1972 Oakland Athletics season

1972 Oakland Athletics
1972 AL West Champions 1972 AL Champions 1972 World Series Champions
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (since 1968)
Oakland, California (since 1968)
Results
Record	93–62 (.600)
Other information
Owner(s)	Charles O. Finley
Manager(s)	Dick Williams
Local television	KBHK
Local radio	KEEN (Monte Moore, Jim Woods)
< Previous season Next season >

The 1972 Oakland Athletics season involved the A's winning the American League West with a record of 93 wins and 62 losses. In the playoffs, they defeated the Detroit Tigers in a five-game ALCS, followed by a seven-game World Series, in which they defeated the Cincinnati Reds for their first World Championship since 1930, when the club was in Philadelphia.

Offseason

November 29, 1971: Rick Monday was traded by the Athletics to the Chicago Cubs for Ken Holtzman.^[1]
November 29, 1971: 1971 rule 5 draft
- Brant Alyea was drafted by the Athletics from the Minnesota Twins.^[2]
- Steve Hovley was drafted from the Athletics by the Kansas City Royals.^[3]
January 12, 1972: 1972 Major League Baseball Draft (January Draft) notable picks:^[4]

Round 9: Rich Dauer (did not sign)

Round 10: Bob Lacey

March 4, 1972: Jim Panther and Don Stanhouse were traded by the Athletics to the Texas Rangers for Denny McLain.^[5]

Regular season

In 1972, the A's began wearing solid green or solid gold jerseys, with contrasting white pants, at a time when most other teams wore all-white uniforms at home and all-grey ones on the road. Similar to more colorful amateur softball uniforms, they were considered a radical departure for their time.

Furthermore, in conjunction with a Moustache Day promotion, Finley offered $500 to any player who grew a moustache by Father's Day, at a time when every other team forbade facial hair. When Father's Day arrived, every member of the team collected a bonus.

Changing the nickname

The nickname "A's" has long been used interchangeably with "Athletics", dating to the team's early days when headline writers wanted a way to shorten the name. Starting in 1972, the team nickname was officially "Oakland A's." The Commissioner's Trophy, given out annually to the winner of baseball's World Series, still listed the team's name as the "Oakland Athletics" on the gold-plated pennant representing the Oakland franchise. According to Bill Libby's Book, Charlie O and the Angry A's, owner Charlie O. Finley banned the word "Athletics" from the club's name because he felt that name was too closely associated with former Philadelphia Athletics owner Connie Mack, and he wanted the name "Oakland A's" to become just as closely associated with himself. The name also vaguely suggested the name of the old minor league Oakland Oaks, which were alternatively called the "Acorns".

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	93	62	0.600	—	48–29	45–33
Chicago White Sox	87	67	0.565	5½	55–23	32–44
Minnesota Twins	77	77	0.500	15½	42–32	35–45
Kansas City Royals	76	78	0.494	16½	44–33	32–45
California Angels	75	80	0.484	18	44–36	31–44
Texas Rangers	54	100	0.351	38½	31–46	23–54

Record vs. opponents

1972 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	TEX
Baltimore	—	7–11	6–6	8–4	8–10	10–8	6–6	10–5	6–6	7–6	6–6	6–6
Boston	11–7	—	8–4	6–6	8–7	5–9	6–6	11–7	4–8	9–9	9–3	8–4
California	6–6	4–8	—	7–11	8–4	5–7	9–6	7–5	7–8	4–8	8–10	10–7
Chicago	4–8	6–6	11–7	—	8–4	5–7	8–9	9–3	8–6	7–5	7–8	14–4
Cleveland	10–8	7–8	4–8	4–8	—	10–8	6–6	5–10	8–4	7–11	2–10	9–3
Detroit	8–10	9–5	7–5	7–5	8–10	—	7–5	10–8	9–3	7–9	4–8	10–2
Kansas City	6–6	6–6	6–9	9–8	6–6	5–7	—	7–5	9–9	7–5	7–11	8–6
Milwaukee	5–10	7–11	5–7	3–9	10–5	8–10	5–7	—	4–8	9–9	4–8	5–7
Minnesota	6–6	8–4	8–7	6–8	4–8	3–9	9–9	8–4	—	6–6	8–9	11–7
New York	6–7	9–9	8–4	5–7	11–7	9–7	5–7	9–9	6–6	—	3–9	8–4
Oakland	6–6	3–9	10–8	8–7	10–2	8–4	11–7	8–4	9–8	9–3	—	11–4
Texas	6–6	4–8	7–10	4–14	3–9	2–10	6–8	7–5	7–11	4–8	4–11	—

