1973 Los Angeles Dodgers season

1973 Los Angeles Dodgers
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
	Seasons

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.

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

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 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 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

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

2 Orlando Alvarez
28 Jim Fairey

Manager

24 Walter Alston

Coaches

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	Opponent	Score	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	Opponent	Score	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	Opponent	Score	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	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	Opponent	Score	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	Opponent	Score	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

Opponent	Home	Away	Total	Pct.	Runs scored	Runs allowed
National League
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

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

Notes

^ Larry Hisle page at Baseball Reference
^ Frank Robinson page at Baseball Reference
^ ^a ^b "George Culver page at Baseball Reference". Archived from the original on January 29, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
^ Dick Dietz page at Baseball Reference
^ Tim Johnson page at Baseball Reference
^ "This Day In Dodgers History: Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Ron Cey & Bill Russell Begin Streak As 'Longest Running Infield'". This Day In Baseball.
^ "1973 Los Angeles Dodgers Schedule & Results". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
^ 1973 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Regular Phase
^ 1973 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase
^ 1973 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
^ 1973 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase

References

External links

[1] Larry Hisle page at Baseball Reference

[2] Frank Robinson page at Baseball Reference

[baseball-reference.com-3] "George Culver page at Baseball Reference". Archived from the original on January 29, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2018.

[4] Dick Dietz page at Baseball Reference

[5] Tim Johnson page at Baseball Reference

[6] "This Day In Dodgers History: Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Ron Cey & Bill Russell Begin Streak As 'Longest Running Infield'". This Day In Baseball.

[7] "1973 Los Angeles Dodgers Schedule & Results". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 17, 2025.

[8] 1973 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Regular Phase

[9] 1973 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase

[10] 1973 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft

[11] 1973 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase

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