1973 St. Louis Cardinals season

This article is about the Major League Baseball team. For the National Football League team, see 1973 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season.

1973 St. Louis Cardinals
League	National League
Division	East
Ballpark	Busch Memorial Stadium
City	St. Louis, Missouri
Record	81–81 (.500)
Divisional place	2nd
Owners	August "Gussie" Busch
General managers	Bing Devine
Managers	Red Schoendienst
Television	KSD-TV (Mike Shannon, Jay Randolph)
Radio	KMOX (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Harry Walker)
Seasons

The 1973 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 92nd season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 82nd season in the National League. The Cardinals overcame an 8–23 start to finish with an 81–81 record during the season and finished second in the National League East, 1+1⁄2 games behind the NL East and eventual NL pennant winners New York Mets. To date, this is the only season the Cardinals have finished at .500 instead of above or below it.

Offseason

• October 27, 1972: Jerry McNertney was released by the Cardinals.

Regular season

Pitcher Bob Gibson won a Gold Glove this year.

Season standings

NL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Mets	82	79	.509	—	43‍–‍38	39‍–‍41
St. Louis Cardinals	81	81	.500	1½	43‍–‍38	38‍–‍43
Pittsburgh Pirates	80	82	.494	2½	41‍–‍40	39‍–‍42
Montreal Expos	79	83	.488	3½	43‍–‍38	36‍–‍45
Chicago Cubs	77	84	.478	5	41‍–‍39	36‍–‍45
Philadelphia Phillies	71	91	.438	11½	38‍–‍43	33‍–‍48

Record vs. opponents

1973 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	7–5	5–13	11–7	2–15–1	6–6	6–6	6–6	7–5	12–6	8–10	6–6
Chicago	5–7	—	8–4	6–6	5–7	9–9	10–7	10–8	6–12	7–5	2–10	9–9
Cincinnati	13–5	4–8	—	11–7	11–7	8–4	8–4	8–4	7–5	13–5	10–8	6–6
Houston	7–11	6–6	7–11	—	11–7	6–6	6–6	7–5	6–6	10–8	11–7	5–7
Los Angeles	15–2–1	7–5	7–11	7–11	—	7–5	7–5	9–3	10–2	9–9	9–9	8–4
Montreal	6–6	9–9	4–8	6–6	5–7	—	9–9	13–5	6–12	7–5	6–6	8–10
New York	6–6	7–10	4–8	6–6	5–7	9–9	—	9–9	13–5	8–4	5–7	10–8
Philadelphia	6-6	8–10	4–8	5–7	3–9	5–13	9–9	—	8–10	9–3	5–7	9–9
Pittsburgh	5–7	12–6	5–7	6–6	2–10	12–6	5–13	10–8	—	8–4	5–7	10–8
San Diego	6–12	5–7	5–13	8–10	9–9	5–7	4–8	3–9	4–8	—	7–11	4–8
San Francisco	10–8	10–2	8–10	7–11	9–9	6–6	7–5	7–5	7–5	11–7	—	6–6
St. Louis	6–6	9–9	6–6	7–5	4–8	10–8	8–10	9–9	8–10	8–4	6–6	—

Notable transactions

• May 8, 1973: Al Santorini was traded by the Cardinals to the Kansas City Royals for Tom Murphy.
• June 5, 1973: 1973 Major League Baseball Draft
  • John Tamargo was drafted by the Cardinals in the 6th round.
  • Eric Rasmussen was drafted by the Cardinals in the 32nd round.
  • Bryn Smith was drafted by the Cardinals in the 49th round, but did not sign. However, he would pitch for the team from 1990 to 1992.
• August 7, 1973: Wayne Granger was traded by the Cardinals to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later and cash. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Ken Crosby to the Cardinals on September 12.
• August 18, 1973: Dave Campbell and cash were traded by the Cardinals to the Houston Astros for Tommie Agee.
• August 29, 1973: Eddie Fisher was purchased by the St. Louis Cardinals from the Chicago White Sox.