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

April 15, 1972: Tim Cullen was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[6]
May 15, 1972: Dwain Anderson was traded by the Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals for Don Shaw.^[7]
May 17, 1972: Curt Blefary, Mike Kilkenny, and a player to be named later were traded by the Athletics to the San Diego Padres for Ollie Brown. The Athletics completed the trade by sending Greg Schubert (minors) to the Padres on September 11.^[8]
May 18, 1972: Brant Alyea was traded by the Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals for Marty Martínez.^[2]
June 6, 1972: 1972 Major League Baseball Draft (June Draft) notable picks:^[9]

Round 1: Chet Lemon

Round 9: Dennis Littlejohn (did not sign)^[10]

Round 12: Chris Batton^[11]

Round 15: Bob Pate (did not play)

June 7, 1972: Diego Seguí was sent by the Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals as part of a conditional deal.^[12]
June 29, 1972: Denny McLain was traded by the Athletics to the Atlanta Braves for Orlando Cepeda.^[5]
July 20, 1972: Marty Martínez, Vic Harris and a player to be named later were traded by the Athletics to the Texas Rangers for Don Mincher and Ted Kubiak. The Athletics completed the deal by sending Steve Lawson to the Rangers on July 26.^[13]
July 23, 1972: Brant Alyea was returned to the Athletics by the St. Louis Cardinals.^[2]
August 30, 1972: Joe Lindsey (minors) and a player to be named later were traded by the Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals for Dal Maxvill. The Athletics completed the trade by sending Gene Dusen (minors) to the Cardinals on October 27.^[14]

Roster

1972 Oakland Athletics

Roster

Pitchers

35 Vida Blue

34 Rollie Fingers

33 Dave Hamilton

30 Ken Holtzman

22 Joe Horlen

27 Catfish Hunter

33 Mike Kilkenny

32 Darold Knowles

36 Bob Locker

17 Denny McLain

13 Blue Moon Odom

33 Jim Roland

24 Diego Seguí

14 Don Shaw

17 Gary Waslewski

Catchers

10 Dave Duncan

12 Larry Haney

38 Gene Tenace

Infielders

11 Dwain Anderson

6 Sal Bando

3 Curt Blefary

8 Larry Brown

19 Bert Campaneris

4 Ron Clark

16 Tim Cullen

5 Mike Epstein

1 Dick Green

20 Mike Hegan

11 Ted Kubiak

12 Gonzalo Márquez

11 Marty Martínez

21 Dal Maxvill

18 Bill McNulty

4 Don Mincher

Outfielders

14 Matty Alou

7 Brant Alyea

15 Bobby Brooks

15 Ollie Brown

3 Adrian Garrett

25 George Hendrick

9 Reggie Jackson

24 Allan Lewis

2 Ángel Mangual

26 Joe Rudi

24 Bill Voss

Other batters

12 Orlando Cepeda

7 Art Shamsky

Manager

23 Dick Williams

Coaches

41 Jerry Adair

44 Vern Hoscheit

43 Irv Noren

40 Bill Posedel

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	Duncan, DaveDave Duncan	121	403	88	.218	19	59
1B	Epstein, MikeMike Epstein	138	455	123	.270	26	70
2B	Cullen, TimTim Cullen	72	142	37	.261	0	15
3B	Bando, SalSal Bando	152	535	126	.236	15	77
SS	Campaneris, BertBert Campaneris	149	625	150	.240	8	32
LF	Rudi, JoeJoe Rudi	147	593	181	.305	19	75
CF	Jackson, ReggieReggie Jackson	135	499	132	.265	25	75
RF	Mangual, ÁngelÁngel Mangual	91	272	67	.246	5	32

