1972 Kansas City Royals season

1972 Kansas City Royals
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1969)
West Division (since 1969)
Location
Municipal Stadium (since 1969)
Kansas City, Missouri (since 1969)
Other information
Owner(s)	Ewing Kauffman
General manager(s)	Cedric Tallis
Manager(s)	Bob Lemon
Local television	KBMA
Local radio	KMBZ (Buddy Blattner, Denny Matthews)
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The 1972 Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing fourth in the American League West with a record of 76 wins and 78 losses.

Offseason

• November 29, 1971: Steve Hovley was drafted by the Royals from the Oakland Athletics in the 1971 rule 5 draft.^[1]
• December 2, 1971: Jim York and Lance Clemons were traded by the Royals to the Houston Astros for John Mayberry and Dave Grangaard (minors).^[2]
• March 15, 1972: José Martínez was purchased by the Royals from the Pittsburgh Pirates.^[3]
• Prior to 1972 season: Mark Williams was signed as an amateur free agent by the Royals.^[4]

Regular season

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	93	62	0.600	—	48–29	45–33
Chicago White Sox	87	67	0.565	5½	55–23	32–44
Minnesota Twins	77	77	0.500	15½	42–32	35–45
Kansas City Royals	76	78	0.494	16½	44–33	32–45
California Angels	75	80	0.484	18	44–36	31–44
Texas Rangers	54	100	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	—	7–11	6–6	8–4	8–10	10–8	6–6	10–5	6–6	7–6	6–6	6–6
Boston	11–7	—	8–4	6–6	8–7	5–9	6–6	11–7	4–8	9–9	9–3	8–4
California	6–6	4–8	—	7–11	8–4	5–7	9–6	7–5	7–8	4–8	8–10	10–7
Chicago	4–8	6–6	11–7	—	8–4	5–7	8–9	9–3	8–6	7–5	7–8	14–4
Cleveland	10–8	7–8	4–8	4–8	—	10–8	6–6	5–10	8–4	7–11	2–10	9–3
Detroit	8–10	9–5	7–5	7–5	8–10	—	7–5	10–8	9–3	7–9	4–8	10–2
Kansas City	6–6	6–6	6–9	9–8	6–6	5–7	—	7–5	9–9	7–5	7–11	8–6
Milwaukee	5–10	7–11	5–7	3–9	10–5	8–10	5–7	—	4–8	9–9	4–8	5–7
Minnesota	6–6	8–4	8–7	6–8	4–8	3–9	9–9	8–4	—	6–6	8–9	11–7
New York	6–7	9–9	8–4	5–7	11–7	9–7	5–7	9–9	6–6	—	3–9	8–4
Oakland	6–6	3–9	10–8	8–7	10–2	8–4	11–7	8–4	9–8	9–3	—	11–4
Texas	6–6	4–8	7–10	4–14	3–9	2–10	6–8	7–5	7–11	4–8	4–11	—

Notable transactions

• June 6, 1972: 1972 Major League Baseball draft
  • Jamie Quirk was drafted by the Royals in the 1st round (18th pick).^[5]
  • George Throop was drafted by the Royals in the 16th round.^[6]

Roster

1972 Kansas City Royals
Roster
Pitchers 36 Ted Abernathy 39 Norm Angelini 22 Tom Burgmeier 40 Steve Busby 43 Bruce Dal Canton 41 Dick Drago 23 Al Fitzmorris 32 Mike Hedlund 25 Mike Jackson 20 Monty Montgomery 29 Tom Murphy 35 Roger Nelson 25 Jim Rooker 34 Paul Splittorff 28 Ken Wright		Catchers  8 Ed Kirkpatrick 12 Jerry May 17 Dennis Paepke 14 Carl Taylor Infielders 15 Bobby Floyd  2 Ron Hansen 18 Gail Hopkins 19 Bobby Knoop  7 John Mayberry 37 Freddie Patek  1 Cookie Rojas 10 Paul Schaal  6 Jim Wohlford		Outfielders 30 Steve Hovley 16 Joe Keough 33 Bob Oliver 26 Amos Otis  9 Lou Piniella  5 Richie Scheinblum		Manager 21 Bob Lemon Coaches  3 Galen Cisco  4 Harry Dunlop 24 Charley Lau 11 George Strickland

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
1B	Mayberry, JohnJohn Mayberry	149	503	150	.298	25	100
LF	Piniella, LouLou Piniella	151	574	179	.312	11	72

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
Hovley, SteveSteve Hovley	105	196	53	.270	3	24
Taylor, CarlCarl Taylor	63	113	30	.265	0	11
Hansen, RonRon Hansen	16	30	4	.133	0	2

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
Montgomery, MontyMonty Montgomery	9	56.1	3	3	3.04	24
Busby, SteveSteve Busby	5	40	3	1	1.58	31

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
Nelson, RogerRoger Nelson	34	173.1	11	6	2.08	120
Murphy, TomTom Murphy	18	70.1	4	4	3.07	34
Jackson, MikeMike Jackson	7	19.2	1	2	6.41	15

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
Burgmeier, TomTom Burgmeier	51	6	2	9	4.23	18
Abernathy, TedTed Abernathy	45	3	4	5	1.70	28
Angelini, NormNorm Angelini	21	2	1	2	2.25	16
Wright, KenKen Wright	17	1	2	4	4.91	18

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Omaha Royals	American Association	Jack McKeon
AA	Jacksonville Suns	Southern League	Billy Gardner
A	San Jose Bees	California League	Harry Malmberg
A	Waterloo Royals	Midwest League	Steve Boros
Rookie	Kingsport Royals	Appalachian League	Jay Hankins
Rookie	GCL Royals	Gulf Coast League	Buzzy Keller
Rookie	Billings Mustangs	Pioneer League	Gary Blaylock

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Billings

Notes

1. Steve Hovley page at Baseball Reference
2. John Mayberry page at Baseball Reference
3. José Martínez page at Baseball Reference
4. Mark Williams page at Baseball Reference
5. Jamie Quirk page at Baseball Reference
6. George Throop page at Baseball Reference

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 Kansas City Royals team page at Baseball Reference
• 1972 Kansas City Royals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com