1972_Pittsburgh_Pirates_season

1972 Pittsburgh Pirates
1972 Pittsburgh Pirates
National League East Champions
League	National League
Division	East
Ballpark	Three Rivers Stadium
City	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Record	96–59 (.619)
Divisional place	1st
Owners	John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Bing Crosby, Thomas P. Johnson (minority shareholders)
General managers	Joe L. Brown
Managers	Bill Virdon
Television	KDKA-TV; Bob Prince, Nellie King
Radio	KDKA; Bob Prince, Nellie King

1972 Pittsburgh Pirates season

Major League Baseball team season

The 1972 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 91st season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 86th in the National League. The defending World Series champion Pirates finished first in the National League East with an MLB-best record of 96–59. The team was defeated three games to two by the Cincinnati Reds in the NLCS. Despite losing the series, the Pirates put up a good fight, unlike the last time the two teams met in the playoffs. In Game 5, the Pirates led 3–2 in the ninth inning, and were 3 outs away from pulling off a major upset over the Reds. All looked good until the Pirates collapsed in the 9th inning and allowed 2 runs to score, with the walkoff run coming on a wild pitch.

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Regular season

Game log

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1972 game log: 96–59 (home: 49–29; Away: 47–30)

April: 5–8 (home: 3–6; Away: 2–2)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
1	April 15	@ Mets	0–4	Seaver	Ellis (0–1)	McGraw	15,893	0–1
2	April 16	@ Mets	2–0	Blass (1–0)	Gentry	Hernández (1)	23,241	1–1
3	April 18	Cubs	4–6	Pappas	Moose (0–1)	McGinn	47,489	1–2
4	April 19	Cubs	5–2	Briles (1–0)	Pizarro	—	9,171	2–2
5	April 20	Cubs	7–5	Ellis (1–1)	Jenkins	Giusti (1)	6,529	3–2
6	April 21	@ Phillies	3–2 (10)	Hernández (1–0)	Short	—	13,864	4–2
7	April 23	@ Phillies	4–5 (11)	Brandon	Miller (0–1)	—	43,438	4–3
8	April 25	Reds	5–2 (13)	Miller (1–1)	McGlothlin	—	6,509	5–3
9	April 26	Reds	6–7	Nolan	Blass (1–1)	Borbon	6,380	5–4
10	April 27	Reds	4–5	Carroll	Giusti (0–1)	—	12,504	5–5
11	April 28	Braves	5–13	Jarvis	Moose (0–2)	McQueen	12,804	5–6
12	April 29	Braves	5–9	Kelley	Walker (0–1)	Stone	10,684	5–7
13	April 30	Braves	1–6	Niekro	Johnson (0–1)	—	12,264	5–8

May: 19–7 (home: 12–2; Away: 7–5)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
14	May 1	Astros	8–9	Ray	Giusti (0–2)	—	4,788	5–9
15	May 3	Astros	3–2	Ellis (2–1)	Reuss	Kison (1)	9,522	6–9
16	May 5	@ Reds	4–5 (10)	Carroll	Giusti (0–3)	—	24,722	6–10
17	May 6	@ Reds	8–1	Blass (2–1)	Borbon	—	12,284	7–10
18	May 7	@ Reds	9–6	Briles (2–0)	Billingham	Moose (1)	19,281	8–10
19	May 9	@ Braves	5–2	Ellis (3–1)	Kelley	Kison (2)	7,762	9–10
20	May 10	@ Braves	4–8	Niekro	Johnson (0–2)	—	6,708	9–11
21	May 12	@ Astros	4–2	Blass (3–1)	Dierker	Miller (1)	17,863	10–11
22	May 13	@ Astros	6–1 (12)	Moose (1–2)	Gladding	Miller (2)	23,568	11–11
23	May 14	@ Astros	6–7	Wilson	Briles (2–1)	Ray	14,704	11–12
24	May 15	Cardinals	4–1	Ellis (4–1)	Gibson	—	8,640	12–12
25	May 16	Cardinals	4–3	Walker (1–1)	Wise	Giusti (2)	8,272	13–12
26	May 17	Cardinals	12–0	Blass (4–1)	Cleveland	—	9,188	14–12
27	May 19	Expos	8–0	Moose (2–2)	Stoneman	—	41,765	15–12
28	May 20	Expos	6–0	Ellis (5–1)	Morton	Kison (3)	11,602	16–12
29	May 21	Expos	1–0	Walker (2–1)	McAnally	Hernández (2)	30,418	17–12
30	May 21	Expos	5–3	Giusti (1–3)	Gilbert	—	30,418	18–12
31	May 23	@ Cardinals	6–2	Blass (5–1)	Cleveland	Hernández (3)	11,795	19–12
32	May 24	@ Cardinals	9–4 (14)	Miller (2–1)	Higgins	—	10,794	20–12
33	May 25	@ Cardinals	2–4	Gibson	Ellis (5–2)	—	9,293	20–13
34	May 26	Phillies	6–4	Briles (3–1)	Carlton	—	25,164	21–13
35	May 27	Phillies	1–2 (12)	Brandon	Giusti (1–4)	Short	19,398	21–14
36	May 28	Phillies	6–5	Hernández (2–0)	Hoerner	—	15,236	22–14
37	May 29	Phillies	7–3	Hernández (3–0)	Fryman	—	36,464	23–14
38	May 29	Phillies	4–2	Moose (3–2)	Reynolds	Giusti (3)	36,464	24–14
39	May 31	@ Expos	2–3	McAnally	Briles (3–2)	—	10,565	24–15

