1973 Kansas City Royals season

The 1973 Kansas City Royals season was their fifth in Major League Baseball and first in the new Royals Stadium. Promoted from Triple-A Omaha, Jack McKeon replaced the fired Bob Lemon as manager and the Royals finished second in the American League West in with a record of 88–74, six games behind the Oakland A's.

The 88 wins were the most in the franchise's brief history, five more than in 1971. Lefthander Paul Splittorff (20–11) became the first Royal to win twenty games in a season.

Offseason

 * November 30, 1972: Roger Nelson and Richie Scheinblum were traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Hal McRae and Wayne Simpson.
 * February 1, 1973: Joe Keough was traded to the Chicago White Sox for Jim Lyttle.

Regular season
The Royals opened the new Royals Stadium with a 12–1 rout of the Texas Rangers on April 10. The Tuesday night game was attended by 39,464 braving cool temperatures; 39 F at first pitch.

On April 27, Steve Busby threw the first no-hitter in Royals history, as visiting KC shut out Detroit 3–0 at Tiger Stadium.

At Royals Stadium on May 15, Nolan Ryan of the California Angels threw the first no-hitter of his career.

On August 2, George Brett made his major league debut, starting at third base and hitting a single in a 3–1 road win over the`Chicago White Sox.

Notable transactions

 * April 2: Greg Minton was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Fran Healy.
 * May 8: Tom Murphy was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Al Santorini.
 * June 5: 1973 Major League Baseball draft
 * Ruppert Jones was selected in the third round.
 * Rob Picciolo was selected in the fourth round of the secondary phase, but did not sign.

Starters by position
''Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Other batters
''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Kingsport, Billings