1972 St. Louis Cardinals season
| 1972 St. Louis Cardinals | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:St Louis Cardinals 1967-1997 logo.png | ||
| Division | Eastern Division | |
| Ballpark | Busch Memorial Stadium | |
| City | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Owners | August "Gussie" Busch | |
| Managers | Red Schoendienst | |
| Television | KSD-TV | |
| Radio | KMOX (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Mike Walden) | |
| Stats | ESPN.com BB-reference | |
| ||
The St. Louis Cardinals 1972 season was the team's 91st season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 81st season in the National League. The Cardinals went 75-81 during the season and finished fourth in the National League East, 21½ games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Pitcher Bob Gibson won a Gold Glove this year.
Offseason
- February 25, 1972: Steve Carlton was traded by the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Rick Wise.[1]
Regular season
Season Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 96 | 59 | .619 | — | 49–29 | 47–30 |
| Chicago Cubs | 85 | 70 | .548 | 11 | 46–31 | 39–39 |
| New York Mets | 83 | 73 | .532 | 13½ | 41–37 | 42–36 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 75 | 81 | .481 | 21½ | 40–37 | 35–44 |
| Montreal Expos | 70 | 86 | .449 | 26½ | 35–43 | 35–43 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 59 | 97 | .378 | 37½ | 28–51 | 31–46 |
Opening Day starters
- Matty Alou
- Lou Brock
- José Cruz
- Bob Gibson
- Joe Hague
- Dal Maxvill
- Ted Simmons
- Ted Sizemore
- Joe Torre[2]
Notable transactions
- May 18, 1972: Marty Martínez was traded by the Cardinals to the Oakland Athletics for Brant Alyea.[3]
- June 6, 1972: Dan Larson was drafted by the Cardinals in the 1st round (21st pick) of the 1972 Major League Baseball Draft.[4]
- June 7, 1972: Diego Seguí was sent to the Cardinals by the Oakland Athletics as part of a conditional deal.[5]
- July 23, 1972: Brant Alyea was returned to the Oakland Athletics by the Cardinals.[3]
- August 30, 1972: Dal Maxvill was traded by the Cardinals to the Oakland Athletics for a player to be named later and Joe Lindsey (minors). The Athletics completed the deal by sending Gene Dusen (minors) to the Cardinals on October 27.[6]
Roster
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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Player stats
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | Matty Alou | 108 | 404 | 127 | .314 | 3 | 31 |
| LF | Lou Brock | 153 | 621 | 193 | .311 | 3 | 42 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luis Meléndez | 118 | 332 | 79 | .238 | 5 | 28 |
| Dwain Anderson | 57 | 135 | 36 | .267 | 1 | 8 |
| Joe Hague | 27 | 76 | 18 | .237 | 3 | 11 |
| Skip Jutze | 21 | 71 | 17 | .239 | 0 | 5 |
| Mike Fiore | 17 | 10 | 1 | .100 | 0 | 1 |
| Marty Martínez | 9 | 7 | 3 | .429 | 0 | 2 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rick Wise | 35 | 269 | 16 | 16 | 3.11 | 142 |
| Bob Gibson | 34 | 278 | 19 | 11 | 2.46 | 208 |
| Reggie Cleveland | 33 | 230.2 | 14 | 15 | 3.94 | 153 |
| Scipio Spinks | 16 | 118 | 5 | 5 | 2.67 | 93 |
Other pitchers
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Santorini | 30 | 133.2 | 8 | 11 | 4.11 | 72 |
Relief pitchers
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diego Seguí | 33 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 3.07 | 54 |
| Tony Cloninger | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5.19 | 11 |
| Ray Bare | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.54 | 5 |
| Charlie Hudson | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.11 | 4 |
| Santiago Guzmán | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 |
| Tim Plodinec | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 0 |
Awards and honors
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Modesto
Notes
- ^ Steve Carlton page at Baseball Reference
- ^ 1972 St. Louis Cardinals Roster by Baseball Almanac
- ^ a b Brant Alyea page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Dan Larson page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Diego Seguí page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Dal Maxvill page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Stolen Bases Single Season National League Leaders by Baseball Almanac
References
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0963718983.