1972 San Francisco Giants season

1972 San Francisco Giants
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1883)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Candlestick Park (since 1960)
San Francisco, California (since 1958)
Other information
Owner(s)	Horace Stoneham
General manager(s)	Jerry Donovan
Manager(s)	Charlie Fox
Local television	KTVU (Lon Simmons, Bill Thompson)
Local radio	KSFO (Lon Simmons, Bill Thompson)
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The 1972 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 90th year in Major League Baseball, their 15th year in San Francisco, and their 13th at Candlestick Park. The Giants finished in fifth place in National League West with a record of 69-86. It was their first losing season in San Francisco and the franchise's first losing season since 1957, which was the franchise's final year in New York.

Offseason

• November 29, 1971: Gaylord Perry and Frank Duffy were traded by the Giants to the Cleveland Indians for Sam McDowell.^[1]
• February 2, 1972: Hal Lanier was purchased from the Giants by the New York Yankees.^[2]
• March 27, 1972: Rich Robertson was released by the Giants.^[3]

Regular season

Franchise legend Willie Mays was traded to the New York Mets for Charlie Williams and US$50,000.^[4] At the time, the Giants franchise was losing money. Owner Horace Stoneham could not guarantee Mays an income after retirement.

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

• May 11, 1972: Willie Mays was traded by the Giants to the New York Mets for Charlie Williams and $50,000.^[5]
• June 6, 1972: Brian Asselstine was drafted by the Giants in the 7th round of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.^[6]
• June 6, 1972: Lenn Sakata was drafted by the Giants in the 14th round of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.^[7]

Roster

1972 San Francisco Giants
Roster
Pitchers 33 Jim Barr 32 Ron Bryant 30 Don Carrithers 41 John Cumberland 35 Jerry Johnson 27 Juan Marichal 48 Sam McDowell 47 Don McMahon 39 Randy Moffitt 42 John Morris 41 Frank Reberger 38 Elías Sosa 29 Steve Stone 38 Charlie Williams 42 Jim Willoughby		Catchers 18 Russ Gibson  6 Fran Healy 14 Dave Rader Infielders 17 Chris Arnold 22 Dámaso Blanco 23 Tito Fuentes 10 Al Gallagher 21 Ed Goodson 16 Jim Ray Hart 26 Dave Kingman 44 Willie McCovey 35 Chris Speier 12 Gary Thomasson		Outfielders 25 Bobby Bonds 15 Ken Henderson 19 Jim Howarth 31 Gary Maddox 36 Gary Matthews 24 Willie Mays 22 Jimmy Rosario 20 Bernie Williams		Manager  7 Charlie Fox Coaches  5 Joey Amalfitano  8 Andy Gilbert 47 Don McMahon  1 John McNamara  3 Ozzie Virgil

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	Rader, DaveDave Rader	133	459	119	.259	6	41

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
Howarth, JimJim Howarth	74	119	28	.235	1	7
Healy, FranFran Healy	45	99	15	.152	1	8
Arnold, ChrisChris Arnold	51	84	19	.226	1	4
Williams, BernieBernie Williams	46	68	13	.191	3	9
Mays, WillieWillie Mays	19	49	9	.184	0	3
Blanco, DámasoDámaso Blanco	39	20	7	.350	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
Bryant, RonRon Bryant	35	214	14	7	2.90	107
Marichal, JuanJuan Marichal	25	165	6	16	3.71	72
McDowell, SamSam McDowell	28	164.1	10	8	4.33	122

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
Barr, JimJim Barr	44	179	8	10	2.87	86
Carrithers, DonDon Carrithers	25	90	4	8	5.80	42
Cumberland, JohnJohn Cumberland	9	25	0	4	8.64	8
Williams, CharlieCharlie Williams	3	9.1	0	2	8.68	3

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
Johnson, JerryJerry Johnson	48	8	6	8	4.42	57
McMahon, DonDon McMahon	44	3	3	5	3.71	45
Moffitt, RandyRandy Moffitt	40	1	5	4	3.69	37
Morris, JohnJohn Morris	7	0	0	0	4.26	5

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Phoenix Giants	Pacific Coast League	Jim Davenport
AA	Amarillo Giants	Texas League	Dennis Sommers
A	Fresno Giants	California League	Frank Funk
A	Decatur Commodores	Midwest League	Jim McKnight
A	Anderson Giants	Western Carolinas League	Max Lanier
Rookie	Great Falls Giants	Pioneer League	Dick Wilson

^[8]

References

1. Sam McDowell at Baseball-Reference
2. Hal Lanier at Baseball-Reference
3. Rich Robertson at Baseball-Reference
4. "Willie Mays transactions". Retrieved October 22, 2006.
5. Willie Mays at Baseball-Reference
6. Brian Asselstine at Baseball-Reference
7. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sakatle01.shtml
8. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

External links

• 1972 San Francisco Giants team at Baseball-Reference
• 1972 San Francisco Giants team at Baseball Almanac