1973 Atlanta Braves season

1973 Atlanta Braves
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Atlanta Stadium (since 1966)
Atlanta (since 1966)
Results
Record	76–85 (.472)
Divisional place	5th
Other information
Owner(s)	William Bartholomay
General manager(s)	Eddie Robinson
Manager(s)	Eddie Mathews
Local television	WTCG
Local radio	WSB (Ernie Johnson, Milo Hamilton)
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The highlight of the 1973 Atlanta Braves season was Hank Aaron finishing the season just one home run short of Babe Ruth as baseball's all-time home run king. The 1973 Atlanta Braves were the first team to boast three 40 home run hitters. They were Aaron, Darrell Evans, and Davey Johnson.

Offseason

• October 27, 1972: Rico Carty was traded by the Braves to the Texas Rangers for Jim Panther.^[1]
• January 10, 1973: Brian Asselstine was drafted by the Braves in the 1st round (15th pick) of the 1973 Major League Baseball Draft (Secondary Phase).^[2]
• January 21, 1973: Curt Blefary was signed as a free agent by the Braves.^[3]
• February 28, 1973: Pat Jarvis was traded by the Braves to the Montreal Expos for Carl Morton.^[4]
• March 26, 1973: Denny McLain was released by the Braves.^[5]

Regular season

Season standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	99	63	0.611	—	50–31	49–32
Los Angeles Dodgers	95	66	0.590	3½	50–31	45–35
San Francisco Giants	88	74	0.543	11	47–34	41–40
Houston Astros	82	80	0.506	17	41–40	41–40
Atlanta Braves	76	85	0.472	22½	40–40	36–45
San Diego Padres	60	102	0.370	39	31–50	29–52

Record vs. opponents

1973 National League Records 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 starters

• Hank Aaron
• Dusty Baker
• Darrell Evans
• Ralph Garr
• Gary Gentry
• Rod Gilbreath
• Davey Johnson
• Johnny Oates
• Marty Perez

Notable transactions

• May 19, 1973: Andre Thornton was traded by the Braves to the Chicago Cubs for Joe Pepitone.^[6]
• June 7, 1973: Pat Dobson was traded by the Braves to the New York Yankees for Frank Tepedino, Wayne Nordhagen, and players to be named later. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Dave Cheadle to the Braves on August 15 and Al Closter to the Braves on September 5.^[7]
• June 19, 1973: Joe Pepitone was released by the Braves.^[6]

Hank Aaron's Chase for the Record

At the age of 39, Aaron managed to slug 40 home runs in 392 at bats, ending the season with 713, which at that time one home run short of the record. He hit home run number 713 on September 29, 1973, and with one day remaining in the season, many expected him to tie the record. But in his final game that year, playing against the Houston Astros (led by manager Leo Durocher, who had once roomed with Babe Ruth), he was unable to hit one out of the park. After the game, Aaron stated that his only fear was that he might not live to see the 1974 season. That statement was not just about the death threats: one year earlier, September 30, 1972 was the last day that the legendary Roberto Clemente ever played, as he perished in the offseason.^[8]

Home Run	Date	Pitcher	Inning	Location
700	July 21, 1973	Ken Brett	Bottom 3rd	Fulton County Stadium
701	July 31, 1973	Pedro Borbón	Bottom 9th	Fulton County Stadium
702	August 16, 1973	Jack Aker	Top 8th	Wrigley Field
703	August 17, 1973	Steve Renko	Top 6th	Parc Jarry
704	August 18, 1973	Steve Rogers	Top 8th	Parc Jarry
705	August 22, 1973	Reggie Cleveland	Bottom 6th	Fulton County Stadium
706	August 28, 1973	Milt Pappas	Bottom 1st	Fulton County Stadium
707	September 3, 1973	Clay Kirby	Top 3rd	San Diego Stadium
708	September 3, 1973	Vicente Romo	Top 5th	San Diego Stadium
709	September 8, 1973	Jack Billingham	Bottom 7th	Fulton County Stadium
710	September 10, 1973	Don Carrithers	Bottom 3rd	Fulton County Stadium
711	September 17, 1973	Gary Ross	Bottom 8th	Fulton County Stadium
712	September 22, 1973	Dave Roberts	Top 6th	Astrodome
713	September 29, 1973	Jerry Reuss	Bottom 5th	Fulton County Stadium

