1972 Oakland Athletics season

The 1972 Oakland Athletics season involved the A's winning the American League West with a record of 93 wins and 62 losses. In the playoffs, they defeated the Detroit Tigers in a five-game ALCS, followed by a seven-game World Series, in which they defeated the Cincinnati Reds for their first World Championship since 1930, when the club was in Philadelphia.

1972 Oakland Athletics
1972 AL West Champions
1972 AL Champions
1972 World Series Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record93–62 (.600)
Other information
Owner(s)Charles O. Finley
Manager(s)Dick Williams
Local televisionKBHK
Local radioKEEN
(Monte Moore, Jim Woods)
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Offseason
Round 9: Rich Dauer (did not sign)
Round 10: Bob Lacey

Regular season

In 1972, the A's began wearing solid green or solid gold jerseys, with contrasting white pants, at a time when most other teams wore all-white uniforms at home and all-grey ones on the road. Similar to more colorful amateur softball uniforms, they were considered a radical departure for their time.

Furthermore, in conjunction with a Moustache Day promotion, Finley offered $500 to any player who grew a moustache by Father's Day, at a time when every other team forbade facial hair. When Father's Day arrived, every member of the team collected a bonus.

Changing the nickname

The nickname "A's" has long been used interchangeably with "Athletics", dating to the team's early days when headline writers wanted a way to shorten the name. Starting in 1972, the team nickname was officially "Oakland A's." The Commissioner's Trophy, given out annually to the winner of baseball's World Series, still listed the team's name as the "Oakland Athletics" on the gold-plated pennant representing the Oakland franchise. According to Bill Libby's Book, Charlie O and the Angry A's, owner Charlie O. Finley banned the word "Athletics" from the club's name because he felt that name was too closely associated with former Philadelphia Athletics owner Connie Mack, and he wanted the name "Oakland A's" to become just as closely associated with himself. The name also vaguely suggested the name of the old minor league Oakland Oaks, which were alternatively called the "Acorns".

Season standings
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 9362 0.600 — 48–29 45–33
Chicago White Sox 8767 0.565 5½ 55–23 32–44
Minnesota Twins 7777 0.500 15½ 42–32 35–45
Kansas City Royals 7678 0.494 16½ 44–33 32–45
California Angels 7580 0.484 18 44–36 31–44
Texas Rangers 54100 0.351 38½ 31–46 23–54

Record vs. opponents
1972 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK TEX
Baltimore —7–116–68–48–1010–86–610–56–67–66–66–6
Boston 11–7—8–46–68–75–96–611–74–89–99–38–4
California 6–64–8—7–118–45–79–67–57–84–88–1010–7
Chicago 4–86–611–7—8–45–78–99–38–67–57–814–4
Cleveland 10–87–84–84–8—10–86–65–108–47–112–109–3
Detroit 8–109–57–57–58–10—7–510–89–37–94–810–2
Kansas City 6–66–66–99–86–65–7—7–59–97–57–118–6
Milwaukee 5–107–115–73–910–58–105–7—4–89–94–85–7
Minnesota 6–68–48–76–84–83–99–98–4—6–68–911–7
New York 6–79–98–45–711–79–75–79–96–6—3–98–4
Oakland 6–63–910–88–710–28–411–78–49–89–3—11–4
Texas 6–64–87–104–143–92–106–87–57–114–84–11—

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions
Round 1: Chet Lemon
Round 9: Dennis Littlejohn (did not sign)[10]
Round 12: Chris Batton[11]
Round 15: Bob Pate (did not play)

Roster
1972 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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
CDave Duncan12140388.2181959
1BMike Epstein138455123.2702670
2BTim Cullen7214237.261015
3BSal Bando152535126.2361577
SSBert Campaneris149625150.240832
LFJoe Rudi147593181.3051975
CFReggie Jackson135499132.2652575
RFÁngel Mangual9127267.246532

