Wikipedia

1973 New York Mets season

The 1973 New York Mets season was the 12th regular season for the Mets, who played home games at Shea Stadium. Manager Yogi Berra led the team to a National League East title with an 82–79 record and the National League pennant, though they were defeated by the Oakland Athletics in the World Series. Their .509 winning percentage is the lowest of any pennant-winner in major league history. Having won only 82 games during the regular season, they, along with the 2005 San Diego Padres, qualified for the postseason with the fewest regular season wins since Major League Baseball expanded to a 162-game season in 1961, and the fewest of any team since 1885 (excluding the strike-shortened 1981 season and the 2020 season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic). The season was well known for pitcher Tug McGraw's catchphrase "Ya Gotta Believe!!!"

1973 New York Mets
National League Champions
National League East Champions
Mets equipment staffer John Sellers sits in the locker room of Payson Field in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1973.
Mets equipment staffer John Sellers sits in the locker room of Payson Field in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1973.
LeagueNational League
DivisionEast
BallparkShea Stadium
CityNew York City, New York
Record82–79 (.509)
Divisional place1st
OwnersJoan Whitney Payson
General managersBob Scheffing
ManagersYogi Berra
TelevisionWOR-TV
RadioWHN
(Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
StatsESPN.com
Baseball Reference
← 1972 Seasons 1974 →

Offseason

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Regular season

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Season highlights

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Initial turmoil

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The 1973 Mets were much improved from their "miracle" 1969 team. They had a group of young proven stars—including Jon Matlack, Rusty Staub, John Milner, and Félix Millán—mixed in with veterans from the 1969 club, such as Jerry Grote, Cleon Jones, Wayne Garrett, and Bud Harrelson. Their pitching staff, led by Tom Seaver, was among the finest in baseball. But injuries hampered the Mets throughout the entire season.

The Mets got off to a 4–0 start to the season, and were still at first place by April 29 with a 12–8 record. But then, injuries to their key players caused turmoil. By July 26, the Mets were in last place, yet still only 7+1⁄2 games behind. On August 16, they were 12 games below .500, with 44 games to play.

On August 30, the Mets were in last place, with only a month left to play. However, the division was so tight-knit that the last place standing consisted of only a 6+1⁄2 game deficit. At the completion of August (one day later), the Mets were in fifth place, nine games under .500,[3] but, in the balanced mediocrity of that year's Eastern Division, just 5+1⁄2 games out of first. The mathematical inequities of divisional play were beginning to show up. On September 11, the Mets were in fourth place, five games under .500, but just three games out. Ahead of them were the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Montreal Expos.

"You Gotta Believe!!!"

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With Tug McGraw urging his teammates on and celebrating victories with what soon became the catch phrase of 1973, "You Gotta Believe!!!" the Mets clinched the most unlikely of pennants. Yogi Berra, veteran of many a pennant race, used a four man rotation down the stretch: Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack, and George Stone, with the suddenly unhittable McGraw coming out of the pen with boisterous - and justified - confidence. In his last 19 games, the screwball-throwing lefty recorded 5 wins, converted 12 saves and had an ERA of 0.88.

"Ball on the wall" play

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One of the most famous plays in Mets folklore occurred when their September 20 match-up against the Pirates at Shea Stadium went into extra innings. The Pirates had Richie Zisk on first base when Dave Augustine hit what appeared to be a two-run home run to left. Instead, the ball hit the top of the wall, and caromed directly into left fielder Cleon Jones' glove. Jones fired a strike to Wayne Garrett as the cut-off man, who in turn, fired a strike to catcher Ron Hodges to nail Zisk at the plate.[4] The Mets went on to win the game in the bottom of the inning as part of a three game sweep.

