1972 San Francisco Giants season

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.

1972 San Francisco Giants
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Candlestick Park
City	San Francisco, California
Owners	Horace Stoneham
General managers	Jerry Donovan
Managers	Charlie Fox
Television	KTVU (Lon Simmons, Bill Thompson)
Radio	KSFO (Lon Simmons, Bill Thompson)
← 1971 Seasons 1973 →

Offseason

• November 29, 1971: Gaylord Perry and Frank Duffy were traded by the Giants to the Cleveland Indians for Sam McDowell.^[1]
• February 2, 1972: Hal Lanier was purchased from the Giants by the New York Yankees.^[2]
• March 27, 1972: Rich Robertson was released by the Giants.^[3]

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

• v
• t
• e

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	95	59	.617	—	42‍–‍34	53‍–‍25
Houston Astros	84	69	.549	10½	41‍–‍36	43‍–‍33
Los Angeles Dodgers	85	70	.548	10½	41‍–‍34	44‍–‍36
Atlanta Braves	70	84	.455	25	36‍–‍41	34‍–‍43
San Francisco Giants	69	86	.445	26½	34‍–‍43	35‍–‍43
San Diego Padres	58	95	.379	36½	26‍–‍54	32‍–‍41

Record vs. opponents

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	—

Opening Day lineup

• Bobby Bonds
• Tito Fuentes
• Fran Healy
• Ken Henderson
• Dave Kingman
• Juan Marichal
• Willie Mays
• Willie McCovey
• Chris Speier

Source:^[7]

Notable transactions

• May 11, 1972: Willie Mays was traded by the Giants to the New York Mets for Charlie Williams and $50,000.^[4][5][6]
• June 6, 1972: Brian Asselstine was drafted by the Giants in the 7th round of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.^[8]
• June 6, 1972: Lenn Sakata was drafted by the Giants in the 14th round of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.^[9]

Roster

1972 San Francisco Giants
Roster
Pitchers 33 Jim Barr 32 Ron Bryant 30 Don Carrithers 41 John Cumberland 35 Jerry Johnson 27 Juan Marichal 48 Sam McDowell 47 Don McMahon 39 Randy Moffitt 42 John Morris 41 Frank Reberger 38 Elías Sosa 29 Steve Stone 38 Charlie Williams 42 Jim Willoughby		Catchers 18 Russ Gibson  6 Fran Healy 14 Dave Rader Infielders 17 Chris Arnold 22 Dámaso Blanco 23 Tito Fuentes 10 Al Gallagher 21 Ed Goodson 16 Jim Ray Hart 26 Dave Kingman 44 Willie McCovey 35 Chris Speier 12 Gary Thomasson		Outfielders 25 Bobby Bonds 15 Ken Henderson 19 Jim Howarth 31 Garry Maddox 36 Gary Matthews 24 Willie Mays 22 Jimmy Rosario 20 Bernie Williams		Manager  7 Charlie Fox Coaches  5 Joey Amalfitano  8 Andy Gilbert 47 Don McMahon  1 John McNamara  3 Ozzie Virgil

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

^[10]

References

1. "Sam McDowell". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
2. "Hal Lanier". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
3. "Rich Robertson". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
4. "Mays traded to Mets, Giants get minor, cash". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. May 11, 1972. p. 46. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
5. "Willie Mays traded to NY Mets". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. May 11, 1972. p. 46. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
6. "Willie Mays". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
7. "Scoreboard". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (box score). April 16, 1987. p. 6C.
8. "Brian Asselstine". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
9. "Lenn Sakata". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
10. Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-96-371897-6.

External links

• 1972 San Francisco Giants team at Baseball-Reference
• 1972 San Francisco Giants team at Baseball Almanac