The 1972 New York Mets season was the 11th regular season for the Mets, who played home games at Shea Stadium. Led by manager Yogi Berra, the team had an 83–73 recordBecause of a labour strike, the Mets didn't play a 162 games regular season. and finished in third place in the National League East, thirteen and a half games behind the first place Pittsburgh Pirates. Despite their winning record, the Mets were outscored 578–528 on the season, a run differential of −50; their Pythagorean expectation, based on that differential, was a 72–84 record.

Offseason Death of Gil Hodges/Appointment of Yogi Berra On April 2, 1972, manager Gil Hodges and coaches Rube Walker, Joe Pignatano and Eddie Yost, were returning to their motel in West Palm Beach, Florida after a round of golf when Hodges suddenly collapsed and died from a heart attack, two days short of his forty-eighth birthday. The Mets wore a black armband on the left sleeves of their uniform jerseys during the 1972 season in honor of Hodges. On April 6, Yogi Berra was introduced as the Mets' new manager.

Notable offseason transactions:

December 10, 1971: Nolan Ryan, Frank Estrada, Don Rose, and Leroy Stanton were traded by the Mets to the California Angels for Jim Fregosi.Nolan Ryan page at Baseball Reference April 5, 1972: Ken Singleton, Tim Foli, and Mike Jorgensen were traded by the Mets to the Montreal Expos for Rusty Staub.Rusty Staub page at Baseball Reference

Also, returning to the club for their first full seasons that year was Jon Matlack, a left-handed starting pitcher (the fourth overall pick in the 1967 Major League Baseball draft), and John Milner, a left-handed, power-hitting, first baseman/outfielder.

Regular season Season summary On May 11, the Mets acquired Willie Mays from the San Francisco Giants for minor league pitcher Charlie Williams and cash. The acquisition of Mays had been a longtime dream of Joan Payson, who had been a New York Giants fan in her youth. With Mays no longer pulling the weight of his large contract, Giants owner Horace Stoneham made him available, and Payson could not resist.

The club got off to a sizzling start in 1972, playing better than .700 ball through early June and peaking at on May 21, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates by six games. However, Jim Fregosi suffered a broken thumb in spring training and never got on track, posting a .232 batting average. Second baseman Ken Boswell slumped to .211. John Milner flashed some power with 17 home runs but hit just .238. Tommie Agee, batting .291 on the day of the Mays trade, suddenly found himself sharing center field with Mays, and, along with being increasingly hampered by knee problems, finished at only .227. Rusty Staub led all starters with a .293 batting average, but was limited to just 66 games because of a broken hand. Mays did hit a respectable .267, but his fielding ability significantly declined. In addition, along with Staub, a series of disabling injuries to Bud Harrelson, Jerry Grote, and Cleon Jones brought the team up short and dropped them into their third consecutive third-place finish, 13.5 games behind Pittsburgh.

Among pitchers, Tom Seaver went 21–12, Rookie of the Year Jon Matlack was 15–10 and Jim McAndrew 11–8, but Jerry Koosman went 11–12 as his earned run average jumped to 4.14, and Gary Gentry slumped to 7–10 with a 4.04 ERA. Tug McGraw continued as the bullpen ace, with 8 wins and 27 saves and a 1.70 ERA.

On September 30, Jon Matlack gave up a double to Pirates legend Roberto Clemente. It was Clemente's 3,000th and final big-league hit prior to his death in a plane crash on New Year's Eve.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day starters Tommie Agee Ken Boswell Jim Fregosi Jerry Grote Bud Harrelson Cleon Jones Ed Kranepool Tom Seaver Rusty Staub

Notable transactions May 11: Charlie Williams and $50,000 were traded to the San Francisco Giants for Willie Mays.Willie Mays page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1972 New York Mets Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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 C Duffy Dyer 94 325 75 .231 8 36 1B Ed Kranepool 122 327 88 .269 8 34 2B Ken Boswell 100 355 75 .211 9 33 SS Bud Harrelson 115 418 90 .215 1 24 3B Jim Fregosi 101 340 79 .232 5 32 LF John Milner 117 362 86 .238 17 38 CF 114 422 96 .227 13 47 RF 66 239 70 .293 9 38

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 Cleon Jones 106 375 92 .245 5 52 Ted Martínez 103 330 74 .224 1 19 Wayne Garrett 111 298 69 .232 2 29 Jerry Grote 64 205 43 .210 3 21 Willie Mays 69 195 52 .267 8 19 Dave Marshall 72 156 39 .250 4 11 Dave Schneck 37 123 23 .187 3 10 Jim Beauchamp 58 120 29 .242 5 19 Lute Barnes 24 72 17 .236 0 6 Bill Sudakis 18 49 7 .143 1 7 Don Hahn 17 37 6 .162 0 1 Joe Nolan 4 10 0 .000 0 0

Pitching Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Tom Seaver 35 262.0 21 12 2.92 249 Jon Matlack 34 244.0 15 10 2.32 169 Gary Gentry 32 164.0 7 10 4.01 120 Jerry Koosman 34 163.0 11 12 4.14 147 Jim McAndrew 28 160.2 11 8 2.80 81

Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 14 53.0 3 2 4.58 45 Brent Strom 11 30.1 0 3 6.82 20 Hank Webb 6 18.1 0 0 4.42 15 Tommy Moore 3 12.1 0 0 2.92 5

Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L SV ERA SO Tug McGraw 54 106.0 8 6 27 1.70 92 Danny Frisella 39 67.1 5 8 9 3.34 46 Ray Sadecki 34 75.2 2 1 0 3.09 38 Chuck Taylor 20 31.0 0 0 2 5.52 9 Bob Rauch 19 27.0 0 1 1 5.00 23

Awards and honors

All-Stars 1972 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Willie Mays, starting center fielder Tug McGraw, reserve Tom Seaver, reserve

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tidewater

Notes

References 1972 New York Mets at Baseball Reference 1972 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com