to the Reds, and despite winning their last five contests of the season in a row, the Dodgers finished 3.5 games behind.

Offseason

• October 26, 1972: Larry Hisle was traded by the Dodgers to the St. Louis Cardinals for Rudy Arroyo and Greg Milliken (minors).^[1]
• November 28, 1972: Frank Robinson, Bill Singer, Mike Strahler, Billy Grabarkewitz and Bobby Valentine were traded by the Dodgers to the California Angels for Andy Messersmith and Ken McMullen.^[2]
• March 26, 1973: George Culver was purchased by the Dodgers from the Houston Astros.^[3]
• March 27, 1973: Dick Dietz was purchased from the Dodgers by the Atlanta Braves.^[4]

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	99	63	.611	—	50‍–‍31	49‍–‍32
Los Angeles Dodgers	95	66	.590	3½	50‍–‍31	45‍–‍35
San Francisco Giants	88	74	.543	11	47‍–‍34	41‍–‍40
Houston Astros	82	80	.506	17	41‍–‍40	41‍–‍40
Atlanta Braves	76	85	.472	22½	40‍–‍40	36‍–‍45
San Diego Padres	60	102	.370	39	31‍–‍50	29‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

1973 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	7–5	5–13	11–7	2–15–1	6–6	6–6	6–6	7–5	12–6	8–10	6–6
Chicago	5–7	—	8–4	6–6	5–7	9–9	10–7	10–8	6–12	7–5	2–10	9–9
Cincinnati	13–5	4–8	—	11–7	11–7	8–4	8–4	8–4	7–5	13–5	10–8	6–6
Houston	7–11	6–6	7–11	—	11–7	6–6	6–6	7–5	6–6	10–8	11–7	5–7
Los Angeles	15–2–1	7–5	7–11	7–11	—	7–5	7–5	9–3	10–2	9–9	9–9	8–4
Montreal	6–6	9–9	4–8	6–6	5–7	—	9–9	13–5	6–12	7–5	6–6	8–10
New York	6–6	7–10	4–8	6–6	5–7	9–9	—	9–9	13–5	8–4	5–7	10–8
Philadelphia	6-6	8–10	4–8	5–7	3–9	5–13	9–9	—	8–10	9–3	5–7	9–9
Pittsburgh	5–7	12–6	5–7	6–6	2–10	12–6	5–13	10–8	—	8–4	5–7	10–8
San Diego	6–12	5–7	5–13	8–10	9–9	5–7	4–8	3–9	4–8	—	7–11	4–8
San Francisco	10–8	10–2	8–10	7–11	9–9	6–6	7–5	7–5	7–5	11–7	—	6–6
St. Louis	6–6	9–9	6–6	7–5	4–8	10–8	8–10	9–9	8–10	8–4	6–6	—

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day starters
Name	Position
Lee Lacy	Second baseman
Manny Mota	Left fielder
Bill Buckner	First baseman
Willie Davis	Center fielder
Willie Crawford	Right fielder
Joe Ferguson	Catcher
Ken McMullen	Third baseman
Bill Russell	Shortstop
Don Sutton	Starting pitcher

Notable transactions

• April 24, 1973: Tim Johnson was traded by the Dodgers to the Milwaukee Brewers for Rick Auerbach.^[5]
• August 10, 1973: George Culver was purchased from the Dodgers by the Philadelphia Phillies.^[3]

Memorable events

On June 13 in a game versus the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium, Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Ron Cey and Bill Russell play together as an infield for the Dodgers for first time, going on to set the record of staying together for 8½ years.^[6]

Roster

1973 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers 21 Jim Brewer 40 George Culver 44 Al Downing 29 Greg Heydeman 49 Charlie Hough 25 Tommy John 47 Andy Messersmith 23 Claude Osteen 31 Doug Rau 45 Pete Richert 41 Greg Shanahan 50 Eddie Solomon 20 Don Sutton 38 Geoff Zahn		Catchers 14 Chris Cannizzaro 13 Joe Ferguson  7 Steve Yeager Infielders 22 Bill Buckner 10 Ron Cey  6 Steve Garvey 34 Lee Lacy 15 Davey Lopes  5 Ken McMullen  8 Jerry Royster 18 Bill Russell		Outfielders 27 Willie Crawford  3 Willie Davis 12 Von Joshua 11 Manny Mota 17 Tom Paciorek  2 Paul Powell Other batters  2 Orlando Alvarez 28 Jim Fairey		Manager 24 Walter Alston Coaches 26 Red Adams 54 Monty Basgall 19 Jim Gilliam 52 Tommy Lasorda 51 Dixie Walker

Game log

Regular season

Legend
	Dodgers win
	Dodgers loss
	Postponement
	Eliminated from playoff race
Bold	Dodgers team member

