The 1972 Boston Red Sox season was the 72nd season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished second in the American League East with a record of 85 wins and 70 losses, one-half game behind the Detroit Tigers. Due to the cancellation of games missed during the 1972 Major League Baseball strike, Detroit played (and won) one more game than Boston, allowing them to finish with a record of 86–70, winning the division by a half-game.
Offseason October 10, 1971: Jim Lonborg, Ken Brett, Billy Conigliaro, Joe Lahoud, Don Pavletich, and George Scott were traded by the Red Sox to the Milwaukee Brewers for Marty Pattin, Lew Krausse Jr., Tommy Harper, and Pat Skrable (minors).Jim Lonborg page at Baseball Reference March 22, 1972: Sparky Lyle was traded by the Red Sox to the New York Yankees for Danny Cater and a player to be named later. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Mario Guerrero to the Red Sox on June 30.Danny Cater page at Baseball Reference
A bad trade After the 1971 season, the Red Sox management decided on drastic changes. First there was a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers. George Scott, who had fallen out of favor with the Red Sox management, was packaged with Billy Conigliaro (younger brother of former Red Sox star Tony Conigliaro), outfielders Joe Lahoud and Don Pavletich, pitchers Ken Brett (George Brett's older brother) and Jim Lonborg and exchanged for pitchers Marty Pattin and Lew Krausse Jr. and outfielders Tommy Harper and Pat Skrable. It was a big deal and, as it turned out, a bad one for Boston. Lonborg won 14 games for Milwaukee in 1972, with a 2.83 ERA, and later was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, where he won 13, 17, 18, 8 and 11 games during five seasons. Scott batted .263, .266, .306, .281 and .285 in his five seasons with the Brewers, driving in 88, 107, 82, 109, and 77 runs during those same years and clouting an average of 23 homers a season, with 36 in 1975 alone. Meanwhile, although Pattin was 17–13 for Boston in 1972 a 15–15 in 1973, he was then traded away. Harper batted .254 and .281 in his two years with the Sox before being traded. Skrable, a Triple-A player, did not play professionally after the 1971 season. He refused to report to Boston, and the Red Sox received infielder Bobby Pfeil as compensation; Pfeil finished his career with Boston's Triple-A affiliate in 1972.
Regular season +Record by monthMonth Record Cumulative AL East Ref. Won Lost Won Lost Position GB April 4 7 4 7 4th 3 May 11 12 15 19 5th June 12 15 27 34 4th July 20 12 47 46 4th 7 August 17 12 64 58 4th 2 September 20 9 84 67 1st + October 1 3 85 70 2nd
Following the 1972 Major League Baseball strike, Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn ruled that no games cancelled due to the April strike would be made up. The Red Sox played a total of 155 games of their original 162-game schedule, and finished with a record of 85–70. Meanwhile, the Detroit Tigers played 156 games, and finished with a record of 86–70. Thus, the Tigers were winners of the AL East, by a half-game over the Red Sox.
Boston and Detroit finished their regular-season schedules with a three-game series against each other, played at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Entering the series, Boston held a half-game lead over Detroit, but Detroit won two of the three games, and the AL East title.
+Final series, Boston at Detroit Date Game result Boston record Detroit record AL East leader (GA) Ref.Entering the series Boston (+0.5) October 2 Detroit 4–1 Detroit (+0.5) October 3 Detroit 3–1 Detroit (+1.5) October 4 Boston 4–1 Detroit (+0.5)
The first game of the series included a notable play. In the top of the third inning, Boston trailed, 1–0, and had one out with Tommy Harper at third base and Luis Aparicio at first base. Carl Yastrzemski hit a ball that looked to be a triple; Harper scored, but Aparicio fell as he rounded third base. Aparicio got up and retreated to third, but Yastrzemski was already there, causing Yastrzemski to try to return to second, resulting in Yastrzemski being tagged out. Thus, instead of having a 2–1 lead with one out and a runner at third, Boston had only tied the game and had two outs (albeit still with a runner at third). The next batter, Reggie Smith, struck out to end the inning. Boston was unable to score again, and Detroit went on to win the game, 4–1. Aparicio falling as he rounded third base is looked back upon as a key play that could have made a difference.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions June 6, 1972: Don Aase was drafted by the Red Sox in the 6th round of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft.Don Aase page at Baseball Reference August 15, 1972: Chris Coletta was traded by the Red Sox to the California Angels for Andy Kosco.Andy Kosco page at Baseball Reference
