# 1972 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1972 Cincinnati Reds season was the 103rd season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 3rd and 2nd full season at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. The Reds won the National League West title with a record of 95 wins and 59 losses, 10+1⁄2 games over the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers. They defeated the previous year's World Series Champion Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLCS, but lost to the Oakland Athletics in seven games in the World Series. The Reds were managed by Sparky Anderson.
The theme for the Reds was "Redemption" after a disastrous 1971 season that saw the Reds fall from a World Series participant in 1970 to a sub .500 team a year later. In fact, the March 13, 1972, Sports Illustrated edition featured the Reds on the front cover headlining "Redemption for the Reds." The Reds won 102 games in 1970, but only 79 a year later. A major catalyst for the Reds, Bobby Tolan, ruptured his Achilles' tendon in the winter of 1971 while playing basketball and he missed the entire '71 MLB season. Nearly every Reds regular, including Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Pérez, Bernie Carbo and David Concepcion, had significant decreases in their production from 1970. The lone exception was popular first baseman Lee May, who set career highs in home runs (39) and slugging percentage (.532).
Reds fans, en masse, were shocked and dismayed when, on November 29, 1971, Cincinnati Reds General Manager Bob Howsam traded May, Gold Glove winning second baseman Tommy Helms and key utility man Jimmy Stewart to division rival Houston Astros for second baseman Joe Morgan, third baseman Denis Menke, pitcher Jack Billingham, little-used reserve outfielder Cesar Geronimo and minor leaguer Ed Armbrister. The trade turned out to be one of the best trades in Reds history. Morgan would escape the cavernous Houston Astrodome to a more hitter-friendly Riverfront Stadium home park. Surrounded by more talent in Cincinnati, Morgan would become one of the more productive power-speed players in the entire decade on his way to eventual induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Morgan and Geronimo would also go on to each win multiple Gold Glove awards, as Geronimo manned right field until 1974 when he would take over in center field. Billingham would go on to win 12 games in 1972 and 50 total in his first three years with the Reds. Billingham's best moments came in the 1972 World Series when he threw 13+2⁄3 innings allowing no earned runs in collecting a win, a save, and a no decision in Game 7.
With Rose, Morgan and a healthy Tolan at the top of the lineup, a rejuvenated Bench was the recipient as the Reds' cleanup hitter. Rebounding from the 1971 disaster when he only drove in 61 runs, Bench slammed 40 home runs and had a major league-best 125 RBI. Bench also walked a career-high 100 times on his way to NL MVP honors, his second in three years.
Cincinnati got off to a slow start, winning only eight of their first 21 games before winning nine straight. The Reds were still only 20–18 when they went into Houston to play the retooled Astros for a four-game series, May 29 – June 1, at the Astrodome, a notorious pitchers park. But the Reds scored 39 runs in the series and won all four games. The Reds went into the July 23 All-Star break with a 6+1⁄2 game lead over the Astros and an 8-game lead over the Dodgers. Neither team seriously threatened the Reds in the second half.
Reds ace Gary Nolan won 13 of his 15 decisions by July 13, only 79 games into the season. But Nolan suffered a series of neck and shoulder ailments that forced him out of the All Star game and limited him to a total of 25 starts. He spent much of the second-half on the disabled list resting and then rehabbing. He won two games after the All-Star break. Nolan still finished second in the National League in ERA (1.99) to Philadelphia's Steve Carlton (1.97). Morgan (122 runs scored, 16 home runs, 73 RBI, 58 stolen bases, .292 average) finished fourth in MVP voting, while Rose (107 runs, 198 hits, 11 triples, .307 avg.) and reliever Clay Carroll (37 saves, 2.25 ERA) were 12th and 13th, respectively, in the MVP voting conducted by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
The Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, three games to two, in an exciting 1972 National League Championship Series, the first time in its four-year history the NLCS had gone five games. The World Series against the Oakland A's was equally as epic, with the Reds falling in Game 7, 3–2, the sixth game of the series decided by a single run.