1973 regular season game log: 95–66–1 (Home: 50–31; Away: 45–35–1)[7]
April: 11–11 (Home: 6–6; Away: 5–5) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 6 April 11 Reds L 1–4 1–5 L3 7 April 12 Reds L 2–5 1–6 L4 18 April 24 @ Cardinals L 0–2 7–11 L2 19 April 25 @ Cardinals W 5–3 (11) 8–11 W1
May: 19–8–1 (Home: 13–5; Away: 5–3–1) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 26 May 4 Cardinals W 6–5 (10) 13–13 W1 27 May 5 Cardinals W 11–3 14–13 W2 28 May 6 Cardinals W 3–0 15–13 W3 35 May 15 @ Reds L 1–4 19–16 L1 36 May 16 @ Reds W 8–6 (11) 20–16 W1 37 May 17 @ Reds W 3–1 21–16 W2 43 May 24 Mets L 3–7 (19) 24–19 L2 44 May 25 Mets W 6–4 25–19 W1 45 May 26 Mets W 9–5 26–19 W2 46 May 27 Mets W 2–1 27–19 W3
June: 21–8 (Home: 8–3; Away: 13–5) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 56 June 8 @ Mets W 5–3 34–22 W2 57 June 9 @ Mets L 2–4 34–23 L1 58 June 10 @ Mets W 4–0 35–23 W6 69 June 22 Reds W 3–2 (10) 44–25 W7 70 (1) June 23 Reds L 1–4 44–26 L1 71 (2) June 23 Reds W 5–1 45–26 W1 72 June 24 Reds W 5–2 46–26 W2 78 June 30 @ Reds W 8–7 (13) 51–27 W3
July: 15–13 (Home: 11–6; Away: 4–7) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 79 (1) July 1 @ Reds L 3–4 51–28 L1 80 (2) July 1 @ Reds L 2–3 (10) 51–29 L2 81 July 2 @ Reds L 2–4 51–30 L3 88 July 10 Cardinals L 4–5 54–34 L1 89 July 11 Cardinals W 3–1 55–34 W1 90 July 12 Cardinals W 4–0 56–34 W2 97 July 19 @ Cardinals W 3–2 62–35 W1 98 July 20 @ Cardinals W 4–3 (15) 63–35 WL2 99 July 21 @ Cardinals L 1–8 63–36 L1 100 July 22 @ Cardinals L 4–5 63–37 L2 — July 24 5:15 p.m. PDT 44th All-Star Game National League vs. American League (Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
August: 17–12 (Home: 6–4; Away: 11–8) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 114 August 8 Mets L 0–1 71–43 L1 115 August 9 Mets W 1–0 72–43 W1 125 August 21 @ Mets L 1–2 77–48 L1 126 August 22 @ Mets L 3–4 77–49 L2 127 August 23 @ Mets W 5–4 78–49 W1
September: 12–14 (Home: 6–7; Away: 6–7) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 145 September 11 @ Reds L 3–6 84–61 L1 146 September 12 @ Reds L 3–7 84–62 L2 154 September 21 Reds L 1–4 (10) 90–65 L1 155 September 22 Reds L 9–11 90–66 L2 156 September 23 Reds W 6–4 91–66 W1

Detailed records

National League
Opponent	Home	Away	Total	Pct.	Runs scored	Runs allowed
NL East
New York Mets	4–2	3–3	7–5	.583	41	35
Pittsburgh Pirates	5–1	5–1	10–2	.833	58	42
St. Louis Cardinals	5–1	3–3	8–4	.667	48	37
	14–4	11–7	25–11	.694	147	114
NL West
Cincinnati Reds	4–5	3–6	7–11	.389	66	79
Los Angeles Dodgers	—	—	—	—	—	—
San Francisco Giants	5–4	4–5	9–9	.500	73	68
	9–9	7–11	16–20	.444	139	147

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	Joe Ferguson	136	487	128	.263	25	88
1B	Bill Buckner	140	575	158	.275	8	46
2B	Davey Lopes	142	535	147	.275	6	37
SS	Bill Russell	162	615	163	.265	4	56
3B	Ron Cey	152	507	124	.245	15	80
LF	Manny Mota	89	293	92	.314	0	23
CF	Willie Davis	152	599	171	.285	16	77
RF	Willie Crawford	145	457	135	.295	14	66

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
Steve Garvey	114	349	106	.304	8	50
Tom Paciorek	96	195	51	.262	5	18
Von Joshua	75	159	40	.252	2	17
Lee Lacy	57	135	28	.207	0	8
Steve Yeager	54	134	34	.254	2	10
Ken McMullen	42	85	21	.247	5	18
Chris Cannizzaro	17	21	4	.190	0	3
Jerry Royster	10	19	4	.211	0	2
Jim Fairey	10	9	2	.222	0	0
Orlando Álvarez	4	4	1	.250	0	0
Paul Powell	2	1	0	.000	0	0

