2013 Major League Baseball season

2013 MLB season
League	Major League Baseball
Sport	Baseball
Duration	March 31, 2013 – September 29, 2013
Regular season
Season MVP	AL : NL:
League Postseason
World Series
MLB seasons
← 2012 2014 →

The 2013 Major League Baseball season started on March 31 with a Sunday night game between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros. Opening Day for most clubs was a day later on April 1. The season is scheduled to end on September 29.

The 2013 season is the first with the Houston Astros as a member of the American League (AL) in the West Division. This marks the first growth in the number of American League teams since the 1977 Major League Baseball expansion added the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays. When the then-named Tampa Bay Devil Rays were added to the AL in 1998, the Milwaukee Brewers were reassigned to the National League (NL) the same year, keeping the AL at 14 teams. Owing to the Astros' league switch, both leagues have fifteen teams, necessitating inter-league games to be played throughout the entire season for the first time in MLB history.

The Major League Baseball All-Star Game's 84th edition will be held on July 16 at Citi Field in Queens, New York City, home of the New York Mets. The winning league will once again receive home-field advantage during the World Series, something that has happened since the 2003 season.

Standings

American League

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	26	16	0.619	—	14–9	12–7
Boston Red Sox	25	17	0.595	1	13–10	12–7
Baltimore Orioles	23	18	0.561	2½	9–9	14–9
Tampa Bay Rays	21	20	0.512	4½	14–8	7–12
Toronto Blue Jays	17	25	0.405	9	9–12	8–13

AL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cleveland Indians	23	17	0.575	—	12–8	11–9
Detroit Tigers	23	17	0.575	—	13–7	10–10
Kansas City Royals	20	18	0.526	2	10–8	10–10
Chicago White Sox	19	21	0.475	4	8–9	11–12
Minnesota Twins	18	20	0.474	4	9–11	9–9

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Texas Rangers	27	15	0.643	—	12–5	15–10
Oakland Athletics	21	22	0.488	6½	11–10	10–12
Seattle Mariners	20	22	0.476	7	11–9	9–13
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	15	27	0.357	12	8–13	7–14
Houston Astros	11	31	0.262	16	6–16	5–15

National League

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Atlanta Braves	23	18	0.561	—	10–5	13–13
Washington Nationals	23	19	0.548	½	12–9	11–10
Philadelphia Phillies	20	22	0.476	3½	10–11	10–11
New York Mets	16	23	0.410	6	9–12	7–11
Miami Marlins	11	31	0.262	12½	5–15	6–16

NL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	27	14	0.659	—	13–7	14–7
Cincinnati Reds	25	17	0.595	2½	16–6	9–11
Pittsburgh Pirates	25	17	0.595	2½	14–8	11–9
Chicago Cubs	17	24	0.415	10	9–13	8–11
Milwaukee Brewers	16	24	0.400	10½	10–11	6–13

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Arizona Diamondbacks	24	18	0.571	—	12–11	12–7
San Francisco Giants	24	18	0.571	—	15–7	9–11
Colorado Rockies	22	20	0.524	2	12–8	10–12
San Diego Padres	18	23	0.439	5½	10–10	8–13
Los Angeles Dodgers	17	23	0.425	6	11–13	6–10

Rule changes

Several minor rule changes have been scheduled to take effect for the 2013 season. As of January 14, 2013, these changes have been approved by MLB owners; unless otherwise noted, they will also need the approval of the players' union.

• When visiting the pitcher's mound, managers and coaches will be allowed to bring interpreters for the benefit of pitchers not fluent in English.
• Teams will be allowed to have seven uniformed coaches in the dugout, up from six last season. This change came about after many teams hired second hitting coaches.
• The pickoff move in which a right-handed pitcher fakes to third base and throws to first base would be considered a balk. This new rule had been approved by MLB's senior committee for the 2012 season, but the union voted against it pending further discussion. This change can be implemented for 2013 without the union's approval, but an ESPN report indicated that the owners hoped that the players would agree to the change.

Managerial changes

Field managers

Off-season

At the end of the 2012 season, the following teams made replacements to their managers.

