1972 New York Yankees season explained

New York Yankees
Season:	1972
League:	American League
Division:	East
Ballpark:	Yankee Stadium
City:	New York City
Owners:	CBS
General Managers:	Lee MacPhail
Managers:	Ralph Houk
Television:	WPIX (Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White)
Radio:	WMCA (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White)

The 1972 New York Yankees season was the 70th season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 79–76, finishing games behind the Detroit Tigers. New York was managed by Ralph Houk. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

Offseason

• October 13, 1971: Jim Lyttle was traded by the Yankees to the Chicago White Sox for Rich Hinton.^[1]
• December 2, 1971: Stan Bahnsen was traded by the Yankees to the Chicago White Sox for Rich McKinney.^[2]
• December 2, 1971: Terry Ley and Gary Jones were traded by the Yankees to the Texas Rangers for Bernie Allen.^[3]
• January 20, 1972: The Yankees traded a player to be named later to the Chicago Cubs for Johnny Callison. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Jack Aker to the Cubs on May 17.^[4]
• February 2, 1972: Hal Lanier was purchased by the Yankees from the San Francisco Giants.^[5]
• March 22, 1972: Danny Cater and a player to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Boston Red Sox for Sparky Lyle. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Mario Guerrero to the Red Sox on June 30.^[6]
• March 31, 1972: Frank Tepedino was purchased by the Yankees from the Milwaukee Brewers.^[7]

Regular season

• Felipe Alou achieved two milestones in 1972. He got the 2,000th hit of his career and hit his 200th home run of his career.
• Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio were at Yankee Stadium for Old-Timers' Day on July 22, 1972. The event at the stadium brought together some of the greatest living Yankees and included an exhibition game featuring retired players.^[8]

Notable transactions

• June 6, 1972: 1972 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Mickey Klutts was drafted by the Yankees in the 4th round.^[9]
  • Bob Kammeyer was drafted by the Yankees in the 21st round.^[10]
• September 7, 1972: Rich Hinton was purchased from the Yankees by the Texas Rangers.^[1]

Roster

1972 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		OutfieldersOther batters		ManagerCoaches

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		140	511	143	.280	7	46
1B		107	299	80	.268	14	49
2B		147	547	132	.241	3	37
3B		71	250	62	.248	0	22
SS		126	391	91	.233	1	32
LF		155	556	150	.270	10	54
CF		153	585	171	.292	33	96
RF		95	275	71	.258	9	34

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
	120	324	90	.278	6	37
	84	220	50	.227	9	21
	80	199	42	.211	3	13
	52	136	40	.294	5	25
	37	121	26	.215	1	7
	50	119	25	.210	0	7
	63	113	28	.248	1	12
	60	103	22	.214	0	6
	14	34	5	.147	0	3
	8	8	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
	36	260.0	14	18	3.22	110
	35	250.1	17	15	3.24	100
	32	236.1	16	9	2.40	58
	29	175.1	10	13	3.70	78
	20	97.0	8	5	3.06	58

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
	7	16.2	1	0	4.86	13
	5	11.2	0	1	4.63	4
	2	7.0	0	1	1.29	7
	1	0.0	0	0	inf	0

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
	59	9	5	35	1.92	75
	37	3	1	0	2.25	47
	29	1	3	3	2.34	37
	16	0	3	1	4.02	11
	16	0	1	0	5.04	13
	12	0	1	0	4.24	7
	4	0	0	0	3.00	1
	2	0	0	0	11.57	2
	1	0	0	0	0.00	4

Awards and honors

League leaders

• Sparky Lyle, American League leader, Saves (35)
• Bobby Murcer, American League leader, Runs (102) ^[11]

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: West Haven^[12]

References

• 1972 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference
• 1972 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com

Notes and References

1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hintori01.shtml Rich Hinton page at Baseball Reference
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mckinri01.shtml Rich McKinney page at Baseball Reference
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/a/allenbe01.shtml Bernie Allen page at Baseball Reference
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/callijo01.shtml Johnny Callison page at Baseball Reference
5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lanieha01.shtml Hal Lanier page at Baseball Reference
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/caterda01.shtml Danny Cater page at Baseball Reference
7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/t/tepedfr01.shtml Frank Tepedino page at Baseball Reference
8. Web site: Memorable Stadium Moments - the New York Times > Sports > Slide Show > Slide 5 of 10. The New York Times.
9. https://www.baseball-reference.com/k/kluttmi01.shtml Mickey Klutts page at Baseball Reference
10. https://www.baseball-reference.com/k/kammebo01.shtml Bob Kammeyer page at Baseball Reference
11. Yankee for Life, Bobby Murcer and Glen Waggoner, p. 68, Harper Collins, 2008, New York,
12. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007