# 1973 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1973 Baltimore Orioles season was the 73rd season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 20th in Baltimore, and the 20th at Memorial Stadium. The Orioles finished first in the American League East with a record of 97 wins and 65 losses. They went on to lose to the Oakland Athletics in the 1973 American League Championship Series, three games to two.
The Orioles sustained a net operating loss of $700,000.

## Offseason

* October 27, 1972: Frank Estrada was traded by the Orioles to the Chicago Cubs for Elrod Hendricks.
* November 30, 1972: Johnny Oates, Pat Dobson, Roric Harrison, and Davey Johnson were traded by the Orioles to the Atlanta Braves for Earl Williams and Taylor Duncan.
* January 10, 1973: John Flinn was drafted by the Orioles in the 2nd round of the 1973 Major League Baseball Draft, secondary phase.
* February 2, 1973: Don Buford was released by the Orioles.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Baltimore Orioles | 97 | 65 | .599 | — | 50‍–‍31 | 47‍–‍34 |
| Boston Red Sox | 89 | 73 | .549 | 8 | 48‍–‍33 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Detroit Tigers | 85 | 77 | .525 | 12 | 47‍–‍34 | 38‍–‍43 |
| New York Yankees | 80 | 82 | .494 | 17 | 50‍–‍31 | 30‍–‍51 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 74 | 88 | .457 | 23 | 40‍–‍41 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Cleveland Indians | 71 | 91 | .438 | 26 | 34‍–‍47 | 37‍–‍44 |

### Record vs. opponents

1973 American League recordvte 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

* April 5, 1973: Tom Matchick was traded by the Orioles to the New York Yankees for Frank Baker.
* June 5, 1973: Mike Flanagan was drafted by the Orioles in the 7th round of the 1973 Major League Baseball Draft.
* July 18, 1973: Curt Motton was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### 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 | Earl Williams | 132 | 459 | 109 | .237 | 22 | 83 |
| 1B | Boog Powell | 114 | 370 | 98 | .265 | 11 | 54 |
| 2B | Bobby Grich | 162 | 581 | 146 | .251 | 12 | 50 |
| 3B | Brooks Robinson | 155 | 549 | 141 | .257 | 9 | 72 |
| SS | Mark Belanger | 154 | 470 | 106 | .226 | 0 | 27 |
| LF | Don Baylor | 118 | 405 | 116 | .286 | 11 | 51 |
| CF | Paul Blair | 144 | 500 | 140 | .280 | 10 | 64 |
| RF | Merv Rettenmund | 95 | 321 | 84 | .262 | 9 | 44 |
| DH | Tommy Davis | 137 | 552 | 169 | .306 | 7 | 89 |

#### 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 |
| Rich Coggins | 110 | 389 | 124 | .319 | 7 | 41 |
| Al Bumbry | 110 | 356 | 120 | .337 | 7 | 34 |
| Andy Etchebarren | 54 | 152 | 39 | .257 | 2 | 23 |
| Terry Crowley | 54 | 131 | 27 | .206 | 3 | 15 |
| Elrod Hendricks | 41 | 101 | 18 | .178 | 3 | 15 |
| Frank Baker | 44 | 63 | 12 | .190 | 1 | 11 |
| Enos Cabell | 32 | 47 | 10 | .213 | 1 | 3 |
| Larry Brown | 17 | 28 | 7 | .250 | 1 | 5 |
| Jim Fuller | 9 | 26 | 3 | .115 | 2 | 4 |
| Doug DeCinces | 10 | 18 | 2 | .111 | 0 | 3 |
| Sergio Robles | 8 | 13 | 1 | .077 | 0 | 0 |
| Curt Motton | 5 | 6 | 2 | .333 | 1 | 4 |

### 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 |
| Jim Palmer | 38 | 296.1 | 22 | 9 | 2.40 | 158 |
| Mike Cuellar | 38 | 267.0 | 18 | 13 | 3.27 | 140 |
| Dave McNally | 38 | 266.0 | 17 | 17 | 3.21 | 87 |
| Doyle Alexander | 29 | 174.2 | 12 | 8 | 3.86 | 63 |
| Jesse Jefferson | 18 | 100.2 | 6 | 5 | 4.11 | 52 |

#### 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 |
| Orlando Peña | 11 | 44.2 | 1 | 1 | 4.03 | 23 |
| Don Hood | 8 | 32.1 | 3 | 2 | 3.90 | 18 |
| Wayne Garland | 4 | 16.0 | 0 | 1 | 3.94 | 10 |

#### 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 |
| Grant Jackson | 45 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 1.90 | 47 |
| Bob Reynolds | 42 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 1.95 | 77 |
| Eddie Watt | 30 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3.30 | 38 |
| Mickey Scott | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 2 |

## Postseason
### ALCS
#### Game 1

October 6, 1973, at Memorial Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Oakland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Baltimore | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | X | 6 | 12 | 0 |
| W: Jim Palmer (1–0) L: Vida Blue (0–1) |||||||||||||
| HR: None |||||||||||||

#### Game 2

October 7, 1973, at Memorial Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Oakland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 0 |
| Baltimore | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| W: Catfish Hunter (1–0) L: Dave McNally (0–1) S: Rollie Fingers (1) |||||||||||||
| HR: OAK – Bert Campaneris (1), Joe Rudi (1), Sal Bando 2 (2) |||||||||||||

#### Game 3

October 9, 1973, at Oakland Coliseum
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E |
| Baltimore | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Oakland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| W: Ken Holtzman (1–0) L: Mike Cuellar (0–1) |||||||||||||||
| HR: OAK – Bert Campaneris (2) BAL – Earl Williams (1) |||||||||||||||

#### Game 4

October 10, 1973, at Oakland Coliseum
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Baltimore | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 0 |
| Oakland | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| W: Grant Jackson (1–0) L: Rollie Fingers (0–1) |||||||||||||
| HR: BAL – Andy Etchebarren (1), Bobby Grich (1) |||||||||||||

#### Game 5

October 11, 1973, at Oakland Coliseum
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Baltimore | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Oakland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| W: Catfish Hunter (2–0) L: Doyle Alexander (0–1) |||||||||||||
| HR: None |||||||||||||

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | Joe Altobelli |
| AA | Asheville Orioles | Southern League | Cal Ripken Sr. |
| A | Lodi Orioles | California League | Jimmie Schaffer |
| A | Miami Orioles | Florida State League | Bobby Malkmus |
| Rookie | Bluefield Orioles | Appalachian League | George Farson |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Lodi