In a season which saw Hank Aaron come within one of Babe Ruth's lifetime home run record, Nolan Ryan go beyond Sandy Koufax's single -season strikeout record, and the American League offer a rule which dramatically changed the style of play in the junior circuit, the unpredictable New York Mets stole the whole show with their late-season theatrics. If the Mets had any rival for showmanship and fanfare, it wasn't a team but an individual in Charley O. Finley, owner of the Oakland Athletics. While the Mets earned their half of the twin billing in baseball's 1973 extravaganza by proving the best of the worst in the National League's Eastern Division, Finley arrived on the balanced strength of the A's, who proved the class of the American League West.

In reaching the second World Series in their short history, the Mets waited until September before awakening to the fact that winning was an important part of baseball. Yet, in all fairness to the Amazing Nine from Flushing Meadows, several key injuries threw their balance out of wack. Shortstop Bud Harrelson, the secret to the infield, catcher Jerry Grote, and left fielder Cleon Jones all sat out at least one month with injuries and Willie Mays, who finally said good-bye to baseball after 21 years, played only 66 games as a result of injuries and age. While the Mets were suffering their woes, the senior circuit race went on as usual. But in all respects neither the race nor the finish had anything commonplace about it.

The St. Louis Cardinals started out in dismal fashion and soon found themselves in the cellar. The Pittsburgh Pirates entered the season without superstar Roberto Clemente, the victim of a tragic plane accident on December 31, 1972, and tried to fill the vacant spot in right field with the bat of catcher Manny Sanguillen move which kept the Pirates away from the top until they finally sent Sanguillen behind the plate. And while the Phillies were experiencing shock with the drastic reversal of form in Steve Carlton, the 1972 Cy Young winner, Montreal had found some consistency due to the development of Ken Singleton and the super endurance of relief specialist Mike Marshall. The Cubs, once again trying for Eastern honors, and using the experience of an aging ball club, soon found themselves in the top spot as the All-Star game approached.

However, by the time the morning of August 17 arrived, St. Louis was magically transplanted in first place by three games over the Pirates and the Cubs were in fourth. 5 1/2 back. Montreal was seemingly in the midst of a miracle with third place occupancy and the Mets in last, 7 1/2 off the leader. Yet neither the scramble, nor the race, was over yet, and by early September every team, including the Mets, still had a shot at the top. Then, as the Mets regulars began to return and the victories became consistent, a critical blow came to the Cardinals when their ace righty, Bob Gibson, injured his leg and was shelved until the last weekend of the season. By September 20, Pittsburgh had taken over the lead with the Cubs in fifth, four games off the pace. Only the Phillies, then 9 1/2 back, could be counted out. Finally on the 27th, the Mets found themselves in first and Montreal in fifth by a scant 4 1/2 games.

During the last weekend of the regular season, Pittsburgh finally eliminated Montreal, and St. Louis beat back Philadelphia to still have a chance depending upon the outcome of the Mets-Cubs series in Chicago. Rainouts had caused the Mets to play four games in two days with the Cubs as well as force the regular season a day past its regular schedule when the Mets could only split the first two to give St. Louis, Pittsburgh and even Chicago a chance. The sky was still heavy with clouds when the Mets and Cubs took to the field on October 1st, but Jon Matlack, pitching a strong two-hit shutout, gave the Mets the first game and the Eastern Division title.

For the Mets, in coming out of the mediocre rubble to post the lowest winning percentage of any pennant winner in baseball history, the credit belonged to Cy Young winner Tom Seaver, who won 19 games in posting a league-low 2.08 E.R.A., Tug McGraw, who recovered from early season lethargy to save 25 games and start the phrase, "You Gotta Believe", Jon Matlack, who won 14 games and lost a lot of tough decisions and Felix Millan, who came over from the Braves to hit .290 to keep the Mets in contention. For manager Yogi Berra, the victory couldn't have been sweeter as it quickly transformed him from inept to hero as he became the only manager besides Joe McCarthy to win pennants in both leagues.

In the National League West the furor ended early. After the Dodgers, led by several promising youngsters, gained the lead in the first half of the season, the Cincinnati Reds came on behind the MVP performance of Pete Rose, who collected 230 hits, the slugging of Tony Perez, who hit .314 with 27 home runs and 101 RBI's, Johnny Bench, who hit 25 home runs after successfully going through a winter lung operation, and Joe Morgan. Third-place San Francisco had to settle for the growing maturity of Bobby Bonds, who hit 39 home runs, and the arrival of pitcher Ron Bryant, who won a league high 24 games without the help of a single shutout. For the Braves, there was a lot of home run hitting and little pitching--all facts which were mostly obscured by Hank Aaron's drive toward Babe Ruth's lifetime home run record of 714. Aaron, who finished fourth in the league with 40 home runs, went into the last game of the season with a chance to tie the record. But with the commissioner Bowie Kuhn in attendance, as well as a lot of the press, Aaron could only manage three singles and finish the year with 713 home runs. Teammate Dave Johnson, who came over from the Orioles and who never hit more than 18 home runs in the American League, surprised many by belting 43 home runs to eclipse the second baseman's home run mark set by the legendary Roger Hornsby. Third baseman Darrell Evans finished between the two with 41 round-trippers to give Atlanta the top three spots behind league-leader Willie Stargell of Pittsburgh.

