1973 Oakland A's - 96-66 - 1st Pl AL West - World Champs

1973 market the midpoint in the A's dynastic run during the early 1970's.  Simply put, Oakland was the team of the early part of the decade and to many the team of the decade.  How can you argue with 5 straight division titles and 3 straight World Championships?  The A's didn't dominate the division until late in the season when KC faltered and they got their mojo.  Reggie Jackson won the MVP and Catfish won 25.  The big 3 (Catfish, Vida Blue & Kenny Holtzman) all won 20.  Fingers was stellar out of the pen.  Campy was an All-Star SS and Rudi was the backbone.  Manager Dick Williams knew how to press all the right buttons.  The only thing that could derail this juggernaut was the man who owned the team, who just couldn't stop meddling.  Thankfully for the boys in Yellow and Green their talents could always overcome his inability to leave well enough alone.  One of the reasons Finley kept sticking his 2 cents in was the team's inability to draw fans.  There is no reason why a dynastic team like this, with all of the characters you could want should finish 8th in the league in attendance and barely scrape past the 1 million mark.  The lack of gate pushed Finley to look for attention.  Still the team had enough fortitude to muscle past the Orioles in the ALCS, despite the fact that the boys from Charm City took Oakland to the brink.  Next up the upstart NY Mets, who to that point in baseball history had to be considered the worst team to ever win a pennant.  Well that "worst team" was up 3 games to 2 as the series headed back to Oakland for games 6 and 7, which the A's were able to win and capture their second consecutive championship.

I created 26 cards to complete the A's 1973 set.  Many cards were updated due to some interesting photographs that I was able to find online.

Allan Lewis was Charlie Finlay's Designated Pinch Runner.  Most people remember Herb Washington, but forget about Lewis, who was also a regular ball player and not just a runner.  Lewis had a legitimate minor league career on the AA level.  The AAA level was his talent ceiling for 4 of the tools.  Speed, the 5th tool, was major league caliber.  Lewis' final shot in baseball was in 1973.  He hit .273 in double A and didn't have an AB for the A's.  He did get into 35 games as a PR and scored 16 runs and stole 7 bases in 11 attempts.

Billy C got his nickname, because he was the kid brother of Tony C.  Bill had a couple of years for Boston where he showed flashes of greatness.  Still Boston decided to move him to Milwaukee where he hit just .230.  In 48 games for the A's in 1973 he hit an even .200 with 0 homers.  Billy C had attitude problems and a big mouth for a guy who wasn't mega talented.  He went AWOL during the '72 season with Milwaukee and retired.  His old manager Dick Williams brought him back and gave him a shot with Oakland.  Out of the gate he hit .300, but after he injured his knee and missed months due to surgery, Billy was not the same player.  He was used as a key defensive replacement during the post season and actually stole an ALCS for Oakland vs Baltimore.  Oakland released him after it looked like his knee wouldn't respond.  He tried a comeback with Boston in 1975 along with his brother and that didn't work out.  He had a great Spring Training in 1977 with Oakland, but refused to except an assignment to AAA-San Jose.

The A's virtually stole north from the Cubs for aging vet Bob Locker at the end of the '72 season.  North hit .181 for the Cubs in '72, so he was viewed by them as a failed prospect.  Most don't realize that he wasn't even the team's starting CF'er until Billy C went down.  North hit .285 and had an OBP for .376, which helped him steal 53 bases.  North led the AL twice in SB's, but he also led the league 4 times in caught stealing.  His 11 year career would end across the bay in San Fran with the Giants in 1981.

What's left to say about Catfish that hasn't already been said?  The A's ace, who reached the majors at the age of 19, was in the middle of 5 straight 20+ win seasons.  In 1973 he went 21-5, 3.34 and had 11 CG's in 36 starts.  After 3 rings in Oakland he won 2 more in the Bronx.  When it was all over for him he was rightfully elected to the HOF.

