1972 Cleveland Indians
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkCleveland Municipal Stadium
CityCleveland, Ohio
OwnersVernon Stouffer
General managersGabe Paul
ManagersKen Aspromonte
TelevisionWJW-TV
RadioWERE (1300)
← 1971 Seasons 1973 →

The 1972 Cleveland Indians season was the 72nd in franchise history. The team finished fifth in the American League East with a record of 72–84, 14 games behind the Detroit Tigers.

Offseason

George Steinbrenner offer

On December 6, 1971, George Steinbrenner led a group of investors (including Ted Bonda, Ed Jeffrey, Howard Metzenbaum, Steve O'Neill, Gabe Paul and Al Rosen) that negotiated with Jim Stouffer, the son of Indians owner Vernon Stouffer about the potential purchase of the franchise. The group offered $8.6 million and agreed to absorb $300,000 in debt (Stouffer borrowed against the Indians television contract for 1972).[1] Although Steinbrenner and Jim Stouffer agreed to a sale, Vernon Stouffer disapproved of the deal. He felt that he was able of getting $10 million for the franchise.[2]

Notable transactions

Regular season

Season standings

AL East 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Detroit Tigers 86 70 0.551 — 44–34 42–36
Boston Red Sox 85 70 0.548 ½ 52–26 33–44
Baltimore Orioles 80 74 0.519 5 38–39 42–35
New York Yankees 79 76 0.510 6½ 46–31 33–45
Cleveland Indians 72 84 0.462 14 43–34 29–50
Milwaukee Brewers 65 91 0.417 21 37–42 28–49

Record vs. opponents

1972 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
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

Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters
# Name Position
1 Del Unser CF
11 Eddie Leon 2B
20 Alex Johnson LF
12 Graig Nettles 3B
14 Chris Chambliss 1B
8 Ray Fosse C
9 Buddy Bell RF
15 Frank Duffy SS
36 Gaylord Perry P

[10]

Roster

1972 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SB
Buddy Bell 132 466 49 119 21 1 9 36 .255 5
Kurt Bevacqua 19 35 2 4 0 0 1 1 .114 0
Jack Brohamer 136 527 49 123 13 2 5 35 .233 3
Bill Butler 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Lou Camilli 39 41 2 6 2 0 0 3 .146 0
Chris Chambliss 121 466 51 136 27 2 6 44 .292 3
Vince Colbert 23 20 1 4 1 0 0 0 .200 0
Frank Duffy 130 385 23 92 16 4 3 27 .239 6
Steve Dunning 20 33 6 9 1 0 3 4 .273 0
Ed Farmer 46 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 ,143 0
Ray Fosse 134 457 42 110 20 1 10 41 .241 5
Roy Foster 73 143 19 32 4 0 4 13 .224 0
Steve Hargan 12 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Jack Heidemann 10 20 0 3 0 0 0 0 .150 0
Phil Hennigan 38 12 1 1 0 0 0 0 .083 0
Tom Hilgendorf 19 13 0 1 0 0 0 1 .077 0
Alex Johnson 108 356 31 85 10 1 8 37 .239 6
Larry Johnson 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .500 0
Mike Kilkenny 22 14 0 1 0 0 0 0 .071 0
Ray Lamb 34 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Eddie Leon 89 225 14 45 2 1 4 16 .200 0
Ron Lolich 24 80 4 15 1 0 2 8 .188 0
Marcelino López 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
John Lowenstein 68 151 16 32 8 1 6 21 .212 2
Tommy McCraw 129 391 43 101 12 5 7 33 ,258 12
Steve Mingori 42 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 .125 0
Jerry Moses 52 141 9 31 3 0 4 14 ,220 0
Graig Nettles 150 557 65 141 28 0 17 70 .253 2
Lowell Palmer 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
Gaylord Perry 41 110 5 17 2 0 1 9 .155 0
Adolfo Phillips 12 7 2 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Denny Riddleberger 38 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Fred Stanley 6 12 1 2 1 0 0 0 .167 0
Dick Tidrow 39 70 5 7 0 0 0 6 .100 0
Del Unser 132 383 29 91 12 0 1 17 .238 5
Milt Wilcox 32 45 3 9 2 0 0 4 .200 0
Team Totals 156 5207 472 1220 186 18 91 440 .234 49

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player W L ERA G GS SV IP R ER BB K
Bill Butler 0 0 1.54 6 2 0 11.2 3 2 10 6
Vince Colbert 1 7 4.58 22 11 0 74.2 42 38 38 36
Steve Dunning 6 4 3.26 16 16 0 105.0 39 38 43 52
Ed Farmer 2 5 4.40 46 1 7 61.1 32 30 27 33
Steve Hargan 0 3 5.85 12 1 0 20.0 16 13 15 10
Phil Hennigan 5 3 2.67 38 1 6 67.1 20 20 18 44
Tom Hilgendorf 3 1 2.68 19 5 0 47.0 16 14 21 25
Mike Kilkenny 4 1 3.41 22 7 1 58.0 23 22 39 44
Ray Lamb 5 6 3.09 34 9 0 107.2 42 37 29 64
Marcelino López 0 0 5.40 4 2 0 8.1 5 5 10 1
Steve Mingori 0 6 3.95 41 0 10 57.0 28 25 36 47
Lowell Palmer 0 0 4.50 1 0 0 2.0 1 1 2 3
Gaylord Perry 24 16 1.92 41 40 1 342.2 79 73 82 234
Denny Riddleberger 1 3 2.50 38 0 0 54.0 23 15 22 34
Dick Tidrow 14 15 2.77 39 34 0 237.1 83 73 70 123
Milt Wilcox 7 14 3.40 32 27 0 156.0 67 59 72 90
Team Totals 72 84 2.92 156 156 25 1410.0 519 457 534 846

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Portland Beavers Pacific Coast League Ray Hathaway, Clay Bryant
and Dan Carnevale
AA Elmira Pioneers Eastern League Len Johnston
A Reno Silver Sox California League Lou Klimchock
Rookie GCL Indians Gulf Coast League Pinky May

[11]

Notes

  1. ^ Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, p. 6, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-06-169031-0
  2. ^ Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, pp. 6–7
  3. ^ Sam McDowell page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Del Unser page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Adolfo Phillips page at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Rick Manning page at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Dennis Eckersley page at Baseball Reference
  8. ^ Rick Langford page at Baseball Reference
  9. ^ Lowell Palmer page at Baseball-Reference
  10. ^ 1972 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference
  11. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

Categories