Roster

1973 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers 30 Dave Cheadle 43 Al Closter 27 Adrian Devine 27 Pat Dobson 56 Wenty Ford 40 Jimmy Freeman 25,34 Danny Frisella 39 Gary Gentry 24 Roric Harrison 43 Joe Hoerner 39 Tom House 36 Tom Kelley 32 Max León 49 Carl Morton 31 Gary Neibauer 36 Joe Niekro 35 Phil Niekro 22 Jim Panther 38 Ron Reed 37 Ron Schueler 34 Cecil Upshaw		Catchers  5 Paul Casanova 25 Larry Howard 15 Johnny Oates 18 Freddie Velázquez Infielders  4 Larvell Blanks 14 Dick Dietz 11 Darrell Evans 17 Leo Foster 19 Rod Gilbreath 29 Chuck Goggin  6 Davey Johnson 28 Mike Lum  7 Joe Pepitone  9 Marty Perez 18 Jack Pierce  7 Frank Tepedino		Outfielders 44 Hank Aaron 12 Dusty Baker 20,45 Oscar Brown 48 Ralph Garr 16 Sonny Jackson 42 Norm Miller		Manager 41 Eddie Mathews Coaches 33 Lew Burdette  8 Jim Busby  7 Roy Hartsfield  1 Connie Ryan  3 Ken Silvestri

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	Oates, JohnnyJohnny Oates	93	322	80	.248	4	27
2B	Johnson, DaveyDavey Johnson	157	559	151	.270	43	99
3B	Evans, DarrellDarrell Evans	161	595	167	.281	41	104
SS	Perez, MartyMarty Perez	141	501	125	.250	8	57
LF	Aaron, HankHank Aaron	120	392	118	.301	40	96
CF	Baker, DustyDusty Baker	159	604	174	.288	21	99
RF	Garr, RalphRalph Garr	148	668	200	.299	11	55

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
Gilbreath, RodRod Gilbreath	29	74	21	.284	0	2
Brown, OscarOscar Brown	22	58	12	.207	0	0
Pierce, JackJack Pierce	11	20	1	.050	0	0
Foster, LeoLeo Foster	3	6	1	.167	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
Morton, CarlCarl Morton	38	256.1	15	10	3.41	112
Gentry, GaryGary Gentry	16	86.2	4	6	3.43	42
Dobson, PatPat Dobson	12	57.2	3	7	4.99	23

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
Harrison, RoricRoric Harrison	38	177.1	11	8	4.16	130
Freeman, JimmyJimmy Freeman	13	37.1	0	2	7.71	20
Ford, WentyWenty Ford	4	16.1	1	2	5.51	4

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
Frisella, DannyDanny Frisella	42	1	2	8	4.20	27
Devine, AdrianAdrian Devine	24	2	3	4	6.40	15
Panther, JimJim Panther	23	2	3	0	7.63	8
León, MaxMax León	12	2	2	0	5.33	18
Closter, AlAl Closter	4	0	0	0	14.54	2
Cheadle, DaveDave Cheadle	2	0	1	0	18.00	2

Awards and honors

League records

• Davey Johnson, Tied Rogers Hornsby's record for most home runs in one season by a National League second baseman (42)^[9]

All-Stars

1973 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Hank Aaron, first baseman, starter
• Darrell Evans, reserve
• Davey Johnson, reserve

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Richmond Braves	International League	Bobby Hofman and Clint Courtney
AA	Savannah Braves	Southern League	Clint Courtney and Tommie Aaron
A	Kinston Eagles	Carolina League	Gene Hassell
A	Greenwood Braves	Western Carolinas League	Hoyt Wilhelm
Rookie	Wytheville Braves	Appalachian League	Paul Snyder

Kinston affiliation shared with New York Yankees

Notes

1. Rico Carty page at Baseball Reference
2. Brian Asselstine page at Baseball Reference
3. Curt Blefary page at Baseball Reference
4. Carl Morton page at Baseball Reference
5. Denny McLain page at Baseball Reference
6. Joe Pepitone page at Baseball Reference
7. Al Closter page at Baseball Reference
8. Hank Aaron and the Home Run that changed America, Tom Stanton, p. 179, ISBN 0-06-072290-8
9. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.90, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0

References

• 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.
• 1973 Atlanta Braves team page at Baseball Reference
• 1973 Atlanta Braves team page at www.baseball-almanac.com