1972 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1972 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 91st season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 86th in the National League.

Background

The defending World Series champion Pirates finished first in the National League East with an MLB-best record of 96–59. The team was defeated three games to two by the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Championship Series|NLCS]. Despite losing the series, the Pirates put up a good fight, unlike the last time the two teams met in the playoffs. In Game 5, the Pirates led 3–2 in the ninth inning, and were 3 outs away from pulling off a major upset over the Reds. All looked good until the Pirates collapsed in the 9th inning and allowed 2 runs to score, with the walk-off run coming on a wild pitch.

Offseason

November, 1971: Danny Murtaugh steps down as Manager of the Pirates citing health reasons. Coach Bill Virdon is named Manager.
January 12, 1972: Larry Demery was drafted by the Pirates in the 7th round of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft.
March 15, 1972: José Martínez was purchased from the Pirates by the Kansas City Royals.

Regular season

Detailed records

Month	Games	Won	Lost	Win %
April	13	5	8		51	66
May	26	19	7		140	79
June	26	16	10		125	77
July	30	20	10		121	100
August	28	17	11		125	102
September	29	18	11		117	75
October	3	1	2		12	13
Total	155	96	59		691	512

Notable transactions

June 6, 1972: 1972 Major League Baseball draft
*John Candelaria was drafted by the Pirates in the 2nd round.
*Ken Macha was drafted by the Pirates in the 6th round.
*Willie Randolph was drafted by the Pirates in the 7th round.
September 2, 1972 Bob Veale was sold by the Pirates to the Boston Red Sox.

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		136	520	155	.298	7	71
1B		138	495	145	.293	33	112
2B		99	425	120	.282	3	30
SS		119	347	86	.248	3	36
3B		124	427	128	.300	19	72
LF		117	368	117	.318	4	28
CF		140	565	176	.312	12	89
RF		102	378	118	.312	10	60

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
	109	370	106	.286	3	30
	107	311	104	.334	0	17
	115	306	59	.193	12	41
	72	176	33	.188	1	14
	57	139	39	.281	0	14
	53	127	32	.252	3	8
	34	64	12	.188	0	3
	17	37	7	.189	0	4
	5	7	2	.286	0	0
	4	3	0	.000	0	0
	3	2	0	.000	0	0
	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
	33	249.2	19	8	2.49	117
	31	226.0	13	10	2.91	144
	28	195.2	14	11	3.08	120
	25	163.1	15	7	2.70	96
	32	152.0	9	7	3.26	102

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
	31	115.2	4	4	2.96	79
	26	92.2	4	6	3.40	48
	5	9.0	0	0	6.00	6
	4	6.1	0	0	7.11	3
	2	5.0	1	0	0.00	4

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
	54	7	4	22	1.93	54
	53	5	0	14	1.67	47
	36	5	2	3	2.65	18

Awards and honors

'''1972 Major League Baseball All-Star Game'''

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Salem, Niagara Falls