1972 in baseball
The following are the baseball events of the year 1972 throughout the world.
Contents |
Labor strife and more moving
1972 was tainted by a players' strike over pension and salary arbitration. The strike erased the first week and a half of the season, and the Leagues decided to just excise the lost portion of the season with no makeups. As a result, an uneven number of games were lost by each team; some as few as six, some as many as nine. The lack of makeups, even when they affected playoffs, led to the Boston Red Sox losing the American League East by half a game to the Detroit Tigers.
1972 marked the first year for the Texas Rangers, who had moved to Arlington from Washington, D.C. (where they played as the Washington Senators), after the 1971 season. The team was one of the worst ever fielded by the franchise, losing 100 games for the first time since 1964. Manager Ted Williams hated it in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and resigned at the end of the season.
1972 would mark the Kansas City Royals' final year at Kansas City Municipal Stadium, as the next year they would move to Royals Stadium at the Truman Sports Complex in suburban Kansas City.
The World Series was won by the Oakland Athletics, the first of three straight behind the bats of Reggie Jackson and Bert Campaneris, and the pitching cadre of Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers and Vida Blue. The year ended on a sad note when Roberto Clemente died in an airplane crash off the coast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, on New Year's Eve, while participating in aid efforts to an earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua.
Champions
Major League Baseball
League Championship Series | World Series | |||||||
East | Detroit Tigers | 2 | ||||||
West | Oakland Athletics | 3 | ||||||
AL | Oakland Athletics | 4 | ||||||
NL | Cincinnati Reds | 3 | ||||||
East | Pittsburgh Pirates | 2 | ||||||
West | Cincinnati Reds | 3 |
- World Series MVP: Gene Tenace
- All-Star Game, July 25 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium: National League, 4-3 (10 innings); Joe Morgan, MVP
Other champions
- Caribbean World Series: Leones de Ponce (Puerto Rico)
- College World Series: USC
- Japan Series: Yomiuri Giants over Hankyu Braves (4-1)
- Little League World Series: Taipei, Taiwan
Awards and honors
- Most Valuable Player
- Dick Allen (AL)
- Johnny Bench (NL)
- Cy Young Award
- Gaylord Perry (AL)
- Steve Carlton (NL)
- Rookie of the Year
- Carlton Fisk (AL)
- Jon Matlack (NL)
Statistical Leaders
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Major League Baseball final standings
American League final standings
American League | ||||
Club | Wins | Losses | Win % | GB |
East Division | ||||
Detroit Tigers | 86 | 70 | .551 | -- |
Boston Red Sox | 85 | 70 | .548 | 0.5 |
Baltimore Orioles | 80 | 74 | .519 | 5 |
New York Yankees | 79 | 76 | .510 | 6.5 |
Cleveland Indians | 72 | 84 | .462 | 14 |
Milwaukee Brewers | 65 | 91 | .417 | 21 |
West Division | ||||
Oakland Athletics | 93 | 62 | .600 | -- |
Chicago White Sox | 87 | 67 | .565 | 5.5 |
Minnesota Twins | 77 | 77 | .500 | 15.5 |
Kansas City Royals | 76 | 78 | .494 | 16.5 |
California Angels | 75 | 80 | .484 | 18 |
Texas Rangers | 54 | 100 | .351 | 38.5 |
National League final standings
National League | ||||
Club | Wins | Losses | Win % | GB |
East Division | ||||
Pittsburgh Pirates | 96 | 59 | .619 | -- |
Chicago Cubs | 85 | 70 | .548 | 11 |
New York Mets | 83 | 73 | .532 | 13.5 |
St. Louis Cardinals | 75 | 81 | .481 | 21.5 |
Montreal Expos | 70 | 86 | .449 | 26.5 |
Philadelphia Phillies | 59 | 97 | .378 | 37.5 |
West Division | ||||
Cincinnati Reds | 95 | 59 | .617 | -- |
Houston Astros | 84 | 69 | .549 | 10.5 |
Los Angeles Dodgers | 85 | 70 | .548 | 10.5 |
Atlanta Braves | 70 | 84 | .445 | 25 |
San Francisco Giants | 69 | 86 | .445 | 26.5 |
San Diego Padres | 58 | 95 | .379 | 36.5 |
Events
- January 19 - The Baseball Writers Association of America elects Sandy Koufax, Yogi Berra and Early Wynn to the Hall of Fame. Koufax makes it in his first try and, at age of 36, is the youngest honoree in history.