Dobson started off so strong with the A's back in their last few seasons in KC, then continued on to Oakland.  He looked poised to be their #3 or 4 starter for a long time, except for the fact that arm injuries began to take a toll on him.  After missing all of '72 he gave it a go in '73 and was only able to log 2+ innings in 1 game during the '73 season.  He spent the full season in AAA-Tucson and went 9-13, 5.23, but just couldn't make it back.  The Angels picked him up and hoped he could get healthy, but after a few seasons of shuttling between AAA-SLC and Anaheim it just didn't work out.  “I didn’t retire, I just quit,” said Dobson about the end of his playing career in 1976. In his nine-year big-league career he won 74 games, lost 69, logged 1,258⅓ innings , and posted a 3.78 ERA. He won 38 times in the minor leagues.

Johnson filled the role of DH for the '73 A's quite well hitting .246 with 19 homers after arriving from the Phillies on May 3rd for a minor leaguer.  After a really slow start in '74 he was off to Milwaukee.  His signature season was 1965 with Cincy.  It was a year that he hit .287 with 32 homers and a league leading 130 RBI's.  Johnson was a .300 hitter (3-10) in 6 games during the '73 World Series.

Thanks to the constant meddling and outrageous actions from owner Charlie Findley, Williams quit after winning his 2nd consecutive championship with the A's.  Williams had himself a great 3 year run in Oakland, but he just couldn't operated in Findley's freak show world.  In 3 seasons he went 288-190 with 3 first place finishes and 2 World Championships.

Abbott (1-0, 3.86) was promoted to the big club of a 5 game cup of Joe.  The following season saw him promoted to the rotation (5-7, 3.00 in 17 starts).  After 2 more seasons in Oakland he moved to Seattle via the expansion draft and became a staple in the Mariners rotation for 6 seasons.  He finished his career in Detroit in 1984 and got to play for another World Champion.

After playing for close to a decade in his native Venezuela Marquez "burst" on the scene with the 1972 A's hitting .281 in 23 games and  hitting .625 (5-8) in the post season as the A's one their first of 3 straight championships.  On August 29th he was traded to the Cubs for Pat Bourque.  In 19 games he hit just .224.  The following season he went 0-11 after hitting .282 in Wichita.  Not seeing much of a path to stardom as a 35 year old he played 2 seasons in Mexico and then returned to Venezuela and played 2 more years.  Tragically he died in a car crash while driving to a game.

Pina had a great '72 season with a horrible last place Texas Ranger in 1972, where he saved 15 games.  The's A's obtained him by sending Mike Epstein to Texas.  In his one season in Oakland he ws 6-3, 2.76 with 8 saves.  Oakland dealt him to the Cubs for Bob Locker after the World Series ended.  In 3 post season games for the A's he pitched 5 innings and did not yield a run.  He was the first Mexican born player to earn a World Series ring.  His sidearm style kept righties at bay, but he typically threw overhand to lefties.

Johnstone's career ran from the mid 1960's through the mid 80's encompassing 20 seasons and 8 different teams.  The longest he ever spent in one place was the 5 years he began his career with in Anaheim.  His most successful run had to be his 4 year run in Philly where he pretty much played regularly and hit .303.  1973 was a strange year for him.  After hitting .188 for the Chisox in '72 the A's to a chance that he had something left and sent him to AAA-Tucson for most of the season whee he hit .347.  When he hit just .107 in 23 games with the big club he was jettisoned for Philly where he made the post season twice.  His brief tenure in the Bronx earned him a ring.  His second ring would come in LA in '81.  Johnstone finished his career with a .267 average and 1,254 hit.

July 31, 1973 is the day that the A's purchased Alou's contract from Houston.  Alou's first taste of LS ball after 10 1/2 seasons in the NL was quite rewarding to the tune of a .306 average and great post season run.  He slipped a bit in '74 and hit just .268, but was still rewarded with his 2nd championship ring.  After being released by the Mets after the '75 season he returned home to the DR and tried to start a business, but still played winter ball to keep sharp...just in case.  Just in case he got a major league offer, which he did by the Astros where he played 2 more seasons along with his added role as batting coach.

Rudi just might have been the most underrated player in the A's dynasty's arsenal.  A slick fielder with a clutch stick Rudi had all the intangibles, which included 3 GG's and a knack for making the big play when the team needed it the most.  Curiously Topps gave him a horizontal card that included 3 players, none of which were actually him.  Rudi was a career .300 hitter in 19 World Series games.  He hit .333 in the '73 Fall Classic after hitting .270 in the regular season.

