The 1972 New York Yankees season was the 70th season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 79–76, finishing games behind the Detroit Tigers. New York was managed by Ralph Houk. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

Offseason October 13, 1971: Jim Lyttle was traded by the Yankees to the Chicago White Sox for Rich Hinton.Rich Hinton page at Baseball Reference December 2, 1971: Stan Bahnsen was traded by the Yankees to the Chicago White Sox for Rich McKinney.Rich McKinney page at Baseball Reference December 2, 1971: Terry Ley and Gary Jones were traded by the Yankees to the Texas Rangers for Bernie Allen.Bernie Allen page at Baseball Reference January 20, 1972: The Yankees traded a player to be named later to the Chicago Cubs for Johnny Callison. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Jack Aker to the Cubs on May 17.Johnny Callison page at Baseball Reference February 2, 1972: Hal Lanier was purchased by the Yankees from the San Francisco Giants.Hal Lanier page at Baseball Reference March 22, 1972: Danny Cater and a player to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Boston Red Sox for Sparky Lyle. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Mario Guerrero to the Red Sox on June 30.Danny Cater page at Baseball Reference March 31, 1972: Frank Tepedino was purchased by the Yankees from the Milwaukee Brewers.Frank Tepedino page at Baseball Reference

Regular season

Felipe Alou achieved two milestones in 1972. He got the 2,000th hit of his career and hit his 200th home run of his career. Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio were at Yankee Stadium for Old-Timers' Day on July 22, 1972. The event at the stadium brought together some of the greatest living Yankees and included an exhibition game featuring retired players.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions June 6, 1972: 1972 Major League Baseball draft Mickey Klutts was drafted by the Yankees in the 4th round.Mickey Klutts page at Baseball Reference Bob Kammeyer was drafted by the Yankees in the 21st round.Bob Kammeyer page at Baseball Reference September 7, 1972: Rich Hinton was purchased from the Yankees by the Texas Rangers.

Roster 1972 New York Yankees Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader 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 140 511 143 .280 7 46 1B 107 299 80 .268 14 49 2B 147 547 132 .241 3 37 3B 71 250 62 .248 0 22 SS 126 391 91 .233 1 32 LF 155 556 150 .270 10 54 CF 153 585 171 .292 33 96 RF 95 275 71 .258 9 34

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 120 324 90 .278 6 37 84 220 50 .227 9 21 Rusty Torres 80 199 42 .211 3 13 John Ellis 52 136 40 .294 5 25 37 121 26 .215 1 7 Jerry Kenney 50 119 25 .210 0 7 Ron Swoboda 63 113 28 .248 1 12 60 103 22 .214 0 6 Charlie Spikes 14 34 5 .147 0 3 Frank Tepedino 8 8 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 Mel Stottlemyre 36 260.0 14 18 3.22 110 35 250.1 17 15 3.24 100 Steve Kline 32 236.1 16 9 2.40 58 29 175.1 10 13 3.70 78 20 97.0 8 5 3.06 58

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 7 16.2 1 0 4.86 13 Casey Cox 5 11.2 0 1 4.63 4 Larry Gowell 2 7.0 0 1 1.29 7 Doc Medich 1 0.0 0 0 inf 0

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 59 9 5 35 1.92 75 Lindy McDaniel 37 3 1 0 2.25 47 29 1 3 3 2.34 37 Ron Klimkowski 16 0 3 1 4.02 11 Jim Roland 16 0 1 0 5.04 13 12 0 1 0 4.24 7 4 0 0 0 3.00 1 2 0 0 0 11.57 2 1 0 0 0 0.00 4

Awards and honors

League leaders Sparky Lyle, American League leader, Saves (35) Bobby Murcer, American League leader, Runs (102)Yankee for Life, Bobby Murcer and Glen Waggoner, p. 68, Harper Collins, 2008, New York,

Farm system

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

Notes

References 1972 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference 1972 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com