1972 in baseball

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The following are the baseball events of the year 1972 throughout the world.

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 cancelled for each team; some as few as six, some as many as nine. The lack of makeups of those games, 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. There would be no baseball in D.C. until 2005. 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 living 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 (later named Kauffman 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 after the 1972 Nicaragua earthquake.

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[]

Amateur World Series: Cuba
College World Series: USC
Japan Series: Yomiuri Giants over Hankyu Braves (4–1)
Big League World Series: Orlando, Florida
Little League World Series: Taipei, Taiwan
Senior League World Series: Pingtung, Taiwan

Winter Leagues

1972 Caribbean Series: Leones de Ponce
Dominican Republic League: Águilas Cibaeñas
Mexican Pacific League: Algodoneros de Guasave
Puerto Rican League: Leones de Ponce
Venezuelan League: Tigres de Aragua

Awards and honors[]

Baseball Hall of Fame
- Yogi Berra
- Josh Gibson
- Lefty Gomez
- Will Harridge
- Sandy Koufax
- Buck Leonard
- Early Wynn
- Ross Youngs
Most Valuable Player
- Dick Allen, Chicago White Sox, 1B (AL)
- Johnny Bench, Cincinnati Reds, C (NL)
Cy Young Award
- Gaylord Perry, Cleveland Indians (AL)
- Steve Carlton, Philadelphia Phillies (NL)
Rookie of the Year
- Carlton Fisk, Boston Red Sox, C (AL)
- Jon Matlack, New York Mets, P (NL)
Gold Glove Award
- George Scott (1B) (AL)
- Doug Griffin (2B) (AL)
- Brooks Robinson (3B) (AL)
- Ed Brinkman (SS) (AL)
- Paul Blair (OF) (AL)
- Bobby Murcer (OF) (AL)
- Ken Berry (OF) (AL)
- Carlton Fisk (C) (AL)
- Jim Kaat (P) (AL)

Statistical leaders[]

Type	Name	Stat	Name	Stat
	American League		National League
AVG	Rod Carew MIN	.318	Billy Williams CHC	.333
HR	Dick Allen CHW	37	Johnny Bench CIN	40
RBI	Dick Allen CHW	113	Johnny Bench CIN	125
Wins	Wilbur Wood CHW Gaylord Perry CLE	24	Steve Carlton PHI	27
ERA	Luis Tiant BOS	1.91	Steve Carlton PHI	1.97
SO	Nolan Ryan CAL	329	Steve Carlton PHI	310
SV	Sparky Lyle NYY	35	Clay Carroll CIN	37
SB	Bert Campaneris OAK	52	Lou Brock STL	63

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–March[]

January 13 – Bernice Gera wins a discrimination suit against organized baseball, opening the door for her to become the first female umpire in professional baseball.
January 19 – The Baseball Writers' Association of America elects Sandy Koufax, Yogi Berra and Early Wynn to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Koufax makes it in his first try and, at age of 36, is the youngest honoree in history.
January 20 – The Chicago Cubs trade Johnny Callison to the New York Yankees for Jack Aker.
February 8 – Commissioner Bowie Kuhn announces that the Special Committee on the Negro Leagues has selected Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard for the Hall of Fame.
March 16 – Reigning Cy Young and MVP award winner Vida Blue announces his retirement. It will be a short one as he will join the Oakland Athletics in May.

April–June[]

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 canceled (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; the schedule imbalance would 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 2 – With the sudden death of Gil Hodges, Yogi Berra is named manager of the New York Mets.
April 16 – At Wrigley Field, Burt Hooton of the Chicago Cubs no-hits the Philadelphia Phillies 4–0.
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 Charlie Williams 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 16 – Philadelphia Phillies rookie outfielder Greg Luzinski blasts a 500-foot home run off the Liberty Bell at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium.
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.
June 18 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules 5–3 in favor of Major League Baseball in the lawsuit brought by Curt Flood, upholding the reserve clause.
June 24 – In the first game of a doubleheader between the visiting Auburn Phillies and Geneva Senators of the Class A New York–Pennsylvania League, Bernice Gera becomes the first woman to umpire a professional baseball game. She resigns between games after being verbally abused by some spectators and by some involved in the game.

