1972 New York Mets season

March 2026 November 2013 New York Mets 1972 New York Mets Insignia (1962 to 1992).svg National League East Shea Stadium New York 83 73 y 3rd Joan Whitney Payson Bob Scheffing Yogi Berra WOR-TV WHN (Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy) The 1972 New York Mets season was the 11th regular season for the Mets, who played home games at Shea Stadium. Led by manager Yogi Berra, the team had an 83–73 recordBecause of a labour strike, the Mets didn't play a 162 games regular season. and finished in third place in the National League East, thirteen and a half games behind the first place Pittsburgh Pirates. Despite their winning record, the Mets were outscored 578–528 on the season, a run differential of −50; their Pythagorean expectation, based on that differential, was a 72–84 record. Offseason Death of Gil Hodges/Appointment of Yogi Berra On April 2, 1972, manager Gil Hodges and coaches Rube Walker, Joe Pignatano and Eddie Yost, were returning to their motel in West Palm Beach, Florida after a round of golf when Hodges suddenly collapsed and died from a heart attack, two days short of his forty-eighth birthday. Clavin Tom Danny Peary Gil Hodges: The Brooklyn Bums, the Miracle Mets, and the Extraordinary Life of a Baseball Legend New American Library 2012 New York 359–361, 370–375 978-0-451-23586-2 https://archive.org/details/gilhodgesbrookly0000clav/page/359 The Mets wore a black armband on the left sleeves of their uniform jerseys during the 1972 season in honor of Hodges. On April 6, Yogi Berra was introduced as the Mets' new manager. Notable offseason transactions: December 10, 1971: Nolan Ryan, Frank Estrada, Don Rose, and Leroy Stanton were traded by the Mets to the California Angels for Jim Fregosi.Nolan Ryan page at Baseball Reference April 5, 1972: Ken Singleton, Tim Foli, and Mike Jorgensen were traded by the Mets to the Montreal Expos for Rusty Staub.Rusty Staub page at Baseball Reference Also, returning to the club for their first full seasons that year was Jon Matlack, a left-handed starting pitcher (the fourth overall pick in the 1967 Major League Baseball draft), and John Milner, a left-handed, power-hitting, first baseman/outfielder. Regular season Season summary On May 11, the Mets acquired Willie Mays from the San Francisco Giants for minor league pitcher Charlie Williams and cash.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AHkfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=N1MEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3100%2C4471296 Pittsburgh Press UPI Mays traded to Mets, Giants get minor, cash May 11, 1972 46https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Te9VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AOEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6374%2C2654505 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press Willie Mays traded to NY Mets May 11, 1972 46 The acquisition of Mays had been a longtime dream of Joan Payson, who had been a New York Giants fan in her youth.admin Joan Whitney Payson: A Pioneer for the New York Mets – Society for American Baseball Research https://sabr.org/journal/article/joan-whitney-payson-a-pioneer-for-the-new-york-mets/ 2024-02-02 en-US With Mays no longer pulling the weight of his large contract, Giants owner Horace Stoneham made him available, and Payson could not resist.admin Joan Whitney Payson: A Pioneer for the New York Mets – Society for American Baseball Research https://sabr.org/journal/article/joan-whitney-payson-a-pioneer-for-the-new-york-mets/ 2024-02-02 en-US The club got off to a sizzling start in 1972, playing better than .700 ball through early June and peaking at 25 7 y on May 21, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates by six games. However, Jim Fregosi suffered a broken thumb in spring training and never got on track, posting a .232 batting average. Second baseman Ken Boswell slumped to .211. John Milner flashed some power with 17 home runs but hit just .238. Tommie Agee, batting .291 on the day of the Mays trade, suddenly found himself sharing center field with Mays, and, along with being increasingly hampered by knee problems, finished