1973 Minnesota Twins season

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

1973 Minnesota Twins
81–81, third in the AL Western Division
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General manager(s)Calvin Griffith
Manager(s)Frank Quilici
Local televisionWCCO-TV
(Ray Scott, Ralph Fritz)
Local radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Ray Christensen)
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Offseason

Regular season

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), 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
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 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats
= Indicates team leader

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
CGeorge Mitterwald125432112.2591664
1BJoe Lis10325362.245925
2BRod Carew149580203.350662
SSDanny Thompson9934778.225136
3BSteve Braun115361102.283642
LFJim Holt132441131.2971158
CFLarry Hisle143545148.2721564
RFBobby Darwin145560141.2521890
DHTony Oliva146571166.2911692

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
Jerry Terrell124438116.265132
Steve Brye9227873.263633
Harmon Killebrew6924860.242532
Phil Roof4711723.197115
Eric Soderholm3511133.29719
Danny Walton379617.17748
Dan Monzon397617.22404
Mike Adams556614.21236
Craig Kusick154812.25004
Glenn Borgmann12349.26509
Rich Reese22234.17413

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
Bert Blyleven4032520172.52258
Jim Kaat29181.211124.4193
Joe Decker29170.110104.17109
Dick Woodson23141.11083.9553
Danny Fife1051.2324.3518

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
Bill Hands391427103.4978
Dave Goltz32106.1645.2565
Eddie Bane2360.1054.9242

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
Ray Corbin5185143.0383
Bill Campbell283373.1442
Ken Sanders272486.0919
Vic Albury141002.7013
Jim Strickland701011.816

Farm system
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
  1. 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
  • 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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