The 28 year old Morales started the season in Oakland and hit .286 in just 6 games as a DH, then was shipped to Montreal on September 18th.  He forged a 12 year career as a DH and PH, because of his less than average glove work.  At the time he was dealt to Montreal he was crushing the ball in AAA-Tucson (.355 in 76 games)

The A's had a future star on their hands, but were unwilling and unable to let the 22 year old youngster work out the kinks on the major league level in the heat of a pennant race.  In just 17 games, while Dick Green was injured, Trillo play 2B and hit .250.  He would hit just .152 the following season, which earned him a trip to Wrigley where he finished 3rd in the 1975 ROY voting.  The 3 time GG winner also played in 4 All Star games.  He was a Silver Slugger winner at 2B for the '80 championship Phillies.

Mike Andrews might be the only road player in the history of the World Series to get a standing ovation on the road.  After making some costly errors in the Series Andrews was told by owner Charlie Findley that he had an injury and had to be removed from the team's Series roster.  Andrews and his manager Dick Williams refused to play along and MLB Commish Bowie Kuhn reinstated him in time for a game in Shea Stadium.  Andrews played in just 18 regular season games for the A's and hit .190 in place of the injured Dick Green.  He was 0-3 during his 2 games of active duty a far cry from the .308 he hit in the '67 series for the Bosox.

The smooth fielding Hegan was not able to replicate the .329 he hit the previous season (1972) in Oakland and was dealt to the Yankees on August 18th and missed out on the post season and a chance to earn his second ring.  Hegan's one season as an All-Star came in 1969 with the expansion Pilots.  At one time Hegan owned the record for most consecutive games at first without an error (178 games).  Hegan’s most unusual distinction in baseball came on July 18, 1973, when his playing and post-playing careers coincided. A reserve player for Oakland, he was told by his manager, Dick Williams, just before that day’s game against the Baltimore Orioles that one of the regular announcers was ill. Williams told him to change out of his uniform and report to the broadcast booth. Hegan did. He announced three innings of the game. Then he put his uniform back on and returned to the dugout.

Bourque played in 23 games for the A’s in August and September 1973, frequently as a pinch-hitter. He continued to slump at the plate, hitting .197 with two home runs and nine RBIS for the A’s, who clinched their second consecutive division title on September 22. For the season as a whole, Bourque hit .204 with 9 home runs and 29 RBIs. A’s manager Dick Williams put Bourque on the roster for both the American League Championship Series and the World Series. During the A’s five-game victory over the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS, Bourque went 0-for-1 in three plate appearances. He was walked twice, once intentionally. During the A’s seven-game victory over the Mets in the World Series, Bourque played in two games. In the A’s 3-2 victory in Game Three at Shea Stadium in New York, Bourque pinch-hit for catcher Ray Fosse in the seventh inning and took over for Gene Tenace at first base. In two at-bats, Bourque went 1-for-2, reaching base on a bunt single off Ray Sadecki in the top of the ninth inning. In the Mets’ 2-0 victory in Game Five, Bourque came in as a defensive replacement at first base in the bottom of the eighth inning, but he did not come to the plate. For his role on the A’s 1973 championship team, Bourque received $4,923.52. 

 Lindblad started with the A's back in those dark salad days in KC.  He went west with the team, then wound up getting traded to the Senators just as the A's were emerging as a dynasty.  So, on the outside looking in he had to watch the 1972 World series from afar after suffering through a season with the historically horrible Texas Rangers.  Then Christmas came early in the form of a trade that sent him back to the A's.  Father Christmas presented Lindblad with the chance to cash in on 2 world championships in Oakland.  In 73 he was 1-5, 3.69, but he did eat up 78 innings out of the pen.  '74 was a return to a "Lindblad type year" (4-4, 2.06, 6sv).  As the A's dynasty began to crumble he was sold back to Texas where he lasted a season and a half.  Then came the greatest gift of all...he was traded on August 1, 1978 to the streaking Yankees, who came back from 14 down to win it all.  This would be his final season.  While Lindblad didn't have a stellar '73 regular season he was 1-0, 0.00 in 3 World Series games to help the A's to the Championship.  His 1978 WS #'s weren't quite as good, but he still go himself a ring.