- April 1-13 - The first players' strike in baseball history wipes 6-8 games off the schedule of each MLB team. It is agreed that those games will be cancelled (i.e., not even played to resolve pennant races). This results in teams not being scheduled for the same number of games in the 1972 season; although non-cancelled games are to be made up if they affect championships, the schedule unbalance will lead to the Detroit Tigers edging the Boston Red Sox by only one-half game to win the American League East Division championship. The strike results in the team owners adding salary arbitration to the collective bargaining agreement, and increasing pension fund payments.
- April 16 - Chicago Cubs pitcher Burt Hooton pitches a no-hitter at Chicago's Wrigley Field in a 4-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
- April 21 - At Arlington Stadium, Frank Howard hits the first home run in Texas Rangers history, a solo shot against Clyde Wright of the California Angels.
- May 11 - The San Francisco Giants trade Willie Mays to the New York Mets for minor league pitcher and cash.
- May 14 - In front of a Mother's Day crowd of 35,000 in New York's Shea Stadium, Willie Mays makes a triumphant return to New York with the Mets, hitting a game-winning home run against his old teammates (the Giants). He scores in the 1st inning on Rusty Staub's grand slam and his solo homer in the 5th inning snaps a 4-4 tie. The final score: Mets 5, Giants 4.
- May 28 - The Milwaukee Brewers fire manager Dave Bristol, replacing him with Del Crandall. Coach Roy McMillan takes over until Crandall arrives and guides the team to a 4-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox.
- July 2 - San Francisco's Willie McCovey hits his 14th career grand slam home run to pace the Giants 9-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Pitcher Randy Moffitt wins his first major league game and receives a congratulatory telegram from his sister Billie Jean King, who is playing at Wimbledon.
- July 11 - At Oakland, Boston's Marty Pattin has his no-hit bid foiled when Reggie Jackson hits a 1-out single in the 9th inning. Boston wins 4-0.
- July 25 - At Atlanta Stadium, the National League wins the All-Star Game over the American League 4-3, behind hometown hero Hank Aaron's two-run home run and Joe Morgan's 10th-inning RBI single. Morgan is named MVP. It is the seventh time the classic has gone into extra innings.
- September 15 - Steve Carlton beats the Montreal Expos 5-3, raising his record to 24-9. The rest of the Philadelphia Phillies pitchers have a combined record of 26-80.
- September 21 - The Pittsburgh Pirates clinch the National League East title with a 6-2 victory over the Mets.
- September 22 - The Cincinnati Reds clinch the National League West crown with a 4-3 road victory over the Houston Astros.
- September 30 - During the Pirates' 5-0 win over the Mets at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium, Roberto Clemente hits a double off New York's Jon Matlack in the 4th inning to get his 3,000th and final regular season hit in the major leagues.
- October 3 - The Detroit Tigers clinch the American League East as Woodie Fryman beats Luis Tiant of the Boston Red Sox 3-1 for his 10th win. Detroit's picks up his 14th save and Al Kaline singles in the winning run for Detroit.
- October 8 - The Oakland Athletics won Game 2 of the 1972 American League Championship Series 6-0 win over the Detroit Tigers. A key moment from that game occured when Oakland's Bert Campaneris who was having a great series hurled his bat at Detroit Tiger pitcher Lerrin LaGrow. Campaneris was fined and suspended for the rest of the series.
- October 22 - The Oakland Athletics win the World Series with a 3-2 victory in Game Seven over the Cincinnati Reds. Gene Tenace, who had only five home runs in the regular season, hit four in the Series and is named MVP.
- November 8 - The St. Louis Cardinals bring Tim McCarver back to St. Louis, sending to the Montreal Expos in exchange.
- November 27 - In a great trade for New York, the Cleveland Indians swap third baseman Graig Nettles and catcher to the New York Yankees for catcher John Ellis, infielder Jerry Kenney, and outfielders Charlie Spikes and Rusty Torres.
- December 10 - The American League votes unanimously to adopt the designated hitter rule on a 3-year experimental basis. The DH will replace the pitcher in the lineup unless otherwise noted before the start of the game. In the December 1975 meeting, the AL will vote to permanently adopt the DH. The National League declines to follow suit.
Births
January-March
- January 9 - Jay Powell
- January 13 - Akinori Otsuka
- January 18 - Mike Lieberthal
- January 21 - Alan Benes
- January 25 - José Macías
- January 28 - Tsuyoshi Shinjo
- January 29 - Morgan Burkhart
- February 1 - Rich Becker
- February 2 - Jared Fernandez
- February 2 - Melvin Mora
- February 11 - Brian Daubach
- February 20 - Shane Spencer
- February 22 - John Halama
- February 23 - Rondell White
- March 1 - Omar Daal
- March 11 - Salomón Torres
- March 22 - Cory Lidle
- March 24 - José Cabrera
- March 24 - Steve Karsay
- March 27 - Adam Melhuse
- March 29 - Alex Ochoa
April-June
- April 11 - Robin Jennings
- April 11 - Bobby M. Jones
- April 11 - Jason Varitek
- April 12 - Paul Lo Duca
- April 14 - Roberto Mejía
- April 16 - Antonio Alfonseca
- April 17 - Gary Bennett
- April 24 - Chipper Jones
- April 26 - Brian Anderson
- April 26 - Francisco Córdova
- April 26 - Felipe Lira
- May 1 - Bobby Chouinard
- May 3 - Darren Dreifort
- May 4 - Manny Aybar
- May 19 - Scott McClain
- May 24 - Danny Bautista
- May 28 - Tilson Brito
- May 30 - Scott Eyre
- May 30 - Manny Ramírez
- May 31 - Dave Roberts
- June 2 - Raúl Ibáñez
- June 2 - Chance Sanford
- June 3 - Bryan Rekar
- June 6 - Tony Graffanino
- June 6 - Brooks Kieschnick
- June 13 - Darrell May
- June 15 - Tony Clark
- June 15 - Ramiro Mendoza
- June 15 - Andy Pettitte
- June 20 - Paul Bako
- June 20 - Juan Castro
- June 25 - Carlos Delgado
- June 30 - Garret Anderson
July-September
- July 6 - Greg Norton
- July 11 - Mark Little
- July 12 - Kelly Wunsch
- July 15 - Wilson Delgado
- July 24 - Shawn Wooten
- August 3 -
- August 5 - John Wasdin
- August 15 - Chris Singleton
- August 17 - Jeff Abbott
- August 22 - Steve Kline
- August 23 - Raul Casanova
- August 28 - Jay Witasick
- August 30 - José Herrera
- September 7 - Jason Isringhausen
- September 9 - Mike Hampton
- September 9 - Félix Rodríguez
- September 14 - David Bell
- September 15 - Marc Newfield
- September 21 - Scott Spiezio
- September 30 - José Lima
October-December
- October 5 - Aaron Guiel
- October 6 - Valerio de los Santos
- October 6 - Benji Gil
- October 10 - Ramón Martínez
- October 19 - Keith Foulke
- October 19 - Joe McEwing
- October 23 - Giomar Guevara
- October 26 - Armando Almanza
- October 27 - Brad Radke
- November 3 - Armando Benítez
- November 6 - Deivi Cruz
- November 10 - Shawn Green
- November 12 - Homer Bush
- November 22 - Jay Payton
- December 5 - Cliff Floyd
- December 8 - Jolbert Cabrera
- December 16 - Charles Gipson
- December 21 - LaTroy Hawkins
- December 21 - Dustin Hermanson
- December 28 - Einar Díaz
- December 29 - Jim Brower
Deaths
- February 9 - , 33, infielder for the Cincinnati Reds and California Angels
- February 28 - Dizzy Trout, 56, All-Star pitcher for the Detroit Tigers who led the AL in wins in 1943 and was MVP runnerup the following year
