The 1972 Boston Red Sox season was the 72nd season in the franchise's

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

history. The

Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

finished second in the

American League East The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...

with a record of 85 wins and 70 losses, one-half game behind the Detroit Tigers. Due to the cancellation of games missed during the

1972 Major League Baseball strike The 1972 Major League Baseball strike was the first players' strike in Major League Baseball history. The strike occurred from April 1 to 13, 1972. Baseball resumed when the owners and players agreed on a $500,000 increase in pension fund paym ...

, Detroit played (and won) one more game than Boston, allowing them to finish with a record of 86–70, winning the division by a half-game.

Offseason

* October 10, 1971:

Jim Lonborg James Reynold Lonborg (born April 16, 1942) is an American former professional baseball right-handed starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and Philadelphia Phillies. Though nickname ...

Ken Brett Kenneth Alven Brett (September 18, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher and the second of four Brett brothers who played professional baseball, the most notable being the youngest, George Brett. Ken played for ...

Billy Conigliaro William Michael Conigliaro (August 15, 1947 – February 10, 2021) was an American baseball outfielder who played five seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and Oakland Athletics from 1969 ...

Joe Lahoud Joseph Michael Lahoud (born April 14, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player. He played all or part of eleven seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily as an outfielder and designated hitter, for the Boston Red Sox (1968–71) ...

, Don Pavletich, and George Scott were traded by the Red Sox to the Milwaukee Brewers for

Marty Pattin Martin William Pattin (April 6, 1943 – October 3, 2018) was an American professional baseball player who appeared in 475 games in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher. He pitched for the California Angels (1968), Seattle Pilots / ...

, Lew Krausse Jr.,

Tommy Harper Tommy Harper (born October 14, 1940) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder and third baseman. He played with the Cincinnati Reds (1962–67), Cleveland Indians (1968), Seattle Pilots / Milwaukee Brewers (1969–71), Boston Red S ...

, and Pat Skrable (minors). * March 22, 1972:

Sparky Lyle Albert Walter "Sparky" Lyle (born July 22, 1944) is an American former left-handed relief pitcher who spent sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1967 through 1982. He was a relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, ...

was traded by the Red Sox to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

for

Danny Cater Danny Anderson Cater (born February 25, 1940) is an American former professional baseball first baseman, third baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies at the age of 18, on June 8, 1958. Cater played i ...

and a player to be named later. The Yankees completed the deal by sending

Mario Guerrero Mario Miguel Guerrero Abud (born September 28, 1949) is a former Major League Baseball shortstop who played for four teams in an eight-year career from to . Career Guerrero signed with the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in . After fo ...

to the Red Sox on June 30.

A bad trade

After the 1971 season, the Red Sox management decided on drastic changes. First there was a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers. George Scott, who had fallen out of favor with the Red Sox management, was packaged with

(younger brother of former Red Sox star

Tony Conigliaro Anthony Richard Conigliaro (January 7, 1945 – February 24, 1990), nicknamed "Tony C" and "Conig", was a Major League Baseball outfielder and right-handed batter who played for the Boston Red Sox (1964–1967, 1969–1970, 1975) and California ...

), outfielders

and Don Pavletich, pitchers

(

George Brett George Howard Brett (born May 15, 1953) is an American former professional baseball player who played all of his 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman for the Kansas City Royals. Brett's 3,154 career hits are second-mo ...

's older brother) and

and exchanged for pitchers

and Lew Krausse Jr. and outfielders

and Pat Skrable. It was a big deal and, as it turned out, a bad one for Boston. Lonborg won 14 games for Milwaukee in 1972, with a 2.83 ERA, and later was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, where he won 13, 17, 18, 8 and 11 games during five seasons. Scott batted .263, .266, .306, .281 and .285 in his five seasons with the Brewers, driving in 88, 107, 82, 109, and 77 runs during those same years and clouting an average of 23 homers a season, with 36 in 1975 alone. Meanwhile, although Pattin was 17–13 for Boston in 1972 a 15–15 in 1973, he was then traded away. Harper batted .254 and .281 in his two years with the Sox before being traded. Skrable, a Triple-A player, did not play professionally after the 1971 season. He refused to report to Boston, and the Red Sox received infielder Bobby Pfeil as compensation; Pfeil finished his career with Boston's Triple-A affiliate in 1972.

Regular season

Following the

Commissioner of Baseball The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive officer of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the associated Minor League Baseball (MiLB) – a constellation of leagues and clubs known as "organized baseball". Under the direction of the Commiss ...

Bowie Kuhn Bowie Kent Kuhn (; October 28, 1926 – March 15, 2007) was an American lawyer and sports administrator who served as the fifth Commissioner of Major League Baseball from February 4, 1969, to September 30, 1984. He served as legal counsel for Ma ...

ruled that no games cancelled due to the April strike would be made up. The Red Sox played a total of 155 games of their original 162-game schedule, and finished with a record of 85–70. Meanwhile, the Detroit Tigers played 156 games, and finished with a record of 86–70. Thus, the Tigers were winners of the

AL East The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...

, by a half-game over the Red Sox. Boston and Detroit finished their regular-season schedules with a three-game series against each other, played at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Entering the series, Boston held a half-game lead over Detroit, but Detroit won two of the three games, and the AL East title. The first game of the series included a notable play. In the top of the third inning, Boston trailed, 1–0, and had one out with

at third base and

Luis Aparicio Luis Ernesto Aparicio Montiel (born April 29, 1934), nicknamed "Little Louie", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop from 1956 to 1973 for three American League (AL) teams, m ...

at first base. Carl Yastrzemski hit a ball that looked to be a triple; Harper scored, but Aparicio fell as he rounded third base. Aparicio got up and retreated to third, but Yastrzemski was already there, causing Yastrzemski to try to return to second, resulting in Yastrzemski being tagged out. Thus, instead of having a 2–1 lead with one out and a runner at third, Boston had only tied the game and had two outs (albeit still with a runner at third). The next batter,

Reggie Smith Carl Reginald Smith (born April 2, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and afterwards served as a coach and front office executive. He also played in the Nippon Profe ...

, struck out to end the inning. Boston was unable to score again, and Detroit went on to win the game, 4–1. Aparicio falling as he rounded third base is looked back upon as a key play that could have made a difference.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* June 6, 1972:

Don Aase Donald William Aase ( ;"The Week (July 24–30)," ''Sp ...

was drafted by the Red Sox in the 6th round of the

1972 Major League Baseball Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1972 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Other notable selections ''*'' Did not sign Background The Montreal Expos had perhaps their best draft in franc ...

. * August 15, 1972: Chris Coletta was traded by the Red Sox to the California Angels for Andy Kosco.

Opening Day lineup

Source:

Roster

Statistical leaders

Source:

Batting

Source:

Pitching

Source:

Awards and honors

* Carlton Fisk, Gold Glove Award (C)

Farm system

Source:

References

External links

1972 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference1972 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com
{{Boston Red Sox Boston Red Sox seasons

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...