July–September[]

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 4 – For the second time in his career, Tom Seaver of the New York Mets has a no-hitter broken up in the ninth. The bid is foiled in the first game of a doubleheader against the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium by a Leron Lee single with one out, the only hit Seaver will allow in a 2–0 Met victory. Seaver had a bid for a perfect game broken up in the ninth against the Chicago Cubs in 1969.
July 9 – Rich Reese of the Minnesota Twins ties a major league record in hitting his third pinch-hit grand slam home run.
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 11- Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs goes 8-for-8 in a doubleheader against the Houston Astros at Wrigley Field, hitting home runs in both games and driving in 4 runs. The Cubs lose the first game 6-5 but win the nightcap 9-5.
July 14 – In a game between the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals in Kansas City, the Tigers' catcher, Tom Haller, has his older brother Bill Haller right over his shoulder; the first time brothers have served as catcher and home plate umpire in the same Major League game. The Royals win 1–0.
July 18 – Against the Philadelphia Phillies at San Diego Stadium, San Diego Padre pitcher Steve Arlin has a no-hitter broken up with two out in the ninth by a Denny Doyle single.^[1] With two strikes on him, Doyle takes advantage of Padre manager Don Zimmer's decision to play third baseman Dave Roberts in by slapping a ground ball that bounces over Roberts' head—a ball that Roberts could have fielded at normal depth. Doyle later advances to second on a balk, then scores on a Tommy Hutton single. Arlin then retires Greg Luzinski on a fly ball to come away with a two-hitter (one of three he pitches on the season; he also hurls two one-hitters during a season in which he finishes 10–21) in a 5–1 Padre victory. This will be the closest any Padre comes to a no-hitter until Joe Musgrove finally pitches the franchise's first, doing so on April 3, 2021.
July 24 – Leo Durocher steps down as manager of the Chicago Cubs and is replaced by Whitey Lockman.
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.
July 31 – Minnesota Twins hurler Bert Blyleven gives up two inside-the-park home runs to Dick Allen of the Chicago White Sox. The next time this feat occurs in the major leagues, Blyleven is again on the mound—watching teammate Greg Gagne circling the bases twice on October 4, 1986.
August 1 – At Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Nate Colbert of the San Diego Padres ties Stan Musial's 18-year record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves. He hits two in the first game, won by the Padres 9–0, and three more in the nightcap, which San Diego also wins, 11–7. Musial had hit five home runs in a May 2, 1954 doubleheader—with Colbert, then eight years old, in attendance.
August 29 – Jim Barr of the San Francisco Giants retires the first twenty batters in today's game. Added to the last twenty one batters he retired in his previous game, it establishes a record for consecutive batters retired. It will be tied in 2007 by relief pitcher Bobby Jenks.
September 2 – At Wrigley Field, Chicago Cub pitcher Milt Pappas no-hits the San Diego Padres 8–0. Pappas retires the first 26 batters and comes to within one strike of a perfect game with a 2–2 count to pinch-hitter Larry Stahl, but home-plate umpire Bruce Froemming calls the next two pitches, both of which are close, balls. Undeterred, Pappas ends the game by retiring the next batter, ex-Cub Garry Jestadt. Not until Carlos Zambrano in 2008 would the Cubs be involved in a no-hitter (either in pitching it or having it pitched against them), and the next no-hitter at Wrigley won't come until Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies no-hits the Cubs in 2015. The perfect game bid is also the only one, to date, to be broken up on a walk to the 27th batter.
September 8 – Ferguson Jenkins wins his 20th game for the 6th straight year in a 4–3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Philadelphia.
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 20 – Milt Pappas wins his 200th game as a major leaguer, defeating the Montreal Expos 6–2 at Wrigley Field.
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–December[]