at only .227. Rusty Staub led all starters with a .293 batting average, but was limited to just 66 games because of a broken hand. Mays did hit a respectable .267, but his fielding ability significantly declined. In addition, along with Staub, a series of disabling injuries to Bud Harrelson, Jerry Grote, and Cleon Jones brought the team up short and dropped them into their third consecutive third-place finish, 13.5 games behind Pittsburgh. Among pitchers, Tom Seaver went 21–12, Rookie of the Year Jon Matlack was 15–10 and Jim McAndrew 11–8, but Jerry Koosman went 11–12 as his earned run average jumped to 4.14, and Gary Gentry slumped to 7–10 with a 4.04 ERA. Tug McGraw continued as the bullpen ace, with 8 wins and 27 saves and a 1.70 ERA. On September 30, Jon Matlack gave up a double to Pirates legend Roberto Clemente. It was Clemente's 3,000th and final big-league hit prior to his death in a plane crash on New Year's Eve. Season standings New York Mets Record vs. opponents NYM Opening Day starters Tommie Agee Ken Boswell Jim Fregosi Jerry Grote Bud Harrelson Cleon Jones Ed Kranepool Tom Seaver Rusty Staub Notable transactions May 11: Charlie Williams and $50,000 were traded to the San Francisco Giants for Willie Mays.Willie Mays page at Baseball Reference Roster 1972 New York Mets Roster Pitchers 38 Buzz Capra 34 Danny Frisella 39 Gary Gentry 36 Jerry Koosman 32 Jon Matlack 43 Jim McAndrew 45 Tug McGraw 39 Tommy Moore 44 Bob Rauch 33 Ray Sadecki 41 Tom Seaver 40 Brent Strom 42 Chuck Taylor 22 Hank Webb Catchers 10 Duffy Dyer 15 Jerry Grote 35 Joe Nolan Infielders  1 Lute Barnes 5,24 Jim Beauchamp 12 Ken Boswell  2 Jim Fregosi 11 Wayne Garrett  3 Bud Harrelson  7 Ed Kranepool 17 Ted Martínez  9 Bill Sudakis Outfielders 20 Tommie Agee 25 Don Hahn 21 Cleon Jones 18 Dave Marshall 24 Willie Mays 28 John Milner 16 Dave Schneck  4 Rusty Staub Manager  8 Yogi Berra Coaches 52 Joe Pignatano 55 Sheriff Robinson 54 Rube Walker 53 Eddie Yost 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 Duffy Dyer 94 325 75 .231 8 36 1B Ed Kranepool 122 327 88 .269 8 34 2B Ken Boswell 100 355 75 .211 9 33 SS Bud Harrelson 115 418 90 .215 1 24 3B Jim Fregosi 101 340 79 .232 5 32 LF John Milner 117 362 86 .238 17 38 CF Tommie Agee 114 422 96 .227 13 47 RF Rusty Staub 66 239 70 .293 9 38 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 Cleon Jones 106 375 92 .245 5 52 Ted Martínez 103 330 74 .224 1 19 Wayne Garrett 111 298 69 .232 2 29 Jerry Grote 64 205 43 .210 3 21 Willie Mays 69 195 52 .267 8 19 Dave Marshall 72 156 39 .250 4 11 Dave Schneck 37 123 23 .187 3 10 Jim Beauchamp 58 120 29 .242 5 19 Lute Barnes 24 72 17 .236 0 6 Bill Sudakis 18 49 7 .143 1 7 Don Hahn 17 37 6 .162 0 1 Joe Nolan 4 10 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 Tom Seaver 35 262.0 21 12 2.92 249 Jon Matlack 34 244.0 15 10 2.32 169 Gary Gentry 32 164.0 7 10 4.01 120 Jerry Koosman 34 163.0 11 12 4.14 147 Jim McAndrew 28 160.2 11 8 2.80 81 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 Buzz Capra 14 53.0 3 2 4.58 45 Brent Strom 11 30.1 0 3 6.82 20 Hank Webb 6 18.1 0 0 4.42 15 Tommy Moore 3 12.1 0 0 2.92 5 Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L SV ERA SO Tug McGraw 54 106.0 8 6 27 1.70 92 Danny Frisella 39 67.1 5 8 9 3.34 46 Ray Sadecki 34 75.2 2 1 0 3.09 38 Chuck Taylor 20 31.0 0 0 2 5.52 9 Bob Rauch 19 27.0 0 1 1 5.00 23 Awards and honors All-Stars 1972 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Willie Mays, starting center fielder Tug McGraw, reserve Tom Seaver, reserve Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Tidewater Tides International League Hank Bauer AA Memphis Blues Texas League John Antonelli A Visalia Mets California League Joe Frazier A Pompano Beach Mets Florida State League Gordon Mackenzie A-Short Season Batavia Trojans New York–Penn League Wilbur Huckle Rookie Marion Mets Appalachian League Chuck Hiller LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tidewater Notes 2 References 1972 New York Mets at Baseball Reference 1972 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:New York Mets seasons New York Mets season Category:1972 in sports in New York City Category:1970s in Queens