1973 Kansas City Royals | ||
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League | American League | |
Division | West | |
Ballpark | Royals Stadium | |
City | Kansas City, Missouri | |
Owners | Ewing Kauffman | |
General managers | Cedric Tallis | |
Managers | Jack McKeon (first season) | |
Television | KBMA | |
Radio |
KMBZ ( Buddy Blattner, Denny Matthews, Fred White) | |
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The 1973 Kansas City Royals season was their fifth in Major League Baseball and first in the new Royals Stadium. Promoted from Triple-A Omaha, Jack McKeon replaced the fired Bob Lemon as manager and the Royals finished second in the American League West in 1973 with a record of 88–74, six games behind the Oakland A's.
The 88 wins were the most in the franchise's brief history, five more than in 1971. Lefthander Paul Splittorff (20–11) became the first Royal to win twenty games in a season.
The Royals opened the new Royals Stadium with a 12–1 rout of the Texas Rangers on April 10. The Tuesday night game was attended by 39,464 braving cool temperatures; 39 °F (4 °C) at first pitch. [3] [4]
On April 27, Steve Busby threw the first no-hitter in Royals history, [5] as visiting KC shut out Detroit 3–0 at Tiger Stadium. [6]
At Royals Stadium on May 15, Nolan Ryan of the California Angels threw the first no-hitter of his career. [7] [8] [9]
On August 2, George Brett made his major league debut, [10] starting at third base and hitting a single in a 3–1 road win over the` Chicago White Sox. [11]
AL West | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
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Oakland Athletics | 94 | 68 | 0.580 | — | 50–31 | 44–37 |
Kansas City Royals | 88 | 74 | 0.543 | 6 | 48–33 | 40–41 |
Minnesota Twins | 81 | 81 | 0.500 | 13 | 37–44 | 44–37 |
California Angels | 79 | 83 | 0.488 | 15 | 43–38 | 36–45 |
Chicago White Sox | 77 | 85 | 0.475 | 17 | 40–41 | 37–44 |
Texas Rangers | 57 | 105 | 0.352 | 37 | 35–46 | 22–59 |
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] | |||||||||||||
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Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | TEX | |
Baltimore | — | 7–11 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 15–3 | 8–4 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 10–2 | |
Boston | 11–7 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 3–15 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 14–4 | 4–8 | 9–3 | |
California | 6–6 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 6–12 | 11–7 | |
Chicago | 4–8 | 6–6 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 3–9 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 6–12 | 13–5 | |
Cleveland | 6–12 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 5–7 | — | 9–9 | 2–10 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 7–5 | |
Detroit | 9–9 | 15–3 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–9 | — | 4–8 | 12–6 | 5–7 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 5–7 | |
Kansas City | 4–8 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 10–2 | 8–4 | — | 8–4 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 11–7 | |
Milwaukee | 3–15 | 6–12 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 4–8 | — | 8–4 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 8–4 | |
Minnesota | 4–8 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 4–8 | — | 3–9 | 14–4 | 12–6 | |
New York | 9–9 | 4–14 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 9–3 | — | 4–8 | 8–4 | |
Oakland | 7–5 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 12–6 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 8–4 | 4–14 | 8–4 | — | 11–7 | |
Texas | 2–10 | 3–9 | 7–11 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 6–12 | 4–8 | 7–11 | — |
1973 Kansas City Royals | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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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 |
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C | Fran Healy | 95 | 279 | 77 | .276 | 6 | 34 |
1B | John Mayberry | 152 | 510 | 142 | .278 | 26 | 100 |
2B | Cookie Rojas | 139 | 551 | 152 | .276 | 6 | 69 |
SS | Freddie Patek | 135 | 501 | 117 | .234 | 5 | 45 |
3B | Paul Schaal | 121 | 396 | 114 | .288 | 8 | 42 |
LF | Lou Piniella | 144 | 513 | 128 | .250 | 9 | 69 |
CF | Amos Otis | 148 | 583 | 175 | .300 | 26 | 93 |
RF | Ed Kirkpatrick | 126 | 429 | 113 | .263 | 6 | 45 |
DH | Gail Hopkins | 74 | 138 | 34 | .246 | 2 | 16 |
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 |
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Hal McRae | 106 | 338 | 79 | .234 | 9 | 50 |
Kurt Bevacqua | 99 | 276 | 71 | .257 | 2 | 40 |
Steve Hovley | 104 | 232 | 59 | .254 | 2 | 24 |
Carl Taylor | 69 | 145 | 33 | .228 | 0 | 16 |
Frank White | 51 | 139 | 31 | .223 | 0 | 5 |
Rick Reichardt | 41 | 127 | 28 | .220 | 3 | 17 |
Jim Wohlford | 45 | 109 | 29 | .266 | 2 | 10 |
Bobby Floyd | 51 | 78 | 26 | .333 | 0 | 8 |
George Brett | 13 | 40 | 5 | .125 | 0 | 0 |
Buck Martinez | 14 | 32 | 8 | .250 | 1 | 6 |
Jerry May | 11 | 30 | 4 | .133 | 0 | 2 |
Tom Poquette | 21 | 28 | 6 | .214 | 0 | 3 |
Frank Ortenzio | 9 | 25 | 7 | .280 | 1 | 6 |
Keith Marshall | 8 | 9 | 2 | .222 | 0 | 3 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
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Paul Splittorff | 38 | 262.0 | 20 | 11 | 3.98 | 110 |
Steve Busby | 37 | 238.1 | 16 | 15 | 4.23 | 174 |
Dick Drago | 37 | 212.2 | 12 | 14 | 4.23 | 98 |
Al Fitzmorris | 15 | 89.0 | 8 | 3 | 2.83 | 26 |
Mark Littell | 8 | 38.0 | 1 | 3 | 5.68 | 16 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
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Gene Garber | 48 | 152.2 | 9 | 9 | 4.24 | 60 |
Ken Wright | 25 | 80.2 | 6 | 5 | 4.91 | 75 |
Wayne Simpson | 16 | 59.2 | 3 | 4 | 5.73 | 29 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
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Doug Bird | 54 | 4 | 4 | 20 | 2.99 | 83 |
Bruce Dal Canton | 32 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4.81 | 38 |
Joe Hoerner | 22 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5.12 | 15 |
Steve Mingori | 19 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3.04 | 46 |
Mike Jackson | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.85 | 13 |
Tom Burgmeier | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5.40 | 4 |
Barry Raziano | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 0 |
Norm Angelini | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.91 | 3 |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Kingsport, Billings