1972 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1972 Season

The 1972 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 1972 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1972

I calculate Player won-lost records two ways: pWins, which tie to team wins and eWins, which control for context and the ability of one's teammates. For players with more pWins than eWins, their Player wins contributed to more team wins than one might expect; for players with more eWins than pWins, just the opposite is true: their Player wins translated into fewer team wins than expected. Or more briefly: a player with more pWins than eWins was better in context, a player with more eWins than pWins was worse in context.

The top 10 players in pWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		pWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Steve Carlton	25.0	14.9	11.0	13.4	1	Steve Carlton	25.0	14.9	11.0	13.4
2	Joe L. Morgan	25.7	16.1	10.2	12.3	2	Joe L. Morgan	25.7	16.1	10.2	12.3
3	Dick Allen	23.3	12.1	9.4	11.1	3	Dick Allen	23.3	12.1	9.4	11.1
4	Cesar Cedeno	24.3	15.4	7.9	9.9	4	Cesar Cedeno	24.3	15.4	7.9	9.9
5	Johnny Bench	20.1	13.2	6.9	8.6	5	Gaylord Perry	24.1	18.5	6.5	9.1
6	Bob Gibson	19.9	14.1	6.7	8.7	6	Bob Gibson	19.9	14.1	6.7	8.7
7	Gaylord Perry	24.1	18.5	6.5	9.1	7	Johnny Bench	20.1	13.2	6.9	8.6
8	Catfish Hunter	19.3	13.8	6.3	8.3	8	Catfish Hunter	19.3	13.8	6.3	8.3
9	Jim Palmer	18.9	13.7	5.9	7.8	9	Jim Palmer	18.9	13.7	5.9	7.8
10	Willie Stargell	20.3	13.0	5.5	7.1	10	Billy Williams	23.7	16.8	5.4	7.4

The top 10 players in eWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		eWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						eWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL		Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
1	Steve Carlton	23.6	16.4	8.4	10.7	1	Steve Carlton	23.6	16.4	8.4	10.7
2	Joe L. Morgan	24.5	17.4	7.7	9.8	2	Joe L. Morgan	24.5	17.4	7.7	9.8
3	Gaylord Perry	24.1	18.6	7.0	9.6	3	Gaylord Perry	24.1	18.6	7.0	9.6
4	Dick Allen	21.9	13.5	6.8	8.5	4	Cesar Cedeno	23.7	16.1	6.6	8.6
5	Cesar Cedeno	23.7	16.1	6.6	8.6	5	Dick Allen	21.9	13.5	6.8	8.5
6	Johnny Bench	19.7	13.5	6.4	8.0	6	Bob Gibson	19.6	14.4	6.1	8.2
7	Bob Gibson	19.6	14.4	6.1	8.2	7	Johnny Bench	19.7	13.5	6.4	8.0
8	Bobby Murcer	23.3	16.8	5.5	7.5	8	Bobby Murcer	23.3	16.8	5.5	7.5
9	Carlton Fisk	15.4	10.1	5.4	6.7	9	Don Sutton	17.7	13.8	5.1	7.0
10	Don Sutton	17.7	13.8	5.1	7.0	10	Chris Speier	21.1	17.4	4.8	6.7

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1972 at the end of this article.

1972 Postseason

The 1972 postseason might have been the best postseason of all time. All three postseason series went the maximum number of games and 11 of the 17 postseason games were decided by a single run, including 6 of 7 World Series games. At the end of all of that, the Oakland A's won the franchise's first World Series in 42 years, two cities ago.

The best players in the 1972 postseason, as measured by Player won-lost records, are shown in the next table.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	1972 Postseason: Total

Gene Tenace	OAK	1.9	1.1	0.9
Blue Moon Odom	OAK	1.6	1.0	0.9
Johnny Bench	CIN	1.8	1.1	0.8
Catfish Hunter	OAK	1.9	1.3	0.8
Joe Coleman Jr.	DET	1.0	0.3	0.8
Jack Billingham	CIN	1.3	0.7	0.8
Tom Hall	CIN	0.8	0.3	0.6
Rollie Fingers	OAK	1.2	0.9	0.6
Vida Blue	OAK	1.5	1.0	0.6
Al Oliver	PIT	1.1	0.6	0.6

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1972 World Series

Gene Tenace	OAK	1.4	0.5	0.9
Catfish Hunter	OAK	1.3	0.9	0.4
Jack Billingham	CIN	0.9	0.5	0.4
Joe Rudi	OAK	1.0	0.6	0.4
Rollie Fingers	OAK	1.0	0.6	0.4

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1972 Postseason: League Championship Series

Joe Coleman Jr.	DET	1.0	0.3	0.7
Vida Blue	OAK	0.8	0.2	0.6
Blue Moon Odom	OAK	0.9	0.3	0.6
Bert Campaneris	OAK	0.7	0.1	0.6
Ross Grimsley Jr.	CIN	0.7	0.2	0.5

Best of 1972 by Factor and Position

Next, let's look at the top players in various aspects of the game.

