1972 Major League Baseball season

1972 was affected by a players' strike over pension and salary arbitration. The strike erased the first week and a half of the season, cancelling 86 games, and the leagues decided to just excise the lost portion of the season with no makeups. As a result, an uneven number of games were lost by each team; some as few as six, some as many as nine. The lack of makeups, even when they affected the playoffs, led to the Boston Red Sox losing the American League East by half a game to the Detroit Tigers, who played one more game (156 to 155).

1972 marked the first year for the Texas Rangers, who had moved to Arlington from Washington, D.C. (where they played as the Washington Senators) after the 1971 season. The team was one of the worst ever fielded by the franchise, losing 100 games for the first time since 1964. Manager Ted Williams hated it in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and resigned at the end of the season.

To make room for the Rangers in the American League West Division, one of the teams already in that division would have to switch to the East Division. Technically, both the Chicago White Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers were the easternmost teams in the West Division, but only one of them could move, although the Minnesota Twins lobbied to keep the Rangers in the East because it wanted both the Brewers and White Sox as division rivals. It was decided that Milwaukee, as the newer franchise, would make the move, even though the White Sox wanted to go to the East since five of the league's original franchises were in that division, and that the Cubs were in the National League East. The Brewers would become division rivals of the Twins and White Sox in 1994 with the formation of the American League Central, but this would last only through 1997, when Milwaukee transferred to the National League and became a division rival of the Cubs (the Brewers and Twins continue to face each other every year through interleague play).

1972 would mark the Kansas City Royals' final year at Kansas City Municipal Stadium, as the next year they would move to Royals Stadium at the Truman Sports Complex in eastern Kansas City. The Royals had hoped to move out of Municipal after the 1971 season, but a series of labor strikes forced the team to spend one more year at the old facility, which hosted the Athletics from 1955-67 (and the National Football League's Chiefs from 1963–71).

Most teams (16 of 24) switched from wool flannel uniforms to double knit uniforms made of nylon and rayon at the outset of 1972. The Pirates were first to adopt double knits when they moved from Forbes Field to Three Rivers Stadium in July 1970. The Cardinals switched at the start of the 1971 season, and the Orioles gradually phased out their flannels throughout 1971, becoming all-double knit in time for the postseason.

The Giants wore flannels until midseason, going to double knits at home only; the flannels would not be phased out for the road uniforms until 1973. The Red Sox switched to double knits midway through 1972. Only the Royals, Expos and Yankees wore flannels full-time during the 1972 season, and all three converted to double knits for 1973 (the Royals waited to switch uniforms until their new stadium opened).

The World Series was won by the Oakland Athletics, the first of three straight behind the bats of Reggie Jackson and Bert Campaneris, and the pitching cadre of Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, and Vida Blue. Jackie Robinson, the first black player in modern MLB history, threw out the first pitch prior to Game 2 in what would be his last public appearance. He died two days after the series ended at age 53 due to complications from diabetes and heart failure.

The year ended on a sad note when Roberto Clemente died in an airplane crash off the coast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, on New Year's Eve, while participating in aid efforts after the 1972 Nicaragua earthquake.

• Baseball Hall of Fame
  • Yogi Berra
  • Josh Gibson
  • Lefty Gomez
  • Will Harridge
  • Sandy Koufax (at 36, the youngest inductee ever)
  • Buck Leonard
  • Early Wynn
  • Ross Youngs
• Most Valuable Player
  • Dick Allen, Chicago White Sox, 1B (AL)
  • Johnny Bench, Cincinnati Reds, C (NL)
• Cy Young Award
  • Gaylord Perry, Cleveland Indians (AL)
  • Steve Carlton, Philadelphia Phillies (NL)
• Rookie of the Year
  • Carlton Fisk, Boston Red Sox, C (AL)
  • Jon Matlack, New York Mets, P (NL)
• Gold Glove Award
  • George Scott (1B) (AL)
  • Doug Griffin (2B) (AL)
  • Brooks Robinson (3B) (AL)
  • Ed Brinkman (SS) (AL)
  • Paul Blair (OF) (AL)
  • Bobby Murcer (OF) (AL)
  • Ken Berry (OF) (AL)
  • Carlton Fisk (C) (AL)
  • Jim Kaat (P) (AL)

¹ National League Triple Crown Pitching Winner

• January 13 – Bernice Gera wins a discrimination suit against organized baseball, opening the door for her to become the first female umpire in professional baseball.
• January 19 – The Baseball Writers' Association of America elects Sandy Koufax, Yogi Berra and Early Wynn to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Koufax makes it in his first try and, aged 36, is the youngest honoree in history.
• February 8 – Commissioner Bowie Kuhn announces that the Special Committee on the Negro leagues has selected Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard for the Hall of Fame.
• March 16 – Reigning American League Cy Young and MVP award winner Vida Blue announces his retirement. It will be a short one as he will rejoin the Oakland Athletics in May.
• April 1–13 – The first players' strike in baseball history wipes 6–8 games off the schedule of each MLB team. It is agreed that the missed games will be canceled altogether and not made up; this results in teams not being scheduled for the same number of games in the 1972 season. The schedule imbalance would lead to the Detroit Tigers edging the Boston Red Sox by only one-half game to win the American League East Division championship. The strike results in the team owners adding salary arbitration to the collective bargaining agreement, and increasing pension fund payments.
• April 2 – With the sudden death of Gil Hodges, Yogi Berra is named manager of the New York Mets.
• April 16 – Chicago Cubs pitcher Burt Hooton pitches a 4–0 no-hitter over the Philadelphia Phillies at Chicago's Wrigley Field.
• April 21 – At Arlington Stadium, Frank Howard hits the first home run in Texas Rangers history, a solo shot off Clyde Wright of the California Angels.
• May 11 – The San Francisco Giants trade Willie Mays to the New York Mets for minor league pitcher Charlie Williams and cash.
• May 14 – In front of a Mother's Day crowd of 35,000 in New York's Shea Stadium, Willie Mays makes a triumphant return to New York with the Mets, hitting a game-winning home run against his old teammates (the Giants). He scores in the first inning on Rusty Staub's grand slam and his solo homer in the fifth inning snaps a 4–4 tie. The final score: Mets 5, Giants 4.
• May 28 – The Milwaukee Brewers fire manager Dave Bristol, replacing him with Del Crandall. Coach Roy McMillan takes over until Crandall arrives and guides the team to a 4–1 loss to the Boston Red Sox.
• June 18 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules 5–3 in favor of Major League Baseball in the lawsuit (Flood v. Kuhn) brought by Curt Flood.
• June 24 – In the first game of a doubleheader between the visiting Auburn Phillies and Geneva Senators of the Class A New York–Pennsylvania League, Bernice Gera becomes the first woman to umpire a professional baseball game. She resigns between games after being verbally abused by some spectators and by some involved in the game.
• July 2 – San Francisco's Willie McCovey hits his 14th career grand slam home run to pace the Giants' 9–3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Pitcher Randy Moffitt wins his first major league game and receives a congratulatory telegram from his sister Billie Jean King, who is playing at Wimbledon.
• July 4 – At Shea Stadium, the Mets Tom Seaver has a no-hitter going into the 9th inning against the San Diego Padres when, with one out Leron Lee hits a clean single to center. The next batter, Nate Colbert, hits into a double play to end the game. The Mets win, 2-0.
• July 11 – At Oakland, Boston's Marty Pattin has his no-hit bid foiled when Reggie Jackson hits a one-out single in the ninth inning. Boston wins 4–0.
• July 14 – In a game between the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals in Kansas City, the Tigers' catcher, Tom Haller, has his older brother Bill Haller right over his shoulder, the first time brothers have served as catcher and home plate umpire in the same Major League game. The Royals win 1–0.
• July 18 – Against the Philadelphia Phillies at San Diego Stadium, San Diego Padre pitcher Steve Arlin has a no-hitter broken up with two out in the ninth by a Denny Doyle single.[26] Doyle later advances to second on a balk, then scores on a Tommy Hutton single. Arlin comes away with a two-hitter (one of three he pitches on the season; he also hurls two one-hitters during a season in which he finishes 10–21) in a 5–1 Padre victory. It was the closest a Padre pitcher had come to a no-hitter until April 9, 2021, when Joe Musgrove no-hit the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas.
• July 25 – At Atlanta Stadium, the National League wins the All-Star Game over the American League 4–3, behind hometown hero Hank Aaron's two-run home run and Joe Morgan's 10th-inning RBI single. Morgan is named MVP. It is the seventh time the Midsummer Classic has gone into extra innings.
• August 17 – Led by Steve Carlton of the Philadelphia Phillies, they beat the powerful Cincinnati Reds 9-4. This was Carlton's 15th straight victory, as well as his 20th win overall.
• August 29 – Jim Barr of the San Francisco Giants retires the first twenty batters in today's game. Added to the last twenty one batters he retired in his previous game, it establishes a record for consecutive batters retired. It will be tied in 2007 by Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Bobby Jenks.
• September 2 – At Wrigley Field, Chicago Cub pitcher Milt Pappas no-hits the San Diego Padres 8–0. Pappas retires the first 26 batters and comes to within one strike of a perfect game with a 2–2 count to pinch-hitter Larry Stahl, but home-plate umpire Bruce Froemming calls the next two pitches, both of which are close, balls. Undeterred, Pappas ends the game by retiring the next batter, ex-Cub Garry Jestadt. This would be the last no-hitter the Cubs would be involved with until Carlos Zambrano would no-hit the Houston Astros on September 14, 2008. The perfect game bid is also the only one, to date, to be broken up on a walk to the 27th batter.
• September 15 – Steve Carlton beats the Montreal Expos 5–3, raising his record to 24–9. The rest of the Philadelphia Phillies pitchers have a combined record of 26–80.
• September 20 - The Atlanta Braves defeat the Houston Astros 13-6, with all 13 runs being scored in the second inning.[27]
• September 21 – The Pittsburgh Pirates clinch the National League East title with a 6–2 victory over the New York Mets.
• September 22 – The Cincinnati Reds clinch the National League West crown with a 4–3 road victory over the Houston Astros.
• September 30 – During the Pirates' 5–0 win over the Mets at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium, Roberto Clemente hits a double off New York's Jon Matlack in the fourth inning to get his 3,000th and final regular season hit in the major leagues.
• October 2 – Montreal Expo pitcher Bill Stoneman no-hits the New York Mets 7–0 in the first game of a doubleheader at Jarry Park. The no-hitter is 1) the second of Stoneman's career (the first having come on April 17, 1969—only nine games into the Expos' existence), 2) the first no-hitter ever pitched in a regular season game in Canada, and 3) the latest, calendar-wise, that a regular-season no-hitter has been pitched, tied with Addie Joss' perfect game in 1908.
• October 3 – The Detroit Tigers clinch the American League East as Woodie Fryman beats Luis Tiant of the Boston Red Sox 3–1 for his 10th win. Detroit's Chuck Seelbach picks up his 14th save and Al Kaline singles in the winning run for Detroit.
• October 8 – In the seventh inning of Game 2 of the ALCS, Oakland Athletics shortstop Bert Campaneris is hit in the ankle by a pitch thrown by the Detroit Tigers' Lerrin LaGrow. An enraged Campaneris throws his bat at LaGrow, sparking a bench-clearing brawl in which Tiger manager Billy Martin has to be restrained from going after Campaneris. Both Campaneris and LaGrow are suspended for the rest of the series, with Campaneris being tagged with a fine as well. The Athletics win the game 6–0.
• October 11 – The Pittsburgh Pirates carry a lead into the bottom of the ninth inning of the final game of the NLCS. However, the Reds' Johnny Bench homers to tie the game. After some runners reach base, the Pirates' pitcher, Bob Moose, unleashes a wild pitch, permitting the pennant-clinching run to score. It proves to be Clemente's final game, as he died in a New Year's Eve plane crash.
• October 12 - The Oakland Athletics win their first pennant since 1931 by defeating the Detroit Tigers 2-1 in the decisive fifth game of the American League Championship Series. The victory proves costly when star outfielder Reggie Jackson tears a hamstring on a successful double steal which tied the game 1-1, knocking him out of the World Series.
• October 22 – The Oakland Athletics win the World Series with a 3–2 victory in Game 7 over the Cincinnati Reds. Gene Tenace, who had only five home runs in the regular season but hit four in the Series, is named MVP.
• November 8 – The St. Louis Cardinals bring Tim McCarver back to the Gateway City, sending Jorge Roque to the Montreal Expos in exchange.
• November 27 – The New York Yankees send catcher John Ellis, infielder Jerry Kenney, and outfielders Charlie Spikes and Rusty Torres to the Cleveland Indians in return for third baseman Graig Nettles and catcher Jerry Moses. It proves to be a great trade for the Yankees, as Nettles would become a stalwart on the Bronx Bombers' championship teams later in the decade.
• December 10 – The American League votes unanimously to adopt the designated hitter rule on a three-year experimental basis. The DH will replace the pitcher in the lineup unless otherwise noted before the start of the game. In the December 1975 meeting, the AL will vote to permanently adopt the DH. The National League declines to follow suit, but is forced to adopt the DH by Commissioner Rob Manfred in 2020 (the DH in the NL was repealed in 2021 when the Commissioner's office and MLBPA do not come to an agreement prior to the season, but reinstated as part of the CBA between MLB and the MLBPA in 2022).

NBC was the exclusive national TV broadcaster of MLB. While the network had occasionally aired a limited number of Monday night games in past seasons, 1972 was the first year that NBC signed a contract for a regular slate of Monday Night Baseball.[28] The network continued to air the weekend Game of the Week, the All-Star Game, both League Championship Series, and the World Series.

• 1972 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference