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
BB-reference
Seasons

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!!!"

Offseason

Regular season

Season highlights

Initial turmoil

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!!!"

With Tug McGraw urging his teammates on and celebrating victories with what soon became the catch phrase of 1973, "You Gotta Believe!!!" the Mets kept zigging and zagging away from would-be tacklers, and taking an occasional side-swipe, headed for this most unlikely of pennants. Down the stretch, Yogi Berra, veteran of many a pennant race, ran four starters at the league: Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack, and George Stone, with the suddenly unhittable McGraw coming out of the pen with boisterous - and justified - confidence. (For his last 19 games, the screwball-throwing lefty showed 12 saves, 5 wins, and an ERA of 0.88).

The unexpected clincher

After sweeping a three-game series from the Pirates at Shea 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 made the save. The Cardinals finished second, 1+1⁄2 games behind, Pittsburgh third at 2+1⁄2, Montreal fourth at 3+1⁄2, and Chicago fifth, 5 games out.

This was the only NL East title between 1970 and 1980 not to be won by either the Philadelphia Phillies or the Pittsburgh Pirates.[4][5]

Season standings

NL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Mets 8279 0.509 — 43–38 39–41
St. Louis Cardinals 8181 0.500 1½ 43–38 38–43
Pittsburgh Pirates 8082 0.494 2½ 41–40 39–42
Montreal Expos 7983 0.488 3½ 43–38 36–45
Chicago Cubs 7784 0.478 5 41–39 36–45
Philadelphia Phillies 7191 0.438 11½ 38–43 33–48

Record vs. opponents

1973 National League record

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta —7–55–1311–72–15–16–66–66–67–512–68–106–6
Chicago 5–7—8–46–65–79–910–710–86–127–52–109–9
Cincinnati 13–54–8—11–711–78–48–48–47–513–510–86–6
Houston 7–116–67–11—11–76–66–67–56–610–811–75–7
Los Angeles 15–2–17–57–117–11—7–57–59–310–29–99–98–4
Montreal 6–69–94–86–65–7—9–913–56–127–56–68–10
New York 6–67–104–86–65–79–9—9–913–58–45–710–8
Philadelphia 6-68–104–85–73–95–139–9—8–109–35–79–9
Pittsburgh 5–712–65–76–62–1012–65–1310–8—8–45–710–8
San Diego 6–125–75–138–109–95–74–83–94–8—7–114–8
San Francisco 10–810–28–107–119–96–67–57–57–511–7—6–6
St. Louis 6–69–96–67–54–810–88–109–98–108–46–6—

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

Roster

1973 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

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
CJerry Grote8428573.256132
1BJohn Milner129451108.2392372
2BFélix Millán153638185.290337
SSBud Harrelson10635692.258020
3BWayne Garrett140504129.2561658
LFCleon Jones9233988.2601148
CFDon Hahn9326260.229221
RFRusty Staub152585163.2791576

Other batters

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-LFEd Kranepool10028468.239135
SS-OFTed Martinez9226367.255114
CF-1BWillie Mays6620944.211625
CDuffy Dyer7018935.18519
CRon Hodges4512733.260118
3B-SSJim Fregosi4512429.234011
LFGeorge Theodore4511630.259115
3BKen Boswell7611025.227214
OFJim Gosger389222.239010
1BJim Beauchamp506117.279014
CFDave Schneck13367.19400
CFRich Chiles8253.12001
CJerry May482.25000
SSBrian Ostrosser450.00000
PH-PRGreg Harts321.50000
PH-PRLute Barnes321.50001

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
Tom Seaver36290.019102.08251
Jerry Koosman35263.014152.84156
Jon Matlack34242.014163.20205

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
George Stone27148.01232.8077
Ray Sadecki31116.2543.3987
Harry Parker3896.2843.3563
Jim McAndrew2380.1385.3838
Craig Swan38.1018.644
Tommy Moore33.10110.801

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
Tug McGraw6056253.8781
Phil Hennigan300436.2322
Buzz Capra242743.8635
John Strohmayer70008.105
Hank Webb200010.801
Bob Miller10000.001
Bob Apodaca1000inf0

Postseason

NLCS

Game 1

October 6: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 010 000 000 130
Cincinnati 000 000 011 260
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

October 7: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 000 100 004 570
Cincinnati 000 000 000 020
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

October 8: Shea Stadium, New York City

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cincinnati 002 000 000 281
New York 151 200 00x 9111
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

October 9: Shea Stadium, New York City

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E
Cincinnati 000 000 100 001 280
New York 001 000 000 000 131
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

October 10: Shea Stadium, New York City

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cincinnati 001 010 000 271
New York 200 041 00x 7131
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

AL Oakland Athletics (4) vs. NL New York Mets (3)
Game Score Date Location Attendance Time of Game
1Mets – 1, A's – 2October 13Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum46,0212:26
2Mets – 10, A's – 7 (12 inns)October 14Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum55,9894:13
3A's – 3, Mets – 2 (11 inns)October 16Shea Stadium54,8173:15
4A's – 1, Mets – 6October 17Shea Stadium54,8172:41
5A's – 0, Mets – 2October 18Shea Stadium54,8172:39
6Mets – 1, A's – 3October 20Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum49,3332:07
7Mets – 2, A's – 5October 21Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum49,3332:37

Awards and honors

All-Stars

All-Star Game

  • Tom Seaver
  • Willie Mays

Farm system

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

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Ultimate Mets Database - Register of Transactions".
  2. ↑ Tommie Agee page at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ "Events of Friday, August 31, 1973". Retrosheet.
  4. ↑ 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).
  5. ↑ "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.
  6. ↑ Lee Mazzilli page at Baseball Reference
  7. ↑ Jim Fregosi page at Baseball Reference

Book sources

  • 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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