"Ole Scrap Iron" was just a young'en back in 1973, where he got into 9 games and struck out 3 of his 5 AB's.  Clearly Garner was over matched on the major league level.  1974 was another year in the minors sans 30 AB's in Oakland.  By the time he was ready to replace Dick Green at 2B (1975) the team would be in the midst of their final run.  His All-Star season in '76 was not enough to lift them past the surging Royals.  After that season he was part of Finley's firesale and wound up in Pittsburgh where he won a championship in '79.  After 4 1/2 years in Steel-town it was on to Houston for 6 years before two stop offs in LA and SF before retirement.  Garner played 16 seasons and hit .260 with 109 HR's and 225 SB's to go along with 3 All-Star appearances.  After that came a 15 year managerial career, which culminated in winning the 2005 NL pennant with the Astros.

There's no getting around it...Fosse will always be remembered as Pete Rose's victim in the 1970 All Star game collision.  Fosse was a 2x GG catcher with the Indians before he was traded to Oakland during Spring Training of 1973.  He hit .256 and caught 143 games for the A's during the regular season, but had a horrible post seasons (4-30).  1974 saw his playing time reduced to platoon status and his BA reflected it (.196).  It got even worse in '75 where he hit just .140 in 82 games.  A trip back to Cleveland saw him rebound nicely (.301 in 90 games).  Stops in Seattle and Milwaukee would round out a career cut short by injury.

McKinney was the unofficial winner of the worst air brushed card in the 1973 Topps set.  For that reason alone I had to create a new card and included it here.  Coming off a subpar season in the Bronx he arrived in Oakland and improved to mediocre (.246 in 48 games).  Believe it or not his AAA-Tucon numbers were actually worse (.24).  1974 say him hit .285 in 116 games in Tucson with only a brief 5 game appearance in Oakland.  1975 was a clone of the previous season.  All of '76 was spent in Tucson wher he hit .317 with 22 home runs as a 29 year old feasting on inexperienced or over the hill pitching.  The A's, who were desperate for bodies in '77 promoted him to the big club where he hit a woeful .1787 in almost 200AB's.  After being farmed out to San Jose (AAA) where he hit .239 the end of the road was reached.

The "Beeg Boy's" 3red and final stop during the 1973 season was Oakland where he hit .250 in 7 games, but did not qualify for the post season since he was not on the roster before September 1st.  Oakland fans did not see the last of him.  He would make a brief cameo (41 games) in green, white and yellow in 1978 before his final season in Toronto in 1979.

The well traveled Gardner's 2nd stint with Oakland lasted all of 3 games (0-0, 4.91) during the '73 season before his contract was sold to the Brewers in May.  Gardner had a career year in the Bronx the year before.  The Yankees though so highly of him that they included him as the "player to be named later" in the previously consummated Matty Alou deal.  Not to be discouraged he spent 2 seasons in AAA (1974-75) trying to work his way back to the show.  Gardner put up good numbers, but didn't play much due to injury.  During that season Bobby Cox, then an unknown AAA manager made him his pitching coach.  After off season surgery Gardner attempted a comeback in 1976, but fate would not allow it.  His elbow surgery wasn't quite successful and as a result he completely blew it out.  After baseball he became a paramedic and firefighter in his hometown on Binghamton, NY.

Hosley hit .214 in 13 games for the A's as their 4th string catcher.  During his 9 year career he hit just .215 and never appeared in more than 62 games (1975 with CHC).  Hosley had 3 tours with the A's (1973-74 & 1976-78, & 1981).  This was all sandwiched around 14 seasons in the minor leagues where he was a career .273 hitting with 205 homers.  His best season was in 1980 at AAA-Ogden (OAK) where he hit .301 with 26 homers and 102 RBI's.  That facilitated his final promotion to the A's in '81 where he hit a miserable .095 i9n 18 games.

Davalillo split his season between Pittsburgh and Oakland and fared poorly at both locales (.181 and .188 respectively).  After not faring better (.174) in 1979 the 37 year old was considered done and the A's released him.  After 3 season of "raking" in the Mexican league he resurfaced in LA to become the lefty part of the Dodgers supreme pinch hitting tandem (Manny Mota was the righty).  Dav' would spend the next 4 seasons working on his game in Albuquerque (AAA) then coming up to the big club for the pennant drive and post season.  He was a huge asset to the Dodgers.  After that role was completed he spent 2 final seasons in the Mexican league before retiring at the age of 44.  Davalillo hit .625 for the A's in the ALCS vs Baltimore as a DH/PH, but slumped to .091 vs the Mets in the World Series.