Best by Factor: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, Fielding

There are four basic factors for which players earn Player won-lost records: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, and Fielding. The top players in 1972 in wins over positional average (WOPA) by factor were as follows.


Batting
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Dick Allen	19.0	10.2	8.4	1	Dick Allen	20.0	9.1	10.5
2	Billy Williams	16.5	10.4	5.7	2	Willie Stargell	17.2	9.2	7.6
3	Johnny Bench	16.5	10.9	5.2	3	Billy Williams	16.8	10.2	6.2
4	Bobby Murcer	16.4	11.0	5.0	4	Joe L. Morgan	16.3	9.8	6.1
5	Willie Stargell	15.9	10.5	4.9	5	Johnny Bench	16.8	10.6	5.9
6	John Mayberry Sr.	16.4	11.2	4.8	6	Reggie Jackson	14.9	9.1	5.4
7	Carlos May	15.6	10.6	4.6	7	Bobby Murcer	16.7	10.8	5.4
8	Reggie Jackson	14.4	9.6	4.4	8	Cesar Cedeno	15.1	9.3	5.4
9	Nate Colbert	15.3	10.7	4.2	9	Bob Watson	15.4	9.7	5.3
10	Mike Epstein	13.6	9.1	4.2	10	Carlos May	15.8	10.3	5.1

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Bobby Bonds	3.2	0.9	2.3	1	Bobby Bonds	3.2	0.8	2.4
2	Cesar Cedeno	3.1	1.6	1.4	2	Bert Campaneris	2.7	1.1	1.5
3	Bert Campaneris	2.6	1.2	1.4	3	Joe L. Morgan	3.0	1.6	1.4
4	Joe L. Morgan	2.9	1.6	1.2	4	Cesar Cedeno	2.9	1.7	1.1
5	Roger Metzger	2.0	1.1	0.8	5	Roger Metzger	2.1	1.1	0.9
6	Don Baylor	1.3	0.5	0.7	6	Tommy Harper	2.0	1.1	0.8
7	Rod Carew	1.8	1.1	0.7	7	Roberto Clemente	1.1	0.5	0.7
8	Freddie Patek	1.7	1.0	0.7	8	Roy White	1.8	1.1	0.6
9	Dave Nelson	2.9	2.2	0.6	9	Ron Hunt	1.5	0.8	0.6
10	Toby Harrah	1.3	0.7	0.6	10	Willie Davis	1.6	1.0	0.6

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Steve Carlton	19.9	14.3	5.7	1	Steve Carlton	21.9	12.2	9.7
2	Gaylord Perry	21.2	16.3	4.8	2	Bob Gibson	17.7	11.4	6.3
3	Don Sutton	16.2	12.1	4.1	3	Catfish Hunter	17.2	11.5	5.7
4	Bob Gibson	16.5	12.5	4.0	4	Gaylord Perry	21.5	16.0	5.5
5	Catfish Hunter	15.8	12.9	3.0	5	Don Sutton	16.8	11.5	5.3
6	Pat Dobson	15.3	12.6	2.7	6	Jim Palmer	16.4	11.7	4.7
7	Rick Wise	13.9	11.6	2.4	7	Mickey Lolich	20.2	15.7	4.5
8	Sparky Lyle	8.6	6.3	2.3	8	Tug McGraw	8.4	4.0	4.4
9	Tug McGraw	7.3	5.0	2.3	9	Terry Forster	8.4	4.2	4.3
10	Bob Moose	12.4	10.1	2.3	10	Phil Niekro	16.2	11.9	4.2

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Gaylord Perry	0.9	0.5	0.4	1	Gaylord Perry	0.9	0.4	0.5
2	Tom Seaver	0.7	0.2	0.4	2	Tom Seaver	0.6	0.2	0.4
3	Mel Stottlemyre Sr.	0.9	0.5	0.4	3	Phil Niekro	0.6	0.3	0.4
4	Paul Splittorff	0.7	0.3	0.4	4	Mel Stottlemyre Sr.	0.9	0.5	0.4
5	Al Downing	0.6	0.3	0.3	5	Steve Blass	0.6	0.3	0.4


