1972 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1972 Pittsburgh Pirates
1972 Pittsburgh Pirates
1972 NL East Champions
Division	Eastern Division
Ballpark	Three Rivers Stadium
City	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Record	96–59 (.619)
Owners	John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Bing Crosby, Thomas P. Johnson (minority shareholders)
Managers	Bill Virdon
Television	KDKA-TV; Bob Prince, Nellie King
Radio	KDKA; Bob Prince, Nellie King

The 1972 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 91st season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 86th in the National League. The defending World Series champion Pirates finished first in the National League East with a record of 96–59. The team was defeated three games to two by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1972 National League Championship Series. Despite losing the series, the Pirates put up a good fight, unlike the last time the two teams met in the playoffs. In game 5, the Pirates led 3-2 in the 9th inning, and were 3 outs away from pulling off a major upset over the Reds. All looked good until the Pirates collapsed in the 9th inning and allowed 2 runs to score, with the walk off run coming on a wild pitch.

Offseason

November, 1971: Danny Murtaugh steps down as Manager of the Pirates citing health reasons. Coach Bill Virdon is named Manager.^[2]^{[circular reference]}
January 12, 1972: Larry Demery was drafted by the Pirates in the 7th round of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft (Secondary Phase).^[3]
March 15, 1972: José Martínez was purchased from the Pirates by the Kansas City Royals.^[4]

Regular season

Season standings

v
t
e
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 v t e 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	—

Detailed records

National League
Opponent	W	L	WP	RS	RA
NL East
Chicago Cubs	12	3	0.800	73	41
Montreal Expos	12	6	0.667	81	39
New York Mets	6	8	0.429	38	38
Philadelphia Phillies	13	5	0.722	73	40
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals	10	8	0.556	88	74
Total	53	30	0.639	353	232
NL West
Atlanta Braves	6	6	0.500	60	62
Cincinnati Reds	4	8	0.333	50	58
Houston Astros	9	3	0.750	56	41
Los Angeles Dodgers	5	7	0.417	53	50
San Diego Padres	10	2	0.833	65	26
San Francisco Giants	9	3	0.750	54	43
Total	43	29	0.597	338	280
Season Total	96	59	0.619	691	512

Month	Games	Won	Lost	Win %	RS	RA
April	13	5	8	0.385	51	66
May	26	19	7	0.731	140	79
June	26	16	10	0.615	125	77
July	30	20	10	0.667	121	100
August	28	17	11	0.607	125	102
September	29	18	11	0.621	117	75
October	3	1	2	0.333	12	13
Total	155	96	59	0.619	691	512

Total	155	96	59	0.619	691	512
	Games	Won	Lost	Win %	RS	RA
Home	78	49	29	0.628	351	259
Away	77	47	30	0.610	340	253

Game log

1972 Game Log: 96–59 (Home: 49–29; Away: 47–30)

April: 5–8 (Home: 3–6; Away: 2–2)

May: 19–7 (Home: 12–2; Away: 7–5)

June: 16–10 (Home: 5–6; Away: 11–4)