Roster

1973 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers 37 John Andrews 48 Jim Bibby 22 Reggie Cleveland 48 Eddie Fisher 28 Rich Folkers 27 Alan Foster 45 Bob Gibson 29 Wayne Granger 39 Al Hrabosky 29 Lew Krausse Jr. 34 Tom Murphy 49 Mike Nagy 36 Orlando Peña 34 Al Santorini 35 Diego Seguí 24 Scipio Spinks 48 Ed Sprague 46 Mike Thompson 40 Rick Wise		Catchers  7 Larry Haney 16 Marc Hill 23 Ted Simmons Infielders  4 Matty Alou 19 Dwain Anderson  5 Ray Busse 18 Dave Campbell  4 Ed Crosby 18 Bobby Fenwick  5 Tom Heintzelman 15 Terry Hughes 25 Mick Kelleher 15 Tim McCarver 44 Ken Reitz 41 Ted Sizemore  9 Joe Torre 10 Mike Tyson		Outfielders 47 Tommie Agee 20 Lou Brock  1 Bernie Carbo 11 Héctor Cruz 38 José Cruz 17 Tommy Cruz 19 Jim Dwyer 21 Bake McBride 26 Luis Meléndez 32 Bill Stein		Manager  2 Red Schoendienst Coaches  8 Vern Benson  3 George Kissell 30 Johnny Lewis 33 Barney Schultz

Player stats

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	Ted Simmons	161	619	192	.310	13	91
1B	Joe Torre	141	519	149	.287	13	69
2B	Ted Sizemore	142	521	147	.282	1	54
SS	Mike Tyson	144	469	114	.243	1	33
3B	Ken Reitz	147	426	100	.235	6	42
LF	Lou Brock	160	650	193	.297	7	63
CF	José Cruz	132	406	92	.227	10	57
RF	Bernie Carbo	111	308	88	.286	8	40

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
Luis Meléndez	121	341	91	.267	2	35
Tim McCarver	130	331	88	.266	3	49
Ray Busse	24	70	10	.143	2	5
Bake McBride	40	63	19	.302	0	5
Tommie Agee	26	62	11	.177	3	7
Jim Dwyer	28	57	11	.193	0	0
Bill Stein	32	55	12	.218	0	2
Ed Crosby	22	39	5	.128	0	1
Mick Kelleher	43	38	7	.184	0	2
Tom Heintzelman	23	29	9	.310	0	0
Dave Campbell	13	21	0	.000	0	1
Dwain Anderson	18	17	2	.118	0	0
Terry Hughes	11	14	3	.214	0	1
Hector Cruz	11	11	0	.000	0	0
Matty Alou	11	11	3	.273	0	1
Bobby Fenwick	5	6	1	.167	0	1
Marc Hill	1	3	0	.000	0	0
Larry Haney	2	1	0	.000	0	0
Tommy Cruz	3	0	0	----	0	0

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
Rick Wise	35	259.0	16	12	3.37	144
Reggie Cleveland	32	224.0	14	10	3.01	122
Alan Foster	35	203.2	13	9	3.14	106
Bob Gibson	25	195.0	12	10	2.77	142
Tom Murphy	19	88.2	3	7	3.76	42
Mike Nagy	9	40.2	0	2	4.20	14
Scipio Spinks	8	38.2	1	5	4.89	25
Mike Thompson	2	4.0	0	0	0.00	3

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
Rich Folkers	34	82.1	4	4	3.61	44
Jim Bibby	6	16.0	0	2	9.56	12

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
Diego Seguí	65	7	6	17	2.78	93
Al Hrabosky	44	2	4	5	2.09	57
Orlando Peña	42	4	4	6	2.18	35
Wayne Granger	33	2	4	5	2.78	93
John Andrews	16	1	1	0	4.42	5
Ed Sprague Sr.	8	0	0	0	2.25	2
Al Santorini	6	0	0	0	5.40	2
Eddie Fisher	6	2	1	0	1.29	1
Lew Krausse Jr.	1	0	0	0	0.00	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tulsa Oilers	American Association	Jack Krol
AA	Arkansas Travelers	Texas League	Tom Burgess
A	Modesto Reds	California League	Bobby Dews
A	St. Petersburg Cardinals	Florida State League	Roy Majtyka
Rookie	GCL Cardinals	Gulf Coast League	Ken Boyer
Rookie	GCL Redbirds	Gulf Coast League	Lee Thomas

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tulsa, St. Petersburg

External links

• 1973 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference
• 1973 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com