## Off season

* November 29, 1971: Lee May, Tommy Helms, and Jimmy Stewart were traded by the Reds to the Houston Astros for Joe Morgan, Ed Armbrister, Jack Billingham, César Gerónimo, and Denis Menke.
* Dec 3, 1971: Wayne Granger was traded by the Reds to the Minnesota Twins for Tom Hall.
* December 14, 1971: Jim Qualls was traded by the Reds to the Chicago White Sox for Pat Jacquez.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL 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 recordvte 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 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 6, 1972: Ron Hassey was drafted by the Reds in the 23rd round of the 1972 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.

### Game log

1972 Game Log: 95–59 (Home: 42–34; Away: 53–25) :
April: 5–8 (Home: 1–3; Away: 4–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
1April 15Dodgers1–3Sutton (1–0)Billingham (0–1)Brewer (1)37,8950–1L1
2April 16Dodgers10–1Nolan (1–0)Downing (0–1)Carroll (1)16,4101–1W1
3April 18Astros4–8Forsch (1–0)Gullett (0–1)Gladding (1)8,3471–2L1
4April 19Astros5–7Reuss (1–0)Billingham (0–2)Culver (1)6,2171–3L2
5April 21@ Braves4–3Nolan (2–0)Reed (1–1)Hall (1)6,7622–3W1
6April 22@ Braves7–11Jarvis (1–1)Gullett (0–2)Nash (1)10,1412–4L1
7April 23@ Braves3–4 (11)Schueler (1–0)McGlothlin (0–1)13,3772–5L2
8April 25@ Pirates2–5 (13)Miller (1–1)McGlothlin (0–2)6,5092–6L3
9April 26@ Pirates7–6Nolan (3–0)Blass (1–1)Borbón (1)6,3803–6W1
10April 27@ Pirates5–4Carroll (1–0)Giusti (0–1)12,5044–6W2
11April 28@ Cubs8–10Jenkins (1–2)Billingham (0–3)12,1854–7L1
12April 29@ Cubs3–2Hall (1–0)Pappas (1–2)19,5605–7W1
13April 30@ Cubs4–6Hooton (2–2)Carroll (1–1)McGinn (2)21,9245–8L1 :
May: 18–10 (Home: 7–7; Away: 11–3)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
14May 2@ Cardinals7–6Merritt (1–0)Shaw (0–1)Hall (2)11,0916–8W2
15May 3@ Cardinals1–2Cleveland (2–0)Billingham (0–4)6,9356–9L1
16May 4@ Cardinals9–5Carroll (2–1)Santorini (2–2)9,2997–9W1
17May 5Pirates5–4 (10)Carroll (3–1)Giusti (0–3)24,7228–9W2
18May 6Pirates1–8Blass (2–1)Borbón (0–1)12,2848–10L1
19May 7Pirates6–9Briles (2–0)Billingham (0–5)Moose (1)19,2818–11L2
20May 9Cubs1–7Jenkins (3–2)McGlothlin (0–3)7,9068–12L3
21May 10Cubs2–4Pappas (3–2)Nolan (3–1)McGinn (3)7,0518–13L4
22May 12Cardinals5–4Grimsley (1–0)Cleveland (3–1)Carroll (2)23,3769–13W1
23May 13Cardinals11–2Simpson (1–0)Clemons (0–1)Borbón (2)10,47110–13W2
24May 14Cardinals4–3Gullett (1–2)Drabowsky (0–1)Carroll (3)–11–13W3
25May 14Cardinals2–0Hall (2–0)Santorini (2–4)33,48612–13W4
26May 16@ Giants4–3Nolan (4–1)Bryant (1–3)Carroll (4)–13–13W5
27May 16@ Giants2–0Billingham (1–5)Stone (0–3)7,57114–13W6
28May 17@ Giants2–1Grimsley (2–0)Marichal (1–7)Carroll (5)2,67015–13W7
29May 18@ Giants8–5Borbón (1–1)McDowell (5–1)Carroll (6)2,84716–13W8
30May 19@ Padres1–0McGlothlin (1–3)Kirby (3–3)35,42317–13W9
31May 20@ Padres3–5Arlin (3–3)Billingham (1–6)Corkins (2)8,10217–14L1
