1972 Cincinnati Reds season

1972 Cincinnati Reds
1972 National League Championship 1972 NL West Championship
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1890)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Riverfront Stadium (since 1970)
Cincinnati (since 1882)
Other information
Owner(s)	Francis L. Dale
General manager(s)	Bob Howsam
Manager(s)	Sparky Anderson
Local television	WLWT (Tom Hedrick, Waite Hoyt)
Local radio	WLW (Al Michaels, Joe Nuxhall)
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The 1972 Cincinnati Reds season consisted of the Reds winning the National League West title with a record of 95-59, 10½ games over the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers. They defeated the previous year's World Series Champion Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1972 National League Championship Series, but lost to the Oakland Athletics in seven games in the 1972 World Series. The Reds were managed by Sparky Anderson.

The theme for the Reds was "Redemption" after a disastrous 1971 season that saw the Reds fall from a World Series participant in 1970 to a sub .500 team a year later. In fact, the March 13, 1972, Sports Illustrated edition featured the Reds on the front cover headlining "Redemption for the Reds." The Reds won 102 games in 1970, but only 79 a year later. A major catalyst for the Reds, Bobby Tolan, ruptured his Achilles' tendon in the winter of 1971, and he missed the entire MLB season. Nearly every Reds regular, including Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Pérez, Bernie Carbo and David Concepcion, had significant decreases in their production from 1970. The lone exception was popular first baseman Lee May, who set career highs in home runs (39) and slugging percentage (.532).

Reds fans, en masse, were shocked and dismayed when, on Nov. 29, 1971, Cincinnati Reds General Manager Bob Howsam traded May, Gold Glove winning second baseman Tommy Helms and key utility man Jimmy Stewart to division rival Houston Astros for second baseman Joe Morgan, third baseman Denis Menke, pitcher Jack Billingham, little used outfielder Cesar Geronimo and minor leaguer Ed Armbrister. The trade turned out to be one of the best trades in Reds history. Morgan would escape the cavernous Houston Astrodome to a more hitter-friendly Riverfront Stadium home park. Surrounded by more talent in Cincinnati, Morgan would become one of the more productive power-speed players in the entire decade on his way to eventual induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Morgan and Geronimo would also go on to each win multiple Gold Glove awards, as Geronimo manned right field until 1974 when he would take over in center field. Billingham would go on to win 12 games in 1972 and 50 total in his first three years with the Reds. Billingham's best moments came in the 1972 World Series when he threw 13 2/3 innings allowing no earned runs in collecting a win, a save, and a no decision in Game 7.

With Rose, Morgan and a healthy Tolan at the top of the lineup, a rejuvenated Bench was the recipient as the Reds' cleanup hitter. Rebounding from the 1971 disaster when Bench only drove in 61 runs, he slammed 40 home runs and had a major league-best 125 RBI. Bench also walked a career-high 100 times on his way to NL MVP honors.

Cincinnati got off to a slow start, winning only eight of their first 21 games before winning nine straight. The Reds were still only 20-18 when they went into Houston to play the retooled Astros for a four-game series, May 29-June 1, at the Astrodome, a notorious pitchers park. But the Reds scored 39 runs in the series and won all four games. The Reds went into the July 23 All-Star break with a 6 1/2 game lead over the Astros and an 8-game lead over the Dodgers. Neither team seriously threatened the Reds in the second half.

Reds ace Gary Nolan won 13 of his 15 decisions by July 13, only 79 games into the season. But Nolan suffered a series of neck and shoulder ailments that forced him out of the All Star game and limited him to a total of 25 starts. He spent much of the second-half on the disabled list resting and then rehabbing. He won two games after the All-Star break. Nolan still finished second in the National League in ERA (1.99) to Philadelphia's Steve Carlton (1.97). Morgan (122 runs scored, 16 home runs, 73 RBI, 58 stolen bases, .292 average) finished fourth in MVP voting, while Rose (107 runs, 198 hits, 11 triples, .307 avg.) and reliever Clay Carroll (37 saves, 2.25 ERA) were 12th and 13th, respectively, in the MVP voting conducted by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

The Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, three games to two, in an exciting National League Championship Series, the first time in its four-year history the NLCS had gone five games. The World Series against the Oakland A's was equally as epic, with the Reds falling 3-2 in Game 7, the sixth game of the series decided by a single run.

