# 1972 Cleveland Indians season

The 1972 Cleveland Indians season was the 72nd in franchise history. The team finished fifth in the American League East with a record of 72–84, 14 games behind the Detroit Tigers.

## Offseason
### George Steinbrenner offer

On December 6, 1971, George Steinbrenner led a group of investors (including Ted Bonda, Ed Jeffrey, Howard Metzenbaum, Steve O'Neill, Gabe Paul and Al Rosen) that negotiated with Jim Stouffer, the son of Indians owner Vernon Stouffer about the potential purchase of the franchise. The group offered $8.6 million and agreed to absorb $300,000 in debt (Stouffer borrowed against the Indians television contract for 1972). Although Steinbrenner and Jim Stouffer agreed to a sale, Vernon Stouffer disapproved of the deal. He felt that he was able of getting $10 million for the franchise.

### Notable transactions

* November 29, 1971: Sam McDowell was traded by the Indians to the San Francisco Giants for Gaylord Perry and Frank Duffy.
* December 2, 1971: Roy Foster, Ken Suarez, Mike Paul, and Rich Hand were traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Del Unser, Gary Jones, Terry Ley, and Denny Riddleberger.
* December 6, 1971: Adolfo Phillips was purchased by the Indians from the Montreal Expos.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Detroit Tigers | 86 | 70 | .551 | — | 44‍–‍34 | 42‍–‍36 |
| Boston Red Sox | 85 | 70 | .548 | ½ | 52‍–‍26 | 33‍–‍44 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 80 | 74 | .519 | 5 | 38‍–‍39 | 42‍–‍35 |
| New York Yankees | 79 | 76 | .510 | 6½ | 46‍–‍31 | 33‍–‍45 |
| Cleveland Indians | 72 | 84 | .462 | 14 | 43‍–‍34 | 29‍–‍50 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 65 | 91 | .417 | 21 | 37‍–‍42 | 28‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1972 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | TEX |
| Baltimore | — | 7–11 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 10–5 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 |
| Boston | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 6–6 | 8–7 | 5–9 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 9–3 | 8–4 |
| California | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 7–11 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 9–6 | 7–5 | 7–8 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 10–7 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | 6–6 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 8–9 | 9–3 | 8–6 | 7–5 | 7–8 | 14–4 |
| Cleveland | 10–8 | 7–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 10–8 | 6–6 | 5–10 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 2–10 | 9–3 |
| Detroit | 8–10 | 9–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 8–10 | — | 7–5 | 10–8 | 9–3 | 7–9 | 4–8 | 10–2 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–9 | 9–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — | 7–5 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 8–6 |
| Milwaukee | 5–10 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 10–5 | 8–10 | 5–7 | — | 4–8 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 5–7 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–7 | 6–8 | 4–8 | 3–9 | 9–9 | 8–4 | — | 6–6 | 8–9 | 11–7 |
| New York | 6–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 9–7 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 6–6 | — | 3–9 | 8–4 |
| Oakland | 6–6 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 8–7 | 10–2 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 9–8 | 9–3 | — | 11–4 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–10 | 4–14 | 3–9 | 2–10 | 6–8 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 4–11 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 6, 1972: 1972 Major League Baseball Draft
** Rick Manning was drafted by the Indians in the 1st round (2nd pick).
** Dennis Eckersley was drafted by the Indians in the 3rd round. Player signed June 12, 1972.
** Rick Langford was drafted by the Indians in the 36th round, but did not sign.
* September 18, 1972: Lowell Palmer was selected off waivers by the Indians from the St. Louis Cardinals.

### Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters :
| # | Name | Position |
| 1 | Del Unser | CF |
| 11 | Eddie Leon | 2B |
| 20 | Alex Johnson | LF |
| 12 | Graig Nettles | 3B |
| 14 | Chris Chambliss | 1B |
| 8 | Ray Fosse | C |
| 9 | Buddy Bell | RF |
| 15 | Frank Duffy | SS |
| 36 | Gaylord Perry | P |