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
Gene Tenace8222751.225532
Larry Brown4714226.18304
Matty Alou3212134.281116
George Hendrick5812122.182415
Bill Voss409722.22715
Ted Kubiak519417.18108
Mike Hegan987926.32915
Don Mincher47548.14805
Ollie Brown205413.24114
Dick Green264212.28603
Marty Martínez22405.12501
Bobby Brooks15397.17905
Dal Maxvill27369.25001
Brant Alyea20316.19412
Gonzalo Márquez23218.38104
Ron Clark14154.26701
Bill McNulty4101.10000
Adrian Garrett14110.00000
Curt Blefary8115.45501
Allan Lewis24102.20002
Art Shamsky870.00000
Dwain Anderson370.00000
Larry Haney540.00000
Orlando Cepeda330.00000

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
Catfish Hunter38295.12172.04191
Ken Holtzman39265.119112.51134
Blue Moon Odom31194.11562.5086
Vida Blue251516102.80111
Denny McLain522.1126.048

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
Dave Hamilton25101.1662.9355
Joe Horlen3284343.0058
Diego Seguí722.2013.5711

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
Rollie Fingers65119212.51113
Bob Locker5661102.6547
Darold Knowles5451111.3736
Gary Waslewski80302.048
Don Shaw301016.884
Jim Roland20003.860
Mike Kilkenny10000.000

Postseason

ALCS
Main article: 1972 American League Championship Series

Game 1

October 7, 1972, at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Detroit 010 000 000 01 262
Oakland 001 000 000 02 3101
W: Rollie Fingers (1–0)   L: Mickey Lolich (0–1)   
HR: DET – Norm Cash (1), Al Kaline (1)

Game 2

October 8, 1972, at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Detroit 000 000 000 031
Oakland 100 040 00X 580
W: Blue Moon Odom (1–0)   L: Woodie Fryman (0–1)   
HR: None

Game 3

October 10, 1972, at Tiger Stadium

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 000 000 000 070
Detroit 000 200 01X 381
W: Joe Coleman (1–0)   L: Ken Holtzman (0–1)   
HR: DET – Bill Freehan (1)

Game 4

October 11, 1972, at Tiger Stadium

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Oakland 000 000 100 2 392
Detroit 001 000 000 3 4101
W: John Hiller (1–0)   L: Bob Locker (0–1)  
HR: OAK – Mike Epstein (1) DET – Dick McAuliffe (1)

Game 5

October 12, 1972, at Tiger Stadium

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 010 100 000 240
Detroit 100 000 000 152
W: Blue Moon Odom (2–0)   L: Woodie Fryman (0–2)   S: Vida Blue (1)
HR: None

World Series
Main article: 1972 World Series

In 1972, the A's won their first league pennant since 1931 and faced the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. The A's seven-game victory over the heavily favored Reds gave the team its first World Series Championship since 1930.

Of the four wins against the Reds, three of them occurred in Cincinnati, and all four Series victories were by a single run. Gene Tenace hit four home runs and drove in nine runs to power the A's offense, and was named the series Most Valuable Player.

Composite Box

1972 World Series (4–3): Oakland Athletics (A.L.) over Cincinnati Reds (N.L.)

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland Athletics 161 132 002 16469
Cincinnati Reds 110 331 642 21465
Total Attendance: 363,149   Average Attendance: 51,878
Winning Player's Share: – $20,705,   Losing Player's Share– $15,080 *Includes Playoffs and World Series

Awards and honors

League leaders

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Iowa Oaks American Association Sherm Lollar
AA Birmingham A's Southern League Phil Cavarretta
A Burlington Bees Midwest League Harry Bright
A-Short Season Coos Bay-North Bend A's Northwest League Grover Resinger

References
  1. Rick Monday page at Baseball Reference
  2. Brant Alyea page at Baseball Reference
  3. Steve Hovley page at Baseball Reference
  4. 1972 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB January Amateur Draft
  5. Denny McLain page at Baseball Reference
  6. Tim Cullen page at Baseball Reference
  7. Don Shaw page at Baseball Reference
  8. Curt Blefary page at Baseball Reference
  9. 1972 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
  10. Dennis Littlejohn page at Baseball Reference
  11. Chris Batton page at Baseball Reference
  12. Diego Segui page at Baseball Reference
  13. Vic Harris page at Baseball Reference
  14. Dal Maxvill page at Baseball Reference
  15. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 96, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
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