Stumbling through the summer in last place, the Mets got healthy and hot in September, ultimately winning the division with a mere 82 victories, 1+1⁄2 games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals.

1969 holdovers Bud Harrelson, Jerry Grote, Wayne Garrett, Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, and Tug McGraw and Cleon Jones joined forces with the Mets' farm-system alumni John Milner and Jon Matlack and trade-acquired Rusty Staub, Félix Millán, and Willie Mays, now 42 years old.

The Mets' NLCS opponents, an imposing Cincinnati Reds squad that posted 99 victories during the regular season, were the favorite to return to the Series for a second consecutive year.

The Athletics, defending champions, still possessed a formidable lineup headed by a healthy Reggie Jackson, (.293, 32 HR, 117 RBI, 22 stolen bases) who would be named league MVP in 1973.

Jackson was joined in the lineup by standouts like third baseman Sal Bando, the fine defensive outfielder Joe Rudi, the speedy shortstop Bert Campaneris, and the A's catcher, 1972 World Series hero Gene Tenace.

The pitching staff featured three 20-game winners, Ken Holtzman (21–13), Catfish Hunter (21–5), and Vida Blue (20–9), with Rollie Fingers (22 saves, 1.92) serving as the A's ace relief pitcher.

The Athletics offered entertainment both on and off the field in 1973; their brightly colored uniforms were the perfect metaphor for a team notable for clashing personalities.

So it was that a man who had played no offensive role during the regular season came to make a key batting contribution for the Athletics during the Series.

AL Oakland A's (4) vs. NL New York Mets (3) The Mets and A's opened the Series in Oakland with Jon Matlack and Ken Holtzman as the Game 1 starters (Matlack, with a 14–16 record during the 1973 season, is one of only four pitchers in history to start Game 1 of a World Series after a regular season losing record).

In the third, pitcher Holtzman doubled and scored when Bert Campaneris hit a routine grounder that inexplicably bounced between Mets second baseman's Félix Millán's legs.

Along with blinding sunshine "turn{ing} every fly ball into adventure" (especially for a 42-year-old Willie Mays), Curt Gowdy described the contest in the official MLB 1973 Fall Classic highlight film as one of the "longest and weirdest games in World Series history".

Don Hahn then drove home Cleon Jones with an infield hit and Bud Harrelson followed with an RBI single to put the Mets ahead 4–3.

Darold Knowles, who had relieved Pina, fielded the ball but lost his balance hurrying the throw home and threw wildly past Ray Fosse on the attempted force play.

In the ninth, Deron Johnson, batting for Blue Moon Odom, lifted a fly ball to center that Willie Mays lost in the sun and fell down while chasing.

The A's added a run in the bottom of the inning when Jackson reached third as Mays lost yet another fly ball in the sun and Alou singled him home, but Andrews' errors proved too much to overcome.

Hunter had trouble early on when Wayne Garrett homered to right and Félix Millán scored on a wild pitch, but then found his rhythm.

Seaver kept the A's off the board until the sixth, when Sal Bando and Gene Tenace broke through with consecutive doubles that delivered a run and cut the Met lead to 2–1.

In the bottom of the tenth, Willie Mays would make his final appearance in an MLB game, unsuccessfully pinch-hitting for Tug McGraw.

A's starter Ken Holtzman couldn't make it out of the first inning after Rusty Staub smashed a three-run homer to left-center.

Andrews entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the eighth, prompting a standing ovation from the Mets' home crowd, in a display of defiance toward Finley.

John Milner had an RBI single in the second, and Don Hahn's triple to center field scored Jerry Grote with the second Mets run in the sixth.

In the bottom half of the inning, the A's added an insurance run when Jackson singled, advanced to third on center fielder Don Hahn's error, and scored on Jesús Alou's sacrifice fly.

The third inning proved to be the difference, as Holtzman lined a one-out double off Matlack to left, his second of the Series after not batting at all during the season.

[10] In the third inning, Gene Tenace walked for the 11th time tying the Series record set by Babe Ruth of the Yankees in 1926.