The 1973

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

season was the 73rd in the franchise's history. The club finished in sixth place in the

American League East The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...

Offseason

In January,

Vernon Stouffer Vernon Bigelow Stouffer (August 22, 1901 – July 26, 1974) was an American entrepreneur, philanthropist & businessman. Stouffer graduated from The Wharton School in 1923. He was the founder and president of the Stouffer Hotels Co., Stouffer Fr ...

sold the Cleveland Indians to

Nick Mileti Nick James Mileti (born April 22, 1931) is an American author, retired lawyer, former businessman, sports entrepreneur and former sports franchise owner who was, during the 1970s, the owner of the Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Cavaliers, Clevelan ...

for $10 million. It was $1.4 million more than the group led by George Steinbrenner had offered in December 1971.

Notable transactions

* October 19, 1972:

Eddie Leon Eduardo Antonio Leon (born August 11, 1946) is a former Major League Baseball infielder of Mexican American descent, who played for eight seasons, splitting time as a shortstop and second baseman. He played for the Cleveland Indians from 1968 to ...

was traded by the Indians to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

for

Walt Williams Walter Ander "The Wizard" Williams (born April 16, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. A sharpshooting 6'8" forward/guard, Williams attended school at the University of Maryland from 1988 to 1992, and is credited by many ...

. * November 27, 1972:

Graig Nettles Graig Nettles (born August 20, 1944), nicknamed "Puff", is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman. During a 22-year baseball career, he played for the Minnesota Twins (1967–1969), Cleveland Indians (1970–1972), New York Yankee ...

and

Jerry Moses Gerald Braheen Moses (August 9, 1946 – March 27, 2018) was an American professional baseball player. A catcher, he signed a bonus contract with the Boston Red Sox in and spent his early Major League Baseball career with the Bosox, but over the ...

were traded by the Indians to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

for John Ellis,

Jerry Kenney Gerald Tennyson Kenney (born June 30, 1945) is an American former Major League Baseball infielder. He is from Beloit, Wisconsin. Baseball career The second hit of his major league career was an inside-the-park home run with the New York Yankees i ...

Charlie Spikes Leslie Charles Spikes (born January 23, 1951) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder who played from 1972 through 1980 for the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, and Atlanta Braves. He also played 26 games for the Chunichi ...

, and

Rusty Torres Rosendo "Rusty" Torres Hernández (born September 30, 1948) is a former professional baseball outfielder. He played all or part of nine seasons in Major League Baseball for five different teams. In an odd coincidence, Torres happened to be in the ...

. * November 30, 1972:

Del Unser Delbert Bernard Unser (born December 9, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder and utility player from to , most prominently with the Philadelphia Phillies, where he was ...

and Terry Wedgewood (minors) were traded by the Indians to the Philadelphia Phillies for

Oscar Gamble Oscar Charles Gamble (December 20, 1949 – January 31, 2018) was an American professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 17 seasons, from to , for seven teams: the Chicago White Sox and ...

and

Roger Freed Roger Vernon Freed (June 2, 1946 – January 9, 1996), was an American professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, Montreal Expos, and St. Louis C ...

. * November 30, 1972: Tom Ragland was traded by the Texas Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for Vince Colbert. * March 8, 1973:

Alex Johnson Alexander Johnson (December 7, 1942 – February 28, 2015) was an American professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), from to , for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, California ...

was traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for

Rich Hinton Richard Michael Hinton is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched parts of six seasons between 1971 and 1979, including three separate stints with the Chicago White Sox. Draft history Hinton was originally drafted in the 23rd round in ...

and Vince Colbert. * March 24, 1973:

Ray Fosse Raymond Earl Fosse (April 4, 1947 – October 13, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and television sports color commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher from 1967 to 1979, most prominently as an All-Sta ...

and

Jack Heidemann Jack Seale Heidemann (born July 11, 1949 in Brenham, Texas) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop between and for the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets and Milwa ...

were traded by the Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Dave Duncan and

George Hendrick George Andrew Hendrick Jr. (born October 18, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder between and , most prominently as an integral member of the St. Louis Cardinals ...

Regular season

* John Adams started to drum at

Cleveland Stadium Cleveland Stadium, commonly known as Municipal Stadium, Lakefront Stadium or Cleveland Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball a ...

on August 24, 1973, when the Indians played the Texas Rangers. Cleveland won, 11–5. Ever since, Adams has sat in the highest

bleacher Bleachers (North American English), or stands, are raised, tiered rows of benches found at sports fields and other spectator events. Stairways provide access to the horizontal rows of seats, often with every other step gaining access to a ro ...

seat in left center field with his bass drum and has been a fixture for the team.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* May 4, 1973:

was released by the Indians. * June 12, 1973:

Lowell Palmer Lowell Raymond Palmer (born August 18, 1947) is a retired American professional baseball pitcher who appeared in 106 games in Major League Baseball ( MLB) as a member of four different teams over all or portions of five seasons (– and ). Born i ...

was traded by the Indians to the

for

Mike Kekich Michael Dennis Kekich (born April 2, 1945) is an American former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners in parts of ni ...

Opening Day Lineup

Roster

Player stats

Batting

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases''

Pitching

''Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts''

Awards and honors

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition''. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

Notes

References

1973 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference1973 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
{{Cleveland Guardians Cleveland Guardians seasons Cleveland Indians season Cincinnati Indians