June: 16–10 (home: 5–6; Away: 11–4)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
40	June 2	@ Giants	4–7	Marichal	Johnson (0–3)	—	6,669	24–16
41	June 3	@ Giants	4–3	Blass (6–1)	McDowell	Giusti (4)	11,216	25–16
42	June 4	@ Giants	4–3	Miller (3–1)	Johnson	Giusti (5)		26–16
43	June 4	@ Giants	9–1	Kison (1–0)	Williams	—	19,929	27–16
44	June 7	@ Padres	12–5	Johnson (1–3)	Norman	—		28–16
45	June 7	@ Padres	1–0 (18)	Miller (4–1)	Corkins	Johnson (1)	7,371	29–16
46	June 8	@ Padres	11–2	Moose (4–2)	Arlin	—	2,949	30–16
47	June 9	@ Dodgers	5–1	Blass (7–1)	Sutton	—	35,078	31–16
48	June 10	@ Dodgers	1–2	Osteen	Walker (2–2)	Brewer	38,937	31–17
49	June 11	@ Dodgers	7–5	Kison (2–0)	Mikkelsen	Giusti (6)	40,846	32–17
50	June 14	Giants	1–3	McDowell	Ellis (5–3)	—	14,552	32–18
51	June 15	Giants	4–1	Briles (4–2)	Stone	Giusti (7)		33–18
52	June 15	Giants	9–7	Moose (5–2)	Bryant	Hernández (4)	21,126	34–18
53	June 16	Padres	2–1	Blass (8–1)	Norman	—	17,020	35–18
54	June 17	Padres	0–4	Kirby	Walker (2–3)	—	20,718	35–19
55	June 18	Padres	0–1	Arlin	Kison (2–1)	—	27,143	35–20
56	June 19	Dodgers	13–3	Ellis (6–3)	Sutton	Miller (3)	15,430	36–20
57	June 21	Dodgers	3–5 (10)	Brewer	Moose (5–3)	—	15,209	36–21
58	June 23	@ Cubs	4–2	Blass (9–1)	Jenkins	Giusti (8)	28,177	37–21
59	June 24	@ Cubs	3–1	Briles (5–2)	Hands	Giusti (9)	27,543	38–21
60	June 25	@ Cubs	9–2	Ellis (7–3)	Hooton	Giusti (10)	35,099	39–21
61	June 26	@ Mets	2–4	Koosman	Moose (5–4)	McGraw	48,820	39–22
62	June 27	@ Mets	4–7	Frisella	Walker (2–4)	—	38,152	39–23
63	June 28	Expos	1–3	Stoneman	Blass (9–2)	—	13,470	39–24
64	June 29	Expos	9–0	Briles (6–2)	McAnally	—	18,364	40–24
65	June 30	Cubs	3–4	Reuschel	Ellis (7–4)	Aker	22,745	40–25

