1973 Kansas City Royals season

The 1973 Kansas City Royals season was their fifth in Major League Baseball. Jack McKeon replaced the fired Bob Lemon as manager and the Royals finished second in the American League West with a record of 88-74, six games behind the Oakland Athletics. Kansas City's 88 wins were the most in franchise history. Paul Splittorff (20-11) became the first Royals pitcher to win 20 games in a season.

1973 Kansas City Royals
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Ewing Kauffman
General manager(s)Cedric Tallis
Manager(s)Jack McKeon (first season)
Local televisionKBMA
Local radioKMBZ
(Buddy Blattner, Denny Matthews, Fred White)
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Offseason

Regular season

On April 10, the Royals open their new park, Royals Stadium, with a 12–1 rout of the Texas Rangers. The game is attended by 39,464 fans braving 39-degree weather.

On April 16, Steve Busby threw the first no-hitter in Royals history.[3] The Royals beat Detroit by a score of 3–0.

On May 15, in a game against the Royals, Nolan Ryan of the California Angels threw the first no-hitter of his career.[4]

On August 2, George Brett made his major league debut.[5]

Season standings
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 9468 0.580 — 50–31 44–37
Kansas City Royals 8874 0.543 6 48–33 40–41
Minnesota Twins 8181 0.500 13 37–44 44–37
California Angels 7983 0.488 15 43–38 36–45
Chicago White Sox 7785 0.475 17 40–41 37–44
Texas Rangers 57105 0.352 37 35–46 22–59

Record vs. opponents
1973 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK TEX
Baltimore —7–116–68–412–69–98–415–38–49–95–710–2
Boston 11–7—7–56–69–93–158–412–66–614–44–89–3
California 6–65–7—8–105–77–510–85–710–86–66–1211–7
Chicago 4–86–610–8—7–55–76–123–99–98–46–1213–5
Cleveland 6–129–97–55–7—9–92–109–97–57–113–97–5
Detroit 9–915–35–77–59–9—4–812–65–77–117–55–7
Kansas City 4–84–88–1012–610–28–4—8–49–96–68–1011–7
Milwaukee 3–156–127–59–39–96–124–8—8–410–84–88–4
Minnesota 4–86–68–109–95–77–59–94–8—3–914–412–6
New York 9–94–146–64–811–711–76–68–109–3—4–88–4
Oakland 7–58–412–612–69–35–710–88–44–148–4—11–7
Texas 2–103–97–115–135–77–57–114–86–124–87–11—

Notable transactions

Roster
1973 Kansas City Royals
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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
CFran Healy9527977.276634
DHHal McRae10633879.234950

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
Steve Hovley10423259.254224
Carl Taylor6914533.228016
Frank White5113931.22305
George Brett13405.12500
Frank Ortenzio9257.28016
Keith Marshall892.22203

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
Steve Busby37238.116154.23174

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
Wayne Simpson1659.2345.7329

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
Doug Bird5444202.9983
Mike Jackson90006.8513
Tom Burgmeier60015.404
Norm Angelini70014.913

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Omaha Royals American Association Harry Malmberg
AA Jacksonville Suns Southern League Billy Gardner
A San Jose Bees California League Steve Boros
A Waterloo Royals Midwest League Bill Scripture
Rookie Kingsport Royals Appalachian League John Sullivan
Rookie GCL Royals Gulf Coast League Buzzy Keller
Rookie Billings Mustangs Pioneer League Gary Blaylock

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Kingsport, Billings

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References
  1. Roger Nelson at Baseball Reference
  2. Joe Keough at Baseball Reference
  3. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 144, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  4. Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 12, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, ISBN 978-1-55365-507-7
  5. George Brett at Baseball Reference
  6. Greg Minton at Baseball Reference
  7. Al Santorini at Baseball-Reference
  8. Ruppert Jones at Baseball-Reference
  9. Rob Picciolo at Baseball Reference
  • 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.
  • 1973 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
  • 1973 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac
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