July: 20–10 (Home: 12–4; Away: 8–6)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
66	July 1	Cubs	4–3	Giusti (2–4)	Jenkins	—	16,102	41–25
67	July 2	Cubs	7–4	Kison (3–1)	Hands	Hernández (5)	25,229	42–25
68	July 3	Cubs	3–2	Giusti (3–4)	Hooton	—	26,933	43–25
69	July 4	@ Astros	0–6	Dierker	Briles (6–3)	—	31,164	43–26
70	July 5	@ Astros	6–4	Johnson (2–3)	Forsch	—	23,646	44–26
71	July 6	@ Astros	7–3 (17)	Hernández (4–0)	Ray	—	23,540	45–26
72	July 7	@ Braves	10–2	Walker (3–4)	Kelley	—		46–26
73	July 7	@ Braves	2–3	Hardin	Kison (3–2)	—	25,253	46–27
74	July 8	@ Braves	5–3	Blass (10–2)	Reed	Giusti (11)	20,256	47–27
75	July 9	@ Braves	7–4	Briles (7–3)	McLain	—	20,130	48–27
76	July 11	@ Reds	0–5	Billingham	Moose (5–5)	—	24,047	48–28
77	July 12	@ Reds	3–6	Simpson	Walker (3–5)	Carroll	28,058	48–29
78	July 13	@ Reds	0–2	Nolan	Blass (10–3)	Carroll	32,060	48–30
79	July 14	Astros	5–2	Briles (8–3)	Dierker	—	24,487	49–30
80	July 15	Astros	5–1	Ellis (8–4)	Forsch	Giusti (12)	16,202	50–30
81	July 16	Astros	3–2 (10)	Giusti (4–4)	Gladding	—		51–30
82	July 16	Astros	3–2	Kison (4–2)	Wilson	Giusti (13)	49,341	52–30
83	July 17	Braves	6–5	Hernández (5–0)	Hoerner	Giusti (14)	14,866	53–30
84	July 18	Braves	2–4	Reed	Blass (10–4)	—	20,162	53–31
85	July 19	Braves	8–3	Briles (9–3)	Niekro	Walker (1)	24,847	54–31
86	July 21	Reds	5–11	Borbon	Kison (4–3)	Gullett	32,255	54–32
87	July 22	Reds	3–6	Sprague	Moose (5–6)	Carroll	40,837	54–33
88	July 23	Reds	3–2	Blass (11–4)	Grimsley	Hernández (6)	29,487	55–33
89	July 27	Mets	0–1 (10)	Matlack	Briles (9–4)	—		55–34
90	July 27	Mets	7–5	Moose (6–6)	Koosman	Giusti (15)	49,886	56–34
91	July 28	Mets	3–1	Ellis (9–4)	Seaver	—	39,035	57–34
92	July 29	@ Phillies	2–5	Fryman	Blass (11–5)	Selma	37,544	57–35
93	July 29	@ Phillies	3–2	Walker (4–5)	Brandon	Giusti (16)	37,544	58–35
94	July 30	@ Phillies	7–1	Kison (5–3)	Lersch	—	28,451	59–35
95	July 31	@ Phillies	2–0	Moose (7–6)	Reynolds	—	17,455	60–35

August: 17–11 (Home: 8–5; Away: 9–6)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
96	August 1	@ Cardinals	4–7	Santorini	Briles (9–5)	Segui	23,712	60–36
97	August 2	@ Cardinals	5–10 (7)	Gibson	Ellis (9–5)	—	24,961	60–37
98	August 3	@ Cardinals	2–1 (10)	Blass (12–5)	Wise	Hernández (7)	14,836	61–37
99	August 4	@ Expos	1–2	Moore	Kison (5–4)	—	18,436	61–38
100	August 5	@ Expos	7–4	Briles (10–5)	Stoneman	Giusti (17)	20,905	62–38
101	August 6	@ Expos	8–0	Moose (8–6)	Torrez	—		63–38
102	August 6	@ Expos	7–2	Johnson (3–3)	Renko	Hernández (8)	28,330	64–38
103	August 8	Phillies	4–2	Ellis (10–5)	Champion	—	18,228	65–38
104	August 9	Phillies	0–2	Carlton	Blass (12–6)	—	19,832	65–39
105	August 11	Cardinals	10–5	Briles (11–5)	Cleveland	Hernández (9)	34,248	66–39
106	August 12	Cardinals	6–5	Moose (9–6)	Gibson	Giusti (18)	23,474	67–39
107	August 13	Cardinals	0–2	Wise	Ellis (10–6)	—		67–40
108	August 13	Cardinals	7–5	Blass (13–6)	Santorini	Giusti (19)	47,300	68–40
109	August 15	@ Dodgers	6–8	Richert	Johnson (3–4)	Brewer	27,484	68–41
110	August 16	@ Dodgers	3–2	Miller (5–1)	Sutton	—	28,318	69–41
111	August 17	@ Dodgers	2–4	Downing	Moose (9–7)	Richert	29,777	69–42
112	August 18	@ Padres	4–2	Blass (14–6)	Greif	—	30,610	70–42
113	August 20	@ Padres	9–3	Ellis (11–6)	Corkins	Johnson (2)		71–42
114	August 20	@ Padres	5–2	Kison (6–4)	Norman	—	9,759	72–42
115	August 22	@ Giants	1–0	Briles (12–5)	Marichal	—	9,389	73–42
116	August 23	@ Giants	0–8	Barr	Moose (9–8)	—	8,330	73–43
117	August 25	Dodgers	3–2 (12)	Giusti (5–4)	Richert	—		74–43
118	August 25	Dodgers	3–4	Osteen	Kison (6–5)	—	39,574	74–44
119	August 26	Dodgers	3–7	Sutton	Ellis (11–7)	—	20,174	74–45
120	August 27	Dodgers	4–7	Mikkelsen	Briles (12–6)	Brewer	25,672	74–46
121	August 28	Padres	5–3	Moose (10–8)	Caldwell	Hernández (10)	13,438	75–46
122	August 29	Padres	5–3	Blass (15–6)	Corkins	Giusti (20)	12,329	76–46
123	August 30	Padres	11–0	Kison (7–5)	Arlin	—	19,009	77–46