July: 20–10 (home: 12–4; Away: 8–6)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
66	July 1	Cubs	4–3	Giusti (2–4)	Jenkins	—	16,102	41–25
67	July 2	Cubs	7–4	Kison (3–1)	Hands	Hernández (5)	25,229	42–25
68	July 3	Cubs	3–2	Giusti (3–4)	Hooton	—	26,933	43–25
69	July 4	@ Astros	0–6	Dierker	Briles (6–3)	—	31,164	43–26
70	July 5	@ Astros	6–4	Johnson (2–3)	Forsch	—	23,646	44–26
71	July 6	@ Astros	7–3 (17)	Hernández (4–0)	Ray	—	23,540	45–26
72	July 7	@ Braves	10–2	Walker (3–4)	Kelley	—		46–26
73	July 7	@ Braves	2–3	Hardin	Kison (3–2)	—	25,253	46–27
74	July 8	@ Braves	5–3	Blass (10–2)	Reed	Giusti (11)	20,256	47–27
75	July 9	@ Braves	7–4	Briles (7–3)	McLain	—	20,130	48–27
76	July 11	@ Reds	0–5	Billingham	Moose (5–5)	—	24,047	48–28
77	July 12	@ Reds	3–6	Simpson	Walker (3–5)	Carroll	28,058	48–29
78	July 13	@ Reds	0–2	Nolan	Blass (10–3)	Carroll	32,060	48–30
79	July 14	Astros	5–2	Briles (8–3)	Dierker	—	24,487	49–30
80	July 15	Astros	5–1	Ellis (8–4)	Forsch	Giusti (12)	16,202	50–30
81	July 16	Astros	3–2 (10)	Giusti (4–4)	Gladding	—		51–30
82	July 16	Astros	3–2	Kison (4–2)	Wilson	Giusti (13)	49,341	52–30
83	July 17	Braves	6–5	Hernández (5–0)	Hoerner	Giusti (14)	14,866	53–30
84	July 18	Braves	2–4	Reed	Blass (10–4)	—	20,162	53–31
85	July 19	Braves	8–3	Briles (9–3)	Niekro	Walker (1)	24,847	54–31
86	July 21	Reds	5–11	Borbon	Kison (4–3)	Gullett	32,255	54–32
87	July 22	Reds	3–6	Sprague	Moose (5–6)	Carroll	40,837	54–33
88	July 23	Reds	3–2	Blass (11–4)	Grimsley	Hernández (6)	29,487	55–33
89	July 27	Mets	0–1 (10)	Matlack	Briles (9–4)	—		55–34
90	July 27	Mets	7–5	Moose (6–6)	Koosman	Giusti (15)	49,886	56–34
91	July 28	Mets	3–1	Ellis (9–4)	Seaver	—	39,035	57–34
92	July 29	@ Phillies	2–5	Fryman	Blass (11–5)	Selma	37,544	57–35
93	July 29	@ Phillies	3–2	Walker (4–5)	Brandon	Giusti (16)	37,544	58–35
94	July 30	@ Phillies	7–1	Kison (5–3)	Lersch	—	28,451	59–35
95	July 31	@ Phillies	2–0	Moose (7–6)	Reynolds	—	17,455	60–35

August: 17–11 (home: 8–5; Away: 9–6)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
96	August 1	@ Cardinals	4–7	Santorini	Briles (9–5)	Segui	23,712	60–36
97	August 2	@ Cardinals	5–10 (7)	Gibson	Ellis (9–5)	—	24,961	60–37
98	August 3	@ Cardinals	2–1 (10)	Blass (12–5)	Wise	Hernández (7)	14,836	61–37
99	August 4	@ Expos	1–2	Moore	Kison (5–4)	—	18,436	61–38
100	August 5	@ Expos	7–4	Briles (10–5)	Stoneman	Giusti (17)	20,905	62–38
101	August 6	@ Expos	8–0	Moose (8–6)	Torrez	—		63–38
102	August 6	@ Expos	7–2	Johnson (3–3)	Renko	Hernández (8)	28,330	64–38
103	August 8	Phillies	4–2	Ellis (10–5)	Champion	—	18,228	65–38
104	August 9	Phillies	0–2	Carlton	Blass (12–6)	—	19,832	65–39
105	August 11	Cardinals	10–5	Briles (11–5)	Cleveland	Hernández (9)	34,248	66–39
106	August 12	Cardinals	6–5	Moose (9–6)	Gibson	Giusti (18)	23,474	67–39
107	August 13	Cardinals	0–2	Wise	Ellis (10–6)	—		67–40
108	August 13	Cardinals	7–5	Blass (13–6)	Santorini	Giusti (19)	47,300	68–40
109	August 15	@ Dodgers	6–8	Richert	Johnson (3–4)	Brewer	27,484	68–41
110	August 16	@ Dodgers	3–2	Miller (5–1)	Sutton	—	28,318	69–41
111	August 17	@ Dodgers	2–4	Downing	Moose (9–7)	Richert	29,777	69–42
112	August 18	@ Padres	4–2	Blass (14–6)	Greif	—	30,610	70–42
113	August 20	@ Padres	9–3	Ellis (11–6)	Corkins	Johnson (2)		71–42
114	August 20	@ Padres	5–2	Kison (6–4)	Norman	—	9,759	72–42
115	August 22	@ Giants	1–0	Briles (12–5)	Marichal	—	9,389	73–42
116	August 23	@ Giants	0–8	Barr	Moose (9–8)	—	8,330	73–43
117	August 25	Dodgers	3–2 (12)	Giusti (5–4)	Richert	—		74–43
118	August 25	Dodgers	3–4	Osteen	Kison (6–5)	—	39,574	74–44
119	August 26	Dodgers	3–7	Sutton	Ellis (11–7)	—	20,174	74–45
120	August 27	Dodgers	4–7	Mikkelsen	Briles (12–6)	Brewer	25,672	74–46
121	August 28	Padres	5–3	Moose (10–8)	Caldwell	Hernández (10)	13,438	75–46
122	August 29	Padres	5–3	Blass (15–6)	Corkins	Giusti (20)	12,329	76–46
123	August 30	Padres	11–0	Kison (7–5)	Arlin	—	19,009	77–46

