1972 Boston Red Sox season

1972 Boston Red Sox
Major league affiliations
American League (since 1901) Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Fenway Park (since 1912) Boston, Massachusetts (since 1901)
1972 information
Owner(s)	Tom Yawkey
General manager(s)	Dick O'Connell
Manager(s)	Eddie Kasko
Local television	WBZ-TV, Ch. 4 (Ken Coleman, Johnny Pesky)
Local radio	WHDH-AM 850 (Ned Martin, Dave Martin, John MacLean)
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The 1972 Boston Red Sox season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Red Sox finishing 2nd in the American League East with a record of 85 wins and 70 losses. After the cancellation of games missed during a two-week strike, the Sox missed winning the AL East, as the Tigers played one more game and finished 86-70, just 1/2 game ahead.

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, Tommy Harper, and Pat Skrable (minors).
• 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.

A bad trade

After the 1971 season, the Red Sox management decided on drastic changes.^{[citation needed]} First there was a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers. George Scott, who had fallen out of favor with the Red Sox management,^{[citation needed]} 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 an 15-15 in 1973, he was then traded away. Harper batted .254 and .281 in his two years with the Sox before being traded.

Regular season

Following the 1972 Major League Baseball strike, and Commissioner Bowie Kuhn's ruling that no games cancelled due to the April strike would be made up, the Red Sox wound up with 155 games on their 1972 schedule. They finished a half-game behind the AL East champion Detroit Tigers, who played 156 and won one more game than Boston. In the second-to-last game of the season, shortstop Luis Aparicio fell down rounding third, possibly costing the Sox a chance at victory^{[citation needed]} in a game that could have made the difference. Thus, the Sox finished one-half game out with an 85-70 record.

Season standings

AL East	W	L	GB	Pct.
Detroit Tigers	86	70	--	.551
Boston Red Sox	85	70	0.5	.548
Baltimore Orioles	80	74	5	.519
New York Yankees	79	76	6.5	.510
Cleveland Indians	72	84	14	.462
Milwaukee Brewers	65	91	21	.417

Notable transactions

• June 6, 1972: Don Aase was drafted by the Red Sox in the 6th round of the 1972 Major League Baseball Draft.
• August 15, 1972: Chris Coletta was traded by the Red Sox to the California Angels for Andy Kosco.

Opening Day lineup

4	Tommy Harper	CF
11	Luis Aparicio	SS
8	Carl Yastrzemski	LF
7	Reggie Smith	CF
6	Rico Petrocelli	3B
5	Danny Cater	1B
2	Doug Griffin	2B
24	Duane Josephson	C
33	Marty Pattin	P

Roster

1972 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 26 Bobby Bolin 21 Ray Culp 22 John Curtis 39 Mike Garman 18 Lew Krausse 37 Bill Lee 36 Lynn McGlothen 29 Roger Moret 15 Mike Nagy 28 Don Newhauser 33 Marty Pattin 43 Gary Peters 42 Sonny Siebert 19 Ken Tatum 23 Luis Tiant 55 Bob Veale 25 Stan Williams		Catchers 48 Vic Correll 27 Carlton Fisk 10 Bob Montgomery Infielders 11 Luis Aparicio 20 Juan Beníquez  3 Bob Burda  5 Danny Cater 17 Cecil Cooper  2 Doug Griffin 24 Duane Josephson 38 Buddy Hunter 12 John Kennedy  6 Rico Petrocelli		Outfielders 24,40 Dwight Evans  1 Phil Gagliano  4 Tommy Harper 44 Andy Kosco 16 Rick Miller 14 Ben Oglivie  7 Reggie Smith  8 Carl Yastrzemski Other batters 44 Bob Gallagher		Manager 30 Eddie Kasko Coaches 34 Doug Camilli 31 Don Lenhardt 32 Eddie Popowski 35 Lee Stange

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
CF	Harper, TommyTommy Harper	144	546	141	.254	14	49

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

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
Pattin, MartyMarty Pattin	38	253	17	13	3.24	168
Culp, RayRay Culp	16	105	5	8	4.46	52

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
Krausse, LewLew Krausse	24	60.2	1	3	6.38	35

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Bolin, BobbyBobby Bolin	21	0	1	5	2.93	27

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Louisville Colonels	International League	Darrell Johnson
AA	Pawtucket Red Sox	Eastern League	Don Lock
A	Winston-Salem Red Sox	Carolina League	Rac Slider
A	Winter Haven Red Sox	Florida State League	John Butler
Short-Season A	Williamsport Red Sox	New York-Penn League	Dick Berardino

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3. 
• 1972 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1972 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com