1973 Fantasy Astrology Recap
Check out the 1973 FABL Lineups Here!
Going reverse-chronologically, you might think that 1973 was business as usual. But some light digging will reveal that it was the first season of the Designated Hitter in the American League. The two Major Leagues operated with different rules for nearly 50 years, as the National League only came to their senses and added the DH for this season, as part of the new post-lockout collective bargaining agreement. While I’ll have to make a decision about how to organize the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League lineups for my next reverse-chronological recap, for now let’s dive into 1973.
It’s no wonder the American League decided to change the rules to inject some more offense: even with the implementation of the DH, 15 of the top 20 fantasy point scorers in 1973 were pitchers. The Cy Young winners in each polarity didn’t come from playoff teams, as Tom Seaver’s (3,438 / 95.5) Scorpions and Nolan Ryan’s (3,419 / 83.4) Water Bearers were buried in the Water and Air divisions, respectively. But the overall points leader Aries did have the #2 and #4 Positive Pole pitchers in Bert Blyleven (3,269 / 81.7) and Don Sutton (2,885 / 87.4). Meanwhile, the Positive Pole runners-up, the Libra Scales, had #3 and #5: Jim Palmer (2,994 / 78.8) and Wilbur Wood (2,667 / 54.4).
For what would be the first of four years, Joe Morgan (2,868 / 18.3) scored the most fantasy points among batters. Morgan led the Virgo Flowers to the Negative Polarity points title, thanks also to NP CYA runner-up Gaylord Perry (2,719 / 66.3) and Reliable Reliever runner-up Rollie Fingers (1,980 / 31.9) of the real-life World Series champion A’s. In the Fantasy setting, Fingers lost to Mike Marshall (2,522 / 27.4) of Capricorn, who would win the award again the following year in his record-setting 106-game 1974 season. In a mirror image of the Negative Polarity, John Hiller (2,777 / 42.7) of Aries was the top reliever two years in a row. Actually, Aries “relievers” would lead the Polarity for three years, even though 1975’s leader Marty Pattin started 15 of his 44 appearances.
Speaking of primary relievers who also spent time in the rotation, Libra had two such pitchers that don’t fit into the traditional starter/reliever dichotomy. Jim Rooker (1,766 / 43.1) started 18 of his 41 games in his first season with the Pirates, while Bill Bonham (1,498 / 34.0) had 15 starts in 44 appearances with the Cubs. The Scales would need to slot one of each of these two in both their rotation and bullpen to maximize their fantasy points – in fact, without them in the lineup, Gemini would take over as the leader of the Air Division. The Twins benefited from the top three offensive point scorers in the polarity: Darrell Evans (2,630 / 16.3) who qualified for both corner infield spots, Lou Brock (2,404 / 15.0) who was just one year away from breaking the 100 steal barrier, and Dusty Baker (2,294 / 14.4) who was just one year away from 100 appearances at both center field and left field. The Siblings also had the #6 starting pitcher in Jim Colborn (2,540 / 59.1) in his only All-Star season.
Frank Robinson was the best at the newly-created position of Designated Hitter in 1973.
While the Water Division wasn’t as hapless as it was in 1974, Pisces led the division while scoring just the seventh-most points in the league. However, they did have three of the top five offensive points scorers in the Polarity: leadoff hitter Bobby Bonds (2,837 / 17.7), Pirates legend Willie “Pops” Stargell (2,555 / 17.3), and Astros speedster Cesar Cedeno (2,362 / 17.0). I put Stargell at first base, thanks to his holdover eligibility from the previous year, but it would also be defensible for the Fish to start Dick Allen (1,102 / 15.3) based on points-per-game rather than total points on the season. Also their top starting pitcher Jack Billingham (2,535 / 63.4) of the Reds was fifth in the Polarity.
Once again, the Rookies of the Year didn’t come from playoff teams, with Sagittarian Doc Medich (2,020 / 59.4) taking it home for the Positive Pole, even though he slots behind Luis Tiant (2,618 / 74.8) and Steve Renko (2,227 / 61.9) in the Archers rotation. On the Negative side, Gary Matthews (Sr.) (1,718 / 11.6) would be the first of two Cancer Crabs to win the best first-year prize, as Frank Tanana would take the mantle in 1974. In a bit of real-life trivia, Scorpio Ken Holtzman (2,681 / 67.0) and Taurus Reggie Jackson (2,426 / 16.1) were the top scorers for the World Champion Oakland Athletics.