YEAR IN REVIEW : 1972 National League

Off the field...

LIFE, the blueprint for magazine publishing in America folded as a weekly in December of 1972. Though the weekly version's life span covered only thirty-seve years, it is impossible to think of any other magazine that had such an extraordinary impact on the art of photo-journalism. Debuting in 1936, Henry R. Luce and his colleagues at Time Inc. decided to publish a magazine that would take pictures and words to an unprecedented level. Up to then, most newsworthy imagery had been deliberately posed and static, but after the portable 35mm camera was developed in the 1930's, it was discovered that a skilled photographer could take pictures of almost anything, anywhere; at anytime. Most magazines had been built around editors and writers, but LIFE was very different, as it was entirely been built around its photographers.

President Richard Nixon defeated Democratic candidate George McGovern by one of the widest margins on record. However, within a few months, his administration was under fire over the so-called "Watergate" scandal, stemming from a break-in at the offices of the Democratic National Committee during the 1972 campaign. The break-in was traced to several officials of the Committee to Re-elect the President. As a result, many resigned and some were later convicted of offenses connected with efforts to cover up the affair. Nixon himself denied any personal involvement, but the courts forced him to yield White House tape recordings, which indicated that he had, in fact, tried to interfere with the ongoing investigation.

In the American League...

On May 12th, the Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins went head-to-head for twenty-one innings before the one A.M. curfew halted play with the score 3-3. Both teams combined to tie the Major League record for intentional walks during an extra-inning game with seven and the Twins went a step further and tied their own club record by stranding twenty-three men on base. The following day play resumed as the Brewers scored in the top of the twenty-second to win 4-3, but the Twins prevailed with a 4-3 victory of their own in the second outing after fifteen innings. At the end of the day, both games tallied nine hours and twenty-three minutes setting an American League record for the most consecutive innings ever played in a two-day span.

June 4th belonged to the pitchers as a Major League record eight shutouts were pitched in sixteen games. Five took place in the American League and three in the National League with two being recorded by the Oakland Athletics who swept the Baltimore Orioles twice with a pair of identical 2-0 decisions.

California Angels' ace Nolan Ryan sat down sixteen batters for a 3-0 victory and an American League record with eight K's in a row on nine pitches. Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox, managed a one-out single in the first for the team's only hit, but Ryan responded by retiring the last twenty-six consecutive batters. In doing so, the future Hall of Famer became only the third pitcher in Major League history to twice fan the side on nine pitches.

In the National League...

Giants' giant Willie McCovey tied both Gil Hodges and Hank Aaron for the National League grand-slam record with fourteen of his own as San Francisco beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-3.

On September 30th, Roberto Clemente doubled to left-center off of the New York Mets' John Matlack at Three Rivers Stadium for his final at-bat and career hit number three-thousand. The Pittsburgh Pirates went on to win 5-0 and "The Great One" went on the list with Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Tris Speaker, Honus Wagner, Hank Aaron, Eddie Collins, Napoleon Lajoie, Willie Mays, Paul Waner, and Adrian Anson as the newest member of the "3,000 hit club".

Unfortunately, Clemente was killed in a plane crash while on a humanitarian mission that was taking supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. The DC-7 aircraft he was flying in went down off the coast of Puerto Rico one-mile from San Juan with no survivors. The four time National League batting champion was only thirty-eight years old and had just won a World Series championship in 1971. As a tribute, he was elected on a special consideration to the National Baseball Hall of Fame with a 93% vote becoming the first Latin American to be inducted into Cooperstown.

Around the League...

Eighty-six games were cancelled due to the first general players' strike, which was eventually resolved on April 13th. Concessions came after both the owners and players agreed on a $500,000 increase in pension fund payments. In an effort to prevent paying the players for the work stoppage, the league decided not to make up the missed contests. As a result, some teams only played one-hundred fifty-three total games.

The Philadelphia Phillies' Steve Carlton became the first pitcher at 27-10, to win the Cy Young Award while playing with a last-place team and Rod Carew, of the Minnesota Twins, became the first American League player to lead the league in hitting without ever hitting a single home run.

The Oakland Athletics' Reggie Jackson set a new trend in baseball after being the first Major League ballplayer to wear a mustache since Wally Schang in 1914. As a result, the A's owner Charles Finley declared June 18th "Mustache Day" at the ballpark and offered $300 to each player that could grow one before Father's Day.

