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1972 New York Mets season

1972 New York Mets
LeagueNational League
DivisionEast
BallparkShea Stadium
CityNew York
Record83-73
Divisional place3rd
OwnersJoan Whitney Payson
General managersBob Scheffing
ManagersYogi Berra
TelevisionWOR-TV
RadioWHN
(Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
← 1971 Seasons 1973 →

The 1972 New York Mets season was the 11th regular season for the Mets, who played home games at Shea Stadium. Led by manager Yogi Berra, the team had an 83–73 record[1] and finished in third place in the National League East division.

Offseason

Death of Gil Hodges

On April 2, 1972, manager Gil Hodges and coaches Rube Walker, Joe Pignatano and Eddie Yost, were returning to their motel in West Palm Beach, Florida after a round of golf when Hodges suddenly collapsed, falling backward and cracking his head open. Hodges had died from a heart attack, two days short of his forty-eighth birthday.[2] The Mets wore a black armband on the left sleeves of their uniform jerseys during the 1972 season in honor of Hodges.

Appointment of Yogi Berra

On April 6, Yogi Berra was introduced as the Mets' new manager. The news of Berra's appointment was accompanied by the announcement that the Mets had traded outfielder Ken Singleton, infielder Tim Foli, and first baseman/outfielder Mike Jorgensen to the Montreal Expos. In return they received star outfielder Rusty Staub, who had hit a .311 batting average with 97 RBI the previous season. Also joining the club that year was John Milner, a left-handed, power-hitting, first baseman/outfielder.

Notable transactions

Regular season

Season summary

On May 11, the Mets acquired Willie Mays from the San Francisco Giants for minor league pitcher Charlie Williams and cash.[4][5] The acquisition of Mays had been a longtime dream of Joan Payson, who had been a New York Giants fan in her youth.[6] With Mays no longer pulling the weight of his large contract, Giants owner Horace Stoneham made him available, and Payson could not resist.[7]

The club got off to a sizzling start in 1972, playing better than .700 ball through early June and peaking at 25–7 (.781) on May 21, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates by six games. However, a series of disabling injuries to Rusty Staub, Bud Harrelson, Jerry Grote, and Cleon Jones brought the team up short and dropped them into their third consecutive third-place finish, 13.5 games behind Pittsburgh.

Despite a promising start, the season ending on a highly disappointing note. Jim Fregosi suffered a broken thumb in spring training and never got on track, posting a .232 batting average. Second baseman Ken Boswell hit just a .211 batting average on the year. John Milner flashed some power with 17 home runs but batted only a .238 batting average. Tommie Agee, unhappy at intermittently being displaced in center by Mays,[citation needed] batted a .227 batting average. Rusty Staub batted a .293 batting average, but was limited to just 66 games because of a broken hand. Mays batted a respectable .267 batting average, but his fielding ability significantly declined.

Among pitchers, Tom Seaver went 21–12, Jim McAndrew 11–8, Jerry Koosman 11–12, and Rookie of the Year Jon Matlack was 15–10. Gary Gentry slumped to 7–10. Tug McGraw continued as the bullpen ace, with 8 wins and 27 saves.

On September 30, Jon Matlack gave up a double to Pirates legend Roberto Clemente. It was Clemente's 3,000th and final big-league hit prior to his death in a plane crash on New Year's Eve.

Season standings

NL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Pittsburgh Pirates 96 59 .619 — 49‍–‍29 47‍–‍30
Chicago Cubs 85 70 .548 11 46‍–‍31 39‍–‍39
New York Mets 83 73 .532 13½ 41‍–‍37 42‍–‍36
St. Louis Cardinals 75 81 .481 21½ 40‍–‍37 35‍–‍44
Montreal Expos 70 86 .449 26½ 35‍–‍43 35‍–‍43
Philadelphia Phillies 59 97 .378 37½ 28‍–‍51 31‍–‍46