The unexpected clincher

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After completing the three-game sweep of the Pirates on September 21, the Mets' record stood at an even 77–77, but that .500 record was good enough for first place and a half-game lead. Illustrating just how dense the crowd was at the top, fifth-place Chicago was just 2+1⁄2 out. The Mets won five of their last seven to finish as National League East Division Champions. The clinching took place at Wrigley Field on October 1 as the Mets beat the Cubs 6-4 as Tom Seaver won his 19th game of 1973 and Tug McGraw recorded the save. The Cardinals finished second, 1+1⁄2 games back, Pittsburgh third at 2+1⁄2, Montreal fourth at 3+1⁄2, and Chicago fifth, 5 games back.

This was the only NL East title between 1970 and 1980 not to be won by either the Philadelphia Phillies or the Pittsburgh Pirates.[5][6]

Season standings

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NL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Mets 82 79 .509 — 43‍–‍38 39‍–‍41
St. Louis Cardinals 81 81 .500 1½ 43‍–‍38 38‍–‍43
Pittsburgh Pirates 80 82 .494 2½ 41‍–‍40 39‍–‍42
Montreal Expos 79 83 .488 3½ 43‍–‍38 36‍–‍45
Chicago Cubs 77 84 .478 5 41‍–‍39 36‍–‍45
Philadelphia Phillies 71 91 .438 11½ 38‍–‍43 33‍–‍48

Record vs. opponents

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1973 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
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 starters

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Notable transactions

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Roster

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1973 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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 Jerry Grote 84 285 73 .256 1 32
1B John Milner 129 451 108 .239 23 72
2B Félix Millán 153 638 185 .290 3 37
SS Bud Harrelson 106 356 92 .258 0 20
3B Wayne Garrett 140 504 129 .256 16 58
LF Cleon Jones 92 339 88 .260 11 48
CF Don Hahn 93 262 60 .229 2 21
RF Rusty Staub 152 585 163 .279 15 76

Other batters

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Note: 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
1B-LF Ed Kranepool 100 284 68 .239 1 35
SS-OF Ted Martinez 92 263 67 .255 1 14
CF-1B Willie Mays 66 209 44 .211 6 25
C Duffy Dyer 70 189 35 .185 1 9
C Ron Hodges 45 127 33 .260 1 18
3B-SS Jim Fregosi 45 124 29 .234 0 11
LF George Theodore 45 116 30 .259 1 15
3B Ken Boswell 76 110 25 .227 2 14
OF Jim Gosger 38 92 22 .239 0 10
1B Jim Beauchamp 50 61 17 .279 0 14
CF Dave Schneck 13 36 7 .194 0 0
CF Rich Chiles 8 25 3 .120 0 1
C Jerry May 4 8 2 .250 0 0
SS Brian Ostrosser 4 5 0 .000 0 0
PH-PR Greg Harts 3 2 1 .500 0 0
PH-PR Lute Barnes 3 2 1 .500 0 1

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Tom Seaver 36 290.0 19 10 2.08 251
Jerry Koosman 35 263.0 14 15 2.84 156
Jon Matlack 34 242.0 14 16 3.20 205

Other pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
George Stone 27 148.0 12 3 2.80 77
Ray Sadecki 31 116.2 5 4 3.39 87
Harry Parker 38 96.2 8 4 3.35 63
Jim McAndrew 23 80.1 3 8 5.38 38
Craig Swan 3 8.1 0 1 8.64 4
Tommy Moore 3 3.1 0 1 10.80 1

Relief pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Tug McGraw 60 5 6 25 3.87 81
Phil Hennigan 30 0 4 3 6.23 22
Buzz Capra 24 2 7 4 3.86 35
John Strohmayer 7 0 0 0 8.10 5
Hank Webb 2 0 0 0 10.80 1
Bob Miller 1 0 0 0 0.00 1
Bob Apodaca 1 0 0 0 inf 0

Postseason

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NLCS

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Main article: 1973 National League Championship Series

Game 1

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October 6: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0
Cincinnati 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 6 0
W: Pedro Borbón (1–0)   L: Tom Seaver (0–1)   S: None
HR: NYM – None  CIN – Pete Rose (1), Johnny Bench (1)
Pitchers: NYM – Seaver  CIN – Billingham, Hall (9), Borbón (9)
Attendance: 53,431

