1972 Kansas City Royals season explained

Kansas City Royals
Season:	1972
League:	American League
Division:	West
Ballpark:	Municipal Stadium
City:	Kansas City, Missouri
Owners:	Ewing Kauffman
General Managers:	Cedric Tallis
Managers:	Bob Lemon
Television:	KBMA
Radio:	KMBZ (Buddy Blattner, Denny Matthews)

The 1972 Kansas City Royals season was their fourth in Major League Baseball. The Royals finished fourth in the American League West at 76–78, games behind the Oakland Athletics. John Mayberry, in his first season with Kansas City, led the team with 25 home runs and 100 runs batted in. Mayberry was the first Royals player to drive in at least 100 runs in a season.

Offseason

• November 29, 1971: Steve Hovley was drafted by the Royals from the Oakland Athletics in the 1971 rule 5 draft.^[1]
• December 2, 1971: Jim York and Lance Clemons were traded by the Royals to the Houston Astros for John Mayberry and Dave Grangaard (minors).^[2]
• March 15, 1972: José Martínez was purchased by the Royals from the Pittsburgh Pirates.^[3]
• Prior to 1972 season: Mark Williams was signed as an amateur free agent by the Royals.^[4]

Regular season

Notable transactions

• June 6, 1972: 1972 Major League Baseball draft
  • Jamie Quirk was drafted by the Royals in the 1st round (18th pick).^[5]
  • George Throop was drafted by the Royals in the 16th round.^[6]

Roster

1972 Kansas City Royals
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		Outfielders		ManagerCoaches (Pitching) (Third base) (Hitting) (First 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		113	364	100	.275	9	43
1B		149	503	150	.298	25	100
2B		137	487	127	.261	3	53
SS		136	518	110	.212	0	32
3B		127	435	99	.228	6	41
LF		151	574	179	.312	11	72
CF		143	540	158	.293	11	54
RF		134	450	135	.300	8	66

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
	105	196	53	.270	3	24
	61	134	24	.179	0	5
	53	116	22	.190	1	4
	63	113	30	.265	0	11
	44	97	23	.237	0	7
	53	71	15	.211	0	5
	56	64	14	.219	0	5
	16	63	17	.270	1	6
	16	30	4	.133	0	2
	15	25	6	.240	0	0
	2	6	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
	34	239.1	12	17	3.01	135
	35	216.0	12	12	3.13	140
	9	56.1	3	3	3.04	24
	5	40.0	3	1	1.58	31

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
	34	173.1	11	6	2.08	120
	35	132.1	6	6	3.40	75
	29	113.0	5	7	4.78	52
	18	72.0	5	6	4.38	44
	18	70.1	4	4	3.07	34
	7	19.2	1	2	6.41	15

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
	51	6	2	9	4.23	18
	45	3	4	5	1.70	28
	38	2	5	3	3.74	51
	21	2	1	2	2.25	16
	17	1	2	4	4.91	18

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Billings

References

• Book: Johnson. Lloyd. Wolff. Miles. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. 2nd. Durham, North Carolina. Baseball America. 1997. 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1972 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
• 1972 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac

Notes and References

1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hovlest01.shtml Steve Hovley
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/maybejo01.shtml John Mayberry
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/martijo04.shtml José Martínez
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/w/willima02.shtml Mark Williams
5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/q/quirkja01.shtml Jamie Quirk
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/t/throoge01.shtml George Throop