32May 21@ Padres7–2Nolan (5–1)Greif (3–5)–18–14W1
33May 21@ Padres0–7Norman (4–2)Hall (2–1)17,54318–15L1
34May 23Braves1–2Niekro (6–4)McGlothlin (1–4)13,78418–16L2
35May 24Braves2–4Kelley (3–4)Simpson (1–1)Upshaw (3)10,15618–17L3
36May 26Padres4–0Nolan (6–1)Norman (4–3)15,27019–17W1
37May 27Padres9–4McGlothlin (2–4)Kirby (3–5)Carroll (7)15,05520–17W2
38May 28Padres2–5Arlin (4–4)Grimsley (2–1)19,64720–18L1
39May 29@ Astros8–3Simpson (2–1)Griffin (1–1)Carroll (8)14,88521–18W1
40May 30@ Astros9–5Billingham (2–6)Wilson (3–4)Carroll (9)14,53922–18W2
41May 31@ Astros12–4Nolan (7–1)Roberts (3–3)15,70223–18W3 :
June: 18–9 (Home: 7–6; Away: 11–3)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
42June 1@ Astros10–3Sprague (1–0)Reuss (3–4)Borbón (3)14,46624–18W4
43June 2@ Phillies6–3 (17)Gullett (2–2)Twitchell (2–1)Borbón (4)16,25125–18W5
44June 3@ Phillies6–5 (10)Hall (3–1)Reynolds (0–2)16,62326–18W6
45June 4@ Phillies2–0Billingham (3–6)Champion (3–3)Carroll (10)15,86127–18W7
46June 6@ Mets2–3McAndrew (5–1)Gullett (2–3)McGraw (9)29,35327–19L1
47June 7@ Mets6–3McGlothlin (3–4)Gentry (3–4)Hall (3)35,99528–19W1
48June 8@ Mets5–3Borbón (2–1)Seaver (8–3)Carroll (11)35,59329–19W2
49June 9@ Expos6–3Simpson (3–1)Morton (2–7)Borbón (5)11,19330–19W3
50June 11@ Expos11–1Nolan (8–1)Renko (1–4)28,58931–19W4
51June 13Phillies8–4Hall (4–1)Champion (4–4)Carroll (12)–32–19W5
52June 13Phillies4–2Grimsley (3–1)Reynolds (0–3)Borbón (6)31,50933–19W6
53June 14Phillies2–1Billingham (4–6)Lersch (1–3)Carroll (13)16,12734–19W7
54June 16Mets1–2Frisella (2–1)Nolan (8–2)McGraw (11)30,70934–20L1
55June 17Mets8–2Simpson (4–1)Gentry (3–5)Hall (4)51,61735–20W1
56June 18Mets1–2Seaver (9–3)Grimsley (3–2)33,13435–21L1
57June 19Expos0–2Stoneman (6–5)Billingham (4–7)11,14535–22L2
58June 20Expos2–7Morton (3–7)McGlothlin (3–5)Marshall (5)12,28735–23L3
59June 21Expos6–4Nolan (9–2)Renko (1–6)Carroll (14)11,89236–23W1
60June 22Astros5–9Culver (2–0)Simpson (4–2)Ray (6)22,16436–24L1
61June 23Astros7–1Grimsley (4–2)Reuss (5–6)20,40137–24W1
62June 24Astros1–4Dierker (7–4)Billingham (4–8)31,90737–25L1
63June 25Astros5–4 (10)Carroll (4–1)Gladding (1–3)30,01938–25W1
64June 26@ Dodgers5–0Nolan (10–2)Osteen (7–5)33,13039–25W2
65June 27@ Dodgers5–4Gullett (3–3)Downing (4–4)Carroll (15)27,39540–25W3
66June 28@ Giants4–2Grimsley (5–2)Carrithers (2–5)Hall (5)5,82841–25W4
67June 29@ Giants2–3Barr (1–2)Billingham (4–9)6,33741–26L1
68June 30@ Padres3–4 (13)Norman (5–6)Borbón (2–2)6,11941–27L2 :
July: 16–10 (Home: 7–8; Away: 9–2)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
69July 1@ Padres3–2Sprague (2–0)Arlin (7–8)Billingham (1)24,97242–27W1
70July 2@ Padres12–2Nolan (11–2)Corkins (0–4)Carroll (16)12,75443–27W2
71July 3Cardinals2–4Wise (9–7)Gullett (3–4)30,83043–28L1
72July 4Cardinals6–1Grimsley (6–2)Spinks (5–5)15,72944–28W1
73July 7Cubs1–2Hooton (7–7)Simpson (4–3)Aker (3)40,04244–29L1
74July 8Cubs3–2Nolan (12–2)Reuschel (3–1)Carroll (17)47,31045–29W1
