1972 St. Louis Cardinals season

This article is about the Major League Baseball team. For the National Football League team, see 1972 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season.

1972 St. Louis Cardinals
Division	Eastern Division
Ballpark	Busch Memorial Stadium
City	St. Louis, Missouri
Record	75–81 (.481)
Owners	August "Gussie" Busch
Managers	Red Schoendienst
Television	KSD-TV
Radio	KMOX (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Mike Walden)
Seasons

The 1972 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 91st season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 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.

Offseason

• February 25, 1972: Steve Carlton was traded by the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Rick Wise.

Regular season

Pitcher Bob Gibson won a Gold Glove this year.

Season standings

NL East

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

Record vs. opponents

1972 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7–1	9–9	7–7	7–8	4–8	7–5	6–6	6–6	6–11	7–11	6–6
Chicago	7–5–1	—	8–4	3–9	8–4	10–5	10–8	10–7	3–12	9–3	7–5	10–8
Cincinnati	9–9	4–8	—	11–6	9–5	8–4	8–4	10–2	8–4	8–10	10–5	10–2
Houston	7–7	9–3	6–11	—	7–11	8–4	6–6	9–3	3–9	12–2	13–5	4–8
Los Angeles	8–7	4–8	5–9	11–7	—	6–6	7–5	7–5	7–5	13–5	9–9	8–4
Montreal	8–4	5–10	4–8	4–8	6–6	—	6–12	10–6	6–12	6–6	6–6	9–8
New York	5–7	8–10	4–8	6–6	5–7	12–6	—	13–5	8–6	7–5	8–4	7–9
Philadelphia	6-6	7–10	2–10	3–9	5–7	6–10	5–13	—	5–13	6–6	6–6	8–7
Pittsburgh	6–6	12–3	4–8	9–3	5–7	12–6	6–8	13–5	—	10–2	9–3	10–8
San Diego	11–6	3–9	10–8	2–12	5–13	6–6	5–7	6–6	2–10	—	4–10	4–8
San Francisco	11–7	5–7	5–10	5–13	9–9	6–6	4–8	6–6	3–9	10–4	—	5–7
St. Louis	6–6	8–10	2–10	8–4	4–8	8–9	9–7	7–8	8–10	8–4	7–5	—

Opening Day starters

• Matty Alou
• Lou Brock
• José Cruz
• Bob Gibson
• Joe Hague
• Dal Maxvill
• Ted Simmons
• Ted Sizemore
• Joe Torre

Notable transactions

• May 15, 1972: Don Shaw was traded by the Cardinals to the Oakland Athletics for Dwain Anderson.
• May 16, 1972: Lowell Palmer was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.
• May 18, 1972: Marty Martínez was traded by the Cardinals to the Oakland Athletics for Brant Alyea.
• June 6, 1972: Dan Larson was drafted by the Cardinals in the 1st round (21st pick) of the 1972 Major League Baseball Draft.
• June 7, 1972: Diego Seguí was sent to the Cardinals by the Oakland Athletics as part of a conditional deal.
• July 23, 1972: Brant Alyea was returned to the Oakland Athletics by the Cardinals.
• 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.
• September 18, 1972: Lowell Palmer was selected off waivers from the Cardinals by the Cleveland Indians.

