# 1973 Cleveland Indians season

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. It was $1.4 million more than the group led by George Steinbrenner had offered in December 1971.

### Notable transactions

* October 19, 1972: Eddie Leon was traded by the Indians to the Chicago White Sox for Walt Williams.
* 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.
* November 30, 1972: Del Unser and Terry Wedgewood (minors) were traded by the Indians to the Philadelphia Phillies for Oscar Gamble and Roger Freed.
* November 30, 1972: Tom Ragland was traded by the Texas Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for Vince Colbert.
* March 8, 1973: Alex Johnson was traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Rich Hinton and Vince Colbert.
* March 24, 1973: Ray Fosse and Jack Heidemann were traded by the Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Dave Duncan and George Hendrick.

## 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 until 2019.

### 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

* May 4, 1973: Jerry Kenney was released by the Indians.
* June 12, 1973: Lowell Palmer was traded by the Indians to the New York Yankees for Mike Kekich.

### Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters :
| # | Name | Position |
| 28 | Rusty Torres | RF |
| 20 | George Hendrick | CF |
| 14 | Chris Chambliss | 1B |
| 7 | John Ellis | DH |
| 24 | Charlie Spikes | LF |
| 11 | Dave Duncan | C |
| 25 | Buddy Bell | 3B |
| 10 | Jack Brohamer | 2B |
| 4 | Leo Cárdenas | SS |
| 36 | Gaylord Perry | P |

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | AVG | SB |
| Alan Ashby | 11 | 29 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .172 | 0 |
| Buddy Bell | 156 | 631 | 86 | 169 | 23 | 7 | 14 | 59 | .268 | 7 |
| Jack Brohamer | 102 | 300 | 29 | 66 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 29 | .220 | 0 |
| Leo Cardenas | 72 | 195 | 9 | 42 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | .215 | 1 |
| Chris Chambliss | 155 | 572 | 70 | 156 | 30 | 2 | 11 | 53 | .273 | 4 |
| Frank Duffy | 116 | 361 | 34 | 95 | 16 | 4 | 8 | 50 | .263 | 6 |
| Dave Duncan | 95 | 344 | 43 | 80 | 11 | 1 | 17 | 43 | .233 | 3 |
| John Ellis | 127 | 437 | 59 | 118 | 12 | 2 | 14 | 68 | .270 | 0 |
| Ted Ford | 11 | 40 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .225 | 1 |
| Oscar Gamble | 113 | 390 | 56 | 104 | 11 | 3 | 20 | 44 | .267 | 3 |
| George Hendrick | 113 | 440 | 64 | 118 | 18 | 0 | 21 | 61 | .268 | 7 |
| Jerry Kenney | 5 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .250 | 0 |
| Ron Lolich | 61 | 140 | 16 | 32 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 15 | .229 | 0 |
| John Lowenstein | 98 | 305 | 42 | 89 | 16 | 1 | 6 | 40 | .292 | 5 |
| Tom Ragland | 67 | 183 | 16 | 47 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 12 | .257 | 2 |
| Tommy Smith | 14 | 41 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .244 | 1 |
| Charlie Spikes | 140 | 506 | 68 | 120 | 12 | 3 | 23 | 73 | .237 | 5 |
| Rusty Torres | 122 | 312 | 31 | 64 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 28 | .205 | 6 |
| Walt Williams | 104 | 350 | 43 | 101 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 38 | .289 | 9 |
| Team Totals | 162 | 5592 | 680 | 1429 | 205 | 29 | 158 | 636 | .256 | 60 |

### Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts
| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Dick Bosman | 1 | 8 | 6.22 | 22 | 17 | 0 | 97.0 | 130 | 74 | 67 | 29 | 41 |
| Steve Dunning | 0 | 2 | 6.50 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 18.0 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 10 |
| Ed Farmer | 0 | 2 | 4.67 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 17.1 | 25 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 10 |
| Tom Hilgendorf | 5 | 3 | 3.14 | 48 | 1 | 6 | 94.2 | 87 | 38 | 33 | 36 | 58 |
| Mike Jackson | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Jerry Johnson | 5 | 6 | 6.18 | 39 | 1 | 5 | 59.2 | 70 | 48 | 41 | 39 | 45 |
| Mike Kekich | 1 | 4 | 7.02 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 50.0 | 73 | 47 | 39 | 35 | 26 |
| Mike Kilkenny | 0 | 0 | 22.50 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Ray Lamb | 3 | 3 | 4.60 | 32 | 1 | 2 | 86.0 | 98 | 44 | 44 | 42 | 60 |
| Steve Mingori | 0 | 0 | 6.17 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11.2 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 4 |
| Gaylord Perry | 19 | 19 | 3.38 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 344.0 | 315 | 143 | 129 | 115 | 238 |
| Ken Sanders | 5 | 1 | 1.65 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 27.1 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 14 |
| Brent Strom | 2 | 10 | 4.61 | 27 | 18 | 0 | 123.0 | 134 | 73 | 63 | 47 | 91 |
| Dick Tidrow | 14 | 16 | 4.42 | 42 | 40 | 0 | 274.2 | 289 | 150 | 135 | 95 | 138 |
| Tom Timmermann | 8 | 7 | 4.92 | 29 | 15 | 2 | 124.1 | 117 | 73 | 68 | 54 | 62 |
| Milt Wilcox | 8 | 10 | 5.83 | 26 | 19 | 0 | 134.1 | 143 | 90 | 87 | 68 | 82 |
| Team Totals | 71 | 91 | 4.58 | 162 | 162 | 21 | 1464.2 | 1532 | 826 | 746 | 602 | 883 |

## 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 |