Offseason

• November 29, 1971: Lee May, Tommy Helms, and Jimmy Stewart were traded by the Reds to the Houston Astros for Joe Morgan, Ed Armbrister, Jack Billingham, César Gerónimo, and Denis Menke.^[1]
• Dec 3, 1971: Wayne Granger was traded by the Reds to the Minnesota Twins for Tom Hall.^[2]
• December 14, 1971: Jim Qualls was traded by the Reds to the Chicago White Sox for Pat Jacquez.^[3]

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	—

Notable transactions

• June 6, 1972: Ron Hassey was drafted by the Reds in the 23rd round of the 1972 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.^[4]

Roster

1972 Cincinnati Reds roster
Roster
Pitchers 43 Jack Billingham 34 Pedro Borbón 36 Clay Carroll 39 Joe Gibbon 48 Ross Grimsley 35 Don Gullett 21 Tom Hall 31 Jim McGlothlin 30 Jim Merritt 38 Gary Nolan 45 Wayne Simpson 44 Ed Sprague 49 Dave Tomlin		Catchers  5 Johnny Bench  7 Pat Corrales  9 Bill Plummer  7 Sonny Ruberto Infielders 12 Darrel Chaney 13 Dave Concepción 20,25 Joe Hague 17 Julián Javier 16 Denis Menke  8 Joe Morgan 24 Tony Pérez		Outfielders 25 Bernie Carbo 15 George Foster 20 César Gerónimo 11 Hal McRae 14 Pete Rose 28 Bobby Tolan 22 Ted Uhlaender		Manager 10 Sparky Anderson Coaches  2 Alex Grammas 18 Ted Kluszewski  3 George Scherger  4 Larry Shepard

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	Bench, JohnnyJohnny Bench	147	538	145	.270	40	125
1B	Perez, TonyTony Perez	136	515	146	.283	21	90
2B	Morgan, JoeJoe Morgan	149	552	161	.292	16	73
SS	Concepción, DaveDave Concepción	119	378	79	.209	2	29
3B	Menke, DenisDenis Menke	140	447	104	.233	9	50
LF	Rose, PetePete Rose	154	645	198	.307	6	57
CF	Tolan, BobbyBobby Tolan	149	604	171	.283	8	82
RF	Gerónimo, CésarCésar Gerónimo	120	255	70	.275	4	29

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
Chaney, DarrelDarrel Chaney	83	196	48	.250	2	19
Hague, JoeJoe Hague	69	138	34	.246	4	20
Foster, GeorgeGeorge Foster	59	145	29	.200	2	12
Uhlaender, TedTed Uhlaender	73	113	18	.159	0	6
Plummer, BillBill Plummer	38	102	19	.186	2	9
McRae, HalHal McRae	61	97	27	.278	5	26
Javier, JuliánJulián Javier	44	91	19	.209	2	12
Carbo, BernieBernie Carbo	19	21	3	.143	0	0
Ruberto, SonnySonny Ruberto	2	3	0	.000	0	0
Corrales, PatPat Corrales	2	1	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	GS	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Billingham, JackJack Billingham	36	31	217.2	12	12	3.18	137
Grimsley, RossRoss Grimsley	30	28	197.2	14	8	3.05	79
Nolan, GaryGary Nolan	25	25	176	15	5	1.99	90
McGlothlin, JimJim McGlothlin	31	21	145	9	8	3.91	69
Simpson, WayneWayne Simpson	24	22	130.1	8	5	4.14	70

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
Gullett, DonDon Gullett	31	134.2	9	10	3.94	96
Merritt, JimJim Merritt	4	8	1	0	4.50	4

Relief pitchers

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

Player	G	W	L	ERA	SO	SV
Carroll, ClayClay Carroll	65	6	4	2.25	51	37
Borbón, PedroPedro Borbón	62	8	3	3.17	48	11
Hall, TomTom Hall	47	10	1	2.61	134	8
Sprague, EdEd Sprague	33	3	3	4.13	25	0
Tomlin, DaveDave Tomlin	3	0	0	0	9.00	2
Gibbon, JoeJoe Gibbon	2	0	0	0	54.00	1

Postseason

1972 National League Championship Series

The Reds rallied to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates in five games to win the National League title. In Game 5, Johnny Bench's ninth-inning home run tied the game before George Foster scored the game-winner on a wild pitch.

