1973 Minnesota Twins season

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1973 Minnesota Twins
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkMetropolitan Stadium
CityBloomington, Minnesota
OwnersCalvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General managersCalvin Griffith
ManagersFrank Quilici
TelevisionWCCO-TV
(Ray Scott, Ralph Fritz)
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Ray Christensen)
← 1972 Seasons 1974 →

The 1973 Minnesota Twins finished 81–81, third in the American League West.

Offseason[edit]

Regular season[edit]

With the American League's new designated hitter rule taking effect, on April 6 in Oakland, California, Tony Oliva became the first DH to hit a home run.

On July 3, Tony Oliva hit three home runs against the Kansas City Royals. The Twins record feat was accomplished twice before, by both Bob Allison and Harmon Killebrew in 1963.

Two Twins made the All-Star Game: second baseman Rod Carew and pitcher Bert Blyleven. 907,499 fans attended Twins games, the third lowest total in the American League.

On September 27, California Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan struck out sixteen Twins and set a major league season mark of 383 strikeouts. Minnesota's Rich Reese was Ryan's 383rd victim.

Pitcher Bert Blyleven finished with a 20–17 record and set several team records: total innings pitched (325.0), complete games (25), shutouts (9), and strikeouts (258).

Rod Carew won his third AL batting title with a .350 average. Bobby Darwin continued to show potential as a hitter with 18 home runs and 90 RBI. Tony Oliva limped through the season, hitting 16 HR and collecting 92 RBI. Bert Blyleven won 20 games for the first time, and three other pitchers had double digit wins: Jim Kaat (11–12), Dick Woodson (10–8), and Joe Decker (10–10). Kaat also won his 12th Gold Glove Award.

Season standings[edit]

AL West 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 94 68 0.580 — 50–31 44–37
Kansas City Royals 88 74 0.543 6 48–33 40–41
Minnesota Twins 81 81 0.500 13 37–44 44–37
California Angels 79 83 0.488 15 43–38 36–45
Chicago White Sox 77 85 0.475 17 40–41 37–44
Texas Rangers 57 105 0.352 37 35–46 22–59

Record vs. opponents[edit]

1973 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
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[edit]

Roster[edit]

1973 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats[edit]

= Indicates team leader

Batting[edit]

Starters by position[edit]

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 George Mitterwald 125 432 112 .259 16 64
1B Joe Lis 103 253 62 .245 9 25
2B Rod Carew 149 580 203 .350 6 62
SS Danny Thompson 99 347 78 .225 1 36
3B Steve Braun 115 361 102 .283 6 42
LF Jim Holt 132 441 131 .297 11 58
CF Larry Hisle 143 545 148 .272 15 64
RF Bobby Darwin 145 560 141 .252 18 90
DH Tony Oliva 146 571 166 .291 16 92

Other batters[edit]

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
Jerry Terrell 124 438 116 .265 1 32
Steve Brye 92 278 73 .263 6 33
Harmon Killebrew 69 248 60 .242 5 32
Phil Roof 47 117 23 .197 1 15
Eric Soderholm 35 111 33 .297 1 9
Danny Walton 37 96 17 .177 4 8
Dan Monzon 39 76 17 .224 0 4
Mike Adams 55 66 14 .212 3 6
Craig Kusick 15 48 12 .250 0 4
Glenn Borgmann 12 34 9 .265 0 9
Rich Reese 22 23 4 .174 1 3

Pitching[edit]

Starting pitchers[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Bert Blyleven 40 325.0 20 17 2.52 258
Jim Kaat 29 181.2 11 12 4.41 93
Joe Decker 29 170.1 10 10 4.17 109
Dick Woodson 23 141.1 10 8 3.95 53
Danny Fife 10 51.2 3 2 4.35 18

Other pitchers[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Bill Hands 39 142.0 7 10 3.49 78
Dave Goltz 32 106.1 6 4 5.25 65
Eddie Bane 23 60.1 0 5 4.92 42

Relief pitchers[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Ray Corbin 51 8 5 14 3.03 83
Bill Campbell 28 3 3 7 3.14 42
Ken Sanders 27 2 4 8 6.09 19
Vic Albury 14 1 0 0 2.70 13
Jim Strickland 7 0 1 0 11.81 6

Farm system[edit]

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Tacoma Twins Pacific Coast League Kerby Farrell
AA Orlando Twins Southern League Harry Warner
A Lynchburg Twins Carolina League Dick Phillips
A Wisconsin Rapids Twins Midwest League Johnny Goryl
A-Short Season Geneva Twins New York–Penn League Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Wisconsin Rapids

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b Rich Reese page at baseball Reference
  2. ^ Joe Lis at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Luis Gómez at Baseball-Reference
  4. ^ Jim Kaat at Baseball Reference

References[edit]

  • 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.
  • Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com
  • Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com
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