Team	Former manager	Interim manager	Reason for leaving	New manager	Story/Accomplishments
Boston Red Sox	Bobby Valentine	N/A	Fired	John Farrell	Valentine was dismissed from the Red Sox after one season on October 4, 2012. On October 21, the Red Sox officially announced Farrell as their new manager. Farrell was Boston's pitching coach from 2007-2010 and was manager of the Toronto Blue Jays from 2011-2012.
Cleveland Indians	Manny Acta	Sandy Alomar, Jr.	Fired	Terry Francona	Acta was fired September 27, 2012 after three seasons with a record of 216-266 (.448). The Indians struggled throughout the second half of the 2012 season falling from playoff contention in July to the worst record in the American League. On October 6, the Indians hired Francona, who managed the Boston Red Sox from 2004-2011, and won World Series championships with the Red Sox in 2004 and 2007.
Colorado Rockies	Jim Tracy	N/A	Resigned	Walt Weiss	Tracy resigned his post as manager after four seasons October 7, 2012. On November 7, 2012, the Rockies hired Walt Weiss as their new manager
Houston Astros	Brad Mills	Tony DeFrancesco	Fired	Bo Porter	On September 27, 2012, the Astros announced that the Washington Nationals third-base coach will become the manager of the Astros after the Nationals finish their postseason run.
Miami Marlins	Ozzie Guillén	N/A	Fired	Mike Redmond	On October 23, 2012, the Marlins fired Guillén one season into a four-year $10 million contract. They finished with a 69–93 record. On November 1, 2012, the Marlins hired Mike Redmond as their new manager.
Toronto Blue Jays	John Farrell	N/A	Traded to Red Sox	John Gibbons	On October 21, 2012, the Blue Jays officially announced that they had released Farrell from his contract in the same agreement that sent David Carpenter to the Red Sox in exchange for Mike Aviles. On November 20, 2012, Gibbons was named Blue Jays next manager.

Scheduling changes

The Houston Astros' move to the American League West created two 15-team leagues each separated into three five-team divisions. With an odd number of teams in each league, interleague games will be played nearly every day during the season (with the only exception being when not every team has a game). For this season, each team will play 20 interleague games (up from 15-18 games in 2012) in eight series. Each team will play one three-game series against four teams from one division in the other league, and two two-game series (one home, one away) against the remaining team in that division (for 2013 the match-ups are AL East vs. NL West, AL Central vs. NL East, and AL West vs. NL Central, meaning the changes of the Astros and the small increase in interleague play will not affect the yearly rotation, also the Astros will play all of their former NL Central rivals in 2013). The remaining four games will be played against a team's "natural rival" in two back-to-back two-game series from May 27–30. Teams will play in one city May 27 and 28, then travel to the other city for games on May 29 and 30. It will be the first season that every team has an interleague rivalry, according to the table below, with new rivalries for this season shown in italics.

AL East	NL East	AL Central	NL Central	AL West	NL West
Red Sox	Phillies	White Sox	Cubs	Mariners	Padres
Yankees	Mets	Indians	Reds	Angels	Dodgers
Blue Jays	Braves	Tigers	Pirates	Athletics	Giants
Rays	Marlins	Twins	Brewers	Rangers	D-backs
Orioles	Nationals	Royals	Cardinals	Astros	Rockies

The remaining 142 games will be played within the league. Each team will play its four division rivals 19 games (up from 15-18 in 2012) for a total of 76 games. Each team will play either 6 or 7 games against the ten teams in the two other divisions in its league, for a total of 66 games. In 2012, these season series ranged anywhere from five to ten games, creating large disparities between teams' strengths of schedule.

Aside from the natural rivalries, teams from the same division will play the same opponents for roughly the same number of games. The only variation occurs in interleague match-ups (either 3 or 4 games) and same-league interdivision match-ups (either 6 or 7 games).

League leaders

(updated through May 15)

American League

Hitting leaders Stat Player Total AVG James Loney (TB) .379 HR Chris Davis (BAL) Edwin Encarnacion (TOR) Mark Reynolds (CLE) 11 RBI Miguel Cabrera (DET) 41 R Austin Jackson (DET) 33 H Manny Machado (BAL) 59 SB Jacoby Ellsbury (BOS) 12

Pitching leaders Stat Player Total W Matt Moore (TB) 7 L Philip Humber (HOU) 8 ERA Felix Hernandez (SEA) 1.53 K Yu Darvish (TEX) 80 IP Felix Hernandez (SEA) 64.2 SV Mariano Rivera (NYY) 16

National League

Hitting leaders Stat Player Total AVG Chris Gomez (MIL) .365 HR Justin Upton (ATL) 13 RBI Brandon Phillips (CIN) 34 R Shin-Soo Choo (CIN) 33 H Gerardo Parra (ARI) Jean Segura (MIL) 51 SB Jean Segura (MIL) 13

Pitching leaders Stat Player Total W Jordan Zimmermann (WAS) 7 L Cole Hamels (PHI) Alex Sanabia (MIA) 6 ERA Clayton Kershaw (LAD) 1.40 K A.J. Burnett (PIT) 72 IP Clayton Kershaw (LAD) 64.1 SV Jason Grilli (PIT) 16

Milestones

Reached

Batters

• Bryce Harper (WAS):
  • Became the youngest player in Major League history to hit two home runs in the first game of the season by hitting his home runs off of the Miami Marlins Ricky Nolasco.

