1973 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1973 Pittsburgh Pirates
1973 Pittsburgh Pirates
Division	Eastern Division
Ballpark	Three Rivers Stadium
City	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Record	80–82 (.494)
Owners	John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Bing Crosby, Thomas P. Johnson (minority shareholders)
Managers	Bill Virdon; Danny Murtaugh
Television	KDKA-TV; Bob Prince, Nellie King
Radio	KDKA; Bob Prince, Nellie King

The 1973 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 92nd season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 87th in the National League. The Pirates finished third in the National League East with a record of 80–82.

Offseason

October 25, 1972: Gene Garber was traded by the Pirates to the Kansas City Royals for Jim Rooker.^[2]
November 25, 1972: Dick Sharon was traded by the Pirates to the Detroit Tigers for Jim Foor and Norm McRae.^[3]
December 31, 1972: Roberto Clemente killed in an airplane crash.^[4]
April 2, 1973: Charlie Sands was traded by the Pirates to the Detroit Tigers for Chris Zachary.^[5]

Regular season

Season standings

v t e NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Mets	82	79	0.509	—	43–38	39–41
St. Louis Cardinals	81	81	0.500	1½	43–38	38–43
Pittsburgh Pirates	80	82	0.494	2½	41–40	39–42
Montreal Expos	79	83	0.488	3½	43–38	36–45
Chicago Cubs	77	84	0.478	5	41–39	36–45
Philadelphia Phillies	71	91	0.438	11½	38–43	33–48

Record vs. opponents

1973 National League record v t e 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	—

Game log

1973 Game Log: 80–82 (Home: 41–40; Away: 39–42)

April: 8–7 (Home: 4–4; Away: 4–3)

May: 13–14 (Home: 7–7; Away: 6–7)

June: 13–18 (Home: 9–9; Away: 4–9)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
43	June 1	Reds	9–6	Blass (3–3)	Sprague	Giusti (6)	24,213	22–21
44	June 2	Reds	4–3	Ellis (5–5)	Billingham	Giusti (7)	19,212	23–21
45	June 3	Reds	1–5	Carroll	Walker (2–3)	Borbon	22,450	23–22
46	June 4	Giants	2–7	Bradley	Moose (4–5)	—	12,570	23–23
47	June 5	Giants	2–3	Bryant	Briles (3–6)	Moffitt	14,975	23–24
48	June 6	Giants	7–9	Williams	Rooker (1–1)	Moffitt	13,884	23–25
49	June 8	@ Astros	3–4	Forsch	Ellis (5–6)	Ray	25,486	23–26
50	June 9	@ Astros	4–1	Moose (5–5)	Wilson	—	29,716	24–26
51	June 10	@ Astros	1–7	Reuss	Briles (3–7)	—	23,057	24–27
52	June 11	@ Braves	7–9	Morton	Blass (3–4)	Schueler	6,878	24–28
53	June 12	@ Braves	2–4	Niekro	Walker (2–4)	—	10,418	24–29
54	June 13	@ Braves	3–18	Reed	Ellis (5–7)	—	9,553	24–30
55	June 15	@ Reds	0–6	Norman	Moose (5–6)	—	27,029	24–31
56	June 16	@ Reds	5–0	Briles (4–7)	Gullett	—	39,106	25–31
57	June 17	@ Reds	1–3	Billingham	Walker (2–5)	Hall		25–32
58	June 17	@ Reds	1–5	Grimsley	Dettore (0–1)	—	50,232	25–33
59	June 18	Cubs	3–1	Ellis (6–7)	Jenkins	—	11,470	26–33
60	June 19	Cubs	3–6	Gura	Johnson (1–1)	Aker		26–34
61	June 19	Cubs	4–3	Giusti (4–0)	Locker	—	28,256	27–34
62	June 20	Cubs	3–5	Reuschel	Briles (4–8)	Aker	17,895	27–35
63	June 21	Mets	2–1	Walker (3–5)	Capra	—	10,099	28–35
64	June 22	Mets	4–5	Stone	Blass (3–5)	—	21,129	28–36
65	June 23	Mets	3–2 (10)	Hernandez (2–2)	Hennigan	—	24,337	29–36
66	June 24	Mets	2–5	Seaver	Moose (5–7)	—	20,984	29–37
67	June 25	@ Expos	8–6	Giusti (5–0)	McAnally	—		30–37
68	June 25	@ Expos	3–1	Briles (5–8)	Strohmayer	—	24,402	31–37
69	June 26	@ Expos	3–10	Stoneman	Walker (3–6)	Marshall	12,806	31–38
70	June 27	Cardinals	4–15	Cleveland	Rooker (1–2)	—	33,041	31–39
71	June 28	Cardinals	6–0	Ellis (7–7)	Wise	—	34,471	32–39
72	June 29	Expos	4–0	Moose (6–7)	McAnally	—	26,638	33–39
73	June 30	Expos	5–1	Briles (6–8)	Moore	Hernandez (3)	11,676	34–39

July: 17–12 (Home: 9–4; Away: 8–8)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
74	July 1	Expos	6–2	Walker (4–6)	Stoneman	Johnson (1)		35–39
75	July 1	Expos	8–4	Rooker (2–2)	Torrez	Giusti (8)	24,984	36–39
76	July 3	@ Cardinals	0–4	Wise	Ellis (7–8)	—		36–40
77	July 3	@ Cardinals	6–7	Folkers	Blass (3–6)	Segui	28,449	36–41
78	July 4	@ Cardinals	3–11	Murphy	Moose (6–8)	—	12,671	36–42
79	July 5	@ Cardinals	3–2	Briles (7–8)	Pena	—	14,652	37–42
80	July 6	@ Dodgers	2–3	Sutton	Walker (4–7)	—	28,011	37–43
81	July 7	@ Dodgers	6–8	Rau	Lamb (0–1)	Brewer	33,197	37–44
82	July 8	@ Dodgers	2–3 (12)	Richert	Giusti (5–1)	—	24,144	37–45
83	July 10	@ Padres	4–3	Johnson (2–1)	Troedson	Lamb (1)	12,233	38–45
84	July 11	@ Padres	10–2	Briles (8–8)	Arlin	—	4,763	39–45
85	July 12	@ Padres	4–0	Walker (5–7)	Kirby	—	2,865	40–45
86	July 13	@ Giants	2–5	Bradley	Ellis (7–9)	—	10,842	40–46
87	July 14	@ Giants	7–2	Rooker (3–2)	Bryant	—	9,458	41–46
88	July 15	@ Giants	0–12	Marichal	Moose (6–9)	—	12,851	41–47
89	July 16	Dodgers	0–1	Sutton	Briles (8–9)	—	16,570	41–48
90	July 17	Dodgers	4–8	Messersmith	Walker (5–8)	Brewer	17,389	41–49
91	July 18	Dodgers	3–2	Ellis (8–9)	John	Giusti (9)	24,248	42–49
92	July 20	Padres	5–4 (10)	Giusti (6–1)	Caldwell	—		43–49
93	July 20	Padres	7–0	Rooker (4–2)	Troedson	—	25,832	44–49
94	July 22	Padres	3–1	Briles (9–9)	Arlin	Giusti (10)		45–49
95	July 22	Padres	13–7	Walker (6–8)	Kirby	Lamb (2)	22,425	46–49
96	July 26	@ Cubs	3–2	Ellis (9–9)	Reuschel	Giusti (11)	35,770	47–49
97	July 27	@ Cubs	10–6	Briles (10–9)	Gura	Giusti (12)	22,045	48–49
98	July 28	Phillies	0–5	Twitchell	Rooker (4–3)	—	14,630	48–50
99	July 29	Phillies	5–2	Hernandez (3–2)	Ruthven	—		49–50
100	July 29	Phillies	5–2	Walker (7–8)	Lersch	Giusti (13)	26,947	50–50
101	July 30	Phillies	0–1	Carlton	Moose (6–10)	—	17,220	50–51
102	July 31	@ Mets	4–1	Ellis (10–9)	Koosman	Hernandez (4)	24,322	51–51

August: 14–14 (Home: 7–6; Away: 7–8)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
103	August 1	@ Mets	0–3	Seaver	Blass (3–7)	—		51–52
104	August 1	@ Mets	2–5	Stone	Briles (10–10)	Parker	27,189	51–53
105	August 2	@ Mets	1–5	Sadecki	Rooker (4–4)	McGraw	13,429	51–54
106	August 3	@ Phillies	3–1	Morlan (1–0)	Carlton	Hernandez (5)	24,152	52–54
107	August 4	@ Phillies	5–11	Brett	Walker (7–9)	—		52–55
108	August 4	@ Phillies	11–4	Hernandez (4–2)	Lonborg	—	48,294	53–55
109	August 5	@ Phillies	4–1	Ellis (11–9)	Twitchell	Giusti (14)	31,157	54–55
110	August 7	Astros	0–2	Wilson	Briles (10–11)	—	13,841	54–56
111	August 8	Astros	4–3	Rooker (5–4)	Roberts	Johnson (2)	15,745	55–56
112	August 10	Braves	4–5	Niekro	Ellis (11–10)	—	25,781	55–57
113	August 11	Braves	3–9	Harrison	Morlan (1–1)	House	21,365	55–58
114	August 12	Braves	5–2	Moose (7–10)	Schueler	—	28,718	56–58
115	August 13	Reds	3–2	Briles (11–11)	Norman	Giusti (15)	15,396	57–58
116	August 14	Reds	4–5	Carroll	Hernandez (4–3)	Hall	17,841	57–59
117	August 15	Reds	0–1	Billingham	Ellis (11–11)	—	20,903	57–60
118	August 17	Giants	3–5	Bryant	Moose (7–11)	Sosa	15,789	57–61
119	August 18	Giants	6–5	Briles (12–11)	Barr	Giusti (16)	19,569	58–61
120	August 19	Giants	5–0	Rooker (6–4)	Marichal	—	23,640	59–61
121	August 20	@ Astros	2–10	Richard	Ellis (11–12)	—	11,057	59–62
122	August 21	@ Astros	6–3	Morlan (2–1)	Wilson	—	11,094	60–62
123	August 22	@ Astros	4–0	Moose (8–11)	Griffin	—	10,746	61–62
124	August 24	@ Braves	2–3	Devine	Giusti (6–2)	—	15,680	61–63
125	August 25	@ Braves	6–5 (11)	Giusti (7–2)	Neibauer	—	20,103	62–63
126	August 26	@ Braves	6–8	Harrison	Ellis (11–13)	Devine	26,113	62–64
127	August 28	@ Reds	8–3	Moose (9–11)	Grimsley	Johnson (3)	31,729	63–64
128	August 29	@ Reds	3–5	Billingham	Briles (12–12)	—	30,032	63–65
129	August 31	Cubs	7–0	Rooker (7–4)	Reuschel	—		64–65
130	August 31	Cubs	5–2	Johnson (3–1)	Jenkins	Hernandez (6)	35,884	65–65

September: 15–16 (Home: 5–9; Away: 10–7)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
131	September 1	Cubs	1–0	Giusti (8–2)	Hooton	—	13,484	66–65
132	September 2	Cubs	3–5	Locker	Hernandez (4–4)	—	19,130	66–66
133	September 3	Cardinals	5–4 (13)	Giusti (9–2)	Fisher	—		67–66
134	September 3	Cardinals	3–8	Folkers	Walker (7–10)	Pena	43,839	67–67
135	September 4	Cardinals	2–4	Andrews	Rooker (7–5)	Hrabosky	16,280	67–68
136	September 5	Cardinals	3–5	Foster	Morlan (2–2)	Segui	18,894	67–69
137	September 7	@ Phillies	10–8	Johnson (4–1)	Scarce	Hernandez (7)	15,233	68–69
138	September 8	@ Phillies	5–3	Moose (10–11)	Carlton	Giusti (17)	16,320	69–69
139	September 9	@ Phillies	7–8	Scarce	Johnson (4–2)	—	14,356	69–70
140	September 10	@ Cubs	11–3	Rooker (8–5)	Reuschel	—	7,255	70–70
141	September 11	@ Cubs	0–2	Hooton	Blass (3–8)	—	8,516	70–71
142	September 12	@ Cubs	4–2	Kison (1–0)	Paul	Giusti (18)	9,857	71–71
143	September 13	@ Cubs	6–1	Moose (11–11)	Pappas	Hernandez (8)	7,375	72–71
144	September 14	@ Cardinals	3–1	Briles (13–12)	Cleveland	Hernandez (9)	32,630	73–71
145	September 15	@ Cardinals	7–4	Rooker (9–5)	Nagy	Hernandez (10)	28,219	74–71
146	September 16	@ Cardinals	3–7	Foster	Walker (7–11)	Hrabosky	31,938	74–72
147	September 17	Mets	10–3	Kison (2–0)	Seaver	Zachary (1)	15,000	75–72
148	September 18	Mets	5–6	McGraw	Hernandez (4–5)	Capra	12,336	75–73
149	September 19	@ Mets	3–7	Stone	Briles (13–13)	McGraw	29,240	75–74
150	September 20	@ Mets	3–4 (13)	Sadecki	Walker (7–12)	—	24,855	75–75
151	September 21	@ Mets	2–10	Seaver	Blass (3–9)	—	51,381	75–76
152	September 23	@ Expos	6–3	Kison (3–0)	Stoneman	Hernandez (11)		76–76
153	September 23	@ Expos	7–4	Ellis (12–13)	Torrez	Giusti (19)	26,178	77–76
154	September 24	@ Expos	4–5	Renko	Moose (11–12)	Marshall		77–77
155	September 24	@ Expos	3–0	Briles (14–13)	McAnally	Giusti (20)	20,168	78–77
156	September 25	Phillies	1–2	Carlton	Rooker (9–6)	—	13,312	78–78
157	September 26	Phillies	13–2	Moose (12–12)	Lonborg	Johnson (4)	8,991	79–78
158	September 27	Phillies	2–3 (13)	Culver	Zachary (0–1)	Wallace	11,577	79–79
159	September 28	Expos	2–3	Marshall	Ellis (12–14)	—	27,804	79–80
160	September 29	Expos	4–6	Rogers	McKee (0–1)	Marshall	9,816	79–81
161	September 30	Expos	10–2	Rooker (10–6)	McAnally	—	33,376	80–81