Game 1

October 7: Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cincinnati	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	8	0
Pittsburgh	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	X	5	6	0
W: Steve Blass (1-0)   L: Don Gullett (0-1)   S: Ramón Hernández (1)
HR: CIN – Joe Morgan (1)  PIT – Al Oliver (1)
Pitchers: CIN – Gullett, Borbón (7)  PIT – Blass, Hernández (9)
Attendance: 50,476

Game 2

October 8: Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cincinnati	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	5	8	1
Pittsburgh	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	3	7	1
W: Tom Hall (1-0)   L: Bob Moose (0-1)   S: None
HR: CIN – Joe Morgan (2)  PIT – none
Pitchers: CIN – Billingham, Hall (5)  PIT – Moose, Johnson (1), Kison (6), Hernández (7), Giusti (9)
Attendance: 50,584

Game 3

October 9: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	3	7	0
Cincinnati	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	1
W: Bruce Kison (1-0)   L: Clay Carroll (0-1)   S: Dave Giusti (1)
HR: PIT – Manny Sanguillén (1)  CIN – none
Pitchers: PIT – Briles, Kison (7), Giusti (8)  CIN – Nolan, Borbón (7), Carroll (7), McGlothlin (9)
Attendance: 52,420

Game 4

October 10: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	3
Cincinnati	1	0	0	2	0	2	2	0	0	7	11	1
W: Ross Grimsley (1-0)   L: Dock Ellis (0-1)   S: none
HR: PIT – Roberto Clemente (1)  CIN – none
Pitchers: PIT – Ellis, Johnson (6), Walker (7), Miller (8)  CIN – Grimsley
Attendance: 39,447

Game 5

October 11: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	8	0
Cincinnati	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	4	7	1
W: Clay Carroll (1-1)   L: Dave Giusti (0-1)   S: none
HR: PIT – none  CIN – César Gerónimo (1), Johnny Bench (1)
Pitchers: PIT – Blass, Hernández (8), Giusti (9), Moose (9)  CIN – Gullett, Borbón (4), Hall (6), Carroll (9)
Attendance: 41,887

1972 World Series

The Reds were a prohibitive favorite to win the World Series over the Oakland Athletics, who lost top slugger Reggie Jackson to a hamstring injury in the playoffs. But Gene Tenace, who hit just five home runs in the regular season, crushed four against the Reds in a series that saw six of the seven games decided by one run. Oakland dealt the Reds three losses on their home AstroTurf of Riverfront Stadium. Tenace had two hits and two RBI in Game 7 as Oakland scored two in the sixth inning and held on for a 3-2 victory for the A's first World Series title since 1930.

AL Oakland Athletics (4) vs. NL Cincinnati Reds (3)

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance	Time of Game
1	A's – 3, Reds – 2	October 14	Riverfront Stadium	52,918	2:18
2	A's – 2, Reds – 1	October 15	Riverfront Stadium	53,224	2:26
3	Reds – 1, A's – 0	October 18	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	49,410	2:24
4	Reds – 2, A's – 3	October 19	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	49,410	2:06
5	Reds – 5, A's – 4	October 20	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	49,410	2:26
6	A's – 1, Reds – 8	October 21	Riverfront Stadium	52,737	2:21
7	A's – 3, Reds – 2	October 22	Riverfront Stadium	56,040	2:50

Awards and honors

• Sparky Anderson, Associated Press NL Manager of the Year
• Johnny Bench, National League MVP
• Bobby Tolan, Hutch Award^[5]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Indianapolis Indians	American Association	Vern Rapp
AA	Trois-Rivières Aigles	Eastern League	Jim Snyder
A	Tampa Tarpons	Florida State League	Russ Nixon
Rookie	FECL Reds	Florida East Coast League	Dave Pavlesic
Rookie	GCL Reds	Gulf Coast League	Ron Plaza

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: FECL Reds ^[6]

Notes

1. Joe Morgan page at Baseball Reference
2. >Wayne Granger page at Baseball Reference
3. Jim Qualls page at Baseball Reference
4. Ron Hassey page at Baseball Reference
5. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_hut.shtml
6. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 1972 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference