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
League	National League
Division	East
Ballpark	Wrigley Field
City	Chicago
Owners	Philip K. Wrigley
General managers	John Holland
Managers	Whitey Lockman
Television	WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse, Jim West)
Radio	WGN (Vince Lloyd, Lou Boudreau)
Stats	ESPN.com Baseball Reference
Seasons

Offseason

• October 27, 1972: Elrod Hendricks was traded by the Cubs to the Baltimore Orioles for Frank Estrada.

Regular season

After a strong finish to the 1972 season, 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. 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. 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

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	1½	43‍–‍38	38‍–‍43
Pittsburgh Pirates	80	82	.494	2½	41‍–‍40	39‍–‍42
Montreal Expos	79	83	.488	3½	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

1973 National League record 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

• May 19, 1973: Joe Pepitone was traded by the Cubs to the Atlanta Braves for Andre Thornton.
• June 5, 1973: 1973 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Jerry Tabb was drafted by the Cubs in the 1st round (16th pick).
  • Dave Geisel was drafted by the Cubs in the 5th round.
  • Mike Krukow was drafted by the Cubs in the 8th round. Player signed June 10, 1973.
  • Joe Wallis was drafted by the Cubs in the 6th round.
• August 13, 1973: Rico Carty was purchased by the Cubs from the Texas Rangers.
• August 29, 1973: Pat Bourque was traded by the Cubs to the Oakland Athletics for Gonzalo Márquez.
• September 11, 1973: Rico Carty was purchased from the Cubs by the Oakland Athletics.

Roster

1973 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers 38 Jack Aker 33 Bill Bonham 34 Ray Burris 40 Larry Gura 44 Burt Hooton 31 Ferguson Jenkins 17 Dave LaRoche 36 Bob Locker 32 Milt Pappas 35 Mike Paul 46 Juan Pizarro 48 Rick Reuschel		Catchers  9 Randy Hundley  8 Tom Lundstedt 15 Ken Rudolph Infielders 18 Glenn Beckert 19 Pat Bourque 23 Carmen Fanzone 28 Jim Hickman 11 Don Kessinger 42 Tony La Russa 19 Gonzalo Márquez  8 Joe Pepitone 22 Paul Popovich 29 Dave Rosello 10 Ron Santo 12 Andre Thornton		Outfielders 42 Matt Alexander  1 José Cardenal 43 Rico Carty 25 Adrian Garrett 21 Gene Hiser 24 Cleo James 25 Pete LaCock  7 Rick Monday 26 Billy Williams		Manager 16 Whitey Lockman Coaches  2 Bobby Adams  4 Hank Aguirre 14 Ernie Banks  3 Larry Jansen 27 Pete Reiser

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	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

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

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
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

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

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

See also: Minor League Baseball

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

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.
• 1973 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference