1972 Atlanta Braves season

1972 Atlanta Braves
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Atlanta Stadium (since 1966)
Atlanta (since 1966)
Results
Record	70–84 (.455)
Divisional place	4th
Other information
Owner(s)	William Bartholomay
General manager(s)	Paul Richards, Eddie Robinson
Manager(s)	Lum Harris, Eddie Mathews
Local television	WSB-TV
Local radio	WSB (Ernie Johnson, Milo Hamilton)
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Offseason

• December 2, 1971: Hal King was traded by the Braves to the Texas Rangers for Paul Casanova.^[1]

Regular season

Notable transactions

• May 11, 1972: Steve Barber was released by the Braves.^[2]
• June 6, 1972: Preston Hanna was drafted by the Braves in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 1972 Major League Baseball Draft.^[3]
• June 15, 1972: Jim Nash and Gary Neibauer were traded by the Braves to the Philadelphia Phillies for Andre Thornton and Joe Hoerner.^[4]
• June 29, 1972: Orlando Cepeda was traded by the Braves to the Oakland Athletics for Denny McLain.^[5]

Front-office and managerial turnover

The 1972 Braves' 70–84 season, following on the heels of a hopeful, 82–80 mark in 1971, 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 22 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]

Season standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	95	59	0.617	—	42–34	53–25
Houston Astros	84	69	0.549	10½	41–36	43–33
Los Angeles Dodgers	85	70	0.548	10½	41–34	44–36
Atlanta Braves	70	84	0.455	25	36–41	34–43
San Francisco Giants	69	86	0.445	26½	34–43	35–43
San Diego Padres	58	95	0.379	36½	26–54	32–41

Record vs. opponents

1972 National League Records Sources:
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	—

Roster

1972 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers 24 Steve Barber 24 Jimmy Freeman 27 Jim Hardin 43 Joe Hoerner 39 Tom House 33 Pat Jarvis 23 Larry Jaster 36 Tom Kelley 30 Denny McLain 22 Mike McQueen 23 Jim Nash 31 Gary Neibauer 35 Phil Niekro 38 Ron Reed 37 Ron Schueler 40 George Stone 34 Cecil Upshaw		Catchers 15 Paul Casanova  4 Bob Didier 32 Earl Williams Infielders 44 Hank Aaron  4 Larvell Blanks  2 Jim Breazeale 30 Orlando Cepeda 11 Darrell Evans  7 Gil Garrido 19 Rod Gilbreath 16 Sonny Jackson 17 Félix Millán  9 Marty Perez		Outfielders 12 Dusty Baker 45 Oscar Brown 25 Rico Carty 48 Ralph Garr 28 Mike Lum 18 Rowland Office		Manager 26 Lum Harris 41 Eddie Mathews Coaches  5 Lew Burdette  8 Jim Busby 41 Eddie Mathews  3 Ken Silvestri

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

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
Casanova, PaulPaul Casanova	49	136	28	.206	2	10

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
Freeman, JimmyJimmy Freeman	6	36	2	2	6.00	18

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
McQueen, MikeMike McQueen	23	78.1	0	5	4.60	40
Nash, JimJim Nash	11	31.1	1	1	5.46	10

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
Hoerner, JoeJoe Hoerner	25	1	3	2	6.56	19
Barber, SteveSteve Barber	5	0	0	0	5.74	6

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Richmond Braves	International League	Clyde King
AA	Savannah Braves	Southern League	Clint Courtney
A	Greenwood Braves	Western Carolinas League	Paul Snyder
Rookie	Wytheville Braves	Appalachian League	Eddie Haas

Notes

1. Paul Casanova page at Baseball Reference
2. Steve Barber page at Baseball Reference
3. Preston Hanna page at Baseball Reference
4. Andre Thornton page at Baseball Reference
5. Orlando Cepeda page at Baseball Reference
6. Caruso, Gary, The Braves Encylclopedia. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995, page 330
7. The Associated Press, August 7, 1972

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1972 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball Reference