1973 Chicago Cubs season

The 1973 Chicago Cubs season was the 102nd season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 98th in the National League and the 58th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fifth in the National League East with a record of 77–84.

1973 Chicago Cubs
LeagueNational League
DivisionEast
BallparkWrigley Field
CityChicago
OwnersPhilip K. Wrigley
General managersJohn Holland
ManagersWhitey Lockman
TelevisionWGN-TV
(Jack Brickhouse, Jim West)
RadioWGN
(Vince Lloyd, Lou Boudreau)
StatsESPN.com
Baseball Reference
← 1972 Seasons 1974 →

Offseason

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Regular season

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After a strong finish to the 1972 season,[2] the Cubs dominated the National League East for the first half of 1973. On June 29, they were 47–31 with an 8.5 game lead in the National League East.[3] But then the Cubs fell into a deep swoon, losing 33 of their next 42 games, including 11 straight losses from August 4–16, to fall below .500 and out of the division lead.[4] However, the rest of the division was so mediocre that it was nicknamed the "National League Least", enabling the Cubs to stay in contention even as they remained below .500.

In fact, 1973 was the only season between 1945 and 1984 in which the Cubs were still in contention on the last day of the regular season, September 30. Due to several rainouts, the Cubs still had four games to play against the first place Mets, so double headers were scheduled for September 30 and October 1, the day after the end of the season. If the Cubs were to win all four games, there could have been an unprecedented five-way tie for first place, with each team having a below .500 record of 80–82 (also unprecedented). It would have taken at least three days of games to break a five-way tie.

Rain was still in the forecast for both days, and with Wrigley Field having no lights, National League president Chub Feeney ordered both double headers to start at 10AM (again, unprecedented), making it clear that the umpires would wait out any rain as long as there was daylight.

The Cubs won the first game on September 30, and suddenly it seemed possible that the most unusual end to any season of baseball might happen. But the Mets won the second game, eliminating three of the teams, including the Cubs. On a dismal October 1, in light cold rain, the Mets won the first game and clinched the NL East. The second game was immediately canceled. Milt Pappas was scheduled to pitch for the Cubs in the second game, and the cancellation cost him his chance for his 100th victory in the National League as he retired during the offseason.

Season standings

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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 43‍–‍38 38‍–‍43
Pittsburgh Pirates 80 82 .494 41‍–‍40 39‍–‍42
Montreal Expos 79 83 .488 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

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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

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Roster

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1973 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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 Randy Hundley 124 368 83 .226 10 43
1B Jim Hickman 92 201 49 .244 3 20
2B Glenn Beckert 114 372 95 .255 0 29
SS Don Kessinger 160 577 151 .262 0 43
3B Ron Santo 149 536 143 .267 20 77
LF Billy Williams 156 576 166 .288 20 86
CF Rick Monday 149 554 148 .267 26 56
RF José Cardenal 145 522 158 .303 11 68

Other batters

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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
Paul Popovich 99 280 66 .236 2 24
Ken Rudolph 64 170 35 .206 2 17
Carmen Fanzone 64 150 41 .273 6 22
Pat Bourque 57 139 29 .209 7 20
Joe Pepitone 31 112 30 .268 3 18
Gene Hiser 100 109 19 .174 1 6
Rico Carty 22 70 15 .214 1 8
Gonzalo Márquez 19 58 13 .224 1 4
Adrian Garrett 36 54 12 .222 3 8
Cleo James 44 45 5 .111 0 0
Dave Rosello 16 38 10 .263 0 2
Andre Thornton 17 35 7 .200 0 2
Pete LaCock 11 16 4 .250 0 3
Matt Alexander 12 5 1 .200 0 1
Tom Lundstedt 4 5 0 .000 0 0
Tony La Russa 1 0 0 ---- 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Ferguson Jenkins 38 271.0 14 16 3.89 170
Burt Hooton 42 239.2 14 17 3.68 134
Rick Reuschel 36 237.0 14 15 3.00 168
Milt Pappas 30 162.0 7 12 4.28 48

Other pitchers

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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 Bonham 44 152.0 7 5 3.02 121
Larry Gura 21 64.2 2 4 4.87 43

Relief pitchers

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

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Bob Locker 63 10 6 18 2.54 76
Jack Aker 47 4 5 12 4.10 25
Dave LaRoche 45 4 1 4 5.80 34
Ray Burris 31 1 1 0 2.92 57
Mike Paul 11 0 1 0 3.44 6
Juan Pizarro 2 0 1 0 11.25 3

Farm system

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Level Team League Manager
AAA Wichita Aeros American Association Jim Marshall
AA Midland Cubs Texas League Al Spangler
A Quincy Cubs Midwest League Walt Dixon
Rookie GCL Cubs Gulf Coast League Q. V. Lowe

Notes

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  1. ^ "Elrod Hendricks Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on March 31, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  2. ^ "1972 Chicago Cubs Schedule - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on April 25, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  3. ^ "MLB Scores, Standings, Box Scores for Friday, June 29, 1973 - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  4. ^ "MLB Scores, Standings, Box Scores for Thursday, August 16, 1973 - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  5. ^ "Joe Pepitone Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on January 29, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  6. ^ "Jerry Tabb Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  7. ^ "Dave Geisel Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on February 12, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  8. ^ "Mike Krukow Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on February 15, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  9. ^ "Joe Wallis Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on February 11, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  10. ^ a b "Rico Carty Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on March 28, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  11. ^ "Pat Bourque Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2018.

References

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