1972 St. Louis Cardinals season

1972 St. Louis Cardinals
Major League affiliations
	National League (since 1892);
	Eastern Division (since 1969);
Location
	Busch Memorial Stadium (since 1966); St. Louis, Missouri (since 1882);
Results
Record	75–81 (.481)
Divisional place	4th
Other information
Owner(s)	August "Gussie" Busch
General manager(s)	Bing Devine
Manager(s)	Red Schoendienst
Local television	KSD-TV
Local radio	KMOX; (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Mike Walden)
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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.^[1]

Regular season

Pitcher Bob Gibson won a Gold Glove this year.

Season standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Pittsburgh Pirates	96	59	0.619	—	49–29	47–30
Chicago Cubs	85	70	0.548	11	46–31	39–39
New York Mets	83	73	0.532	13½	41–37	42–36
St. Louis Cardinals	75	81	0.481	21½	40–37	35–44
Montreal Expos	70	86	0.449	26½	35–43	35–43
Philadelphia Phillies	59	97	0.378	37½	28–51	31–46

Record vs. opponents

1972 National League Records 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

Notable transactions

May 15, 1972: Don Shaw was traded by the Cardinals to the Oakland Athletics for Dwain Anderson.^[3]
May 16, 1972: Lowell Palmer was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.^[4]
May 18, 1972: Marty Martínez was traded by the Cardinals to the Oakland Athletics for Brant Alyea.^[5]
June 6, 1972: Dan Larson was drafted by the Cardinals in the 1st round (21st pick) of the 1972 Major League Baseball Draft.^[6]
June 7, 1972: Diego Seguí was sent to the Cardinals by the Oakland Athletics as part of a conditional deal.^[7]
July 23, 1972: Brant Alyea was returned to the Oakland Athletics by the Cardinals.^[5]
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.^[8]
September 18, 1972: Lowell Palmer was selected off waivers from the Cardinals by the Cleveland Indians.^[4]

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
SS	Dal Maxvill	105	276	61	.221	1	23
LF	Lou Brock	153	621	193	.311	3	42
CF	José Cruz	117	332	78	.235	2	23

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
Dwain Anderson	57	135	36	.267	1	8
Joe Hague	27	76	18	.237	3	11
Skip Jutze	21	71	17	.239	0	5
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
Rick Wise	35	269	16	16	3.11	142
Bob Gibson	34	278	19	11	2.46	208
Reggie Cleveland	33	230.2	14	15	3.94	153
Scipio Spinks	16	118	5	5	2.67	93
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
Tony Cloninger	17	0	2	0	5.19	11
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
Don Shaw	8	0	1	0	9.00	0
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 ^[9]

Farm system

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^[10]

References

^ Steve Carlton page at Baseball Reference
^ 1972 St. Louis Cardinals Roster by Baseball Almanac
^ Don Shaw page at Baseball Reference
^ ^a ^b Lowell Palmer page at Baseball-Reference
^ ^a ^b Brant Alyea page at Baseball Reference
^ Dan Larson page at Baseball Reference
^ Diego Seguí page at Baseball Reference
^ Dal Maxvill page at Baseball Reference
^ Stolen Bases Single Season National League Leaders by Baseball Almanac
^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

External links

[1] Steve Carlton page at Baseball Reference

[2] 1972 St. Louis Cardinals Roster by Baseball Almanac

[3] Don Shaw page at Baseball Reference

[palmer-4] Lowell Palmer page at Baseball-Reference

[alyea-5] Brant Alyea page at Baseball Reference

[6] Dan Larson page at Baseball Reference

[7] Diego Seguí page at Baseball Reference

[8] Dal Maxvill page at Baseball Reference

[9] Stolen Bases Single Season National League Leaders by Baseball Almanac

[10] Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

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1972 St. Louis Cardinals

Major League affiliations
National League (since 1892)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Busch Memorial Stadium (since 1966) St. Louis, Missouri (since 1882)
Results
Record	75–81 (.481)
Divisional place	4th
Other information
Owner(s)	August "Gussie" Busch
General manager(s)	Bing Devine
Manager(s)	Red Schoendienst
Local television	KSD-TV
Local radio	KMOX (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Mike Walden)
< Previous season Next season >