- March 11 - Zack Wheat, 83, Hall of Fame left fielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers who held team career records for games, hits, doubles and triples, a lifetime .317 hitter who retired with the 10th-most hits in history
- March 16 - Pie Traynor, 72, Hall of Fame third baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates who batted .320 lifetime and established a record for career games at third base; was named the best ever at his position in 1969
- March 28 - Donie Bush, 84, shortstop of the Detroit Tigers for 14 seasons who led AL in walks five times and was a superlative bunter; later managed Pittsburgh to the 1927 NL pennant
- March 30 - Davy Jones, 91, outfielder with the Detroit Tigers who organized a 1912 walkout to protest Ty Cobb's suspension for attacking a heckler
- April 2 - Gil Hodges, 47, 8-time All-Star first baseman for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers who drove in more runs than any other player during the 1950s and managed the "Miracle Mets" to the 1969 World Series title
- April 3 - Alvin Crowder, 73, pitcher who had three 20-win seasons with the Browns and Senators, known for his mastery against the Yankees
- May 22 - Dick Fowler, 51, Canadian pitcher who won 66 games with the Philadelphia Athletics, including a no-hitter
- May 29 - Moe Berg, 70, catcher who served as a spy for the U.S. government both during and after his playing career
- June 9 - Del Bissonette, 72, first baseman who twice batted .300 for the Brooklyn Dodgers
- July 31 - Rollie Hemsley, 65, All-Star catcher for seven teams, later a coach and minor league manager
- August 13 - George Weiss, 77, executive who solidified the New York Yankees dynasty as the club's farm director and general manager from 1932 to 1960, then became the Mets' first team president
- August 24 - , 79, St. Louis sportswriter from the 1910s to the 1950s, also a sportscaster and author of books on baseball
- September 2 - Jim Brillheart, 68, who pitched for the Senators, Cubs and Red Sox, and one of the few pitchers in baseball history to appear in over 1,000 games
- September 6 - Charlie Berry, 69, American League catcher for eleven seasons, later an AL umpire from 1942 to 1962
- September 16 - Eddie Waitkus, 53, All-Star first baseman who was shot in 1949 by a teenaged female admirer who lured him to her hotel room
- October 9 - Dave Bancroft, 81, Hall of Fame shortstop for four NL teams, known for his defensive skill and also batting over .300 five times; captain of the New York Giants' pennant winners from 1921-1923
- October 24 - Jackie Robinson, 53, Hall of Fame second baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers who broke baseball's color line in 1947 after starring in the Negro Leagues; he became the NL's 1949 MVP and batted .311 in a 10-year major league career
- November 2 - Freddy Parent, 96, shortstop in the Red Sox' first seven seasons, and the last surviving participant of the inaugural 1903 World Series
- November 26 - Wendell Smith, 58, sportswriter for Pittsburgh and Chicago newspapers since 1937 who became the BBWAA's first black member and helped ease Jackie Robinson's entry into the major leagues; also a Chicago sportscaster since 1964
- December 20 - Gabby Hartnett, 72, Hall of Fame catcher for the Chicago Cubs who virtually clinched the 1938 pennant with a home run, he established career records for games and home runs as a catcher and was the NL's 1935 MVP
- December 31 - Roberto Clemente, 38, right fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates since 1955; a lifetime .317 hitter, 12-time All-Star and winner of 12 Gold Gloves who was a 4-time batting champion and the NL's 1966 MVP, he collected his 3000th base hit in September