September: 18–11 (Home: 8–4; Away: 10–7)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
124	September 1	Giants	10–6	Ellis (12–7)	Bryant	Giusti (21)	20,678	78–46
125	September 2	Giants	6–3	Briles (13–6)	McDowell	—	14,194	79–46
126	September 3	Giants	2–1 (10)	Giusti (6–4)	Johnson	—	16,760	80–46
127	September 4	Phillies	10–0	Blass (16–6)	Twitchell	—	26,627	81–46
128	September 4	Phillies	5–1	Kison (8–5)	Nash	—	26,627	82–46
129	September 6	Cubs	4–0	Ellis (13–7)	McGinn	—	12,470	83–46
130	September 7	Cubs	2–4	Hooton	Briles (13–7)	—	12,306	83–47
131	September 8	@ Expos	7–1	Johnson (4–4)	Morton	—		84–47
132	September 8	@ Expos	4–2 (12)	Giusti (7–4)	Marshall	Hernández (11)	12,118	85–47
133	September 9	@ Expos	8–3	Blass (17–6)	Stoneman	—	17,092	86–47
134	September 10	@ Expos	2–8	Torrez	Kison (8–6)	—	20,253	86–48
135	September 12	@ Cubs	7–0	Ellis (14–7)	Hooton	Giusti (22)	4,153	87–48
136	September 13	@ Cubs	6–4	Briles (14–7)	Jenkins	Hernández (12)	4,418	88–48
137	September 14	@ Cubs	5–2	Moose (11–8)	Reuschel	Hernández (13)	4,603	89–48
138	September 15	@ Cardinals	4–10	Wise	Kison (8–7)	—	10,853	89–49
139	September 16	@ Cardinals	0–4	Santorini	Blass (17–7)	—	11,850	89–50
140	September 17	@ Cardinals	4–5	Cleveland	Miller (5–2)	Segui	11,802	89–51
141	September 18	@ Mets	0–1	Matlack	Briles (14–8)	—	15,622	89–52
142	September 19	@ Mets	5–1	Moose (12–8)	Koosman	—	15,537	90–52
143	September 20	@ Mets	1–4	Seaver	Walker (4–6)	—	15,147	90–53
144	September 21	@ Mets	6–2	Blass (18–7)	Gentry	—	10,991	91–53
145	September 22	Expos	4–3 (12)	McKee (1–0)	Marshall	—	15,365	92–53
146	September 23	Expos	0–3	McAnally	Briles (14–9)	—	8,580	92–54
147	September 24	Expos	1–2	Morton	Moose (12–9)	—	9,116	92–55
148	September 26	@ Phillies	5–1	Blass (19–7)	Champion	—	8,472	93–55
149	September 27	@ Phillies	3–1	Kison (9–7)	Reynolds	Walker (2)	5,335	94–55
150	September 28	@ Phillies	1–2	Carlton	Moose (12–10)	—	12,216	94–56
151	September 29	Mets	0–1	Seaver	Briles (14–10)	—	24,193	94–57
152	September 30	Mets	5–0	Ellis (15–7)	Matlack	Johnson (3)	13,117	95–57

October: 1–2 (Home: 1–2; Away: 0–0)

Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Pirates team member

Opening Day lineup


Opening Day Starters
Name	Position
Rennie Stennett	2B
Al Oliver	CF
Roberto Clemente	RF
Willie Stargell	LF
Richie Hebner	3B
Manny Sanguillén	C
Bob Robertson	1B
Jackie Hernández	SS
Dock Ellis	SP

^[5]

Notable transactions

June 6, 1972: 1972 Major League Baseball draft
- John Candelaria was drafted by the Pirates in the 2nd round.^[6]
- Ken Macha was drafted by the Pirates in the 6th round.^[7]
- Willie Randolph was drafted by the Pirates in the 7th round.^[8]
September 2 1972 Bob Veale was sold by the Pirates to the Boston Red Sox.^[9]

Roster

1972 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

29 Milt May
35 Manny Sanguillén

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

4 Charlie Sands

Manager

41 Bill Virdon

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	Manny Sanguillén	136	520	155	.298	7	71
1B	Willie Stargell	138	495	145	.293	33	112
2B	Dave Cash	99	425	120	.282	3	30
SS	Gene Alley	119	347	86	.248	3	36
3B	Richie Hebner	124	427	128	.300	19	72
LF	Vic Davalillo	117	368	117	.318	4	28
CF	Al Oliver	140	565	176	.312	12	89
RF	Roberto Clemente	102	378	118	.312	10	60