1973 Kansas City Royals - 88-74 - 2nd Pl AL West - 6GB

On April 10, 1973 the Royals embarked upon a new era by opening their brand new home Royals Stadium and defeating the Texas Rangers.  After 4 seasons in the old run down KC Municipal Stadium the Royals had a home of their own (finally).  Owner Ewing Kaufman was a visionary.  While everyone else was building cookie cutter multi-sport stadiums he built the only baseball specific ballpark from 1963-1990.  Kaufman wanted something like Dodger Stadium and nothing like Shea Stadium.  His ballpark had great sight lines and a beautiful waterfall and fountain in centerfield.  Cloaked with Plastic grass and base cutouts Royal Stadium was the most modern park in the game for a decade.  

A new ballpark wasn't the only debut in KC.  This expansion team, in just it's 4th season made their official debut into a pennant race.  In fact the pesky Royals just wouldn't go away and threatened to spoil what many thought was going to be the defending champion Oakland A's coronation.  The A's had to take plenty of notice, because as August started the Royals were sitting on top of the AL West, which they continued to do until August 16th when the team went on a 4 game losing streak and the A's got hot.  After sweeping the Yankees to climb within 2 games of the A's the Royals faced Baltimore and embarked on another 4 game losing streak.  On September 1st the Royals were 5 1/2 back of the A's.  KC dropped the first game of their much anticipated showdown with Oakland then rallied back to win 10-9 in walk off fashion on September 1st in front of a near capacity crowd of 38,468 crazy fans at Royals Stadium.  With 2 out in the bottom of the 9th Carl Taylor singled to right off of Darold Knowles to score Kurt Bevacqua to cut the A's lead to 4 1/2.  The following night they eked out a 6-5 victory to cut Oakland's lead to 3 1/2.  With games against the Twins and Angels the Royals figured to gain more ground on the reeling A's.  Unfortunately for the Royals the 2 losses set the A's on fire and took all the wind out of the Royals who dropped 4 straight which erased their modest gains.  Still they were being exposed to a pennant race and learning what it takes to win.  The Royals rallied back to within 5 1/2 with 6 to go, but could not get any closer as the A's steamrolled through September for their 3rd straight AL West crown.

Jack McKeon did a fantastic job with this team who's average age was 26.  His pitching staff was ranked 11th in the league, but it was good enough thanks to the team scoring the second most runs in the league.  Paul Splittorff won 20 games against 11 defeats and he was the ace of the staff.  23 year old Steve Busby logged 238 innings and showed flashes of brilliance.  Doug Bird saved 20 games and Gene Garber saved 11 for a a bullpen that had an up and down season.  John Mayberry and Amos Otis, who was turning into a star, both slammed 16 homers.  Otis hit an even .300.  The keystone combo of Cookie Rojas and Freddie Patek were as smooth as silk turning DP's which are a pitcher's best friend.  Paul Schaal hit .288 with 8 homers at the hot corner, but everyone in the organization knew his days were numbered at that position with some kid named Brett tearing up the American Association.  McKeon used his bench judiciously.  16 players had over 100AB's.  The team found a new hero every night.  1973 was just the beginning for something special in KC.

To complete this set I created 24 brand new cards.  Some players had cards, that needed an update.  I couldn't live with the horrible airbrush job that Topps gave Wayne Simpson.  Patek had one of those horizontal action shot flops, and Hal McRae was still pictured with Cincy.

Raziano was originally drafted by the New York Mets in the 47th round of the 1965 draft and was traded to Kansas City for Jerry Cram on February 1, 1973. Raziano was traded to the Angels for Vada Pinson and cash in February 1974 and made 13 appearances for them, also pitching for the Angels' AAA team at Salt Lake City in 1974 and 1975. After not pitching in 1976, his professional career ended with 20 relief appearances for the St. Louis Cardinals in AA New Orleans, 1977.  Raziano appeared in just 2 games for the Royals in '73 and had a 5.40 ERA after allowing 3 earned runs in 5 innings worth of action.  He was 5-2, 3.66 in 38 relief appearances in AAA-Omaha that year.