Game 2

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October 7: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 5 7 0
Cincinnati 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
W: Jon Matlack (1–0)   L: Don Gullett (0–1)   S: None
HR: NYM – Rusty Staub (1)  CIN – None
Pitchers: NYM – Matlack  CIN – Gullett, Carroll (6), Hall (9), Borbón (9)
Attendance: 54,041

Game 3

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October 8: Shea Stadium, New York City

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cincinnati 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 1
New York 1 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 x 9 11 1
W: Jerry Koosman (1–0)   L: Ross Grimsley (0–1)   S: None
HR: CIN – Denis Menke (1)  NYM – Rusty Staub (2), (3)
Pitchers: CIN – Grimsley, Hall (2), Tomlin (3), Nelson (4), Borbón (7)  NYM – Koosman
Attendance: 53,967

Game 4

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October 9: Shea Stadium, New York City

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E
Cincinnati 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 8 0
New York 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 1
W: Clay Carroll (1–0)   L: Harry Parker (0–1)   S: Pedro Borbón (1)
HR: CIN – Tony Pérez (1), Pete Rose (2)  NYM – None
Pitchers: CIN – Norman, Gullett (6), Carroll (10), Borbón (12)  NYM – Stone, McGraw (7), Parker (12)
Attendance: 50,786

Game 5

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October 10: Shea Stadium, New York City

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cincinnati 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 7 1
New York 2 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 x 7 13 1
W: Tom Seaver (1–1)   L: Jack Billingham (0–1)   S: Tug McGraw (1)
HR: CIN – None  NYM – None
Pitchers: CIN – Billingham, Gullett (5), Carroll (5), Grimsley (7)  NYM – Seaver, McGraw (9)
Attendance: 50,323

World Series

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Main article: 1973 World Series
AL Oakland Athletics (4) vs. NL New York Mets (3)
Game Score Date Location Attendance Time of Game
1 Mets – 1, A's – 2 October 13 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 46,021 2:26
2 Mets – 10, A's – 7 (12 inns) October 14 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 55,989 4:13
3 A's – 3, Mets – 2 (11 inns) October 16 Shea Stadium 54,817 3:15
4 A's – 1, Mets – 6 October 17 Shea Stadium 54,817 2:41
5 A's – 0, Mets – 2 October 18 Shea Stadium 54,817 2:39
6 Mets – 1, A's – 3 October 20 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 49,333 2:07
7 Mets – 2, A's – 5 October 21 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 49,333 2:37

Awards and honors

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All-Stars

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All-Star Game

  • Tom Seaver
  • Willie Mays

Farm system

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See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Tidewater Tides International League John Antonelli
AA Memphis Blues Texas League Joe Frazier
A Visalia Mets California League Nolan Campbell
A Pompano Beach Mets Florida State League Gordon Mackenzie
A-Short Season Batavia Trojans New York–Penn League Wilbur Huckle
Rookie Marion Mets Appalachian League Owen Friend

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Memphis

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Ultimate Mets Database - Register of Transactions".
  2. ^ Tommie Agee page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ "Events of Friday, August 31, 1973". Retrosheet.
  4. ^ "September 20, 1973: The "Ball on the Wall" Play". Mets Wiki. July 18, 2010.
  5. ^ Von Benko, George (July 7, 2005). "Notes: Phils–Pirates rivalry fading". Phillies.MLB.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2011. From 1974–80, the Phillies and Pirates won all seven National League East titles (Phillies four, Pirates three).
  6. ^ "Pirates perform rare three-peat feat 4–2". USA Today. September 28, 1992. p. 5C. The Pirates...won three (NL East titles) in a row from 1970–72.
  7. ^ Lee Mazzilli page at Baseball Reference
  8. ^ Jim Fregosi page at Baseball Reference

Book sources

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  • Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
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