September: 18–11 (home: 8–4; Away: 10–7)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
124	September 1	Giants	10–6	Ellis (12–7)	Bryant	Giusti (21)	20,678	78–46
125	September 2	Giants	6–3	Briles (13–6)	McDowell	—	14,194	79–46
126	September 3	Giants	2–1 (10)	Giusti (6–4)	Johnson	—	16,760	80–46
127	September 4	Phillies	10–0	Blass (16–6)	Twitchell	—	26,627	81–46
128	September 4	Phillies	5–1	Kison (8–5)	Nash	—	26,627	82–46
129	September 6	Cubs	4–0	Ellis (13–7)	McGinn	—	12,470	83–46
130	September 7	Cubs	2–4	Hooton	Briles (13–7)	—	12,306	83–47
131	September 8	@ Expos	7–1	Johnson (4–4)	Morton	—		84–47
132	September 8	@ Expos	4–2 (12)	Giusti (7–4)	Marshall	Hernández (11)	12,118	85–47
133	September 9	@ Expos	8–3	Blass (17–6)	Stoneman	—	17,092	86–47
134	September 10	@ Expos	2–8	Torrez	Kison (8–6)	—	20,253	86–48
135	September 12	@ Cubs	7–0	Ellis (14–7)	Hooton	Giusti (22)	4,153	87–48
136	September 13	@ Cubs	6–4	Briles (14–7)	Jenkins	Hernández (12)	4,418	88–48
137	September 14	@ Cubs	5–2	Moose (11–8)	Reuschel	Hernández (13)	4,603	89–48
138	September 15	@ Cardinals	4–10	Wise	Kison (8–7)	—	10,853	89–49
139	September 16	@ Cardinals	0–4	Santorini	Blass (17–7)	—	11,850	89–50
140	September 17	@ Cardinals	4–5	Cleveland	Miller (5–2)	Segui	11,802	89–51
141	September 18	@ Mets	0–1	Matlack	Briles (14–8)	—	15,622	89–52
142	September 19	@ Mets	5–1	Moose (12–8)	Koosman	—	15,537	90–52
143	September 20	@ Mets	1–4	Seaver	Walker (4–6)	—	15,147	90–53
144	September 21	@ Mets	6–2	Blass (18–7)	Gentry	—	10,991	91–53
145	September 22	Expos	4–3 (12)	McKee (1–0)	Marshall	—	15,365	92–53
146	September 23	Expos	0–3	McAnally	Briles (14–9)	—	8,580	92–54
147	September 24	Expos	1–2	Morton	Moose (12–9)	—	9,116	92–55
148	September 26	@ Phillies	5–1	Blass (19–7)	Champion	—	8,472	93–55
149	September 27	@ Phillies	3–1	Kison (9–7)	Reynolds	Walker (2)	5,335	94–55
150	September 28	@ Phillies	1–2	Carlton	Moose (12–10)	—	12,216	94–56
151	September 29	Mets	0–1	Seaver	Briles (14–10)	—	24,193	94–57
152	September 30	Mets	5–0	Ellis (15–7)	Matlack	Johnson (3)	13,117	95–57

October: 1–2 (home: 1–2; Away: 0–0)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
153	October 1	Mets	3–7	Koosman	Blass (19–8)	—	30,031	95–58
154	October 3	Cardinals	6–2	Moose (13–10)	Santorini	Hernández (14)	5,905	96–58
155	October 4	Cardinals	3–4	Gibson	Briles (14–11)	—	4,603	96–59

Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Pirates team member

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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 1972_Pittsburgh_Pirates_season, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] [1]
From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Side in 1907.

