1972 Oakland Athletics season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 Oakland Athletics 1972 World Series championAmerican League championAmerican League West Division champion American League West Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Oakland, California 93–62 (60%) Charles O. Finley Dick Williams KBHK-TV KEEN(Monte Moore, Jim Woods) The 1972 Oakland Athletics season was the 72nd season for the Oakland Athletics franchise on Major League Baseball (MLB), all as member of the American League, and their 5th season in City of Oakland. The Athletics won the American League West Division with a record of 93 wins and 62 losses. In the playoffs, they defeated the Detroit Tigers in a five-game ALCS, followed by a seven-game World Series, in which they defeated the Cincinnati Reds for their sixth overall World Championship and first since 1930, when the club was in Philadelphia. Offseason November 29, 1971: Rick Monday was traded by the Athletics to the Chicago Cubs for Ken Holtzman.Rick Monday Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mondari01.shtml 2025-03-21 Baseball-Reference.com en November 29, 1971: 1971 rule 5 draft Brant Alyea was drafted by the Athletics from the Minnesota Twins.Brant Alyea page at Baseball Reference Steve Hovley was drafted from the Athletics by the Kansas City Royals.Steve Hovley page at Baseball Reference January 12, 1972: 1972 Major League Baseball draft (January Draft) notable picks:1972 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB January Amateur Draft Round 9: Rich Dauer (did not sign) Round 10: Bob Lacey March 4, 1972: Jim Panther and Don Stanhouse were traded by the Athletics to the Texas Rangers for Denny McLain.Denny McLain page at Baseball Reference Regular season In 1972, the A's began wearing solid green or solid gold jerseys, with contrasting white pants, at a time when most other teams wore all-white uniforms at home and all-grey ones on the road. Similar to more colorful amateur softball uniforms, they were considered a radical departure for their time. Furthermore, in conjunction with a Moustache Day promotion, Finley offered $300 to any player who grew a moustache by Father's Day, at a time when every other team traditionally forbade facial hair. When Father's Day arrived on Sunday, June 18, every player on the 25-man roster collected a bonus.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8eUzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qTIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=7520%2C6126070 Lodi News-Sentinel California UPI Oakland A's shut out Cleveland Indians 9-0 June 19, 1972 11https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5Y0hAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DpoFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1772%2C6690026 Reading Eagle Pennsylvania Associated Press Bock Hal Blue given bat support in first win June 19, 1972 22 Changing the nickname The nickname "A's" has long been used interchangeably with "Athletics", dating to the team's early days when headline writers wanted a way to shorten the name. Starting in 1972, the team nickname was officially "Oakland A's." The Commissioner's Trophy, given out annually to the winner of baseball's World Series, still listed the team's name as the "Oakland Athletics" on the gold-plated pennant representing the Oakland franchise. According to Bill Libby's Book, Charlie O and the Angry A's, owner Charlie O. Finley banned the word "Athletics" from the club's name because he felt that name was too closely associated with former Philadelphia Athletics owner Connie Mack, and he wanted the name "Oakland A's" to become just as closely associated with himself. The name also vaguely suggested the name of the old minor league Oakland Oaks, which were alternatively called the "Acorns". Season standings Oakland Athletics Record vs. opponents OAK Opening Day Lineup +Opening Day Starters # Name