• Todd Frazier/Zack Cozart (CIN):
  • Each player hit two home runs in the Reds' win on April 5 against the Washington Nationals to become the first starting shortstop and third baseman to have a multiple-homer game in franchise history.

• Chris Davis (BAL)
  • Became just the fourth player in Major League history to start the season off with four homers in as many games.

• Albert Pujols (LAA):
  • Recorded his 1000th career extra-base hit with a double in the fifth inning against the Oakland Athletics on April 10. He became the 36th player to reach this mark and with the fifth fewest at-bats.

• Chris Davis/John Buck:
  • With 19 RBI, Buck and Davis have tied a Major League record for most RBIs in a team's first ten games of a season, established by Lou Gehrig for the 1927 Yankees and tied by Manny Ramirez for the Indians in 1999.

• Aaron Hicks (MIN):
  • With his 20 strikeouts in his first ten games of his career, Hicks tied a Major League record for most strikeouts by a rookie through his first ten career games. He tied the record that was set in 2012 by Brett Jackson.

• B.J. Upton/Justin Upton (ATL):
  • Became the second pair of brothers to hit back-to-back home run in Major League history in the fifth inning against the Colorado Rockies on April 23. They join the Waner brothers, Lloyd and Paul, who did it on September 15, 1938.

• John Buck (NYM):
  • With his ninth home run on April 29 against the Miami Marlins, Buck tied the Major League record for most home runs by a catcher before the end of April. He tied the record set by Johnny Bench in 1971 and Charles Johnson in 2001.

• Juan Pierre (MIA):
  • Recorded his 600th stolen base by stealing third base in the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies on May 2. He became the 18th player to reach that mark.

Pitching

• Texas Rangers:
  • Became the first team since 1900 to allow no runs and register 15 or more strikeouts in consecutive games. They accomplished this feat against the Houston Astros on April 2 and April 3.

• Washington Nationals:
  • Became the 13th team since 1900 to start the season with two consecutive shutouts by blanking the Miami Marlins on April 1 and April 3.

• Joe Nathan (TEX):
  • Recorded his 300th career save by closing out a 5–4 victory against the Tampa Bay Rays on April 8. He became the 24th player to reach this mark.

• Adam Wainwright (STL):
  • Became the first pitcher in modern Major League history (since 1900) to throw a shutout with at least a dozen strikeouts and no walks allowed, while also collecting three or more hits as a batter. He did this against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 13.
  • Became the first pitcher in modern Major League history (since 1900) to accumulate over 30 strikeouts before issuing his first walk of the season. He struck out 35 batters before walking Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals on April 23.

• Matt Harvey (NYM):
  • Became the first pitcher in modern Major League history (since 1900) to win each of his first three starts of a season, with at least 25 strikeouts and six or fewer hits allowed over those three games.
  • Became the first pitcher in modern Major League history (since 1900) to win his first four starts while allowing no more than ten hits in those four starts combined.

• Roy Halladay (PHI):
  • Recorded his 200th career victory by defeating the Miami Marlins on April 14. He became the 112th player to reach this mark.

• A.J. Burnett (PIT):
  • Record his 2000th career strikeout by striking out Carlos Beltran of the St. Louis Cardinals in the second inning on April 17. He became the 68th player to reach this mark.

• Anibal Sanchez (DET):
  • Set the Tigers franchise record and interleague record for most strikeouts in a game by striking out 17 Atlanta Braves on April 26. He broke the team record of 16 that was held by Mickey Lolich on May 23, 1969 and June 9, 1969. He broke the interleague record of 16 that was held by Pedro Martinez in 1999 and Curt Schilling in 1997.

• Tim Hudson (ATL):
  • Recorded his 200th career victory by defeating the Washington Nationals on April 30. He became the 113th player to reach this mark.