Floyd was a career utility player, who never played in more than 61 games in a single season.  He must have been heartbroken to have been traded from the Orioles in 1970 to the Royals, thus missing his chance to get a WS ring.  1973 was his best season in the majors.  In 51 games he went 26-78 for a .333 average.  It was one of 2 seasons where he spent the full year with the big club and didn't shuttle back and forth with AAA.  1974 was his final shot in the biggs.  He hit .111 in jut 10 games and spent 49 games in AAA-Omaha (.272 avg).  After playing in just 42 games and hitting .234 with Omaha in 1975 his playing days were over sans a 4 inning stint as a pitcher for a AA team in Lynn, MA (Eastern League) where he pitched 4 innings and gave up 1 run.

Most of us probably thing of Buck as the no frills, but easy to listen to ESPN broadcaster.  40+ years ago he was a backup catcher for the Royals (1969-71, 1973-77), Brewers (1978-80) and Blue Jays (1981-1986).  Buck spent a lot of years as a solid #2 or the righty half of a catching platoon.  Managers loved his insight and grit as evidenced by the fact that he stuck around a long time after he was serviceable.  Buck spent all of 1972 in AAA-Omaha hitting .174.  It's no shock why he didn't get a call-up in September.  It is a shock that he wasn't released.  1973 saw him rebound by hitting .272 and getting a call up to the show.  Once he established himself as a contributor he stayed in the biggs from 1974-1986.

Rookie Doug Bird was thrown straight into the fire by manager Jack McKeon.  Bird (4-4, 2.99) saved 20 games as the team's closer.  It would turn out to be his best statistical year in his career, which spanned 11 seasons.  Bird ruled the Royals pen for the next 2 seasons until he was promoted to the rotation in 1976 and did quite well (12-10, 3.37).  1977 saw him return to the pen where he won 11 and lost 4, but his ERA ballooned to 3.88, which was a harbinger of things to come.  1978 saw him lose his closer spot.  His ERA went up almost a run and a half, which spelt the end of his time in KC.  Stops in Philly, the Bronx, the Northside of Chicago and then Boston were to follow.  His greatest success was his first 5 seasons in KC.

Original Royal Fran Healy arrived back in KC on April 2 from SF, just in time for the start of the season.  KC needed a starting catcher and they knew what he brought to the table.  What they got out of FranDog was his best statistical season (.276-6-34).  He lost his starting job a few years later when Porter arrived, so the Royals traded him to the Yankees in May of 1976 for Larry Gura.  Gura helped steady the Royals rotation for the next decade, but Fran won a pennant in the Bronx and a World Championship the following season.  After his career ended he spent almost a quarter of a century as a broadcaster for both NY baseball teams.

Ortenzio's major league career consisted of just 9 games played for the Royals in 1973.  In 25 AB's he got 7 hits for a .280 average.  He hit his only homer on 9/29 off of Rangers reliever Don Durham.  His best season was in 1977 where he won the American Association MVP with a .311 average, 40 homers and 126 RBI's for Montreal's AAA affiliate Denver.  Sadly the follow up season was terrible and he wound up spending 2 seasons in Japan before hanging up his spikes.

The 22 year old whit hit just .223 in 139 AB's in 1973.  Modest beginnings for a player who would turn out to be a 5 time All-Star and 8 time Gold Glover winner.  White would go on to play 18 seasons in the major leagues, all in KC.  1973 would be his first introduction the the majors.  After being promoted on June 12th he never returned to the farm.  White hit .545 and was the ALCS MVP in 1980 as KC won it's first pennant in it's 12 season.

When we interviewed Freddie on the Mark & Marc show back in August (2017) he confided that he hated leaving the Pirates in 1971, but he was sure glad to finally get an opportunity to play everyday.  For 9 seasons in KC Freddie was the anchor of the infield.  1973 was a mediocre season for him with the bat, as he hit only .234, but Freddie's contributions to a team could not be measured purely with stats.  He stole 36 bases that season, something he did in 8 of his 9 seasons with the Royals.  Patek was known throughout the league as the "Biggest Little Man".  The 3x All-Star is beloved by his teammates and fans.

Garber got his first extended look in the majors in 1973 after arriving from Pittsburgh in an October 25th trade with Pittsburgh for Jim Rooker.  In 48 games, mostly out of the pen, he finished an even 9-9, 4.24 with 11 saves.  Garber was on the move again.  After just 17 games with the Royals in '74 he headed to the city of Brotherly Love for the next 4 1/2 seasons.  Then it was 10 years in Atlanta where he became one of the top closers in the game.  At the age of 39 he returned to KC for a season and a half to finish up a career that included 218 saves in 19 seasons.

August 2, 1973 marked the debut of one George Brett. At the time no one could have known that this skinny kid from Glen Dale, WV would turn out to be the greatest player in franchise history and a first ballot HOF'er.  Why would anyone have thought that after George hit just .215 in his 13 game audition.  After being recalled from Omaha in 1974 he hit .282 and finished 3rd in the AL-ROY voting.  Brett was here to stay.  The 1980 AL-MVP was a 13x All-Star and is the only man in major league history to win the batting title in 3 consecutive decades.

After floundering in Cincy with high expectations and not much playing time McCrae scratched off the winning lottery ticket in November of 1972 when the Reds shipped him off to Kansas City.  In his first year in KC (1973) McRae started off slowly hitting just .234, but once he got his feet wet (hopefully not in the CF waterfall) and his assignment to the DH role he became a doubles hitting machine.  McRae was like a freight train when he broke up DP's and was definitely the team leader.  He hit over .300 seven times in a Royals uniform.

This was "Trader Jack's" first job as a big league manager.  Winning 88 games with this group was impressive.  When the team slipped to 77-85 the following year he was put on warning.  When they started just 50-46 in 1975 he was let go and Whitey was hired.  McKeon made stops in Oakland, San Diego and Cincy, before winning a World Championship with the Marlins in 2003 at the age of 72.

"Wolfie" hit .266 in 45 games for the Royals during the '73 season after hitting just .240 in 15 games the season before.  Wolfie could flat out rake when he came off the bench to pinch hit or if the team made a righty/lefty switch.  He forged a nice 15 year career as a DH/PH and 4th outfielder.  He too was a fantastic guest on the Mark & Marc Show.

Hoerner was a bullpen stalwart for those late 60's Cardinals teams that won back to back pennants.  When he was traded to Philly he literally went from first to worst, but he still maintained his consistency and professionalism while those around him crumbled.  After a pair of sub par season in Atlanta the Braves sold his contract to KC on July 18, 1973.  Hoerner didn't fare well 2-0, 5.12, 4sv in 22 games.  He was invited back in '74 and showed modest improvement, but at the age of 37 people began to speculate that he was done.   Philly thought he had something left and gave him a shot in 1975.  The following season in Texas was a big disappointment.  Most folks figured that was the end of the road, but the Reds needed bullpen help and convinced him to hold off on retiring.  Neither his heart, nor his skill were in it and afer 8 games 0-0, 12.71 he decided to retire at the age of 40.  Horner's career numbers:  39-34, 2.99, 98sv were more than respectable for a lefty reliever, who wasn't just a lefty specialist.

Keith Marshall was never really a top not prospect for the Royals.  Outfielders who hit .252 (career) in the minors seldom are.  His best season in pro ball was in AAA-Omaha where he hit .271 in 1972.  His 4 homers were also his career high.  While hitting just .209 in Omaha in '73 he was called up to the biggs for his one and only time and hit .22 in 8 games.  After 2 more AAA seasons in Omaha, where he hit in the .240's he was released and picked up by the Reds who assigned him to their AAA affiliate in Indianapolis where he posted a .262 average, but not much else.  His career, at the age of 24, was over after the 1976 season.

Bevacqua was baseball's ultimate utility man for 15 years starting with his time in Cleveland (1971-1972) through his 2nd stint in San Diego (1982-1985).  His flexibility in the field and ability to come of the bench in a pinch gave him value to any team he played for.  He hit .257 in 99 games for the Royals in '73 and played 6 positions.

This was my broadcast buddy's first taste of life in the bigs.  The 20 year old hard throwing country boy from Gideon was called up from Omaha where he was a dominant 16-6, 2.51 as a starter.  In his 8 games with the big club he as 1-3, 5.68.  After 2 more years of seasoning he arrived back in KC as a 23 year old closer in 1976 in time for them to win their first division title.  At the conclusion of the '77 season both he and Buck Martinez were dealt to the Cardinals for Al Hrabosky (the Mad Hungarian).  After 5 seasons in STL arm trouble prematurely ended his career.  He's now an accomplished author and inventor (The Nutty Buddy) and you can listen to him every week on the Comfortably Zoned Radio Network along with me as we talk to baseball players/writers/umpires past and present.

