# 1972 New York Yankees season

The 1972 New York Yankees season was the 70th season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 79–76, finishing 6+1⁄2 games behind the Detroit Tigers. New York was managed by Ralph Houk. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

## Offseason

* October 13, 1971: Jim Lyttle was traded by the Yankees to the Chicago White Sox for Rich Hinton.
* December 2, 1971: Stan Bahnsen was traded by the Yankees to the Chicago White Sox for Rich McKinney.
* December 2, 1971: Terry Ley and Gary Jones were traded by the Yankees to the Texas Rangers for Bernie Allen.
* January 20, 1972: The Yankees traded a player to be named later to the Chicago Cubs for Johnny Callison. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Jack Aker to the Cubs on May 17.
* February 2, 1972: Hal Lanier was purchased by the Yankees from the San Francisco Giants.
* March 22, 1972: Danny Cater and a player to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Boston Red Sox for Sparky Lyle. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Mario Guerrero to the Red Sox on June 30.
* March 31, 1972: Frank Tepedino was purchased by the Yankees from the Milwaukee Brewers.

## Regular season

* Felipe Alou achieved two milestones in 1972. He got the 2,000th hit of his career and hit his 200th home run of his career.
* Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio were at Yankee Stadium for Old-Timers' Day on July 22, 1972. The event at the stadium brought together some of the greatest living Yankees and included an exhibition game featuring retired players.

### 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
** Mickey Klutts was drafted by the Yankees in the 4th round.
** Bob Kammeyer was drafted by the Yankees in the 21st round.
* September 7, 1972: Rich Hinton was purchased from the Yankees by the Texas Rangers.

### 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 | Thurman Munson | 140 | 511 | 143 | .280 | 7 | 46 |
| 1B | Ron Blomberg | 107 | 299 | 80 | .268 | 14 | 49 |
| 2B | Horace Clarke | 147 | 547 | 132 | .241 | 3 | 37 |
| 3B | Celerino Sanchez | 71 | 250 | 62 | .248 | 0 | 22 |
| SS | Gene Michael | 126 | 391 | 91 | .233 | 1 | 32 |
| LF | Roy White | 155 | 556 | 150 | .270 | 10 | 54 |
| CF | Bobby Murcer | 153 | 585 | 171 | .292 | 33 | 96 |
| RF | Johnny Callison | 95 | 275 | 71 | .258 | 9 | 34 |

#### 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 |
| Felipe Alou | 120 | 324 | 90 | .278 | 6 | 37 |
| Bernie Allen | 84 | 220 | 50 | .227 | 9 | 21 |
| Rusty Torres | 80 | 199 | 42 | .211 | 3 | 13 |
| John Ellis | 52 | 136 | 40 | .294 | 5 | 25 |
| Rich McKinney | 37 | 121 | 26 | .215 | 1 | 7 |
| Jerry Kenney | 50 | 119 | 25 | .210 | 0 | 7 |
| Ron Swoboda | 63 | 113 | 28 | .248 | 1 | 12 |
| Hal Lanier | 60 | 103 | 22 | .214 | 0 | 6 |
| Charlie Spikes | 14 | 34 | 5 | .147 | 0 | 3 |
| Frank Tepedino | 8 | 8 | 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 |
| Mel Stottlemyre | 36 | 260.0 | 14 | 18 | 3.22 | 110 |
| Fritz Peterson | 35 | 250.1 | 17 | 15 | 3.24 | 100 |
| Steve Kline | 32 | 236.1 | 16 | 9 | 2.40 | 58 |
| Mike Kekich | 29 | 175.1 | 10 | 13 | 3.70 | 78 |
| Rob Gardner | 20 | 97.0 | 8 | 5 | 3.06 | 58 |

#### 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 |
| Rich Hinton | 7 | 16.2 | 1 | 0 | 4.86 | 13 |
| Casey Cox | 5 | 11.2 | 0 | 1 | 4.63 | 4 |
| Larry Gowell | 2 | 7.0 | 0 | 1 | 1.29 | 7 |
| Doc Medich | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | inf | 0 |

#### 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 |
| Sparky Lyle | 59 | 9 | 5 | 35 | 1.92 | 75 |
| Lindy McDaniel | 37 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2.25 | 47 |
| Fred Beene | 29 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2.34 | 37 |
| Ron Klimkowski | 16 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4.02 | 11 |
| Jim Roland | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.04 | 13 |
| Wade Blasingame | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.24 | 7 |
| Jack Aker | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 1 |
| Al Closter | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.57 | 2 |
| Steve Blateric | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 |

## Awards and honors
### League leaders

* Sparky Lyle, American League leader, Saves (35)
* Bobby Murcer, American League leader, Runs (102)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Syracuse Chiefs | International League | Frank Verdi |
| AA | West Haven Yankees | Eastern League | Bobby Cox |
| A | Kinston Eagles | Carolina League | Gene Hassell |
| A | Fort Lauderdale Yankees | Florida State League | Pete Ward |
| A-Short Season | Oneonta Yankees | New York–Penn League | George Case |
| Rookie | Johnson City Yankees | Appalachian League | Jerry Walker |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: West Haven