In the American League the season began with the innovation of a new rule which allowed the manager to name a "designated hitter" to bat throughout the game for the pitcher, and the move, which was designed to bolster the action, instead produced a record twelve 20-game winners. Armed with the best of this new breed, the Orioles began a resurgence which gave them the Eastern title by eight games over the Red Sox. For Baltimore, Tommy Davis found enough success in the designated hitter spot to hit .293 and Orlando Cepeda, signed by the Red Sox after Oakland released him, took top power honors for designated hitters with 20 home runs. Baltimore's return to the top was also sparked by the superb play of rookies, Al Bumbry and Rich Coggins, and the stellar pitching of Jim Palmer, who posted a 22-9 season with a league-low 2.40 E.R.A. to win the Cy Young Award. For third-place Detroit, who managed to stay in the race until the Orioles started their late-season winning skein, there was some consolation in John Hiller's 38 saves-a major league record.

Over in the Western Division, the White Sox began the season by throwing knuckle-baller Wilbur Wood so often that it seemed he would have no trouble posting 40 victories. But as things turned out Wood finished at 24-20 and Chicago in fifth, 17 games back. Whatever chance Chicago might have had was lost when Dick Allen, the highest paid player in baseball, broke his leg in mid-season and was sidelined for the year. Oakland, on the other hand, had no costly injuries until late in the year, and managed to again take the Western title, this time by six games over oncoming Kansas City. Led by MVP Reggie Jackson, the A's managed their return on the arms of the division's best mound staff which consisted of starters Catfish Hunter, Ken Holtzman, and Vida Blue, and ace reliever Rollie Fingers. Also included in manager Dick Williams' star-studdded cast was shortstop Bert Campaneris, third baseman Sal Bando, first baseman Gene Tenace, and young center fielder Billy North. For the California Angels, who finished fourth, the only satisfaction came in Nolan Ryan, who hurled two no-hitters and burned his way past 383 batters to set a new major league strikeout record.

In the American League championship play-off series, Oakland and Baltimore played out the five game string before the A's emerged victorious with a 3-0 performance from Hunter. In the National League series, the frenzy of the Mets' fans nearly put a premature end to play. The fans' hysteria was ignited by a fight between Rose and Harrelson in the third game. But after order had been restored, the fans' anger continued and when Rose returned to his left field position, he was bombarded by whatever objects the fans could find to throw. Finally Rose, in an effort to save himself from injury, marched off the field. He was followed by the other Reds and only after Willie Mays, Tom Seaver, and a few other Mets went out to left field to plead with the fans did they begin to settle down. Although the hostilities continued throughout the series, the Mets, behind Tom Seaver and Tug McGraw, posted a win in the fifth game to give New York the National League pennant.

By the time the World Series started Met fans were already exhausted from all the fanfare which led up to the fall classic. But their fatigue quickly diminished and their fears began when Oakland got off to an opening game extra inning victory. In the second game, the Series again went beyond the ninth frame, but this time the Mets emerged the winner. As the see-saw Series continued the Mets pitching completely cut off the A's home run power. However, the A's battled the Mets despite their failure to hit a single home run, and when Reggie Jackson's three clutch hits beat Seaver in the sixth game, the Series went into a crucial seventh game showdown. With singles hitter Bert Campaneris and Reggie Jackson both hitting two-run home runs in the third inning, Oakland routed Matlack and came away with a 5-2 victory and their second straight world's championship.

Although the Series had its usual excitement and great moments of play, they were matters which became overshadowed by Finley's off the field maneuvers when, in the second game reserve second baseman Mike Andrews came in and committed two errors to give the Mets a victory. After the game Finley put Andrews on the disabled list and the Oakland players and the press screamed bloody murder. Andrews was restored to the active roster for the next game on orders of Commissioner Kuhn and he received a standing ovation, even from Finley, when he came out of the dugout to pinch hit. But for all the final victory, Finley lost his manager, Dick Williams, who publicly announced his displeasure with Finley's interference, and left the team after the series was over.

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