Roster

1972 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers 42 Ray Bare 48 Jim Bibby 47 Lance Clemons 22 Reggie Cleveland 25 Tony Cloninger 36 John Cumberland 28 Moe Drabowsky 46 Don Durham 28 Rich Folkers 45 Bob Gibson 31 Joe Grzenda 36 Santiago Guzmán 37 Dennis Higgins 39 Al Hrabosky 30 Charlie Hudson 44 Lowell Palmer 56 Tim Plodinec 34 Al Santorini 35 Diego Seguí 44 Don Shaw 24 Scipio Spinks 40 Rick Wise		Catchers 18 Skip Jutze 15 Jerry McNertney 23 Ted Simmons Infielders 16 Ron Allen 17 Matty Alou 19 Dwain Anderson 16 Donn Clendenon  4 Ed Crosby 10 Mike Fiore 12 Joe Hague 25 Mick Kelleher 11 Marty Martínez 27 Dal Maxvill 44,47 Ken Reitz 41 Ted Sizemore 32 Bill Stein  9 Joe Torre 10 Mike Tyson		Outfielders 21 Brant Alyea 20 Lou Brock 12 Bernie Carbo 38 José Cruz 26 Luis Meléndez 21 Jorge Roque 17 Bill Voss		Manager  2 Red Schoendienst Coaches  8 Vern Benson (bullpen) 14 Ken Boyer (hitting)  3 George Kissell (first base) 33 Barney Schultz (pitching) 50 Lee Thomas (third base)

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	Ted Simmons	152	594	180	.303	16	96
1B	Matty Alou	108	404	127	.314	3	31
2B	Ted Sizemore	120	439	116	.264	2	38
SS	Dal Maxvill	105	276	61	.221	1	23
3B	Joe Torre	149	544	157	.289	11	81
LF	Lou Brock	153	621	193	.311	3	42
CF	José Cruz	117	332	78	.235	2	23
RF	Bernie Carbo	99	302	78	.258	7	34

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
Ed Crosby	101	276	60	.217	0	19
Donn Clendenon	61	136	26	.191	4	9
Dwain Anderson	57	135	36	.267	1	8
Ken Reitz	21	78	28	.359	0	10
Joe Hague	27	76	18	.237	3	11
Skip Jutze	21	71	17	.239	0	5
Jorge Roque	32	67	7	.104	1	5
Mick Kelleher	23	63	10	.159	0	1
Jerry McNertney	39	48	10	.208	0	9
Mike Tyson	13	37	7	.189	0	0
Bill Stein	14	35	11	.314	2	3
Brant Alyea	13	19	3	.158	0	1
Bill Voss	11	15	4	.267	0	3
Ron Allen	7	11	1	.091	1	1
Mike Fiore	17	10	1	.100	0	1
Marty Martínez	9	7	3	.429	0	2

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
Bob Gibson	34	278.0	19	11	2.46	208
Rick Wise	35	269.0	16	16	3.11	142
Reggie Cleveland	33	230.2	14	15	3.94	153
Scipio Spinks	16	118.0	5	5	2.67	93
Don Durham	10	47.2	2	7	4.34	35
Jim Bibby	6	40.1	1	3	3.35	28

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
Al Santorini	30	133.2	8	11	4.11	72
Lance Clemons	3	5.1	0	1	10.12	2

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
Diego Seguí	33	3	1	9	3.07	54
Joe Grzenda	30	1	0	0	5.66	15
Moe Drabowski	30	1	1	2	2.60	22
Tony Cloninger	17	0	2	0	5.19	11
Lowell Palmer	16	0	3	0	3.89	25
Dennis Higgins	15	1	2	1	3.97	20
John Cumberland	14	1	1	0	6.65	7
Ray Bare	14	0	1	1	0.54	5-
Charlie Hudson	12	1	0	0	5.11	4
Rich Folkers	9	1	0	0	3.38	7
Don Shaw	8	0	1	0	9.00	0
Al Hrabosky	5	1	0	0	0.00	9
Santiago Guzmán	1	0	0	0	9.00	0
Tim Plodinec	1	0	0	0	27.00	0

Awards and honors

League leaders

• Lou Brock, National League leader, stolen bases, 63

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tulsa Oilers	American Association	Jack Krol
AA	Arkansas Travelers	Texas League	Fred Koenig
A	Modesto Reds	California League	Tom Burgess
A	St. Petersburg Cardinals	Florida State League	Roy Majtyka
A	Cedar Rapids Cardinals	Midwest League	Gary Geiger
Rookie	GCL Cardinals	Gulf Coast League	Bobby Dews
Rookie	GCL Red Birds	Gulf Coast League	Julio Gotay

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Modesto

External links

• 1972 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference
• 1972 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com