75July 9Cubs0–5Jenkins (11–7)Gullett (3–5)–45–30L1
76July 9Cubs5–10Pappas (6–5)Grimsley (6–3)52,11645–31L2
77July 11Pirates5–0Billingham (5–9)Moose (5–5)24,04746–31W1
78July 12Pirates6–3Simpson (5–3)Walker (3–5)Carroll (18)28,05847–31W2
79July 13Pirates2–0Nolan (13–2)Blass (10–3)Carroll (19)32,06048–31W3
80July 14@ Cardinals6–3Grimsley (7–3)Wise (9–9)Carroll (20)22,84949–31W4
81July 15@ Cardinals12–2McGlothlin (4–5)Santorini (4–7)Hall (6)35,09450–31W5
82July 16@ Cardinals4–1Billingham (6–9)Durham (0–1)32,76051–31W6
83July 17@ Cubs7–2Simpson (6–3)Reuschel (3–3)Carroll (21)20,42052–31W7
84July 18@ Cubs1–2 (10)Jenkins (12–8)Carroll (4–2)16,71652–32L1
85July 19@ Cubs6–1Grimsley (8–3)Pappas (6–6)31,47553–32W1
86July 21@ Pirates11–5Borbón (3–2)Kison (4–3)Gullett (1)32,25554–32W2
87July 22@ Pirates6–3Sprague (3–0)Moose (5–6)Carroll (22)40,83755–32W3
88July 23@ Pirates2–3Blass (11–4)Grimsley (8–4)R. Hernández (6)29,48755–33L1
ASGJuly 25All-Star GameAL 3–4 NLMcGraw (1–0)McNally (0–1)53,107
89July 27Padres8–2Billingham (7–9)Arlin (8–12)21,85256–33W1
90July 28Padres1–3Kirby (7–11)Simpson (6–4)21,72856–34L1
91July 29Padres3–4 (17)Acosta (2–5)Sprague (3–1)Schaeffer (1)33,09456–35L2
92July 30Giants4–0Grimsley (9–4)Marichal (4–11)–57–35W1
93July 30Giants1–6 (10)Barr (4–3)Carroll (4–3)48,35157–36L1
94July 31Giants2–7Carrithers (3–6)Billingham (7–10)18,45857–37L2 :
August: 21–9 (Home: 10–4; Away: 11–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
95August 1@ Astros3–1Simpson (7–4)Culver (3–2)31,40558–37W1
96August 2@ Astros1–10Wilson (7–7)Nolan (13–3)31,83858–38L1
97August 4Braves6–5 (11)Carroll (5–3)Jarvis (9–5)–59–38W1
98August 4Braves3–2Grimsley (10–4)McLain (2–2)Gullett (2)42,38560–38W2
99August 5Braves4–2Borbón (4–2)Schueler (4–6)Carroll (23)36,79261–38W3
100August 6Braves3–4 (10)Niekro (10–10)Gullett (3–6)29,14961–39L1
101August 7Braves9–1McGlothlin (5–5)Reed (9–11)20,15062–39W1
102August 8Dodgers2–1 (19)Borbón (5–2)Mikkelsen (3–5)24,45363–39W2
103August 9Dodgers6–3Hall (5–1)Singer (4–11)Carroll (24)26,14664–39W3
104August 10Dodgers2–6Osteen (13–8)Gullett (3–7)Brewer (13)28,27964–40L1
105August 11@ Braves5–7Upshaw (2–5)Carroll (5–4)Hardin (2)13,26864–41L2
106August 12@ Braves2–7Reed (10–11)Grimsley (10–5)26,85764–42L3
107August 13@ Braves9–4Borbón (6–2)McLain (3–3)20,21965–42W1
108August 14@ Braves12–2Billingham (8–10)Stone (4–9)15,31866–42W2
109August 15@ Phillies3–0Gullett (4–7)Twitchell (2–4)17,10667–42W3
110August 16@ Phillies8–2McGlothlin (6–5)Reynolds (0–10)Borbón (7)10,38568–42W4
111August 17@ Phillies4–9Carlton (20–6)Grimsley (10–6)42,63568–43L1
112August 18@ Mets8–2Hall (6–1)Koosman (8–9)Borbón (8)47,95769–43W1
113August 19@ Mets5–0Billingham (9–10)Strom (0–1)43,25770–43W2
114August 20@ Mets8–1Gullett (5–7)McAndrew (9–4)Carroll (25)42,55571–43W3
115August 21@ Expos4–1McGlothlin (7–5)Torrez (13–9)21,08072–43W4
116August 22@ Expos5–3Grimsley (11–6)Morton (5–11)Borbón (9)19,71273–43W5
117August 23@ Expos0–11Moore (5–6)Simpson (7–5)13,80473–44L1
118August 24@ Expos6–0Billingham (10–10)McAnally (2–14)14,24174–44W1
119August 25Phillies6–1Gullett (6–7)Reynolds (0–10)32,01775–44W2
120August 26Phillies3–4Carlton (21–7)McGlothlin (7–6)Scarce (2)34,02875–45L1
121August 27Phillies7–2Grimsley (12–6)Twitchell (3–6)Borbón (10)37,16776–45W1
122August 28Mets5–2Nolan (14–3)Strom (0–2)Hall (7)18,50877–45W2
123August 29Mets0–3McAndrew (10–5)Billingham (10–11)McGraw (19)22,11477–46L1
124August 30Mets4–2Gullett (7–7)Matlack (11–8)Hall (8)22,00878–46W1 :
September: 14–13 (Home: 7–6; Away: 7–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
125September 1Expos1–0 (10)Carroll (6–4)Stoneman (10–10)13,50079–46W2
126September 2Expos2–7Torrez (14–9)Nolan (14–4)Marshall (15)20,56979–47L1
127September 3Expos4–3Hall (7–1)Moore (6–7)15,46480–47W1
128September 4@ Dodgers5–6Brewer (8–6)Sprague (3–2)–80–48L1
129September 4@ Dodgers8–4Gullett (8–7)Osteen (15–10)Borbón (11)40,36681–48W1
130September 5@ Dodgers4–9Sutton (15–9)Grimsley (12–7)18,15581–49L1
131September 6@ Dodgers6–3Simpson (8–5)Downing (8–7)Carroll (26)16,96582–49W1
132September 7@ Padres0–2Caldwell (7–8)Nolan (14–5)–82–50L1
133September 7@ Padres1–5Norman (8–9)Billingham (10–12)5,39682–51L2
134September 9@ Giants1–2Willoughby (5–2)Gullett (8–8)6,19982–52L3
135September 10@ Giants8–7Hall (8–1)Moffitt (1–4)Carroll (27)–83–52W1
136September 10@ Giants2–8Marichal (6–15)McGlothlin (7–7)Johnson (8)13,58483–53L1
137September 12@ Braves7–5Borbón (7–2)McLain (3–5)Carroll (28)4,05084–53W1
138September 13@ Braves8–6 (10)Hall (9–1)Hoerner (1–5)3,14185–53W2
139September 15Padres0–1Norman (9–9)Gullett (8–9)14,02185–54L1
140September 16Padres6–3Grimsley (13–7)Corkins (6–9)Carroll (29)20,57186–54W1
141September 17Padres7–10Schaeffer (1–0)Sprague (3–3)Simpson (1)18,30086–55L1
142September 18Giants2–0McGlothlin (8–7)Barr (7–9)Carroll (30)8,60887–55W1
143September 19Giants5–4Borbón (8–2)Marichal (6–16)Carroll (31)10,35388–55W2
144September 20Giants8–6Hall (10–1)Sosa (0–1)Carroll (32)11,17489–55W3
145September 22@ Astros4–3Grimsley (14–7)Dierker (15–8)Carroll (33)15,49090–55W4
146September 23@ Astros1–7Wilson (14–9)McGlothlin (8–8)16,65790–56L1
147September 24@ Astros10–2Billingham (11–12)Forsch (5–7)Carroll (34)12,70991–56W1
148September 26Braves9–10Hardin (5–2)Gullett (8–10)Upshaw (13)7,23491–57L1
149September 27Braves5–8Niekro (16–11)Grimsley (14–8)7,03391–58L2
150September 29Dodgers4–1Billingham (12–12)Downing (9–9)Carroll (35)14,45492–58W1
151September 30Dodgers2–4 (10)Osteen (19–11)Borbón (8–3)20,08092–59L1 :
October: 3–10 (Home: 3–0; Away: 0–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
152October 1Dodgers1–0Gullett (9–10)Rau (2–2)Carroll (36)40,04693–59W1
153October 3Astros6–1Nolan (15–5)Forsch (6–8)Grimsley (1)10,06994–59W2
154October 4Astros4–2McGlothlin (9–8)Cosgrove (0–1)Carroll (37)10,07995–59W3 :

## 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 | Johnny Bench | 147 | 538 | 145 | .270 | 40 | 125 |
| 1B | Tony Perez | 136 | 515 | 146 | .283 | 21 | 90 |
| 2B | Joe Morgan | 149 | 552 | 161 | .292 | 16 | 73 |
| SS | Dave Concepción | 119 | 378 | 79 | .209 | 2 | 29 |
| 3B | Denis Menke | 140 | 447 | 104 | .233 | 9 | 50 |
| LF | Pete Rose | 154 | 645 | 198 | .307 | 6 | 57 |
| CF | Bobby Tolan | 149 | 604 | 171 | .283 | 8 | 82 |
| RF | César Gerónimo | 120 | 255 | 70 | .275 | 4 | 29 |

#### 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 |
| Darrel Chaney | 83 | 196 | 48 | .250 | 2 | 19 |
| George Foster | 59 | 145 | 29 | .200 | 2 | 12 |
| Joe Hague | 69 | 138 | 34 | .246 | 4 | 20 |
| Ted Uhlaender | 73 | 113 | 18 | .159 | 0 | 6 |
| Bill Plummer | 38 | 102 | 19 | .186 | 2 | 9 |
| Hal McRae | 61 | 97 | 27 | .278 | 5 | 26 |
| Julián Javier | 44 | 91 | 19 | .209 | 2 | 12 |
| Bernie Carbo | 19 | 21 | 3 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonny Ruberto | 2 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Pat Corrales | 2 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | GS | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Jack Billingham | 36 | 31 | 217.2 | 12 | 12 | 3.18 | 137 |
| Ross Grimsley | 30 | 28 | 197.2 | 14 | 8 | 3.05 | 79 |
| Gary Nolan | 25 | 25 | 176.0 | 15 | 5 | 1.99 | 90 |
| Jim McGlothlin | 31 | 21 | 145.0 | 9 | 8 | 3.91 | 69 |
| Wayne Simpson | 24 | 22 | 130.1 | 8 | 5 | 4.14 | 70 |

#### 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 |
| Don Gullett | 31 | 134.2 | 9 | 10 | 3.94 | 96 |
| Jim Merritt | 4 | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 4.50 | 4 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts; SV = Saves
| Player | G | W | L | ERA | SO | SV |
| Clay Carroll | 65 | 6 | 4 | 2.25 | 51 | 37 |
| Pedro Borbón | 62 | 8 | 3 | 3.17 | 48 | 11 |
| Tom Hall | 47 | 10 | 1 | 2.61 | 134 | 8 |
| Ed Sprague | 33 | 3 | 3 | 4.13 | 25 | 0 |
| Dave Tomlin | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 2 | 0 |
| Joe Gibbon | 2 | 0 | 0 | 54.00 | 1 | 0 |

## Postseason
### 1972 National League Championship Series

The Reds rallied to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates in five games to win the National League title. In Game 5, Johnny Bench's ninth-inning home run tied the game before George Foster scored the game-winner on a wild pitch by Pirates' reliever Bob Moose.