• Alex Cobb (TB):
  • On May 10 against the San Diego Padres, Cobb struck out 13 in 4.6666666666667 !4²⁄₃ becoming the first pitcher in Major League history to amass that many strikeouts in a game in which he pitched fewer than five innings.

• Matt Harvey/Shelby Miller/Jon Lester/Chris Sale:
  • Sale, of the Chicago White Sox, allowed only one runner to reach base on May 12. This makes it the fourth time in the last six days that a pitcher didn't allow a run or more than one baserunner while throwing at least nine innings. The Cardinals Miller and Red Sox Lester each did that in their shutouts on May 10 and the Mets Harvey had a start like that on May 7. This is the first month in the modern era (1900 to date) in which four pitchers had starts of nine or more shutout innings with no more than one batter reaching base via hit, walk or hit by pitch.

Miscellaneous

• Houston Astros:
  • Became the first team in Major League history to strikeout at least 13 times in each of four consecutive games of one season. Houston's batters totaled 13 strikeouts on Opening Night (March 31 against the Texas Rangers), followed by 15 (April 2 vs. Rangers), 15 (April 3 vs. Rangers) and 13 (April 5 vs. Oakland Athletics) in the next three games.
  • With their 14 team strikeouts against the Oakland Athletics on April 7, they increased their season total to 74. This is the most for any major league team through its first six games of a season in the modern era (since 1900).
  • With their loss on May 14 to the Detroit Tigers, Houston's record fell to 10–30. That's the Astros' worst mark through 40 games in team history. Their previous low was 13 wins through 40 games in 1967 and 1975.

Awards and honors

Monthly Awards

Player of the Month Main article: Major League Baseball Player of the Month Award Month American League National League April Chris Davis Justin Upton May     June     July     August     September

Pitcher of the Month Main article: Major League Baseball Pitcher of the Month Month American League National League April Clay Buchholz Matt Harvey May     June     July     August     September

Rookie of the Month Main article: Major League Baseball Rookie of the Month Award Month American League National League April Justin Grimm Evan Gattis May     June     July     August     September

Uniforms

Wholesale changes

All 30 teams are wearing new batting practice caps.

The Houston Astros unveiled a new/old identity at a fan event November 2, 2012 at Minute Maid Park, as the team reverted to the orange and navy colors used from their foundation in 1962 through 1993. There are four uniforms and three hats. Houston will wear white uniforms with orange piping at home, and gray ones with blue piping on the road. There's an orange alternate jersey with blue piping that can be worn at home or on the road, as well as a blue jersey to be worn for Sunday games.

On November 14, the New York Mets introduced two new blue alternate jerseys. The home alternate features the "Mets" script, player numerals and names in orange outlined in white, while the road alternate features the "NEW YORK" script, player numerals and names in gray outlined in orange. The team also introduced a new alternate cap with a blue crown and an orange brim, with an orange "NY" logo outlined in white.

On November 19, the St. Louis Cardinals introduced an alternate uniform to be worn for Saturday home games. The uniform is off-white and the jersey features the "St. Louis" script on the front. This is the first time in 80 years the city name appears in the team's uniforms.

On December 14, the Pittsburgh Pirates introduced an alternate uniform to be worn for Sunday home games. It is the same uniform that the team wore from mid-1970 through 1976 and was worn doring their championship season of 1971. The hat that goes with this uniform is mustard gold with a black bill.

On January 24, 2013, the Chicago White Sox announced they will be wearing 1983 throwback uniforms on Sunday home games to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their 1983 division title. The uniforms replaced the 1972 red pinstriped throwbacks from last season.

On January 24, the Milwaukee Brewers promoted their special edition 'gold-out' uniforms to alternate status. The uniforms were first used on September 10, 2011 against the Phillies, but did not wear them last season. The Brewers have also worn a Latin Nights version of the gold uniform (with 'Cerveceros' wordmark) the last two seasons, and are expected to wear them again this season. They also wore a fan-designed uniform for two spring training games, featuring an updated version of the Beer Barrel Man logo in the current colors, and classic typeface design.

Throwbacks

As part of the franchise's 20th anniversary, the Colorado Rockies wore their original grey away uniforms at Coors Field on April 16 against the Mets. The uniforms, complete with the inaugural season patch, team name and purple piping, were the uniforms the Rockies used on their inaugural 1993 season. Though it was a home game, they wore the grey throwbacks to correspond to the franchise's first game at Shea Stadium. The Mets wore corresponding throwback white pinstripe uniforms with an underscore below the word 'Mets'.

