1972 Texas Rangers | ||
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League | American League | |
Division | West | |
Ballpark | Arlington Stadium | |
City | Arlington, Texas | |
Owners | Bob Short | |
General managers | Joe Burke | |
Managers | Ted Williams | |
Television | KDTV | |
Radio | KRLD (Don Drysdale, Bill Mercer) | |
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The Texas Rangers 1972 season involved the Rangers finishing sixth in the American League West with a record of 54 wins and 100 losses. This was the Rangers' first season in Texas, as well as the club's first year in the AL West, after playing their first 11 seasons in Washington, D.C., and from 1969 to 1971 in the American League East. The Rangers were dead last in batting in the major leagues with a .217 team batting average. They failed to record an extra-base hit in 38 of their 154 games, the most of any team in the live-ball era (1920 onwards).[1]
Offseason
[edit]- December 2, 1971: Bernie Allen was traded by the Rangers to the New York Yankees for Terry Ley and Gary Jones.[2]
- December 2, 1971: Del Unser, Gary Jones, Terry Ley, and Denny Riddleberger were traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for Roy Foster, Ken Suarez, Mike Paul, and Rich Hand.[3]
- December 2, 1971: Paul Casanova was traded by the Rangers to the Atlanta Braves for Hal King.[4]
- March 4, 1972: Denny McLain was traded by the Rangers to the Oakland Athletics for Jim Panther and Don Stanhouse.[5]
- March 7, 1972: Tim Cullen was released by the Rangers.[6]
- Prior to 1972 season: Lew Beasley was acquired by the Rangers from the Baltimore Orioles.[7]
Regular season
[edit]On April 15, 1972, the Rangers played their first American League game against the California Angels on the road at Anaheim Stadium. The Angels' Andy Messersmith hurled a complete-game, two-hit shutout, and the Rangers fell, 1–0. Toby Harrah and Hal King had their only hits, both singles, but catcher King made two errors. His second miscue led to the Angels' winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Dick Bosman was the hard-luck loser.[8]
The first game in Texas
[edit]On April 21, 1972, the Rangers' first game in Texas came six days later at Arlington Stadium against the Angels before 20,105 spectators. This time, Bosman emerged triumphant as the Rangers built a 6–1 lead and hung on to win their home opener, 7–6. Frank Howard and Dave Nelson each homered for Texas, while Lenny Randle and Harrah each collected three hits. Harrah scored three runs, and Randle notched four runs batted in.[8]
Opening Day starters, April 15, 1972
[edit]2 | Lenny Randle | 2B |
1 | Dave Nelson | 3B |
5 | Don Mincher | 1B |
15 | Hal King | C |
33 | Frank Howard | LF |
4 | Larry Biittner | RF |
35 | Joe Lovitto | CF |
11 | Toby Harrah | SS |
27 | Dick Bosman | P[8] |
Season standings
[edit]Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oakland Athletics | 93 | 62 | .600 | — | 48–29 | 45–33 |
Chicago White Sox | 87 | 67 | .565 | 5½ | 55–23 | 32–44 |
Minnesota Twins | 77 | 77 | .500 | 15½ | 42–32 | 35–45 |
Kansas City Royals | 76 | 78 | .494 | 16½ | 44–33 | 32–45 |
California Angels | 75 | 80 | .484 | 18 | 44–36 | 31–44 |
Texas Rangers | 54 | 100 | .351 | 38½ | 31–46 | 23–54 |
Record vs. opponents
[edit]Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | TEX | |
Baltimore | — | 7–11 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 10–5 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | |
Boston | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 6–6 | 8–7 | 5–9 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 9–3 | 8–4 | |
California | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 7–11 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 9–6 | 7–5 | 7–8 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 10–7 | |
Chicago | 4–8 | 6–6 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 8–9 | 9–3 | 8–6 | 7–5 | 7–8 | 14–4 | |
Cleveland | 10–8 | 7–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 10–8 | 6–6 | 5–10 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 2–10 | 9–3 | |
Detroit | 8–10 | 9–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 8–10 | — | 7–5 | 10–8 | 9–3 | 7–9 | 4–8 | 10–2 | |
Kansas City | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–9 | 9–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — | 7–5 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 8–6 | |
Milwaukee | 5–10 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 10–5 | 8–10 | 5–7 | — | 4–8 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 5–7 | |
Minnesota | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–7 | 6–8 | 4–8 | 3–9 | 9–9 | 8–4 | — | 6–6 | 8–9 | 11–7 | |
New York | 6–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 9–7 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 6–6 | — | 3–9 | 8–4 | |
Oakland | 6–6 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 8–7 | 10–2 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 9–8 | 9–3 | — | 11–4 | |
Texas | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–10 | 4–14 | 3–9 | 2–10 | 6–8 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 4–11 | — |
Notable transactions
[edit]- June 6, 1972: 1972 Major League Baseball Draft
- Brian Doyle was drafted by the Rangers in the 4th round.[9]
- Jim Sundberg was drafted by the Rangers in the 8th round, but did not sign.[10]
- July 20, 1972: Don Mincher and Ted Kubiak were traded by the Rangers to the Oakland Athletics for Marty Martínez, Vic Harris and a player to be named later.[11]
- August 31, 1972: Frank Howard was purchased from the Rangers by the Detroit Tigers.[12]
- September 7, 1972: Rich Hinton was purchased by the Rangers from the New York Yankees.[13]
Roster
[edit]1972 Texas Rangers | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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Player stats
[edit]= Indicates team leader |
Batting
[edit]Starters by position
[edit]Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | Dick Billings | 133 | 469 | 41 | 119 | .254 | 5 | 58 | 1 |
1B | Frank Howard | 95 | 287 | 28 | 70 | .244 | 9 | 31 | 1 |
2B | Lenny Randle | 74 | 249 | 23 | 48 | .193 | 2 | 21 | 4 |
3B | Dave Nelson | 145 | 499 | 68 | 113 | .226 | 2 | 28 | 51 |
SS | Toby Harrah | 116 | 374 | 47 | 97 | .259 | 1 | 31 | 16 |
LF | Tom Grieve | 64 | 142 | 12 | 29 | .204 | 3 | 11 | 1 |
CF | Joe Lovitto | 117 | 330 | 23 | 74 | .224 | 1 | 19 | 13 |
RF | Ted Ford | 129 | 429 | 43 | 101 | .235 | 14 | 50 | 4 |
Other batters
[edit]Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Larry Biittner | 137 | 382 | 34 | 99 | .259 | 3 | 31 | 1 |
Elliott Maddox | 98 | 294 | 40 | 74 | .252 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
Don Mincher | 61 | 191 | 23 | 45 | .236 | 6 | 39 | 2 |
Vic Harris | 61 | 186 | 8 | 26 | .140 | 0 | 10 | 7 |
Dalton Jones | 72 | 151 | 14 | 24 | .159 | 4 | 19 | 1 |
Jim Mason | 46 | 147 | 10 | 29 | .197 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
Hal King | 50 | 122 | 12 | 22 | .180 | 4 | 12 | 0 |
Bill Fahey | 39 | 119 | 8 | 20 | .168 | 1 | 10 | 4 |
Ted Kubiak | 46 | 116 | 5 | 26 | .224 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
Jeff Burroughs | 22 | 65 | 4 | 12 | .185 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
Tom Ragland | 25 | 58 | 3 | 10 | .172 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Marty Martínez | 26 | 41 | 3 | 6 | .146 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Ken Suarez | 25 | 33 | 2 | 5 | .152 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Jim Driscoll | 15 | 18 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
[edit]Starting pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dick Bosman | 29 | 173.1 | 8 | 10 | 3.63 | 105 |
Rich Hand | 30 | 170.2 | 10 | 14 | 3.32 | 109 |
Don Stanhouse | 24 | 104.2 | 2 | 9 | 3.78 | 78 |
Other pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pete Broberg | 39 | 176.1 | 5 | 12 | 4.29 | 133 |
Mike Paul | 49 | 161.2 | 8 | 9 | 2.17 | 108 |
Bill Gogolewski | 36 | 150.2 | 4 | 11 | 4.24 | 95 |
Jim Shellenback | 22 | 57.0 | 2 | 4 | 3.47 | 30 |
Gerry Janeski | 4 | 12.2 | 0 | 1 | 2.84 | 7 |
Relief pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Horacio Piña | 60 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 3.20 | 60 |
Paul Lindblad | 66 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 2.62 | 51 |
Jim Panther | 58 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 4.13 | 44 |
Casey Cox | 35 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4.41 | 27 |
Steve Lawson | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.81 | 13 |
Rich Hinton | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.38 | 4 |
Jim Roland | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.10 | 4 |
Jan Dukes | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 0 |
Farm system
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ "Team Batting Game Finder: In the Regular Season, from 1920 to 2021, requiring Extra Base Hits = 0, sorted by most games". Stathead. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
- ^ "Bernie Allen Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ^ "Del Unser Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ^ "Paul Casanova Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ^ "Denny McLain Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ^ "Tim Cullen Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ^ "Lew Beasley Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ^ a b c Kissell, Robert; Poserina, Jim (2017), "Statistics in Baseball * *The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at 20 Sunset Rd., Newark, DE 19711.", Optimal Sports Math, Statistics, and Fantasy, Elsevier, pp. 277–295, ISBN 978-0-12-805163-4, retrieved February 18, 2021
- ^ "Brian Doyle Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ^ "Jim Sundberg Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ^ "Vic Harris Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ^ "Frank Howard Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ^ "Rich Hinton Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ^ "1972 Texas Rangers Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
References
[edit]- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.
- 1972 Texas Rangers team page at Baseball Reference
- 1972 Texas Rangers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com