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | AVG | SB |
| Buddy Bell | 132 | 466 | 49 | 119 | 21 | 1 | 9 | 36 | .255 | 5 |
| Kurt Bevacqua | 19 | 35 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .114 | 0 |
| Jack Brohamer | 136 | 527 | 49 | 123 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 35 | .233 | 3 |
| Bill Butler | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Lou Camilli | 39 | 41 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .146 | 0 |
| Chris Chambliss | 121 | 466 | 51 | 136 | 27 | 2 | 6 | 44 | .292 | 3 |
| Vince Colbert | 23 | 20 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 | 0 |
| Frank Duffy | 130 | 385 | 23 | 92 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 27 | .239 | 6 |
| Steve Dunning | 20 | 33 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | .273 | 0 |
| Ed Farmer | 46 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ,143 | 0 |
| Ray Fosse | 134 | 457 | 42 | 110 | 20 | 1 | 10 | 41 | .241 | 5 |
| Roy Foster | 73 | 143 | 19 | 32 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 13 | .224 | 0 |
| Steve Hargan | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Jack Heidemann | 10 | 20 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .150 | 0 |
| Phil Hennigan | 38 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .083 | 0 |
| Tom Hilgendorf | 19 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .077 | 0 |
| Alex Johnson | 108 | 356 | 31 | 85 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 37 | .239 | 6 |
| Larry Johnson | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 0 |
| Mike Kilkenny | 22 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .071 | 0 |
| Ray Lamb | 34 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Eddie Leon | 89 | 225 | 14 | 45 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 16 | .200 | 0 |
| Ron Lolich | 24 | 80 | 4 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | .188 | 0 |
| Marcelino López | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| John Lowenstein | 68 | 151 | 16 | 32 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 21 | .212 | 2 |
| Tommy McCraw | 129 | 391 | 43 | 101 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 33 | ,258 | 12 |
| Steve Mingori | 42 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .125 | 0 |
| Jerry Moses | 52 | 141 | 9 | 31 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 14 | ,220 | 0 |
| Graig Nettles | 150 | 557 | 65 | 141 | 28 | 0 | 17 | 70 | .253 | 2 |
| Lowell Palmer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| Gaylord Perry | 41 | 110 | 5 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | .155 | 0 |
| Adolfo Phillips | 12 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Denny Riddleberger | 38 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Fred Stanley | 6 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 | 0 |
| Dick Tidrow | 39 | 70 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | .100 | 0 |
| Del Unser | 132 | 383 | 29 | 91 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 17 | .238 | 5 |
| Milt Wilcox | 32 | 45 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .200 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 156 | 5207 | 472 | 1220 | 186 | 18 | 91 | 440 | .234 | 49 |

### Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts
| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Bill Butler | 0 | 0 | 1.54 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 11.2 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 6 |
| Vince Colbert | 1 | 7 | 4.58 | 22 | 11 | 0 | 74.2 | 74 | 42 | 38 | 38 | 36 |
| Steve Dunning | 6 | 4 | 3.26 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 105.0 | 98 | 39 | 38 | 43 | 52 |
| Ed Farmer | 2 | 5 | 4.40 | 46 | 1 | 7 | 61.1 | 51 | 32 | 30 | 27 | 33 |
| Steve Hargan | 0 | 3 | 5.85 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 20.0 | 23 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 10 |
| Phil Hennigan | 5 | 3 | 2.67 | 38 | 1 | 6 | 67.1 | 54 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 44 |
| Tom Hilgendorf | 3 | 1 | 2.68 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 47.0 | 51 | 16 | 14 | 21 | 25 |
| Mike Kilkenny | 4 | 1 | 3.41 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 58.0 | 51 | 23 | 22 | 39 | 44 |
| Ray Lamb | 5 | 6 | 3.09 | 34 | 9 | 0 | 107.2 | 101 | 42 | 37 | 29 | 64 |
| Marcelino López | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8.1 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 1 |
| Steve Mingori | 0 | 6 | 3.95 | 41 | 0 | 10 | 57.0 | 67 | 28 | 25 | 36 | 47 |
| Lowell Palmer | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Gaylord Perry | 24 | 16 | 1.92 | 41 | 40 | 1 | 342.2 | 253 | 79 | 73 | 82 | 234 |
| Denny Riddleberger | 1 | 3 | 2.50 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 54.0 | 45 | 23 | 15 | 22 | 34 |
| Dick Tidrow | 14 | 15 | 2.77 | 39 | 34 | 0 | 237.1 | 200 | 83 | 73 | 70 | 123 |
| Milt Wilcox | 7 | 14 | 3.40 | 32 | 27 | 0 | 156.0 | 145 | 67 | 59 | 72 | 90 |
| Team Totals | 72 | 84 | 2.92 | 156 | 156 | 25 | 1410.0 | 1232 | 519 | 457 | 534 | 846 |

## Awards and honors

All-Star Game
* Gaylord Perry, pitcher, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Portland Beavers | Pacific Coast League | Ray Hathaway, Clay Bryant and Dan Carnevale |
| AA | Elmira Pioneers | Eastern League | Len Johnston |
| A | Reno Silver Sox | California League | Lou Klimchock |
| Rookie | GCL Indians | Gulf Coast League | Pinky May |