On the major league level Jackson split time with the Royals and the Indians.  He pitched in 9 games for KC with no decisions and a 6.85 ERA.  His minor league numbers in OKC-AAA (CLE) were actually worse.  He was demoted to AA-Thetford Mines (PIT) for the '74 seasons, then released.

Angelini did surprisingly well in his 21 game audition (2-1, 2.25) for the Royals in 1972.  He would not fare as well (0-0, 4.91, 1sv) in '73.  With 1973's failures behind him he got a fresh start in AA-Jacksonville in 1974 and somewhat rebounded (9-7, 2.49).  That earned him a promotion back to AAA-Omaha where the numbers were again not good.  A two year stint in the Braves Organization did not show any marked improvement.  His final 4 years were in Montreal's AAA-Denver affiliate, where despite the thin air he wasn't victimized for many homers.  1981 was Angelini's best year in a long time (10-7, 3.18, 4sv), but at the age of 33 and with no major league suitor out there he decided to hang it up.

Reichardt could not duplicate his early season success in Chicago where he hit .275.  In 41 games with KC he hit just .220.  After one AB the following season he was gone.  Still he is an important figure in MLB history and the disintegration of the reserve clause.  Back when he signed with the Angels he got a 200k+ bonus that turned out to be more $ than the best players in the game.  To solve this problem the owners instituted the draft, which then locked players into a team and a salary.  That draft made it easier to challenge the reserve clause because it removed ownership's defense that player had a choice as to where they played.

Busby had a tremendous arm, but injuries capped his talent to a brief, but brilliant career. He would rank much higher on this list but for the fact he basically pitched just three full seasons in the big leagues.  In his 10th career start in 1973 he tossed a no-hitter against Detroit.  Other than the no-hitter he was hitting more pot holes than a car on a NYC street.  Then late in the summer he turned it around an won 8 of 10 decisions.  With a 16-15, 4.23 record he placed 3rd in the ROY voting and was chosen the best rookie pitcher in baseball.  The following season he threw his second career no-no.  Midway through the '75 season his arm troubles began to start.  In 1976 he had to have rotator cuff surgery.  1977 wound up a wash out thanks to a knee injury.  The following year he needed knee surgery.  By 1980 he was out of baseball.  After baseball he found his stride in the broadcast booth.

Minogri was a late bloomer.  He didn't arrive in the majors until he was 26.  He had 3 good seasons with the bottom feeder Indians before the Royals acquired him on June 8, 1973.  For the next 7 seasons where he was the lefty go to guy in their pen.

Every time I hear his name I hear a voice inside my head saying, "and don't forget we'll leave the light on".  At that point I tell myself, "it Poquette not Bodett, you dummy".  Well that's kind of how my mind works, or doesn't work.  So I digress from my analysis of Poquette's career, which lasted 7 seasons.  1973 was his first cup of coffee and the determination was that he needed to sip more from the minor league cup (2 more years) before he could return.  In 21 games he hit just .214.  When he returned in 1976 as a mature 24 year old he hit .302 and followed it up with a .292 average in '78.  When he failed to hit .200 in 1979 the Royals sent him to the Red Sox for an over the hill George Scott.  Boston got the better end of the deal with Poquette hitting .331 in 63 games.  Injuries kept him out of action for all of 1980 and most of '81.  A return to KC in '82 yielded a .145 average and an unconditional release.

Simpson could never regain the magic that he had in his rookie season (1970) with Cincy.  Thanks to an injury that predated Dr. Jobe's Tommy John Surgery Simpson was never able to regain his velocity and rookie year success.  KC gave him a shot at the rotation and in 10 starts he was 3-4, 5.73.  He bounced around between the majors and AAA over the next 5 seasons, but could never put together and sustained success.  He followed up a 12-7, 2.17 seasons in 1975 with Toledo with a 13-6, 4.24 season in SLC, which got him a shot with the Angels that showed everyone he was never going to be right again.  After a failed '78 season in Albuquerque it was all over for him.