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
Rennie Stennett	109	370	106	.286	3	30
Bob Robertson	115	306	59	.193	12	41
Gene Clines	107	311	104	.334	0	17
Jackie Hernández	72	176	33	.188	1	14
Milt May	57	139	39	.281	0	14
José Pagán	53	127	32	.252	3	8
Bill Mazeroski	34	64	12	.188	0	3
Richie Zisk	17	37	7	.189	0	4
Chuck Goggin	5	7	2	.286	0	0
Frank Taveras	4	3	0	.000	0	0
Fernando González	3	2	0	.000	0	0
Charlie Sands	1	1	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
Steve Blass	33	249.2	19	8	2.49	117
Bob Moose	31	226	13	10	2.91	144
Nelson Briles	28	195.2	14	11	3.08	120
Dock Ellis	25	163.1	15	7	2.70	96
Bruce Kison	32	152	9	7	3.26	102

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
Bob Johnson	31	115.2	4	4	2.96	79
Luke Walker	26	92.2	4	6	3.40	48
Bob Veale	5	9	0	0	6.00	6
Gene Garber	4	6.1	0	0	7.11	3
Jim McKee	2	5	1	0	0.00	4

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
Dave Giusti	54	7	4	22	1.93	54
Ramón Hernández	53	5	0	14	1.67	47
Bob Miller	36	5	2	3	2.65	18

National League Championship Series

Awards and honors

1972 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Charleston Charlies	International League	Red Davis
AA	Sherbrooke Pirates	Eastern League	Steve Demeter
A	Salem Pirates	Carolina League	Tim Murtaugh
A	Gastonia Pirates	Western Carolinas League	Tom Saffell
A-Short Season	Niagara Falls Pirates	New York–Penn League	Chuck Cottier
Rookie	GCL Pirates	Gulf Coast League	Ed Napoleon

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Salem, Niagara Falls

Notes

^ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
^ Bill Virdon
^ Larry Demery at Baseball Reference
^ José Martínez at Baseball Reference
^ 1972 Opening Day lineup at "Baseball-Almanac"
^ John Candelaria at Baseball Reference
^ Ken Macha at Baseball Reference
^ Willie Randolph at Baseball Reference
^ Bob Veale at Baseball Almanac

References

1972 Pittsburgh Pirates at Baseball Reference
1972 Pittsburgh Pirates at Baseball Almanac
Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.

[1] From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.

[2] Bill Virdon

[3] Larry Demery at Baseball Reference

[4] José Martínez at Baseball Reference

[5] 1972 Opening Day lineup at "Baseball-Almanac"

[6] John Candelaria at Baseball Reference

[7] Ken Macha at Baseball Reference

[8] Willie Randolph at Baseball Reference

[9] Bob Veale at Baseball Almanac

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

v t e National League East champions
1960s	1969: New York Mets
1970s	1970: Pittsburgh Pirates 1971: Pittsburgh Pirates 1972: Pittsburgh Pirates 1973: New York Mets 1974: Pittsburgh Pirates 1975: Pittsburgh Pirates 1976: Philadelphia Phillies 1977: Philadelphia Phillies 1978: Philadelphia Phillies 1979: Pittsburgh Pirates
1980s	1980: Philadelphia Phillies 1981: Montreal Expos 1982: St. Louis Cardinals 1983: Philadelphia Phillies 1984: Chicago Cubs 1985: St. Louis Cardinals 1986: New York Mets 1987: St. Louis Cardinals 1988: New York Mets 1989: Chicago Cubs
1990s	1990: Pittsburgh Pirates 1991: Pittsburgh Pirates 1992: Pittsburgh Pirates 1993: Philadelphia Phillies 1994: No champion 1995: Atlanta Braves 1996: Atlanta Braves 1997: Atlanta Braves 1998: Atlanta Braves 1999: Atlanta Braves
2000s	2000: Atlanta Braves 2001: Atlanta Braves 2002: Atlanta Braves 2003: Atlanta Braves 2004: Atlanta Braves 2005: Atlanta Braves 2006: New York Mets 2007: Philadelphia Phillies 2008: Philadelphia Phillies 2009: Philadelphia Phillies
2010s	2010: Philadelphia Phillies 2011: Philadelphia Phillies 2012: Washington Nationals 2013: Atlanta Braves 2014: Washington Nationals 2015: New York Mets 2016: Washington Nationals 2017: Washington Nationals 2018: Atlanta Braves 2019: Atlanta Braves
2020s	2020: Atlanta Braves 2021: Atlanta Braves 2022: Atlanta Braves 2023: Atlanta Braves 2024: Philadelphia Phillies