1972 San Francisco Giants
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkCandlestick Park
CitySan Francisco, California
OwnersHorace Stoneham
General managersJerry Donovan
ManagersCharlie Fox
TelevisionKTVU
(Lon Simmons, Bill Thompson)
RadioKSFO
(Lon Simmons, Bill Thompson)
← 1971 Seasons 1973 →

The 1972 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 90th year in Major League Baseball, 15th in San Francisco, and 13th at Candlestick Park. The defending division champions, the Giants fell to fifth in the 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, their final year in New York City.

Offseason

Regular season

On May 11, 41-year-old franchise legend Willie Mays was traded to the New York Mets for minor league pitcher Charlie Williams and US$50,000.[4][5][6] 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 record

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


Opening Day lineup

Source:[7]

Notable transactions

Roster

1972 San Francisco Giants
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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 Dave Rader 133 459 119 .259 6 41
1B Willie McCovey 81 263 56 .213 14 35
2B Tito Fuentes 152 572 151 .264 7 53
SS Chris Speier 150 562 151 .269 15 71
3B Al Gallagher 82 233 52 .223 2 18
LF Ken Henderson 130 439 113 .257 18 51
CF Garry Maddox 125 458 122 .266 12 58
RF Bobby Bonds 153 626 162 .259 26 80

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
Dave Kingman 135 472 106 .225 29 83
Ed Goodson 58 150 42 .280 6 30
Jim Howarth 74 119 28 .235 1 7
Fran Healy 45 99 15 .152 1 8
Chris Arnold 51 84 19 .226 1 4
Jim Ray Hart 24 79 24 .304 5 8
Bernie Williams 46 68 13 .191 3 9
Gary Matthews 20 62 18 .290 4 14
Willie Mays 19 49 9 .184 0 3
Gary Thomasson 10 27 9 .333 0 1
Dámaso Blanco 39 20 7 .350 0 2
Russ Gibson 5 12 2 .167 0 3
Jimmy Rosario 7 2 0 .000 0 0

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
Ron Bryant 35 214.0 14 7 2.90 107
Juan Marichal 25 165.0 6 16 3.71 72
Sam McDowell 28 164.1 10 8 4.33 122
Jim Willoughby 11 87.2 6 4 2.36 40

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
Jim Barr 44 179.0 8 10 2.87 86
Steve Stone 27 123.2 6 8 2.98 85
Frank Reberger 20 99.1 3 4 3.99 52
Don Carrithers 25 90.0 4 8 5.80 42
John Cumberland 9 25.0 0 4 8.64 8
Charlie 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
Jerry Johnson 48 8 6 8 4.42 57
Don McMahon 44 3 3 5 3.71 45
Randy Moffitt 40 1 5 4 3.69 37
Elias Sosa 8 0 1 3 2.30 10
John Morris 7 0 0 0 4.26 5

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
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

[11]

References

  1. ^ Sam McDowell at Baseball-Reference
  2. ^ Hal Lanier at Baseball-Reference
  3. ^ Rich Robertson at Baseball-Reference
  4. ^ a b "Mays traded to Mets, Giants get minor, cash". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. May 11, 1972. p. 46.
  5. ^ a b "Willie Mays traded to NY Mets". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. May 11, 1972. p. 46.
  6. ^ "Willie Mays transactions". Retrieved October 22, 2006.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "Scoreboard". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (box score). April 16, 1987. p. 6C.
  8. ^ Willie Mays at Baseball-Reference
  9. ^ Brian Asselstine at Baseball-Reference
  10. ^ "Lenn Sakata Stats".
  11. ^ 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 MLB season by team
San Francisco Giants
Categories