October 2 – In the first game of a doubleheader at Jarry Park, Bill Stoneman of the Montreal Expos no-hits the New York Mets 7–0. The no-hitter is 1) the second of Stoneman's career (the first having come on April 17, 1969—only nine games into the Expos' existence), 2) the first no-hitter ever pitched in a regular season game in Canada, and 3) the latest, calendar-wise, that a regular-season no-hitter has been pitched, tied with Addie Joss' perfect game in 1908.
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 Chuck Seelbach 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 5–0 over the Detroit Tigers. A key moment from that game occurred 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 11 – The Pittsburgh Pirates carry a lead into the bottom of the ninth of the final game of the NLCS. The Reds' Johnny Bench homers to tie the game. After some runners reach base, the Pirates' pitcher, Bob Moose, unleashes a wild pitch, permitting the pennant clinching run to score.
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 Jorge Roque to the Montreal Expos in exchange.
November 22 – Future Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench of the Cincinnati Reds wins his second National League MVP Award in three years. Bench beats out Chicago Cubs outfielder Billy Williams, who also ran second to Bench in the 1970 MVP balloting.
November 25 – Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Roberto Clemente wins his 12th consecutive Gold Glove Award and Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Wes Parker his sixth in a row. Neither will play in 1973.
November 27 – In a great trade for New York, the Cleveland Indians swap third baseman Graig Nettles and catcher Jerry Moses to the New York Yankees for catcher John Ellis, infielder Jerry Kenney, and outfielders Charlie Spikes and Rusty Torres.
November 28 – In a blockbuster intrastate trade satisfactory for both teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers send Frank Robinson, Bill Singer, Mike Strahler, Bobby Valentine and Billy Grabarkewitz to the California Angels in exchange for Andy Messersmith and Ken McMullen. In 1973, Robinson will hit .266 with 30 home runs with 97 RBI in 147 games, and Singer will combine with Nolan Ryan to strike out 674 batters, to set a 20th-century major league record for two pitching teammates. Messersmith will win 39 games in the next two seasons for the Dodgers and finish second in the 1974 Cy Young Award voting.
December 10 – The American League votes unanimously to adopt the designated hitter rule on a three-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.
December 31 – Roberto Clemente and 4 other people die in a plane crash off the coast of Puerto Rico en route to delivering relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

Births[]

January[]

Mike Lieberthal

January 1 – Rafael Roque
January 2 – Garrett Stephenson
January 9 – Jay Powell
January 11 – Jermaine Allensworth
January 12 – Rich Loiselle
January 13 – Akinori Otsuka
January 17 – Walt McKeel
January 18 – Keith Glauber
January 18 – Mike Lieberthal
January 20 – Matt Beech
January 20 – Tim Kubinski
January 21 – Alan Benes
January 25 – José Macías
January 27 – Greg Martinez
January 28 – Steve Falteisek
January 28 – Chris Peters
January 28 – Tsuyoshi Shinjo
January 28 – Bryan Ward
January 29 – Morgan Burkhart
January 29 – Julio Mosquera

February[]

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[]

March 1 – Omar Daal
March 1 – Jimmy Hurst
March 3 – Mike Romano
March 4 – Bruce Aven
March 4 – Mark Wegner
March 10 – Rob Stanifer
March 11 – Salomón Torres
March 12 – George Arias
March 20 – Jason McDonald
March 22 – Cory Lidle
March 24 – José Cabrera
March 24 – Steve Karsay
March 25 – Howard Battle
March 26 – Jason Maxwell
March 27 – Creighton Gubanich
March 27 – Adam Melhuse
March 29 – Alex Ochoa
March 30 – Wilson Heredia

April[]

April 3 – Steve Soderstrom
April 4 – Guillermo Garcia
April 4 – Jeff Sparks
April 4 – Matt Wagner
April 6 – Marty Malloy
April 10 – Shayne Bennett
April 11 – Robin Jennings
April 11 – Bobby M. Jones
April 11 – Jason Varitek
April 12 – Paul Lo Duca
April 12 – Alfonso Márquez
April 14 – Roberto Mejía
April 15 – Ricky Otero
April 16 – Antonio Alfonseca
April 17 – Gary Bennett
April 21 – Keith Williams
April 24 – Chipper Jones
April 25 – Micah Franklin
April 26 – Brian Anderson
April 26 – Francisco Córdova
April 26 – Felipe Lira
April 27 – Chad Zerbe

May[]

May 1 – Bobby Chouinard
May 1 – Fausto Cruz
May 3 – Darren Dreifort
May 4 – Manny Aybar
May 10 – Marino Santana
May 11 – Cam Cairncross
May 18 – Jaime Bluma
May 18 – Mike Jerzembeck
May 19 – Scott McClain
May 24 – Danny Bautista
May 24 – Gabe González
May 28 – Tilson Brito
May 28 – Joe Rosselli
May 30 – Scott Eyre
May 30 – Manny Ramírez
May 31 – Dave Roberts

