| Atlanta Braves | |
| Season: | 1972 |
| League: | National League |
| Division: | West |
| Ballpark: | Atlanta Stadium |
| City: | Atlanta |
| Record: | 70–84 (.455) |
| Divisional Place: | 4th |
| Owners: | William Bartholomay |
| General Managers: | Paul Richards, Eddie Robinson |
| Managers: | Lum Harris, Eddie Mathews |
| Television: | WSB-TV |
| Radio: | WSB (Ernie Johnson, Milo Hamilton) |
The 1972 Atlanta Braves season was the seventh season in Atlanta along with the 102nd season as a franchise overall.
The 1972 Braves' 70–84 season, following on the heels of a hopeful, 82–80 mark in, resulted in the in-season firings of both general manager Paul Richards, on the job since January 1967, and field manager Luman Harris, who was in the midst of his fifth season as the team's skipper. Richards and Harris were a management team that had worked in tandem for 15 years with the Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros before coming to the Braves.
Atlanta was 18–22 on June 1 when Richards was demoted from GM to special assignment scout; his replacement was another longtime associate, Eddie Robinson, 51, the director of the club's farm system.[6] Harris was fired August 6, with the Braves standing at 47–57 (.452), in fourth place in the NL West Division and 16 games behind the Cincinnati Reds. His successor was another internal hire, Eddie Mathews, 40, the team's first-base coach and perennial All-Star third baseman from its glory days in Milwaukee during the 1950s.[7]
| 1972 Atlanta Braves | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | CatchersInfielders | Outfielders | ManagerCoaches | ||||||
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 | 151 | 565 | 146 | .258 | 28 | 87 | ||
| 1B | 129 | 449 | 119 | .265 | 34 | 77 | ||
| 2B | 125 | 498 | 128 | .257 | 1 | 38 | ||
| SS | 141 | 479 | 109 | .228 | 1 | 28 | ||
| 3B | 125 | 418 | 106 | .254 | 19 | 71 | ||
| LF | 86 | 271 | 75 | .277 | 6 | 29 | ||
| CF | 127 | 446 | 143 | .321 | 17 | 76 | ||
| RF | 123 | 369 | 84 | .228 | 9 | 38 |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 134 | 554 | 180 | .325 | 12 | 53 | ||
| 76 | 164 | 37 | .226 | 3 | 16 | ||
| 49 | 136 | 28 | .206 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 60 | 126 | 30 | .238 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 33 | 85 | 28 | .329 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 52 | 85 | 21 | .247 | 5 | 17 | ||
| 28 | 84 | 25 | .298 | 4 | 9 | ||
| 40 | 75 | 20 | .267 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 13 | 40 | 12 | .300 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 18 | 38 | 9 | .237 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2 | 5 | 2 | .400 | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | 282.1 | 16 | 12 | 3.06 | 164 | ||
| 31 | 213.0 | 11 | 15 | 3.93 | 111 | ||
| 6 | 36.0 | 2 | 2 | 6.00 | 18 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 144.2 | 5 | 8 | 3.67 | 96 | ||
| 27 | 116.1 | 5 | 7 | 4.56 | 59 | ||
| 31 | 111.0 | 6 | 11 | 5.51 | 63 | ||
| 37 | 98.2 | 11 | 7 | 4.10 | 56 | ||
| 26 | 79.2 | 5 | 2 | 4.41 | 25 | ||
| 23 | 78.1 | 0 | 5 | 4.60 | 40 | ||
| 15 | 54.0 | 3 | 5 | 6.50 | 21 | ||
| 11 | 31.1 | 1 | 1 | 5.46 | 10 | ||
| 5 | 12.1 | 1 | 1 | 5.11 | 6 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 3.69 | 23 | ||
| 25 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6.56 | 19 | ||
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.27 | 8 | ||
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2.89 | 7 | ||
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.74 | 6 |
See also: Minor League Baseball.