1973 Los Angeles Dodgers Season Review

In 1973, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Walt Alston was 61 years old. He had led the Dodgers to the World Series twice in Brooklyn (1955 and 1956) and four times in Los Angeles (1959, 1963, 1965, and 1966). However, after the retirement of Sandy Koufax in 1966, Alston had not returned to the Fall Classic for six years, his longest drought. His heir apparent, Tom Lasorda, joined the club as the third base coach in 1973 and pundits were beginning to wonder whether Alston might retire.

The Dodgers had finished in 2nd, 2nd and 3rd over the past three seasons, falling short with rent-a-superstars Dick Allen in 1971 and Frank Robinson in 1972. It was time to go with a youth movement. Longtime Dodger fan favorites Wes Parker, Maury Wills, and Jim Lefebvre departed after 1972. Speedy centerfielder Willie Davis was the only Dodger position player who had been a starter on Alston's 1966 World Series team. A blockbuster deal in the off-season sent Frank Robinson to the California Angels along with infielder Billy Grabarkewitz, pitcher Bill Singer, and promising outfield prospect Bobby Valentine for right-handed starter Andy Messersmith and third baseman Ken McMullen.

Alston penciled in this Opening Day lineup in San Diego on April 6:

P Don Sutton
C Joe Ferguson
1B Bill Buckner
2B Lee Lacy
3B Ken McMullen
SS Bill Russell
LF Manny Mota
CF Willie Davis
RF Willie Crawford

The team struggled, losing 6 of their first 7 games.

After five games, third baseman Ken McMullen had to leave the team to attend to family matters when his wife died from cancer. Rookie Ron Cey grabbed the opening and never gave McMullen his starting job back. Meanwhile, young Lee Lacy floundered in the first 16 games and quickly lost his job to Davey Lopes. In July, Buckner was moved to LF to make room for Steve Garvey at 1B and the infield of Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey was set for the next ten years. With Garvey and Cey replacing McMullen and Mota in the lineup, the team had only one player over 30
(Davis, 33).

The Dodgers jumped ahead of the Cincinnati Reds on June 17 and by July 17 had an 8 1/2 game lead in the NL West. The Big Red Machine slowly gained ground and overtook the Dodgers on Sept. 4 and never looked back, finishing ahead by 3 ½ games.

The superb 1973 Dodger pitching staff carried the team led by Sutton, 28, and Messersmith, 27.

The five man starting rotation put up impressive numbers:

Don Sutton 18-10, 2.42
Andy Messersmith 14-10, 2.70
Claude Osteen, 16-11, 3.31
Tommy John, 16-7, 3.10
Al Downing, 9-9, 3.31

Joe Ferguson and Willie Crawford had career seasons. Ferguson led the team with 25 HR and 88 RBI. Crawford hit .295 with 14 HR and 66 RBI. Rookie Ron Cey drove in 80 runs.

The team finished 95-66 in second place, but 1973 was a turning point for the franchise, setting the foundation for future success. The following year, key deals sent Claude Osteen to the Houston Astros for Jimmy Wynn and Willie Davis to the Montreal Expos for closer Mike Marshall, enabling Alston's return to the World Series in 1974. Walt Alston retired after the 1975 season, and his successor, Tom Lasorda would lead the Garvey-Lopes-Russell-Cey core to the World Series in 1977, 1978, and 1981.

Sources:

http://www.baseball-reference.com
http://retrosheet.org