#### Game 1

October 7: Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cincinnati | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| Pittsburgh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| W: Steve Blass (1–0) L: Don Gullett (0–1) S: Ramón Hernández (1) |||||||||||||
| HR: CIN – Joe Morgan (1) PIT – Al Oliver (1) |||||||||||||
| Pitchers: CIN – Gullett, Borbón (7) PIT – Blass, Hernández (9) |||||||||||||
| Attendance: 50,476 |||||||||||||

#### Game 2

October 8: Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cincinnati | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 1 |
| Pittsburgh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| W: Tom Hall (1–0) L: Bob Moose (0–1) S: None |||||||||||||
| HR: CIN – Joe Morgan (2) PIT – none |||||||||||||
| Pitchers: CIN – Billingham, Hall (5) PIT – Moose, Johnson (1), Kison (6), Hernández (7), Giusti (9) |||||||||||||
| Attendance: 50,584 |||||||||||||

#### Game 3

October 9: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Pittsburgh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| W: Bruce Kison (1–0) L: Clay Carroll (0–1) S: Dave Giusti (1) |||||||||||||
| HR: PIT – Manny Sanguillén (1) CIN – none |||||||||||||
| Pitchers: PIT – Briles, Kison (7), Giusti (8) CIN – Nolan, Borbón (7), Carroll (7), McGlothlin (9) |||||||||||||
| Attendance: 52,420 |||||||||||||

#### Game 4

October 10: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Pittsburgh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Cincinnati | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 1 |
| W: Ross Grimsley (1–0) L: Dock Ellis (0–1) S: none |||||||||||||
| HR: PIT – Roberto Clemente (1) CIN – none |||||||||||||
| Pitchers: PIT – Ellis, Johnson (6), Walker (7), Miller (8) CIN – Grimsley |||||||||||||
| Attendance: 39,447 |||||||||||||

#### Game 5

October 11: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Pittsburgh | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 1 |
| W: Clay Carroll (1–1) L: Dave Giusti (0–1) S: none |||||||||||||
| HR: PIT – none CIN – César Gerónimo (1), Johnny Bench (1) |||||||||||||
| Pitchers: PIT – Blass, Hernández (8), Giusti (9), Moose (9) CIN – Gullett, Borbón (4), Hall (6), Carroll (9) |||||||||||||
| Attendance: 41,887 |||||||||||||

### 1972 World Series

The Reds were a prohibitive favorite to win the World Series over the Oakland Athletics, who lost top slugger Reggie Jackson to a hamstring injury in the playoffs. But Gene Tenace, who hit just five home runs in the regular season, crushed four against the Reds in a series that saw six of the seven games decided by one run. Oakland dealt the Reds three losses on their home AstroTurf of Riverfront Stadium. Tenace had two hits and two RBI in Game 7 as Oakland scored two in the sixth inning and held on for a 3–2 victory for the A's first World Series title since 1930.
AL Oakland Athletics (4) vs. NL Cincinnati Reds (3) :
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance | Time of Game |
| 1 | A's – 3, Reds – 2 | October 14 | Riverfront Stadium | 52,918 | 2:18 |
| 2 | A's – 2, Reds – 1 | October 15 | Riverfront Stadium | 53,224 | 2:26 |
| 3 | Reds – 1, A's – 0 | October 18 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 49,410 | 2:24 |
| 4 | Reds – 2, A's – 3 | October 19 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 49,410 | 2:06 |
| 5 | Reds – 5, A's – 4 | October 20 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 49,410 | 2:26 |
| 6 | A's – 1, Reds – 8 | October 21 | Riverfront Stadium | 52,737 | 2:21 |
| 7 | A's – 3, Reds – 2 | October 22 | Riverfront Stadium | 56,040 | 2:50 |

## Awards and honors

* Sparky Anderson, Associated Press NL Manager of the Year
* Johnny Bench, National League MVP
* Bobby Tolan, Hutch Award

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Indianapolis Indians | American Association | Vern Rapp |
| AA | Trois-Rivières Aigles | Eastern League | Jim Snyder |
| A | Tampa Tarpons | Florida State League | Russ Nixon |
| Rookie | Melbourne Reds | Florida East Coast League | Dave Pavlesic |
| Rookie | GCL Reds | Gulf Coast League | Ron Plaza |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Melbourne Reds