1973 Major League Baseball season

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}

{{MLBseason|year=1973}}

{{Infobox sports season

| title = 1973 MLB season

| league = Major League Baseball

| sport = Baseball

| duration = April 5 – October 21, 1973

| no_of_games = 162

| no_of_teams = 24

| TV = NBC

| draft = Draft

| draft_link = 1973 Major League Baseball draft

| top_pick = David Clyde

| top_pick_link = List of first overall MLB draft picks

| picked_by = Texas Rangers

| season = Regular season

| season_champs =

| MVP = AL: Reggie Jackson (OAK)
NL: Pete Rose (CIN)

| MVP_link = Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award

| playoffs = Postseason

| playoffs_link = 1973 Major League Baseball postseason

| conf1 = AL

| conf1_link = 1973 American League Championship Series

| conf1_champ = Oakland Athletics

| conf1_runner-up = Baltimore Orioles

| conf2 = NL

| conf2_link = 1973 National League Championship Series

| conf2_champ = New York Mets

| conf2_runner-up = Cincinnati Reds

| finals = World Series

| finals_link = 1973 World Series

| finals_champ = Oakland Athletics

| finals_runner-up = New York Mets

| World_Series_MVP = Reggie Jackson (OAK)

| World_Series_MVP_link = World Series Most Valuable Player Award

| seasonslist = List of MLB seasons

| seasonslistnames = MLB

| prevseason_link = 1972 Major League Baseball season

| prevseason_year = 1972

| nextseason_link = 1974 Major League Baseball season

| nextseason_year = 1974

}}

{{MLB Team Maps (1973)}}

The 1973 Major League Baseball season was the first season of the designated hitter rule in the American League.[https://sabr.org/research/historical-evolution-designated-hitter-rule "The Historical Evolution of the Designated Hitter Rule,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200601030711/https://sabr.org/research/historical-evolution-designated-hitter-rule |date=June 1, 2020 }} Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), John Cronin, Fall 2016.

American League umpires began wearing burgundy blazers with blue pants, a change from the navy blue coats and gray pants worn the previous five seasons ({{mlby|1968}}–{{mlby|1972}}). The burgundy blazers were worn through {{mlby|1979}}.

California Angels ace Nolan Ryan broke Sandy Koufax's {{mlby|1965}} strikeout record of 382 when he struck out 383 batters during the season.

The Oakland Athletics won their second straight World Series championship in seven games over the New York Mets.

The Kansas City Royals moved from Municipal Stadium to the new Royals Stadium (adjacent to the Chiefs' football facility) and also hosted the All-Star Game on July 24 with the NL defeating the AL, 7–1.

The New York Yankees played their final season at the original Yankee Stadium; it was closed for remodeling during the 1974 and 1975 seasons.

In California on June 19, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds and Willie Davis of the Los Angeles Dodgers both collected their 2000th career hit. Rose singled against the San Francisco Giants while Davis hit a home run against the Atlanta Braves.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GiJJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=u4MMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5006%2C1788043 |work=Youngstown Vindicator |location=(Ohio) |agency=Associated Press |title=Rose gets 2,000th hit, Norman blanks Giants |date=June 20, 1973 |page=29 }}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=a6lVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6eADAAAAIBAJ&pg=5261%2C4998238 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=Associated Press |title=Phils triumph as Lonborg, Schmidt lead |date=June 20, 1973 |page=3B}}

A lockout in the offseason (February 8–25) did not result in any regular season games being canceled, but the start of spring training was delayed.{{cite web |url=https://mlbcollectivebargainingagreement.blogspot.com/2010/08/lockout-of-1973.html |title=The Lockout of 1973 |website=MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement |via=Blogspot |date=August 5, 2010 |accessdate=December 2, 2021}}