June[]

June 2 – Raúl Ibañez
June 2 – Chance Sanford
June 3 – Bryan Rekar
June 5 – Mike Coolbaugh
June 6 – Tony Graffanino
June 6 – Brooks Kieschnick
June 6 – Jeff Williams
June 13 – Darrell May
June 15 – Tony Clark
June 15 – Ramiro Mendoza
June 15 – Andy Pettitte
June 19 – Kazuhiro Wada
June 20 – Paul Bako
June 20 – Juan Castro
June 22 – Miguel del Toro
June 25 – Carlos Delgado
June 30 – Garret Anderson
June 30 – Jim Stoops

July[]

July 5 – Bo Porter
July 6 – Greg Norton
July 11 – Mark Little
July 12 – Kelly Wunsch
July 13 – Clint Sodowsky
July 15 – Wilson Delgado
July 16 – Robbie Beckett
July 19 – Brian Smith
July 21 – Kimera Bartee
July 24 – Shawn Wooten

August[]

August 1 – Freddy García
August 3 – Wendell Magee
August 4 – Steve Bourgeois
August 5 – John Wasdin
August 6 – Duane Singleton
August 7 – Kerry Lacy
August 9 – Dusty Allen
August 9 – Jeff Zimmerman
August 11 – Andrew Lorraine
August 14 – David Manning
August 15 – Chris Singleton
August 17 – Jeff Abbott
August 19 – Jed Hansen
August 20 – Mike Porzio
August 21 – Dean Crow
August 22 – Steve Kline
August 23 – Raul Casanova
August 24 – Mike Grzanich
August 24 – Kurt Miller
August 24 – Chris Prieto
August 25 – Andy Abad
August 25 – Mike Welch
August 28 – Jay Witasick
August 30 – José Herrera

September[]

September 1 – Kevin Orie
September 2 – Pat Watkins
September 4 – Darrell Einertson
September 5 – Jimmy Haynes
September 7 – Jason Isringhausen
September 7 – Willie Morales
September 9 – Mike Hampton
September 9 – Félix Rodríguez
September 13 – Nelson Cruz
September 13 – Chan Perry
September 14 – David Bell
September 16 – Brian Tollberg
September 17 – Brady Raggio
September 21 – Scott Spiezio
September 21 – Shannon Withem
September 23 – Pep Harris
September 26 – Fumiya Nishiguchi
September 30 – Curtis Goodwin
September 30 – José Lima

October[]

October 2 – Rafael Carmona
October 2 – Trey Moore
October 4 – Adam Riggs
October 5 – Yamil Benítez
October 5 – Aaron Guiel
October 6 – Valerio de los Santos
October 6 – Benji Gil
October 8 – Willie Adams
October 9 – Steve Gibralter
October 10 – Mike Holtz
October 10 – Ramón Martínez
October 19 – Keith Foulke
October 19 – Joe McEwing
October 19 – Marc Newfield
October 23 – Giomar Guevara
October 26 – Armando Almanza
October 27 – Brad Radke
October 29 – Richie Barker
October 31 – Chris Clemons

November[]

November 2 – Travis Miller
November 3 – Armando Benítez
November 6 – Deivi Cruz
November 6 – Matt Skrmetta
November 7 – Travis Smith
November 10 – Shawn Green
November 10 – Greg LaRocca
November 11 – Danny Rios
November 12 – Homer Bush
November 15 – Darwin Cubillán
November 22 – Luis Andújar
November 22 – Jay Payton
November 25 – Ramón Fermín
November 28 – Geraldo Guzmán
November 28 – José Parra

December[]

December 5 – Cliff Floyd
December 5 – Mike Mahoney
December 6 – Rick Short
December 6 – Neil Weber
December 7 – Chris Dale
December 8 – Jolbert Cabrera
December 11 – Frank Rodriguez
December 14 – Marcus Jensen
December 16 – Charles Gipson
December 18 – Chris Seelbach
December 21 – LaTroy Hawkins
December 21 – Dustin Hermanson
December 25 – Erik Hiljus
December 27 – Mike Busby
December 28 – Einar Díaz
December 29 – Jim Brower

Deaths[]