October: 0–1 (Home: 0–1; Away: 0–0)

Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Pirates team member

Opening Day lineup


Opening Day Starters
Name	Position
Rennie Stennett	2B
Manny Sanguillén	RF
Al Oliver	CF
Willie Stargell	LF
Bob Robertson	1B
Richie Hebner	3B
Gene Alley	SS
Milt May	C
Steve Blass	SP

^[6]

Notable transactions

May 4, 1973: Jerry McNertney was purchased by the Pirates from the Oakland Athletics.^[7]
May 24, 1973: Chuck Goggin was sold by the Pirates to the Atlanta Braves.^[8]
June 5, 1973: Steve Nicosia was chosen by the Pirates in the 1st round of the 1973 Major League Baseball draft.^[9]^{[circular reference]}
June 17, 1973: Rick Langford was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates.^[10]
July 5, 1973: Jerry McNertney was released by the Pirates.^[7]
July 7, 1973: Dal Maxvill was purchased by the Pirates from the Oakland Athletics.^[11]
July 31, 1973: Vic Davalillo was sold by the Pirates to the Oakland Athletics.^[12]
September 7, 1973: Bill Virdon was fired as Manager of the Pirates, replaced by Danny Murtaugh.^[13]^{[circular reference]}

Roster

1973 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

4 Jim Campanis

Manager

40 Danny Murtaugh
41 Bill Virdon

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
C	Manny Sanguillén	149	589	166	.282	12	65
SS	Dal Maxvill	74	217	41	.189	0	17

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
Fernando González	37	49	11	.224	1	5
Jerry McNertney	9	4	1	.250	0	0

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
Nelson Briles	33	218.2	14	13	2.84	94
Steve Blass	23	88.2	3	9	9.85	27

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

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
John Lamb	22	0	1	2	6.07	11

Awards and honors

1973 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Charleston Charlies	International League	Joe Morgan
AA	Sherbrooke Pirates	Eastern League	Tim Murtaugh
A	Salem Pirates	Carolina League	Steve Demeter
A	Charleston Pirates	Western Carolinas League	Chuck Cottier
A-Short Season	Niagara Falls Pirates	New York–Penn League	Woody Huyke
Rookie	GCL Pirates	Gulf Coast League	Ed Napoleon

Notes

^ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
^ Jim Rooker at "Baseball Almanac"
^ Norm McRae at "Baseball Almanac"
^ Roberto Clemente at "Baseball Almanac"
^ Chris Zachary at "Baseball Almanac"
^ 1973 Opening Day lineup at "Baseball-Almanac"
^ ^a ^b Jerry McNertney at Baseball Reference
^ Chuck Goggin at Baseball Almanac
^ Steve Nicosia
^ Rick Langford at Baseball Reference
^ Dal Maxvill at Baseball Reference
^ Vic Davalillo at Baseball Almanac
^ Bill Virdon

References

1973 Pittsburgh Pirates at Baseball Reference
1973 Pittsburgh Pirates at Baseball Almanac
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.

[1] From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.

[2] Jim Rooker at "Baseball Almanac"

[3] Norm McRae at "Baseball Almanac"

[4] Roberto Clemente at "Baseball Almanac"

[5] Chris Zachary at "Baseball Almanac"

[6] 1973 Opening Day lineup at "Baseball-Almanac"

[mcnertney-7] Jerry McNertney at Baseball Reference

[8] Chuck Goggin at Baseball Almanac

[9] Steve Nicosia

[10] Rick Langford at Baseball Reference

[11] Dal Maxvill at Baseball Reference

[12] Vic Davalillo at Baseball Almanac

[13] Bill Virdon

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