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Johnny Bench	1.7	1.2	0.5	1	Ed Herrmann	2.1	1.5	0.7
2	Ellie Rodriguez	1.8	1.4	0.5	2	Jerry Grote	0.9	0.4	0.6
3	Carlton Fisk	1.9	1.5	0.4	3	Johnny Bench	1.7	1.2	0.6
4	John Boccabella	1.1	0.7	0.4	4	Duffy Dyer	1.8	1.3	0.5
5	Jerry Grote	0.8	0.5	0.4	5	Thurman Munson	1.9	1.5	0.4


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tony Perez	2.2	1.8	0.4	1	Tony Perez	2.3	1.7	0.5
2	Nate Colbert	2.4	2.2	0.2	2	Joe Pepitone	1.3	0.9	0.4
3	Don Mincher	1.1	0.9	0.2	3	Ed Kranepool	1.4	1.0	0.4
4	Rich Reese	1.0	0.8	0.2	4	Dick Allen	2.1	1.7	0.3
5	Ed Goodson	0.7	0.5	0.2	5	Don Mincher	1.1	0.8	0.3


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Joe L. Morgan	5.9	5.3	0.7	1	Joe L. Morgan	6.5	4.7	1.7
2	Davey Johnson	4.2	3.6	0.7	2	Dave Cash	4.9	3.4	1.5
3	Dave Cash	4.4	3.9	0.5	3	Davey Johnson	4.4	3.4	1.0
4	Rod Carew	5.2	4.8	0.5	4	Rod Carew	5.3	4.6	0.7
5	Ron Theobald	4.0	3.7	0.3	5	Jack Brohamer	5.3	4.7	0.6


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Aurelio Rodriguez	5.4	4.2	1.2	1	Aurelio Rodriguez	5.7	3.9	1.8
2	Brooks Robinson	5.3	4.1	1.2	2	Brooks Robinson	5.2	4.2	1.0
3	Ken McMullen	4.3	3.6	0.7	3	Denis Menke	4.7	3.8	0.9
4	Richie Hebner	3.7	3.0	0.7	4	Ed Spiezio	3.1	2.4	0.7
5	Dave 'Soup' Campbell	1.2	0.8	0.4	5	Dave 'Soup' Campbell	1.3	0.7	0.6


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ed Brinkman	6.3	5.6	0.7	1	Bert Campaneris	7.2	5.9	1.4
2	Bert Campaneris	6.9	6.2	0.7	2	Ed Brinkman	6.5	5.4	1.1
3	Larry Bowa	5.8	5.1	0.7	3	Freddie Patek	6.0	5.0	1.0
4	Frank Duffy	5.2	4.6	0.6	4	Gene Alley	4.8	3.9	1.0
5	Freddie Patek	5.8	5.3	0.6	5	Leo Cardenas	7.1	6.5	0.6


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ken Henderson	4.3	3.1	1.2	1	Joe Rudi	6.9	4.9	1.9
2	Roy White	7.8	6.9	0.9	2	Ken Henderson	4.2	3.2	1.0
3	Joe Rudi	6.3	5.5	0.8	3	Vic Davalillo	2.9	1.9	1.0
4	Jerry Morales	1.2	0.7	0.5	4	Roy White	7.8	6.9	0.9
5	Steve Brye	2.3	1.9	0.4	5	Steve Brye	2.4	1.7	0.7


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Del Unser	3.9	2.5	1.4	1	Cesar Cedeno	6.4	4.4	1.9
2	Bobby Tolan	6.0	4.8	1.2	2	Mickey Stanley	5.4	3.8	1.6
3	Dave May	6.1	4.9	1.2	3	Del Unser	3.7	2.6	1.1
4	Cesar Cedeno	5.9	4.9	1.0	4	Ken Berry	4.9	3.8	1.1
5	Johnny Jeter	4.2	3.3	0.9	5	Bobby Tolan	5.9	4.9	1.0


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Billy Conigliaro	3.1	2.1	1.0	1	Cesar Geronimo	3.8	2.4	1.4
2	Cesar Geronimo	3.4	2.7	0.8	2	Cesar Tovar	4.9	3.9	1.1
3	Cesar Tovar	4.7	4.1	0.7	3	Billy Conigliaro	3.0	2.1	0.8
4	Jimmy Wynn	5.5	4.9	0.5	4	Cito Gaston	3.5	2.8	0.7
5	Larry Stahl	2.1	1.6	0.5	5	Roberto Clemente	3.6	2.9	0.7

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1972 Major-League leaders by position. The figures shown here only include Player decisions earned while playing this particular position.


Catcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Johnny Bench	16.2	11.2	5.1	1	Johnny Bench	16.3	11.1	5.4
2	Carlton Fisk	15.2	10.3	5.0	2	Carlton Fisk	14.8	10.6	4.4
3	Thurman Munson	13.7	12.1	1.8	3	Manny Sanguillen	14.1	11.2	3.1
4	Bill Freehan	11.7	10.1	1.8	4	Bill Freehan	12.1	9.7	2.5
5	Ed Kirkpatrick	10.8	9.5	1.5	5	Ted Simmons	16.1	14.1	2.2


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dick Allen	20.8	12.9	5.6	1	Dick Allen	22.3	11.3	9.0
2	John Mayberry Sr.	18.9	13.8	2.6	2	Willie Stargell	16.0	9.0	5.5
3	Mike Epstein	16.1	11.5	2.6	3	Tony Perez	16.2	11.2	3.0
4	Willie Stargell	14.6	10.3	2.6	4	Carl Yastrzemski	6.7	3.8	2.3
5	Nate Colbert	18.6	13.9	2.4	5	Mike Epstein	16.0	11.7	2.3


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Joe L. Morgan	24.1	17.8	7.0	1	Joe L. Morgan	25.7	16.1	10.2
2	Rod Carew	18.4	16.1	2.9	2	Rod Carew	18.6	16.0	3.2
3	Ron Hunt	14.7	13.5	1.7	3	Tony Taylor	7.2	5.1	2.3
4	Ted Sizemore	14.3	13.5	1.3	4	Dick McAuliffe	13.3	12.0	1.7
5	Dick McAuliffe	12.9	12.4	1.0	5	Dave Cash	12.8	11.7	1.5


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Richie Hebner	15.6	11.4	3.9	1	Sal Bando	21.5	16.2	4.9
2	Ron Santo	16.7	13.5	2.9	2	Rico Petrocelli	18.7	15.4	2.9
3	Sal Bando	20.2	17.4	2.3	3	Richie Hebner	14.8	12.2	2.4
4	Darrell Evans	16.0	14.0	1.7	4	Aurelio Rodriguez	19.9	17.1	2.3
5	Graig Nettles	19.0	16.9	1.7	5	Ron Santo	16.3	13.9	2.1


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Chris Speier	20.9	17.6	4.5	1	Bert Campaneris	21.7	18.6	4.4
2	Bert Campaneris	21.1	19.3	3.1	2	Bobby Grich	11.7	8.7	3.6
3	Bobby Grich	11.3	9.2	2.7	3	Chris Speier	20.2	18.4	2.9
4	Toby Harrah	13.2	12.1	1.9	4	Luis Aparicio	13.8	12.9	1.8
5	Bill E. Russell	15.2	14.9	1.2	5	Gene Alley	12.0	10.9	1.8


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Billy Williams	22.7	16.8	4.5	1	Billy Williams	23.1	16.8	5.3
2	Carlos May	22.9	18.0	3.3	2	Joe Rudi	23.4	17.9	4.8
3	Joe Rudi	22.6	17.9	3.0	3	Bob Watson	21.8	18.2	3.5
4	Johnny Briggs	13.6	10.5	2.2	4	Carlos May	22.8	18.0	3.0
5	Roy White	23.7	19.8	2.2	5	Pete Rose Sr.	22.7	19.1	2.8


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Cesar Cedeno	23.3	16.4	5.9	1	Cesar Cedeno	24.3	15.4	7.9
2	Bobby Murcer	22.8	16.9	4.9	2	Bobby Murcer	22.9	16.8	5.0
3	Dusty Baker	16.7	12.9	3.0	3	Dusty Baker	16.5	13.1	2.6
4	Ken Berry	14.4	11.7	2.1	4	Bobby Darwin	13.2	10.0	2.6
5	Reggie Jackson	13.4	10.9	1.9	5	Willie Davis	22.1	18.4	2.5


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jimmy Wynn	20.1	15.4	3.7	1	Roberto Clemente	14.9	9.5	4.8
2	Reggie Smith	17.6	14.1	2.6	2	Jimmy Wynn	20.4	15.1	4.3
3	Bobby Bonds	22.6	19.0	2.4	3	Reggie Smith	18.1	13.6	3.6
4	Reggie Jackson	7.3	4.9	2.0	4	Reggie Jackson	7.8	4.4	3.1
5	Frank Robinson	12.9	10.5	1.8	5	Ron Fairly	10.3	7.7	2.2