Position19 Bert Campaneris SS26 Joe Rudi LF9 Reggie Jackson RF6 Sal Bando 3B5 Mike Epstein 1B15 Bobby Brooks CF 10 Dave Duncan C22 Dick Green 2B30 Ken Holtzman P 1972 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference Notable transactions April 15, 1972: Tim Cullen was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Tim Cullen page at Baseball Reference May 15, 1972: Dwain Anderson was traded by the Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals for Don Shaw.Don Shaw page at Baseball Reference May 17, 1972: Curt Blefary, Mike Kilkenny, and a player to be named later were traded by the Athletics to the San Diego Padres for Ollie Brown. The Athletics completed the trade by sending Greg Schubert (minors) to the Padres on September 11.Curt Blefary page at Baseball Reference May 18, 1972: Brant Alyea was traded by the Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals for Marty Martínez. June 6, 1972: 1972 Major League Baseball draft (June Draft) notable picks:1972 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft Round 1: Chet Lemon Round 9: Dennis Littlejohn (did not sign)Dennis Littlejohn page at Baseball Reference Round 12: Chris BattonChris Batton page at Baseball Reference Round 15: Bob Pate (did not play) June 7, 1972: Diego Seguí was sent by the Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals as part of a conditional deal.Diego Segui page at Baseball Reference June 29, 1972: Denny McLain was traded by the Athletics to the Atlanta Braves for Orlando Cepeda. July 20, 1972: Marty Martínez, Vic Harris and a player to be named later were traded by the Athletics to the Texas Rangers for Don Mincher and Ted Kubiak. The Athletics completed the deal by sending Steve Lawson to the Rangers on July 26.Vic Harris page at Baseball Reference July 23, 1972: Brant Alyea was returned to the Athletics by the St. Louis Cardinals. August 30, 1972: Joe Lindsey (minors) and a player to be named later were traded by the Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals for Dal Maxvill. The Athletics completed the trade by sending Gene Dusen (minors) to the Cardinals on October 27.Dal Maxvill page at Baseball Reference Roster 1972 Oakland Athletics Roster Pitchers 35 Vida Blue 34 Rollie Fingers 33 Dave Hamilton 30 Ken Holtzman 22 Joe Horlen 27 Catfish Hunter 33 Mike Kilkenny 32 Darold Knowles 36 Bob Locker 17 Denny McLain 13 Blue Moon Odom 33 Jim Roland 24 Diego Seguí 14 Don Shaw 17 Gary Waslewski Catchers 10 Dave Duncan 12 Larry Haney 38 Gene Tenace Infielders 11 Dwain Anderson  6 Sal Bando  3 Curt Blefary  8 Larry Brown 19 Bert Campaneris  4 Ron Clark 16 Tim Cullen  5 Mike Epstein  1 Dick Green 20 Mike Hegan 11 Ted Kubiak 12 Gonzalo Márquez 11 Marty Martínez 21 Dal Maxvill 18 Bill McNulty  4 Don Mincher Outfielders 14 Matty Alou  7 Brant Alyea 15 Bobby Brooks 15 Ollie Brown  3 Adrian Garrett 25 George Hendrick  9 Reggie Jackson 24 Allan Lewis  2 Ángel Mangual 26 Joe Rudi 24 Bill Voss Other batters 12 Orlando Cepeda  7 Art Shamsky Manager 23 Dick Williams Coaches 41 Jerry Adair 44 Vern Hoscheit 43 Irv Noren 40 Bill Posedel Player stats = Indicates team leader Batting = Indicates league leader 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 Duncan Dave Duncan (baseball) 121 403 88 .218 19 59 1B Mike Epstein 138 455 123 .270 26 70 2B Tim Cullen 72 142 37 .261 0 15 3B Sal Bando 152 535 126 .236 15 77 SS Bert Campaneris 149 625 150 .240 8 32 LF Joe Rudi 147 593 181 .305 19 75 CF Reggie Jackson 135 499 132 .265 25 75 RF Ángel Mangual 91 272 67 .246 5 32 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 Gene Tenace 82 227 51 .225 5 32 Larry Brown Larry Brown (infielder) 47 142 26 .183 0 4 Matty Alou 32 121 34 .281 1 16 George Hendrick 58 121 22 .182 4 15 Bill Voss 40 97 22 .227 1 5 Ted Kubiak 51 94 17 .181 0 8 Mike Hegan 98 79 26 .329 1 5 Don Mincher 47 54 8 .148 0 5 Ollie Brown Ollie Brown (baseball) 20 54 13 .241 1 4 Dick Green 26 42 12 .286 0 3 Marty Martínez 