The U.S. Supreme Court confirmed lower court rulings in the Curt Flood case by a vote of 5-3 upholding baseball's exemption from antitrust laws. The decision cleared the way for future legislation or collective bargaining to undercut the reserve system, but proved meaningless after all major league owners agreed to salary arbitration at the end of the season.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"Youngsters of Little League can survive undercoaching a lot better than overcoaching." - Hall of Famer Willie Mays

1972 National League Player Review

1971 | 1972 Hitting Statistics League Leaders | 1973

Base on Balls Joe Morgan Cincinnati 115 Top 25
Batting Average Billy Williams Chicago .333 Top 25
Doubles Cesar Cedeno Houston 39 Top 25
Willie Montanez Philadelphia
Hits Pete Rose Cincinnati 198 Top 25
Home Runs Johnny Bench Cincinnati 40 Top 25
On Base Percentage Joe Morgan Cincinnati .419 Top 25
RBI Johnny Bench Cincinnati 125 Top 25
Runs Joe Morgan Cincinnati 122 Top 25
Slugging Average Billy Williams Chicago .606 Top 25
Stolen Bases Lou Brock St. Louis 63 Top 25
Total Bases Billy Williams Chicago 348 Top 25
Triples Larry Bowa Philadelphia 13 Top 25
1972 N.L. History | 1972 A.L. History | Year-by-Year History

1972 National League Pitcher Review

Pitching Statistics League Leaderboard

Complete Games Steve Carlton Philadelphia 30 Top 25
ERA Steve Carlton Philadelphia 1.97 Top 25
Games Clay Carroll Cincinnati 65 Top 25
Mike Marshall Montreal
Saves Clay Carroll Cincinnati 37 Top 25
Shutouts Don Sutton Los Angeles 9 Top 25
Strikeouts Steve Carlton Philadelphia 310 Top 25
Winning Percentage Gary Nolan Cincinnati .750 Top 25
Wins Steve Carlton Philadelphia 27 Top 25
1972 N.L. History | 1972 A.L. History | Year-by-Year History

1972 National League Team Standings

1972 All-Star Game | 1972 Team Standings | 1972 World Series

Pittsburgh Pirates 96 59 .619 0
Chicago Cubs 85 70 .548 11
New York Mets 83 73 .532 13½
St. Louis Cardinals 75 81 .481 21½
Montreal Expos 70 86 .449 26½
Philadelphia Phillies 59 97 .378 37½
Cincinnati Reds 95 59 .617 0
Houston Astros 84 69 .549 10½
Los Angeles Dodgers 85 70 .548 10½
Atlanta Braves 70 84 .455 25
San Francisco Giants 69 86 .445 26½
San Diego Padres 58 95 .379 36½
National League Team Standings

1972 National League Team Review

Hitting Statistics League Leaderboard

Base on Balls Cincinnati 606
Batting Average Pittsburgh .274
Doubles Pittsburgh 251
Hits Pittsburgh 1,505
Home Runs San Francisco 150
On Base Percentage Cincinnati .333
Runs Houston 708
Slugging Average Pittsburgh .397
Stolen Bases Cincinnati 140
Triples Pittsburgh 47

1972 National League Team Review

Pitching Statistics League Leaderboard

Complete Games St. Louis 64
ERA Los Angeles 2.78
Fewest Hits Allowed Los Angeles 1,196
Fewest Home Runs Allowed Los Angeles 83
Fewest Walks Allowed Chicago 421
Saves Cincinnati 60
Shutouts Los Angles 23
Strikeouts New York 1,059
baseball almanac flat baseball

baseball almanac fast facts

On April 16, 1972, Burt Hooten of the Chicago Cubs no-hit the Phillies 4-to-0 on a freezing cold day. Hooton, who was in his second season, was only pitching his fourth career game and he won the gem using his "knuckle-curve" pitch.

On June 4, 1972, the Los Angeles Dodgers retired three uniform numbers: 32 - worn by Sandy Koufax, 39 - worn by Roy Campanella, and 42 - worn by Jackie Robinson.

Did you know that on September 16, 1972, Mike Schmidt, who would become a future member of the 500 Home Runs Club, connected for his first Major League home run against Balor Moore of the Montreal Expos?