Record vs. opponents

1972 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta — 5–7–1 9–9 7–7 7–8 4–8 7–5 6–6 6–6 6–11 7–11 6–6
Chicago 7–5–1 — 8–4 3–9 8–4 10–5 10–8 10–7 3–12 9–3 7–5 10–8
Cincinnati 9–9 4–8 — 11–6 9–5 8–4 8–4 10–2 8–4 8–10 10–5 10–2
Houston 7–7 9–3 6–11 — 7–11 8–4 6–6 9–3 3–9 12–2 13–5 4–8
Los Angeles 8–7 4–8 5–9 11–7 — 6–6 7–5 7–5 7–5 13–5 9–9 8–4
Montreal 8–4 5–10 4–8 4–8 6–6 — 6–12 10–6 6–12 6–6 6–6 9–8
New York 5–7 8–10 4–8 6–6 5–7 12–6 — 13–5 8–6 7–5 8–4 7–9
Philadelphia 6-6 7–10 2–10 3–9 5–7 6–10 5–13 — 5–13 6–6 6–6 8–7
Pittsburgh 6–6 12–3 4–8 9–3 5–7 12–6 6–8 13–5 — 10–2 9–3 10–8
San Diego 11–6 3–9 10–8 2–12 5–13 6–6 5–7 6–6 2–10 — 4–10 4–8
San Francisco 11–7 5–7 5–10 5–13 9–9 6–6 4–8 6–6 3–9 10–4 — 5–7
St. Louis 6–6 8–10 2–10 8–4 4–8 8–9 9–7 7–8 8–10 8–4 7–5 —


Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

Roster

1972 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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 Duffy Dyer 94 325 75 .231 8 36
1B Ed Kranepool 122 327 88 .269 8 34
2B Ken Boswell 100 355 75 .211 9 33
SS Bud Harrelson 115 418 90 .215 1 24
3B Jim Fregosi 101 340 79 .232 5 32
LF John Milner 117 362 86 .238 17 38
CF Tommie Agee 114 422 96 .227 13 47
RF Rusty Staub 66 239 70 .293 9 38

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
Cleon Jones 106 375 92 .245 5 52
Ted Martínez 103 330 74 .224 1 19
Wayne Garrett 111 298 69 .232 2 29
Jerry Grote 64 205 43 .210 3 21
Willie Mays 69 195 52 .267 8 19
Dave Marshall 72 156 39 .250 4 11
Dave Schneck 37 123 23 .187 3 10
Jim Beauchamp 58 120 29 .242 5 19
Lute Barnes 24 72 17 .236 0 6
Bill Sudakis 18 49 7 .143 1 7
Don Hahn 17 37 6 .162 0 1
Joe Nolan 4 10 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
Tom Seaver 35 262.0 21 12 2.92 249
Jon Matlack 34 244.0 15 10 2.32 169
Gary Gentry 32 164.0 7 10 4.01 120
Jerry Koosman 34 163.0 11 12 4.14 147
Jim McAndrew 28 160.2 11 8 2.80 81

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
Buzz Capra 14 53.0 3 2 4.58 45
Brent Strom 11 30.1 0 3 6.82 20
Hank Webb 6 18.1 0 0 4.42 15
Tommy Moore 3 12.1 0 0 2.92 5

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L SV ERA SO
Tug McGraw 54 106.0 8 6 27 1.70 92
Danny Frisella 39 67.1 5 8 9 3.34 46
Ray Sadecki 34 75.2 2 1 0 3.09 38
Chuck Taylor 20 31.0 0 0 2 5.52 9
Bob Rauch 19 27.0 0 1 1 5.00 23

Awards and honors

All-Stars

1972 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Tidewater Tides International League Hank Bauer
AA Memphis Blues Texas League John Antonelli
A Visalia Mets California League Joe Frazier
A Pompano Beach Mets Florida State League Gordon Mackenzie
A-Short Season Batavia Trojans New York–Penn League Wilbur Huckle
Rookie Marion Mets Appalachian League Chuck Hiller

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tidewater

Notes

  1. ^ Because of a labour strike, the Mets didn't play a 162 games regular season.
  2. ^ Clavin, Tom; Danny Peary (2012). Gil Hodges: The Brooklyn Bums, the Miracle Mets, and the Extraordinary Life of a Baseball Legend. New York: New American Library. pp. 359–361, 370–375. ISBN 978-0-451-23586-2.
  3. ^ Nolan Ryan page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ a b "Mays traded to Mets, Giants get minor, cash". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. May 11, 1972. p. 46.
  5. ^ a b "Willie Mays traded to NY Mets". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. May 11, 1972. p. 46.
  6. ^ admin. "Joan Whitney Payson: A Pioneer for the New York Mets – Society for American Baseball Research". Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  7. ^ admin. "Joan Whitney Payson: A Pioneer for the New York Mets – Society for American Baseball Research". Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  8. ^ Rusty Staub page at Baseball Reference
  9. ^ Willie Mays page at Baseball Reference

References

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