1972 Los Angeles Dodgers season

1972 Los Angeles Dodgers
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Dodger Stadium
City	Los Angeles
Owners	Walter O'Malley, James Mulvey
President	Peter O'Malley
General managers	Al Campanis
Managers	Walter Alston
Television	KTTV (11)
Radio	KFI Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett KWKW Jose Garcia, Jaime Jarrín
← 1971 Seasons 1973 →

The 1972 Los Angeles Dodgers finished the season 85–70, good for a tie for second place with the Astros in the National League West. This was the first season where the players' last names appeared on the back of the uniforms.

Offseason

• October 21: Tommy Hutton was traded by the Dodgers to the Philadelphia Phillies for Larry Hisle.^[1]
• October 22, 1971: Bobby Darwin was traded by the Dodgers to the Minnesota Twins for Paul Powell.^[2]
• October 24, 1971: Maury Wills was released by the Dodgers.^[3]
• December 2, 1971: Doyle Alexander, Bob O'Brien, Sergio Robles and Royle Stillman were traded by the Dodgers to the Baltimore Orioles for Frank Robinson and Pete Richert.^[4]
• December 2, 1971: Dick Allen was traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago White Sox for Tommy John and Steve Huntz.^[5]
• December 2, 1971: Tom Haller was traded by the Dodgers to the Detroit Tigers for a player to be named later and cash. The Tigers completed the deal by sending Bernie Beckman (minors) to the Dodgers on March 31, 1972.^[6]
• December 17, 1971: Chris Cannizzaro was claimed off waivers by the Dodgers from the Chicago Cubs.^[7]
• March 27, 1972: Bill Sudakis was claimed off waivers from the Dodgers by the New York Mets.^[8]

Regular season

Season standings

v t e 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 v t e 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

Opening Day starters
Name	Position
Maury Wills	Shortstop
Bill Buckner	First baseman
Willie Davis	Center fielder
Frank Robinson	Right fielder
Jim Lefebvre	Second baseman
Willie Crawford	Left fielder
Duke Sims	Catcher
Billy Grabarkewitz	Third baseman
Don Sutton	Starting pitcher

Notable transactions

• April 14, 1972: Dick Dietz was claimed off waivers by the Dodgers from the San Francisco Giants.^[9]

Roster

1972 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers 21 Jim Brewer 44 Al Downing 49 Charlie Hough 25 Tommy John 46 Pete Mikkelsen 23 Claude Osteen 29 José Peña 16 Ron Perranoski 31 Doug Rau 45 Pete Richert 40 Bill Singer 37 Mike Strahler 20 Don Sutton 31 Hoyt Wilhelm		Catchers 14 Chris Cannizzaro 16,8 Dick Dietz 13 Joe Ferguson  8 Duke Sims 41 Steve Yeager Infielders 10 Ron Cey  6 Steve Garvey  1 Billy Grabarkewitz 34 Lee Lacy  5 Jim Lefebvre 15 Davey Lopes  9 Terry McDermott 17 Tom Paciorek 28 Wes Parker 18 Bill Russell  2 Bobby Valentine 30 Maury Wills		Outfielders 22 Bill Buckner 27 Willie Crawford  3 Willie Davis 11 Manny Mota 36 Frank Robinson		Manager 24 Walter Alston Coaches 26 Red Adams 52 Carroll Beringer 19 Jim Gilliam  7 Roy Hartsfield 33 Danny Ozark 51 Dixie Walker

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	Chris Cannizzaro	73	200	48	.240	2	18
1B	Wes Parker	130	427	119	.279	4	59
2B	Lee Lacy	60	243	63	.259	0	12
SS	Bill Russell	129	434	118	.272	4	34
3B	Steve Garvey	96	294	79	.269	9	30
LF	Manny Mota	118	371	120	.323	5	48
CF	Willie Davis	149	615	178	.289	19	79
RF	Frank Robinson	103	342	86	.251	19	59

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
Bobby Valentine	119	391	107	.274	3	32
Bill Buckner	105	383	122	.319	5	37
Willie Crawford	96	243	61	.251	8	27
Jim Lefebvre	70	169	34	.201	5	24
Duke Sims	51	151	29	.192	2	11
Billy Grabarkewitz	53	144	24	.167	4	16
Maury Wills	71	132	17	.129	0	4
Steve Yeager	35	106	29	.274	4	15
Dick Dietz	27	56	9	.161	1	6
Tom Paciorek	11	47	12	.255	1	6
Davey Lopes	11	42	9	.214	0	1
Ron Cey	11	37	10	.270	1	3
Joe Ferguson	8	24	7	.292	1	5
Terry McDermott	9	23	3	.130	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
Don Sutton	33	272.2	19	9	2.08	207
Claude Osteen	33	252.0	20	11	2.64	100
Al Downing	31	202.2	9	9	2.98	117
Tommy John	29	186.2	11	5	2.89	117
Bill Singer	26	169.1	6	16	3.67	101

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
Doug Rau	7	32.2	2	2	2.20	19

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
Jim Brewer	51	8	7	17	1.26	69
Pete Richert	37	2	3	6	2.25	38
Pete Mikkelsen	33	5	5	5	4.06	41
Mike Strahler	19	1	2	0	3.26	25
Hoyt Wilhelm	16	0	1	1	4.62	9
Ron Perranoski	9	2	0	0	2.70	5
José Peña	5	0	0	0	8.59	4
Charlie Hough	2	0	0	0	3.38	4

