1973 New York Yankees season

MLB yearly infobox
name = New York Yankees
season = 1973
misc =

current league = American League
y1 = 1901
division = Eastern Division
y2 = 1969
Uniform logo =
ballpark = Yankee Stadium
y4 = 1923
city = New York City, New York
y5 = 1903
owners = George Steinbrenner
managers = Ralph Houk
television = WPIX
radio = WMCA
(Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, Whitey Ford)|The New York Yankees' 1973 season was the 71st season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 80-82, finishing 17 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. New York was managed by Ralph Houk. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium. This would be the last year in the "old" Yankee Stadium, which was targeted for major reconstruction in 1974-75. During this period, the Yankees would share a home field with a National League team for the third time in their history, moving into Shea Stadium for two years.

George Steinbrenner

The Yankees had been struggling during their years under CBS ownership, which had acquired the team in 1965. In 1972, CBS Chairman William S. Paley told team president Michael Burke the media company intended to sell the club. As Burke later told writer Roger Kahn, Paley offered to sell the franchise to Burke if he could find financial backing. Burke ran across Steinbrenner's name, and veteran baseball executive Gabe Paul, a Cleveland-area acquaintance of Steinbrenner, helped bring the two men together.

On January 3, 1973, a group of investors led by George Steinbrenner and minority partner Burke bought the Yankees from CBS for $10 million.

The announced intention was that Burke would continue to run the team as club president. But Burke later became angry when he found out that Paul had been brought in as a senior Yankee executive, crowding his authority, and quit the team presidency on April 29, 1973. (Burke remained a minority owner of the club into the following decade.) It would be the first of many high-profile departures with employees who crossed paths with "The Boss." At the conclusion of the 1973 season, two more prominent names departed: manager Ralph Houk, who resigned and then signed to manage the Detroit Tigers; and general manager Lee MacPhail, who became president of the American League.

Offseason

*November 24, 1972: Rob Gardner and a player to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Matty Alou. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Rich McKinney to the Athletics on December 1. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mckinri01.shtml Rich McKinney page at Baseball Reference] ]
*November 27, 1972: John Ellis, Jerry Kenney, Charlie Spikes, and Rusty Torres were traded by the Yankees to the Cleveland Indians for Graig Nettles and Jerry Moses. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/n/nettlgr01.shtml Graig Nettles page at Baseball Reference] ]

Regular Season

After the last game of the 1973 season, fans ripped out parts of the stadium, including the seats, to take as souvenirs. The stadium would be remodelled. [http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/09/21/sports/20080921_MOMENTS_SLIDESHOW_6.html]

eason Standings

Opening Day Starters

Transactions

*June 5, 1973: Kerry Dineen was drafted by the Yankees in the 4th round of the 1973 Major League Baseball Draft. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/dineeke01.shtml Kerry Dineen page at Baseball Reference] ]
*June 7, 1973: Frank Tepedino and Wayne Nordhagen were traded by the Yankees along with players to be named later to the Atlanta Braves for Pat Dobson. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Dave Cheadle to the Braves on August 15 and Al Closter to the Braves on September 5. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/clostal01.shtml Al Closter page at Baseball Reference] ]
*June 7, 1973: Sam McDowell was purchased by the Yankees from the San Francisco Giants. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mcdowsa01.shtml Sam McDowell page at Baseball Reference] ]

Roster

Pitching

tarting pitchers

References

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/1973.shtml 1973 New York Yankees]
* [http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1973&t=NYA 1973 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com]