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
Don Sutton	33	256.1	18	10	2.42	200
Andy Messersmith	33	249.2	14	10	2.70	177
Claude Osteen	33	236.2	16	11	3.31	86
Tommy John	36	218.0	16	7	3.10	116
Al Downing	30	193.0	9	9	3.31	124

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
Geoff Zahn	6	13.1	1	0	1.35	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
Jim Brewer	56	6	8	20	3.01	56
Pete Richert	39	3	3	7	3.18	31
Charlie Hough	37	4	2	5	2.76	70
Doug Rau	31	4	2	3	3.96	51
George Culver	28	4	4	2	3.00	23
Greg Shanahan	7	0	0	1	3.45	11
Eddie Solomon	4	0	0	0	7.11	6
Greg Heydeman	1	0	0	0	4.50	1

Awards and honors

• Gold Glove Award
  • Willie Davis
• NL Player of the Month
  • Willie Crawford (May 1973)
• NL Player of the Week
  • Andy Messersmith (May 14–20)
  • Willie Crawford (May 21–27)
  • Willie Davis (July 9–15)

All-Stars

• 1973 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • Jim Brewer reserve
  • Willie Davis reserve
  • Manny Mota reserve
  • Claude Osteen reserve
  • Bill Russell reserve
  • Don Sutton reserve
• TSN National League All-Stars
  • Bill Russell
• Baseball Digest Rookie All-Stars
  • Ron Cey
  • Davey Lopes

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Albuquerque Dukes	Pacific Coast League	Stan Wasiak
AA	Waterbury Dodgers	Eastern League	Don LeJohn
A	Bakersfield Dodgers	California League	George Freese
A	Daytona Beach Dodgers	Florida State League	Bart Shirley
A-Short Season	Bellingham Dodgers	Northwest League	Bill Berrier
Rookie	Ogden Dodgers	Pioneer League	Gail Henley

1973 Major League Baseball draft

Main article: 1973 Major League Baseball draft

This was the ninth year of a Major League Baseball draft. The Dodgers drafted 22 players in the June draft and nine in the January draft.

The most notable player from this draft class was outfielder Joe Simpson, who played from 1975 to 1983 but made his mark primarily as a broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers first round pick was catcher Ted Farr of Shadle Park High School in Spokane, Washington. He played 339 games from 1973 to 1977 in the Dodgers farm system, hitting .235.

1973 draft picks

January draft [8] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Wes Moore RHP Yavapai College Yes 1973–1975 A 2 Michael Boyd OF Chipola College No 3 Bob McClure LHP College of San Mateo No Royals-1973 1973–1993 MLB 4 Jeff Moore 1B Middle Georgia College No 5 Jeff Hill OF Phoenix College No 6 Terry Nance P Monterey Peninsula College No January secondary phase [9] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Guy Todd RHP Blinn College Yes 1973–1976 AA 2 Bob Purkey RHP Gulf Coast Community College No 3 Craig Minetto LHP San Joaquin Delta College No Expos-1974 1974–1984 MLB June draft [10] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Ted Farr C Shadle Park High School Yes 1973–1977 AAA 2 Mike Paciorek SS St. Mary's High School Yes 1973–1977 A 3 Joe Simpson OF University of Oklahoma Yes 1973–1984 MLB 4 Richard Hance 3B California State University, Fresno Yes 1973–1977 AA 5 Thomas Steinmetz SS Canevin Catholic High School No Expos-1978 1978 A- 6 Mike Dimmel OF Logansport High School Yes 1973–1980 MLB 7 David Richards C Proviso East High School Yes 1973–1982 AAA 8 Bradford Drysdale RHP Brawley Union High School No Orioles – 1974 1974–1975 Rookie 9 Bob Stanley RHP Kearny High School No Red Sox-1974 1974–1989 MLB 10 Mark Wilson OF Ashland High School No Twins 1975 A 11 Charles Barrett RHP Rancho High School Yes 1973–1978 AAA 12 William Collins RHP University of South Alabama Yes 1973 A 13 Daniel Smith RHP Covina High School Yes 1973–1980 AAA 14 James Mitchell SS Cardinal Mooney High School Yes 1974–1978 A 15 Kelly Snider 1B Hillcrest High School No Dodgers-1976 1976–1982 AAA 16 Edward Davis 3B West Jefferson High School Yes 1973 Rookie 17 Robert Arceneaux C Manual Arts High School No 18 Tom Dixon RHP William R. Boone High School No Cardinals-1974 1974–1983 MLB 19 Charles James OF Manual Arts High School No Orioles-1974 1974–1976 A 20 George Kunkler LHP Lindbergh High School No Dodgers-1976 1976–1977 AA 21 Russell Holland RHP Parksley High School Yes 1973 Rookie June secondary phase [11] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 William Meyer SS University of Michigan Yes 1973–1976 AA