Awards and honors

• NL Player of the Month
  • Don Sutton (April 1972)

All-Stars

• 1972 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • Don Sutton reserve
• Gold Glove Awards
  • Wes Parker
  • Willie Davis

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Albuquerque Dukes	Pacific Coast League	Tommy Lasorda
AA	El Paso Dodgers	Texas League	Monty Basgall Stan Wasiak
A	Bakersfield Dodgers	California League	Don LeJohn
A	Daytona Beach Dodgers	Florida State League	Stan Wasiak Bob Shaw
A-Short Season	Spokane Indians	Northwest League	Bill Berrier
Rookie	Ogden Dodgers	Pioneer League	Gail Henley

Teams in BOLD won League Championships

1972 Major League Baseball draft

This was the eighth year of a Major League Baseball Draft. The Dodgers drafted 42 players in the June draft and eight in the January draft.

This was a weak draft class whose most notable player was Dennis Lewallyn, a pitcher who played for the Dodgers and two other teams from 1975 to 1981 with a 4–4 record and 4.48 ERA. The top draft pick was shortstop John Harbin from Newberry College who played in only 83 games in the Dodgers farm system in 1972 and was quickly out of baseball.

1972 Draft Picks

January draft [10] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 John Adams RHP Yes 1972–1974 A 2 Tim Hosler OF South Georgia College No 3 Allen Polofsky LHP Miami Dade College No January Secondary phase [11] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Dennis Lewallyn RHP Chipola College Yes 1972–1987 MLB 2 James Van Der Beek RHP Lafayette College Yes 1972–1976 AAA 3 Francis Sansosti RHP Community College of Baltimore County No Cardinals-1975 1975 A 4 Mike Siani SS Villanova University No 5 Robert Sans 1B Texas A&M University Yes 1972 A June draft [12] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 John Harbin SS Newberry College Yes 1972 A- 2 Cleo Smith 1B Ells High School Yes 1972–1979 AAA 3 Bob Detherage RHP Hillcrest High School Yes 1973–1981 MLB 4 Larry Corrigan C Iowa State University Yes 1973–1978 AAA 5 Mitchell Bobinger LHP Chico High School Yes 1972–1978 AAA 6 Alton Torregano C University of Louisiana at Lafayette Yes 1972–1973 A 7 James Fleming SS St. Peter's High School Yes 1973–1976 AA 8 Stephen Plut OF St. Francis High School No Angels – 1975 1975–1978 AA 9 Robert Stewart RHP Magnolia High School Yes 1972–1977 AA 10 William Kooyman 3B Saint Mary's College of California Yes 1972–1974 A 11 Terry Zorger 3B Huntington University Yes 1972–1973 A- 12 Jere Nolan OF University of California, Berkeley Yes 1972–1974 AA 13 Hank Boguszewski RHP Glen Cove High School No 14 Michael Rushde OF Fontana High School Yes 1972–1977 AA 15 Jason Thompson LHP Apple Valley High School Yes 1975–1986 MLB 16 Douglas Schaefer RHP Lindbergh High School No Giants-1975 1975–1981 AAA 17 Glenn Burke OF Merritt College Yes 1972–1980 MLB 18 Richard Magner C Rollins College Yes 1972–1977 AAA 19 Leonard Wouters RHP Hampton Bays High School Yes 1972–1976 A 20 John Littlefield RHP Azusa High School No Cardinals-1976 1976–1982 AAA 21 John Freedman 3B Claremont High School No 1974 A- 22 Richard Jacobs LHP University of Oklahoma No 23 Dale Forchetti SS Neshaminy High School No 24 Don Redoglia SS Pasadena City College No Cardinals-1975 1975 A 25 Kenneth Smith OF Jefferson High School No 26 Buff White LHP Folsom High School No 27 David Rothermel 3B Hillcrest High School No 28 Steven O'Brien RHP Maryvale High School Yes 1972–1977 AAA 29 Samuel Roberts 1B Tennessee High School No 30 Brian Felda OF University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh Yes 1972–1975 A 31 Michael Parnow 2B College of Marin Yes 1972–1973 A- 32 James Fiack C University of California, Davis Yes 1972–1973 A 33 Charles Walker OF Atlanta Baptist College Yes 1972 A- 34 Jeff Chandler LHP Davis High School No Reds-1973 1973–1978 AA 35 Craig Minetto LHP Amos Alonzo Stagg High School No Expos-1974 1974–1984 MLB 36 David Baker C Pacific High School No Phillies-1975 1975–1976 AA 37 Tom Haley C Binger High School No 38 Bob Shirley LHP Putnam City High School No Padres-1976 1976–1988 MLB 39 Timothy Lewis LHP Germantown Academy No Yankees-1976 1976–1981 AAA June secondary phase [13] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Robert Lesslie RHP Kansas State University Yes 1972–1977 AAA 2 Walter Rzepiennik RHP Community College of Baltimore Yes 1972–1974 A 3 Robin Ogle 1B Miami-Dade College No Padres-1975 1975 A-

Notes

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

• 1972 Los Angeles Dodgers uniform
• Los Angeles Dodgers official web site