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
Brown, LarryLarry Brown	47	142	26	.183	0	4
Martínez, MartyMarty Martínez	22	40	5	.125	0	1
Brooks, BobbyBobby Brooks	15	39	7	.179	0	5
Alyea, BrantBrant Alyea	20	31	6	.194	1	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
Hunter, CatfishCatfish Hunter	38	295.1	21	7	2.04	191
Holtzman, KenKen Holtzman	39	265.1	19	11	2.51	134
Odom, Blue MoonBlue Moon Odom	31	194.1	15	6	2.50	86
Blue, VidaVida Blue	25	151	6	10	2.80	111
McLain, DennyDenny McLain	5	22.1	1	2	6.04	8

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
Hamilton, DaveDave Hamilton	25	101.1	6	6	2.93	55
Horlen, JoeJoe Horlen	32	84	3	4	3.00	58
Seguí, DiegoDiego Seguí	7	22.2	0	1	3.57	11

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
Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers	65	11	9	21	2.51	113
Locker, BobBob Locker	56	6	1	10	2.65	47
Knowles, DaroldDarold Knowles	54	5	1	11	1.37	36
Shaw, DonDon Shaw	3	0	1	0	16.88	4
Kilkenny, MikeMike Kilkenny	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

Postseason

ALCS

Main article: 1972 American League Championship Series

Game 1

October 7, 1972, at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
Detroit	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	6	2
Oakland	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	10	1
W: Rollie Fingers (1-0) L: Mickey Lolich (0-1)
HR: DET – Norm Cash (1), Al Kaline (1)

Game 2

October 8, 1972, at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
Oakland	1	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	X	5	8	0
W: Blue Moon Odom (1-0) L: Woodie Fryman (0-1)
HR: None

Game 3

October 10, 1972, at Tiger Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
Detroit	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	X	3	8	1
W: Joe Coleman (1-0) L: Ken Holtzman (0-1)
HR: DET – Bill Freehan (1)

Game 4

October 11, 1972, at Tiger Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Oakland	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	3	9	2
Detroit	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	4	10	1
W: John Hiller (1-0) L: Bob Locker (0-1)
HR: OAK – Mike Epstein (1) DET – Dick McAuliffe (1)

Game 5

October 12, 1972, at Tiger Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	0
Detroit	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	2
W: Blue Moon Odom (2-0) L: Woodie Fryman (0-2) S: Vida Blue (1)
HR: None

World Series

Main article: 1972 World Series

In 1972, the A's won their first league pennant since 1931 and faced the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. The A's seven-game victory over the heavily favored Reds gave the team its first World Series Championship since 1930.

Of the four wins against the Reds, three of them occurred in Cincinnati, and all four Series victories were by a single run. Gene Tenace hit four home runs and drove in nine runs to power the A's offense, and was named the series Most Valuable Player.