Opening Day lineup 4 Tommy Harper CF11 Luis Aparicio SS 8 Carl Yastrzemski LF 7 Reggie Smith RF 6 Rico Petrocelli 3B 5 Danny Cater 1B 2 Doug Griffin 2B24 Duane Josephson C33 Marty Pattin P Source:
Roster 1972 Boston Red Sox Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches (Bullpen) (First base) (Third base) (Pitching)
Player stats
Batting Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging average PlayerGABRH2B3BHRRBISBBBAVGSLGTommy Harper1445569214129214492567.254.388Rico Petrocelli147521621251521575078.240.363Doug Griffin12947043122121235945.260.302Reggie Smith1314677512625421741568.270.475Carlton Fisk131457741342892261552.293.538Carl Yastrzemski125455701201821268567.264.391Luis Aparicio11043647112263339326.257.351Danny Cater923173275171839015.237.372Ben Oglivie942532761102830118.241.391John Kennedy712122252111222018.245.335Juan Beníquez33991024411827.242.333Rick Miller8998132141315011.214.367Phil Gagliano528292141010110.256.329Duane Josephson26821122411704.268.378Bob Montgomery2477722102703.286.377Bob Burda4573412102908.164.260Dwight Evans1857215311607.263.404Andy Kosco1747510213602.213.489Cecil Cooper121704100202.235.294Bob Gallagher7500000000.000.000Vic Correll1412000100.500.500Pitcher totals1554233468141431014.161.227Team totals155520864012892293412459466522.248.376 Source:
Pitching Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts PlayerWLERAGGSSVIPHRERBBSOMarty Pattin17133.2438350253.02321029165168Sonny Siebert12123.8032300196.12041058359123Luis Tiant1561.9143193179.0128453865123John Curtis1183.7326210154.1161696450106Lynn McGlothen873.4122220145.0135665559112Ray Culp584.4616160105.010460525352Gary Peters334.32334185.19148413867Bill Lee743.20470584.17531303243Lew Krausse Jr.136.38247160.27448432835Don Newhauser422.43310437.03011102527Bobby Bolin012.93210530.22411101127Ken Tatum023.07220429.13212101515Bob Veale200.006028.0200310Roger Moret003.603005.053264Stan Williams006.233004.153313Mike Garman0110.803103.144421Mike Nagy009.001002.032202Team totals85703.47155155251382.21309620533512918 Source:
Statistical leaders
Category Player Statistic Youngest player Dwight Evans 20 Oldest player Luis Aparicio 38 Wins Above Replacement Carlton Fisk 7.3 Source:
Batting Abbr. Category Player Statistic G Games played Rico Petrocelli 147 PA Plate appearances Tommy Harper 641 AB At bats Tommy Harper 556 R Runs scored Tommy Harper 92 H Hits Tommy Harper 141 2B Doubles Tommy Harper 29 3B Triples Carlton Fisk 9 HR Home runs Carlton Fisk 22 RBI Runs batted in Rico Petrocelli 75 SB Stolen bases Tommy Harper 25 CS Caught stealing Tommy Harper 7 BB Base on balls Rico Petrocelli 78 SO Strikeouts Tommy Harper 104 BA Batting average Carlton Fisk .293 OBP On-base percentage Carlton Fisk .370 SLG Slugging percentage Carlton Fisk .538 OPS On-base plus slugging Carlton Fisk .909 OPS+ Adjusted OPS Carlton Fisk 162 TB Total bases Carlton Fisk 246 GIDP Grounded into double play Danny Cater 16 HBP Hit by pitch Tommy Harper 9 SH Sacrifice hits Doug Griffin 15 SF Sacrifice flies Carl Yastrzemski 9 IBB Intentional base on balls Reggie Smith 12 Source:
Pitching Abbr. Category Player Statistic W Wins Marty Pattin 17 L Losses Marty Pattin 13 W-L % Winning percentage Luis Tiant .714 (15–6) ERA Earned run average Luis Tiant 1.91 G Games pitched Bill Lee 47 GS Games started Marty Pattin 35GF Games finished Don Newhauser 17 Gary Peters CG Complete games Marty Pattin 13 SHO Shutouts Luis Tiant 6SV Saves Bob Bolin 5 Bill Lee IP Innings pitched Marty Pattin 253 SO Strikeouts Marty Pattin 168 WHIP Walks plus hits per inning pitched Luis Tiant 1.078 Source:
Awards and honors Carlton Fisk, Gold Glove Award (C)
Farm system
Source:Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
References
External links 1972 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference 1972 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com