num_pages: 272
description: Interest and attendance were dropping and football was ascending. Stuck in a rut baseball was dying. Then Steinbrenner bought the Yankees a second-division club with wife-swapping pitchers leaving the House That Ruth Built not with a slam but a simper. He vowed not to interferebefore soon changing his mind. Across town Tom Seaver led the Mets stellar pitching line-up and iconic outfielder Willie Mays was preparing to say goodbye. For months the Mets under Yogi Berra couldnt get it right. Meanwhile the As were breaking a ban on facial hair while maverick owner Charlie Finley was fighting to keep them underpaid. But beneath the muttonchops and mayhem lay another world. Elvis commanded a larger audience than the Apollo landings. A Dodge Dart cost $2800 gas was a quarter per gallon. A fiscal crisis loomed; Vietnam had ended the vice president resigned and Watergate had taken over. It was one of the most exciting years in the games history the first with the designated hitter and the last before arbitration and free agency. The two World Series opponents went head-to-head above the baby steps of a dynasty that soon dwarfed both league champions. It was a turbulent time for the country and the game neither of which would ever be the same again.
language: English
title: Swinging '73: Baseball's Wildest Season
publisher: Lyons Press