# 1972 Kansas City Royals season

The 1972 Kansas City Royals season was their fourth in Major League Baseball. The Royals finished fourth in the American League West at 76–78, 16+1⁄2 games behind the Oakland Athletics. John Mayberry, in his first season with Kansas City, led the team with 25 home runs and 100 runs batted in. Mayberry was the first Royals player to drive in at least 100 runs in a season.

## Offseason

* November 29, 1971: Steve Hovley was drafted by the Royals from the Oakland Athletics in the 1971 rule 5 draft.
* December 2, 1971: Jim York and Lance Clemons were traded by the Royals to the Houston Astros for John Mayberry and Dave Grangaard (minors).
* March 15, 1972: José Martínez was purchased by the Royals from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
* Prior to 1972 season: Mark Williams was signed as an amateur free agent by the Royals.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Oakland Athletics | 93 | 62 | .600 | — | 48‍–‍29 | 45‍–‍33 |
| Chicago White Sox | 87 | 67 | .565 | 5½ | 55‍–‍23 | 32‍–‍44 |
| Minnesota Twins | 77 | 77 | .500 | 15½ | 42‍–‍32 | 35‍–‍45 |
| Kansas City Royals | 76 | 78 | .494 | 16½ | 44‍–‍33 | 32‍–‍45 |
| California Angels | 75 | 80 | .484 | 18 | 44‍–‍36 | 31‍–‍44 |
| Texas Rangers | 54 | 100 | .351 | 38½ | 31‍–‍46 | 23‍–‍54 |

### 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
** Jamie Quirk was drafted by the Royals in the 1st round (18th pick).
** George Throop was drafted by the Royals in the 16th round.

### Roster
## 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 | Ed Kirkpatrick | 113 | 364 | 100 | .275 | 9 | 43 |
| 1B | John Mayberry | 149 | 503 | 150 | .298 | 25 | 100 |
| 2B | Cookie Rojas | 137 | 487 | 127 | .261 | 3 | 53 |
| SS | Freddie Patek | 136 | 518 | 110 | .212 | 0 | 32 |
| 3B | Paul Schaal | 127 | 435 | 99 | .228 | 6 | 41 |
| LF | Lou Piniella | 151 | 574 | 179 | .312 | 11 | 72 |
| CF | Amos Otis | 143 | 540 | 158 | .293 | 11 | 54 |
| RF | Richie Scheinblum | 134 | 450 | 135 | .300 | 8 | 66 |

#### 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 |
| Steve Hovley | 105 | 196 | 53 | .270 | 3 | 24 |
| Bobby Floyd | 61 | 134 | 24 | .179 | 0 | 5 |
| Jerry May | 53 | 116 | 22 | .190 | 1 | 4 |
| Carl Taylor | 63 | 113 | 30 | .265 | 0 | 11 |
| Bobby Knoop | 44 | 97 | 23 | .237 | 0 | 7 |
| Gail Hopkins | 53 | 71 | 15 | .211 | 0 | 5 |
| Joe Keough | 56 | 64 | 14 | .219 | 0 | 5 |
| Bob Oliver | 16 | 63 | 17 | .270 | 1 | 6 |
| Ron Hansen | 16 | 30 | 4 | .133 | 0 | 2 |
| Jim Wohlford | 15 | 25 | 6 | .240 | 0 | 0 |
| Dennis Paepke | 2 | 6 | 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 |
| Dick Drago | 34 | 239.1 | 12 | 17 | 3.01 | 135 |
| Paul Splittorff | 35 | 216.0 | 12 | 12 | 3.13 | 140 |
| Monty Montgomery | 9 | 56.1 | 3 | 3 | 3.04 | 24 |
| Steve Busby | 5 | 40.0 | 3 | 1 | 1.58 | 31 |

#### 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 |
| Roger Nelson | 34 | 173.1 | 11 | 6 | 2.08 | 120 |
| Bruce Dal Canton | 35 | 132.1 | 6 | 6 | 3.40 | 75 |
| Mike Hedlund | 29 | 113.0 | 5 | 7 | 4.78 | 52 |
| Jim Rooker | 18 | 72.0 | 5 | 6 | 4.38 | 44 |
| Tom Murphy | 18 | 70.1 | 4 | 4 | 3.07 | 34 |
| Mike Jackson | 7 | 19.2 | 1 | 2 | 6.41 | 15 |

#### 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 |
| Tom Burgmeier | 51 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 4.23 | 18 |
| Ted Abernathy | 45 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1.70 | 28 |
| Al Fitzmorris | 38 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3.74 | 51 |
| Norm Angelini | 21 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2.25 | 16 |
| Ken Wright | 17 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4.91 | 18 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Omaha Royals | American Association | Jack McKeon |
| AA | Jacksonville Suns | Southern League | Billy Gardner |
| A | San Jose Bees | California League | Harry Malmberg |
| A | Waterloo Royals | Midwest League | Steve Boros |
| Rookie | Kingsport Royals | Appalachian League | Jay Hankins |
| Rookie | GCL Royals | Gulf Coast League | Buzzy Keller |
| Rookie | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Gary Blaylock |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Billings