1973 Cleveland Indians season

1973 Cleveland Indians
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Cleveland Municipal Stadium (since 1932)
Cleveland, Ohio (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Nick Mileti
General manager(s)	Gabe Paul, Phil Seghi
Manager(s)	Ken Aspromonte
Local television	WJW-TV
Local radio	WERE (1300)
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The 1973 Cleveland Indians season was the 73rd in the franchise's history. The club finished in sixth place in the American League East.

Offseason

In January, Vernon Stouffer sold the Cleveland Indians to Nick Mileti for $10 million.^[1] It was $1.4 million more than the group led by George Steinbrenner had offered in December 1971.^[2]

Notable transactions

• October 19, 1972: Eddie Leon was traded by the Indians to the Chicago White Sox for Walt Williams.^[3]
• November 27, 1972: Graig Nettles and Jerry Moses were traded by the Indians to the New York Yankees for John Ellis, Jerry Kenney, Charlie Spikes, and Rusty Torres.^[4]
• November 30, 1972: Del Unser and Terry Wedgewood (minors) were traded by the Indians to the Philadelphia Phillies for Oscar Gamble and Roger Freed.^[5]
• November 30, 1972: Tom Ragland was traded by the Texas Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for Vince Colbert.^[6]
• March 8, 1973: Alex Johnson was traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Rich Hinton and Vince Colbert.^[7]
• March 24, 1973: Ray Fosse and Jack Heidemann were traded by the Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Dave Duncan and George Hendrick.^[8]

Regular season

• John Adams started to drum at Cleveland Stadium on August 24, 1973, when the Indians played the Texas Rangers. Cleveland won, 11-5. Ever since, Adams has sat in the highest bleacher seat in left center field with his bass drum and has been a fixture for the team.

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	97	65	0.599	—	50–31	47–34
Boston Red Sox	89	73	0.549	8	48–33	41–40
Detroit Tigers	85	77	0.525	12	47–34	38–43
New York Yankees	80	82	0.494	17	50–31	30–51
Milwaukee Brewers	74	88	0.457	23	40–41	34–47
Cleveland Indians	71	91	0.438	26	34–47	37–44

Record vs. opponents

1973 American League Records Sources:
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	—

Notable transactions

• May 4, 1973: Jerry Kenney was released by the Indians.^[9]
• June 12, 1973: Lowell Palmer was traded by the Indians to the New York Yankees for Mike Kekich.^[10]

Roster

1973 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 49,27 Dick Bosman 46 Steve Dunning 47 Ed Farmer 40 Tom Hilgendorf 46 Mike Jackson 32 Jerry Johnson 18 Mike Kekich 42 Mike Kilkenny 30 Ray Lamb 31 Steve Mingori 36 Gaylord Perry 47 Ken Sanders 34 Brent Strom 41 Dick Tidrow 31 Tom Timmermann 43 Milt Wilcox		Catchers  8 Alan Ashby 11 Dave Duncan  7 John Ellis Infielders 25 Buddy Bell 10 Jack Brohamer  4 Leo Cárdenas 14 Chris Chambliss 15 Frank Duffy  9 Jerry Kenney 16 Tom Ragland		Outfielders 33 Ted Ford 23 Oscar Gamble 20 George Hendrick 23 Ron Lolich 29 John Lowenstein 26 Tommy Smith 24 Charlie Spikes 28 Rusty Torres 13 Walt Williams		Manager  2 Ken Aspromonte Coaches  6 Rocky Colavito  3 Joe Lutz 21 Warren Spahn

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
LF	Spikes, CharlieCharlie Spikes	140	506	120	.237	23	73
RF	Torres, RustyRusty Torres	122	312	64	.205	7	28

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
Ellis, JohnJohn Ellis	127	437	118	.270	14	68
Williams, WaltWalt Williams	104	350	101	.289	8	38
Smith, TommyTommy Smith	14	41	10	.244	2	3
Kenney, JerryJerry Kenney	5	16	4	.250	0	2

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
Bosman, DickDick Bosman	22	97	1	8	6.22	41
Dunning, SteveSteve Dunning	4	18	0	2	6.50	10

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

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
Farmer, EdEd Farmer	16	0	2	1	4.67	10

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma City 89ers	American Association	Frank Lucchesi
AA	San Antonio Brewers	Texas League	Tony Pacheco
A	Reno Silver Sox	California League	Lou Klimchock
Rookie	GCL Indians	Gulf Coast League	Len Johnston

^[11]

Notes

1. Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, p. 16, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-06-169031-0
2. Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, p. 6
3. Walt Williams page at Baseball Reference
4. Graig Nettles page at Baseball Reference
5. Oscar Gamble page at Baseball Reference
6. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/raglato01.shtml
7. Rich Hinton page at Baseball Reference
8. Ray Fosse page at Baseball Reference
9. Jerry Kenney page at Baseball Reference
10. Mike Kekich page at Baseball-Reference
11. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 1973 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference
• 1973 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com