1972 Chicago Cubs season
The 1972 Chicago Cubs season was the 101st season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 97th in the National League and the 57th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished second in the National League East with a record of 85–70.
Offseason
- November 29, 1971: Ken Holtzman was traded by the Cubs to the Oakland Athletics for Rick Monday.
- December 1, 1971: Ernie Banks was released by the Cubs.
- January 20, 1972: Johnny Callison was traded by the Cubs to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Jack Aker to the Cubs on May 17.
- February 14, 1972: Julio González was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.
Regular season
Notable transactions
- August 18, 1972: Tommy Davis was traded by the Cubs to the Baltimore Orioles for Elrod Hendricks.
Draft picks
- June 6, 1972: 1972 Major League Baseball draft
- *Buddy Schultz was drafted by the Cubs in the 6th round.
- *Ray Burris was drafted by the Cubs in the 17th round. Player signed June 11, 1972.
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 | Randy Hundley | 114 | 357 | 78 | .218 | 5 | 30 |
| 1B | Jim Hickman | 115 | 368 | 100 | .272 | 17 | 64 |
| 2B | Glenn Beckert | 120 | 474 | 128 | .270 | 3 | 43 |
| SS | Don Kessinger | 149 | 577 | 158 | .274 | 1 | 39 |
| 3B | Ron Santo | 133 | 464 | 140 | .302 | 17 | 74 |
| LF | 150 | 574 | 191 | .333 | 37 | 122 | |
| CF | 138 | 434 | 108 | .249 | 11 | 42 | |
| RF | 143 | 533 | 155 | .291 | 17 | 70 |
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 |
| Carmen Fanzone | 86 | 222 | 50 | .225 | 8 | 42 |
| Joe Pepitone | 66 | 214 | 56 | .262 | 8 | 21 |
| Paul Popovich | 58 | 129 | 25 | .194 | 1 | 11 |
| Bill North | 66 | 127 | 23 | .181 | 0 | 4 |
| Ken Rudolph | 42 | 106 | 25 | .236 | 2 | 9 |
| J.C. Martin | 25 | 50 | 12 | .240 | 0 | 7 |
| Gene Hiser | 32 | 46 | 9 | .196 | 0 | 4 |
| 17 | 43 | 5 | .116 | 2 | 6 | |
| Pat Bourque | 11 | 27 | 7 | .259 | 0 | 5 |
| 15 | 26 | 7 | .269 | 0 | 6 | |
| Art Shamsky | 15 | 16 | 2 | .125 | 0 | 1 |
| Dave Rosello | 5 | 12 | 3 | .250 | 1 | 3 |
| Al Montreuil | 5 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | |
| Pete LaCock | 5 | 6 | 3 | .500 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | |
| Frank Coggins | 6 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Ward | 1 | 1 | 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 |
| Ferguson Jenkins | 36 | 289.1 | 20 | 12 | 3.20 | 184 |
| Burt Hooton | 33 | 218.1 | 11 | 14 | 2.80 | 132 |
| Milt Pappas | 29 | 195.0 | 17 | 7 | 2.77 | 80 |
| Bill Hands | 32 | 189.0 | 11 | 8 | 3.00 | 96 |
| Rick Reuschel | 31 | 129.0 | 10 | 8 | 2.93 | 87 |
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 |
| Juan Pizarro | 16 | 59.1 | 4 | 5 | 3.94 | 24 |
| 19 | 57.2 | 1 | 1 | 3.12 | 49 | |
| 5 | 12.2 | 1 | 0 | 2.13 | 7 |
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 |
| 48 | 6 | 6 | 17 | 2.96 | 36 | |
| Dan McGinn | 42 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 5.89 | 42 |
| Tom Phoebus | 37 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3.78 | 59 |
| Steve Hamilton | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.76 | 13 |
| Larry Gura | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.65 | 13 |
| Phil Regan | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.25 | 2 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 |