Composite Box

1972 World Series (4-3): Oakland Athletics (A.L.) over Cincinnati Reds (N.L.)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland Athletics	1	6	1	1	3	2	0	0	2	16	46	9
Cincinnati Reds	1	1	0	3	3	1	6	4	2	21	46	5
Total Attendance: 363,149 Average Attendance: 51,878
Winning Player's Share: – $20,705, Losing Player's Share– $15,080 *Includes Playoffs and World Series

Awards and honors

Gene Tenace, Babe Ruth Award
Gene Tenace, World Series Most Valuable Player

League leaders

Joe Rudi, American League leader, triples (tied) (9)^[15]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Iowa Oaks	American Association	Sherm Lollar
AA	Birmingham A's	Southern League	Phil Cavarretta
A	Burlington Bees	Midwest League	Harry Bright
A-Short Season	Coos Bay-North Bend A's	Northwest League	Grover Resinger

References

↑ Rick Monday page at Baseball Reference
1 2 3 Brant Alyea page at Baseball Reference
↑ Steve Hovley page at Baseball Reference
↑ 1972 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB January Amateur Draft
1 2 Denny McLain page at Baseball Reference
↑ Tim Cullen page at Baseball Reference
↑ Don Shaw page at Baseball Reference
↑ Curt Blefary page at Baseball Reference
↑ 1972 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
↑ Dennis Littlejohn page at Baseball Reference
↑ Chris Batton page at Baseball Reference
↑ Diego Segui page at Baseball Reference
↑ Vic Harris page at Baseball Reference
↑ Dal Maxvill page at Baseball Reference
↑ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 96, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0

External links

World Series champions

American League champions

American League West champions

1972 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee New York

AL West	California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Texas

NL East	Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis

NL West	Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

1972 All-Star Game 1972 World Series

Oakland Athletics 1972 World Series Champions

1 Dick Green 2 Ángel Mangual 4 Don Mincher 5 Mike Epstein 6 Sal Bando 9 Reggie Jackson 10 Dave Duncan 11 Ted Kubiak 12 Gonzalo Márquez 13 Blue Moon Odom 14 Matty Alou 16 Tim Cullen 19 Bert Campaneris 20 Mike Hegan 21 Dal Maxvill 22 Joe Horlen 24 Allan Lewis 25 George Hendrick 26 Joe Rudi 27 Catfish Hunter 30 Ken Holtzman 32 Darold Knowles 33 Dave Hamilton 34 Rollie Fingers 35 Vida Blue 36 Bob Locker 38 Gene Tenace (World Series MVP)

Manager 23 Dick Williams Coaches 40 Bill Posedel 41 Jerry Adair 43 Irv Noren 44 Vern Hoscheit

Regular season American League Championship Series

Oakland Athletics

Formerly the Philadelphia Athletics and the Kansas City Athletics
Based in Oakland, California (Bay Area)

Franchise

Ballparks

Spring training: Barrs Field; Terry Park Ballfield; Wilmington Park; McCurdy Field; Connie Mack Field; McKechnie Field; Rendezvous Park; Scottsdale Stadium I; Phoenix Municipal Stadium; Hohokam Stadium

Culture

Lore

Rivalries

Key personnel

Owners: John J. Fisher & Lewis Wolff
President: Michael Crowley
Executive vice president: Billy Beane
General manager: David Forst
Manager: Bob Melvin

Important figures

Hall of Fame members	Home Run Baker Chief Bender Mickey Cochrane Eddie Collins Dennis Eckersley Rollie Fingers Jimmie Foxx Lefty Grove Rickey Henderson Catfish Hunter Reggie Jackson Nap Lajoie Connie Mack Eddie Plank Al Simmons Rube Waddell Dick Williams

Wall of Fame members	Sam Chapman Jack Coombs Jimmy Dykes George Earnshaw Ferris Fain Bob Johnson Eddie Joost Bing Miller Wally Moses Rube Oldring Bobby Shantz Eddie Rommel Elmer Valo Rube Walberg Gus Zernial

World Series
Champions (9)

American League
Championships (15)

AL West Division
Championships (16)

AL Wild Card (2)

2001
2014

Minors

AAA: Nashville Sounds
AA: Midland RockHounds
A Adv.: Stockton Ports
A: Beloit Snappers
Short A: Vermont Lake Monsters
Rookie: AZL Athletics; DSL Athletics

Seasons (117)

1900s	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909

1910s	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919

1920s	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930s	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939

1940s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.