The 1972

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

season was the team's 91st season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 81st season in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

. The Cardinals went 75–81 during the season and finished fourth in the

National League East The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. The division was created when the National Leag ...

, 21½ games behind the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

Offseason

* February 25, 1972:

Steve Carlton Steven Norman Carlton (born December 22, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher for six different teams from 1965 to 1988, most notably as a member of the Philadelph ...

was traded by the Cardinals to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

for

Rick Wise Richard Charles Wise (born September 13, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher between and for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston ...

Regular season

Pitcher

Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" ...

won a

Gold Glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in b ...

this year.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day starters

Matty Alou Mateo "Matty" Rojas Alou (December 22, 1938 – November 3, 2011) was a Dominican former professional baseball player and manager. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1974. He also played in Nippon Professio ...

Lou Brock Louis Clark Brock (June 18, 1939September 6, 2020) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He began his 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the 1961 Chicago Cubs but spent most of it as a left fielder for the St. Louis ...

* José Cruz *

* Joe Hague *

Dal Maxvill Charles Dallan Maxvill (born February 18, 1939) is a retired shortstop, coach and general manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). During his career, Maxvill played, coached, or was an executive for four World Series winners and seven league champ ...

Ted Simmons Ted Lyle Simmons (born August 9, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. A switch-hitter, Simmons was a catcher for most of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the St. Louis Cardinals (1968–1980), the Milwau ...

* Ted Sizemore *

Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseb ...

Notable transactions

* May 15, 1972: Don Shaw was traded by the Cardinals to the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

for Dwain Anderson. * May 16, 1972:

Lowell Palmer Lowell Raymond Palmer (born August 18, 1947) is a retired American professional baseball pitcher who appeared in 106 games in Major League Baseball ( MLB) as a member of four different teams over all or portions of five seasons (– and ). Born i ...

was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.Lowell Palmer page at Baseball-Reference
/ref> * May 18, 1972: Marty Martínez was traded by the Cardinals to the

for

Brant Alyea Garrabrant Ryerson Alyea (born December 8, 1940) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, and St. Louis Cardinals. In 1965 ...

.Brant Alyea page at Baseball Reference
/ref> * June 6, 1972:

Dan Larson Daniel James Larson is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Larson pitched in all or parts of seven seasons from and . Larson was drafted in the first round of the 1972 Major League Baseball Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals, while at Al ...

was drafted by the Cardinals in the 1st round (21st pick) 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 ...

. * June 7, 1972: Diego Seguí was sent to the Cardinals by the

as part of a conditional deal. * July 23, 1972:

was returned to the Oakland Athletics by the Cardinals. * August 30, 1972:

was traded by the Cardinals to the Oakland Athletics for a player to be named later and Joe Lindsey (minors). The Athletics completed the deal by sending Gene Dusen (minors) to the Cardinals on October 27. * September 18, 1972: Lowell Palmer was selected off waivers from the Cardinals by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

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''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Awards and honors

League leaders

, National League leader, stolen bases, 63

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: ModestoJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

External links

1972 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference1972 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
{{St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis Cardinals seasons Saint Louis Cardinals season

St Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...