The Detroit Tigers donned Detroit Stars throwbacks for Negro League tribute night against the Atlanta Braves on April 27. The Braves wore Atlanta Black Crackers throwbacks.

The Brewers wore the 1913 American Association throwbacks on May 5 against the Cardinals, who wore wear corresponding throwbacks.

The Minnesota Twins will wear the 1948 St. Paul Saints uniforms on May 30 against the Brewers. Even though the game will be held at Target Field, the Twins will wear the road grey versions of the throwbacks, while the Brewers will wear the home whites.

The Seattle Mariners will wear the 1909 Seattle Turks uniforms for their interleague matchup with the Chicago Cubs on June 29.

Other uniforms

The San Francisco Giants wore special uniforms to commemorate their 2012 World Series win on April 7. Similar to their commemoration of their 2010 World Series championship, the jerseys, instead of bearing the familiar "GIANTS" across the chest, displayed the interlocking "SF" logo on the front of the jersey's left side in gold. The Giants also wore caps with the "SF" logo also in gold.

On April 20 and 21, the Boston Red Sox wore home uniforms with "BOSTON" on the front of the jerseys instead of the familiar "RED SOX" to honor the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.

Cinco de Mayo saw two teams don Hispanic-flavored uniforms. The Giants wore their cream home uniforms with 'Gigantes' in front against the Dodgers, while the Houston Astros wore their current home uniforms with 'Los Astros' in front against the Detroit Tigers. The Cincinnati Reds wore red jerseys with 'Los Rojos' in front for their May 11 game against Milwaukee.

Patches

Anniversaries and special events

The following teams will wear commemorative patches for special occasions:

Team	Special occasion
Colorado Rockies	20th Anniversary of the franchise
New York Mets	Host city of the 2013 MLB All-Star Game
San Francisco Giants	To commemorate their 2012 World Series championship
All 30 Teams	To commemorate December 14, 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting (Opening Day series only)

Memorials

• The Baltimore Orioles are wearing a patch honoring former manager Earl Weaver, who died on January 19. The circular patch is in orange with a black and white border, with Weaver's No. 4 in black surrounding his name and Hall of Fame designation.
• The St. Louis Cardinals are wearing a patch honoring former player Stan Musial, who died on January 19. The patch features Musial's No. 6 in red with navy trim, along with his signature and a red and navy border. Three versions of the patch will be used: a white one for home uniforms, a grey one for away uniforms, and a cream one for their new alternate uniforms. These will be worn on the left sleeve.
• The Boston Red Sox sported black armbands on their right sleeve (during their road trip to Cleveland from April 16-18) to honor the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. The Red Sox and Kansas City Royals wore a patch commemorating the victims for their series on April 20 and 21 at Fenway Park. The circular patch is navy with a white border saying "B Strong", with the red B in the classic font featured on the Red Sox's caps.

Television

National

This is the seventh and final year of the current TV contracts with ESPN, Fox Sports and TBS, before the new eight-year TV contracts begin in 2014. ESPN will air games on Sundays, most Mondays, and Wednesdays, in addition to a four-game Opening Day schedule. ESPN will also air the Home Run Derby during All-Star week. TBS will carry Sunday afternoon games, along with two League Wild Card Games, League Division Series, and National League Championship Series. Fox will air games on Saturday afternoons and select Saturday nights, and will also air the All-Star Game, American League Championship Series, and World Series. The MLB Network will have a Thursday game of the week and several simulcasted games from local channels during the season.

Local

The Houston Astros switched from Fox Sports Houston to Comcast SportsNet Houston starting this season.

On March 1, 2013, Fox Sports South and SportSouth announced they have picked up 45 more Atlanta Braves games, ending the team's contract with WPCH-TV. This will be the first season in 40 years without locally produced Braves games on over-the-air TV.

This is the final season of Los Angeles Dodgers games on Prime Ticket and KCAL-TV. They will move to a new channel called SportsNet LA in 2014.

Cleveland Indians owner Larry Dolan sold SportsTime Ohio to Fox Sports Networks on December 28, 2012, and it was rebranded as Fox SportsTime Ohio on April 1, 2013.

Retirements

• Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees announced on March 9 that he will be retiring at the conclusion of the season.

Retired numbers

• Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves will have his #10 retired by the team on June 28 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He will be the 11th player to have his number retired by the Braves.

External links

• 2013 Major League Baseball season schedule
• 2013 Major League Baseball season at ESPN