22 40 5 .125 0 1 Bobby Brooks Bobby Brooks (baseball) 15 39 7 .179 0 5 Dal Maxvill 27 36 9 .250 0 1 Brant Alyea 20 31 6 .194 1 2 Gonzalo Márquez 23 21 8 .381 0 4 Ron Clark Ron Clark (baseball) 14 15 4 .267 0 1 Curt Blefary 8 11 5 .455 0 1 Adrian Garrett 14 11 0 .000 0 0 Allan Lewis Allan Lewis (baseball) 24 10 2 .200 0 2 Bill McNulty 4 10 1 .100 0 0 Art Shamsky 8 7 0 .000 0 0 Dwain Anderson 3 7 0 .000 0 0 Larry Haney 5 4 0 .000 0 0 Orlando Cepeda 3 3 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 Catfish Hunter 38 295.1 21 7 2.04 191 Ken Holtzman 39 265.1 19 11 2.51 134 Blue Moon Odom 31 194.1 15 6 2.50 86 Vida Blue 25 151.0 6 10 2.80 111 Denny McLain 5 22.1 1 2 6.04 8 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 Dave Hamilton Dave Hamilton (baseball) 25 101.1 6 6 2.93 55 Joe Horlen 32 84.0 3 4 3.00 58 Diego Seguí 7 22.2 0 1 3.57 11 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 Rollie Fingers 65 11 9 21 2.51 113 Bob Locker 56 6 1 10 2.65 47 Darold Knowles 54 5 1 11 1.37 36 Gary Waslewski 8 0 3 0 2.04 8 Don Shaw Don Shaw (baseball) 3 0 1 0 16.88 4 Jim Roland 2 0 0 0 3.86 0 Mike Kilkenny 1 0 0 0 0.00 0 Postseason ALCS 1972 American League Championship Series Game 1 October 7, 1972, at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Team1234567891011RHEDetroit01000000001262Oakland001000000023101W: Rollie Fingers (1–0)   L: Mickey Lolich (0–1)   HR: DET – Norm Cash (1), Al Kaline (1) Game 2 October 8, 1972, at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Team123456789RHEDetroit000000000031Oakland10004000X580W: Blue Moon Odom (1–0)   L: Woodie Fryman (0–1)   HR: None Game 3 October 10, 1972, at Tiger Stadium Team123456789RHEOakland000000000070Detroit00020001X381W: Joe Coleman (1–0)   L: Ken Holtzman (0–1)   HR: DET – Bill Freehan (1) Game 4 October 11, 1972, at Tiger Stadium Team12345678910RHEOakland0000001002392Detroit00100000034101W: John Hiller (1–0)   L: Bob Locker (0–1)  HR: OAK – Mike Epstein (1) DET – Dick McAuliffe (1) Game 5 October 12, 1972, at Tiger Stadium Team123456789RHEOakland010100000240Detroit100000000152W: Blue Moon Odom (2–0)   L: Woodie Fryman (0–2)   S: Vida Blue (1)HR: None World Series 1972 World Series In 1972, the A's won their first league pennant since 1931 and faced the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. The A's seven-game victory over the heavily favored Reds gave the team its first World Series championship since 1930. Of the four wins against the Reds, three of them occurred in Cincinnati, and all four Series victories were by a single run. Gene Tenace hit four home runs and drove in nine runs to power the A's offense, and was named the series Most Valuable Player. Composite Box 1972 World Series (4–3): Oakland Athletics (A.L.) over Cincinnati Reds (N.L.) Team123456789RHEOakland Athletics16113200216469Cincinnati Reds11033164221465Total Attendance: 363,149   Average Attendance: 51,878Winning Player's Share: – $20,705,   Losing Player's Share– $15,080 *Includes Playoffs and World Series Awards and honors Gene Tenace, Babe Ruth Award Gene Tenace, World Series Most Valuable Player League leaders Joe Rudi, American League leader, triples (tied) (9)Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 96, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, 978-0-451-22363-0 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Iowa Oaks American Association Sherm Lollar AA Birmingham A's Southern League Phil Cavarretta A Burlington Bees Midwest League Harry Bright A-Short Season Coos Bay-North Bend A's Northwest League Grover Resinger References 2 External links San Francisco Bay Area 1972 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference 1972 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:Oakland Athletics seasons Oakland Athletics seaspm Category:American League West champion seasons Category:American League champion seasons Category:World Series champion seasons Oakland Athletics season