Swinging '73

In 1973, new rules changed baseball, and three legendary teams thrived by playing by their own rules. Interest and attendance were dropping, and football was ascending. Stuck in a rut, baseball was sinking. Then George Steinbrenner bought the Yankees, a second-division relic with wife-swapping pitchers, leaving the House That Ruth Built not with a slam but a simper. He vowed not to interfere¿and then did just that. Across town, Tom Seaver led the Mets' stellar pitching line-up, and iconic outfielder Willie Mays was preparing to say goodbye. But for months, Yogi Berra's boys couldn't get it right. Meanwhile, across the country, maverick owner Charlie O. Finley was fighting to keep the hirsute A's underpaid. But beyond the muttonchops and mayhem lay another world. Elvis commanded a larger audience than the Apollo landings. A Dodge Dart cost $2,800, and gas 38 cents per gallon. Vietnam had ended, the vice president resigned, Watergate had taken over, and a fiscal crisis loomed. It was one of the most exciting years in baseball history, the first with the designated hitter and the last before arbitration and free agency. The two World Series opponents went head-to-head above the baby steps of a juggernaut that soon dwarfed both league champions. It was a turbulent time for the country and the game, neither of which would ever be the same again.