[2] [2]
Bill Virdon

[3] [3]
Larry Demery at Baseball Reference

[4] [4]
José Martínez at Baseball Reference

[5] [5]
1972 Opening Day lineup at "Baseball-Almanac"

[6] [6]
John Candelaria at Baseball Reference

[7] [7]
Ken Macha at Baseball Reference

[8] [8]
Willie Randolph at Baseball Reference

[9] [9]
Bob Veale at Baseball Almanac

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

v t e NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Pittsburgh Pirates	96	59	0.619	—	49–29	47–30
Chicago Cubs	85	70	0.548	11	46–31	39–39
New York Mets	83	73	0.532	13½	41–37	42–36
St. Louis Cardinals	75	81	0.481	21½	40–37	35–44
Montreal Expos	70	86	0.449	26½	35–43	35–43
Philadelphia Phillies	59	97	0.378	37½	28–51	31–46

Opening Day Starters
#	Name	Position
6	Rennie Stennett	2B
16	Al Oliver	CF
21	Roberto Clemente	RF
8	Willie Stargell	LF
3	Richie Hebner	3B
35	Manny Sanguillén	C
7	Bob Robertson	1B
2	Jackie Hernández	SS
17	Dock Ellis	SP

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Manny Sanguillén	136	520	155	.298	7	71
1B	Willie Stargell	138	495	145	.293	33	112
2B	Dave Cash	99	425	120	.282	3	30
SS	Gene Alley	119	347	86	.248	3	36
3B	Richie Hebner	124	427	128	.300	19	72
LF	Vic Davalillo	117	368	117	.318	4	28
CF	Al Oliver	140	565	176	.312	12	89
RF	Roberto Clemente	102	378	118	.312	10	60

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Rennie Stennett	109	370	106	.286	3	30
Gene Clines	107	311	104	.334	0	17
Bob Robertson	115	306	59	.193	12	41
Jackie Hernández	72	176	33	.188	1	14
Milt May	57	139	39	.281	0	14
José Pagán	53	127	32	.252	3	8
Bill Mazeroski	34	64	12	.188	0	3
Richie Zisk	17	37	7	.189	0	4
Chuck Goggin	5	7	2	.286	0	0
Frank Taveras	4	3	0	.000	0	0
Fernando González	3	2	0	.000	0	0
Charlie Sands	1	1	0	.000	0	0

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Steve Blass	33	249.2	19	8	2.49	117
Bob Moose	31	226.0	13	10	2.91	144
Nelson Briles	28	195.2	14	11	3.08	120
Dock Ellis	25	163.1	15	7	2.70	96
Bruce Kison	32	152.0	9	7	3.26	102

1972_Pittsburgh_Pirates_season

1972 Pittsburgh Pirates season

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Detailed records

Game log

Opening Day lineup

Notable transactions

Roster

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Other batters

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Other pitchers

Relief pitchers

National League Championship Series

Awards and honors

Farm system

Notes

References

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1972 National League record v t e 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	—

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Bob Johnson	31	115.2	4	4	2.96	79
Luke Walker	26	92.2	4	6	3.40	48
Bob Veale	5	9.0	0	0	6.00	6
Gene Garber	4	6.1	0	0	7.11	3
Jim McKee	2	5.0	1	0	0.00	4

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Dave Giusti	54	7	4	22	1.93	54
Ramón Hernández	53	5	0	14	1.67	47
Bob Miller	36	5	2	3	2.65	18

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Charleston Charlies	International League	Red Davis
AA	Sherbrooke Pirates	Eastern League	Steve Demeter
A	Salem Pirates	Carolina League	Tim Murtaugh
A	Gastonia Pirates	Western Carolinas League	Tom Saffell
A-Short Season	Niagara Falls Pirates	New York–Penn League	Chuck Cottier
Rookie	GCL Pirates	Gulf Coast League	Ed Napoleon