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Steve Carlton	20.6	14.7	5.8	1	Steve Carlton	22.6	12.7	9.8
2	Gaylord Perry	22.0	16.8	5.1	2	Bob Gibson	18.4	11.9	6.4
3	Don Sutton	16.7	12.4	4.2	3	Gaylord Perry	22.4	16.4	5.8
4	Bob Gibson	17.2	13.1	4.0	4	Catfish Hunter	17.6	11.8	5.6
5	Catfish Hunter	16.3	13.1	3.0	5	Don Sutton	17.3	11.8	5.4
6	Pat Dobson	15.4	12.8	2.5	6	Phil Niekro	16.8	11.9	4.8
7	Rick Wise	14.3	11.9	2.3	7	Jim Palmer	16.8	12.0	4.7
8	Luis Tiant Jr.	9.4	7.1	2.3	8	Mickey Lolich	20.7	16.1	4.4
9	Phil Niekro	15.5	13.2	2.2	9	Roger Nelson	9.7	5.5	4.1
10	Roger Nelson	8.7	6.5	2.2	10	Steve Blass	14.6	10.5	4.0


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Sparky Lyle	8.8	6.5	2.6	1	Tug McGraw	8.7	4.1	4.7
2	Tug McGraw	7.6	5.2	2.5	2	Terry Forster	8.7	4.3	4.6
3	Terry Forster	7.4	5.6	1.9	3	Sparky Lyle	9.8	5.5	4.5
4	Mike G. Marshall	7.6	6.0	1.7	4	Clay Carroll	6.8	3.7	3.2
5	Jim Brewer	5.5	3.9	1.7	5	Rollie Fingers	7.3	4.8	2.7
6	Dave Giusti	5.0	3.5	1.5	6	Dave Giusti	5.5	3.0	2.5
7	Rollie Fingers	6.6	5.5	1.2	7	Mike G. Marshall	7.9	5.7	2.3
8	Roric Harrison	3.3	2.2	1.1	8	Ramon G. Hernandez	3.8	1.7	2.2
9	Chuck Seelbach	5.6	4.6	1.1	9	Chuck Seelbach	6.0	4.2	2.0
10	Ramon G. Hernandez	3.2	2.3	1.0	10	Diego Segui	4.8	3.1	1.8

Finally, here are the best at three oft-forgotten positions that can nevertheless matter: pitcher offense, pinch hitting, and pinch running.


Pitcher Offense
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Claude Osteen	2.1	1.9	1.1	1	Clyde Wright	2.6	1.5	1.8
2	Clyde Wright	2.0	2.1	0.9	2	Claude Osteen	2.4	1.6	1.6
3	Steve Dunning	1.1	0.7	0.7	3	Steve Carlton	2.4	2.2	1.2


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Gene Tenace	1.5	0.7	0.9	1	Jim Breazeale	2.0	1.0	1.1
2	Felipe Alou	1.4	0.7	0.8	2	Gene Tenace	1.6	0.6	1.1
3	Phil Gagliano	1.4	0.9	0.7	3	Phil Gagliano	1.6	0.7	1.0


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Allan Lewis	0.5	0.2	0.2	1	Tom Shopay	0.2	0.0	0.2
2	Jim Geddes	0.2	0.0	0.2	2	Jim Geddes	0.2	0.0	0.2
3	Tom Shopay	0.2	0.1	0.1	3	Curt Motton	0.3	0.1	0.2

Noteworthy Players of 1972

The best player of the 1972 season was Steve Carlton, who went 27-10 for a Philadelphia Phillies team which finished with a record of 59-97. I wrote about Carlton (and his 1972 season) in a separate article.

Joe Morgan

From 1965 through 1971, Houston Astros second baseman Joe Morgan was one of the best second basemen in baseball. He scored 100 runs twice, led the league in walks and triples once each, stole more than 40 bases three times, walked more than 100 times twice, and even hit double digits in home runs three times. He was named to the All-Star team twice.

In November, 1971, Morgan was traded to the Cincinnati Reds and went from being "one of the best second baseman in baseball" to being the best player in baseball for the next six years. And outside of the occasional fluke season in that time period (e.g., Steve Carlton), it wasn't particularly close.

The next table shows the top 10 players of the 1970s, as measured by pWins over positional average and replacement level.

		pWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Joe Morgan	219.8	159.0	65.6	84.1	1	Joe Morgan	219.8	159.0	65.6	84.1
2	Jim Palmer	170.0	122.8	50.2	67.7	2	Jim Palmer	170.0	122.8	50.2	67.7
3	Tom Seaver	176.3	139.4	46.1	63.6	3	Tom Seaver	176.3	139.4	46.1	63.6
4	Reggie Jackson	214.8	161.5	44.7	63.3	4	Reggie Jackson	214.8	161.5	44.7	63.3
5	Johnny Bench	175.3	132.1	43.7	58.6	5	Johnny Bench	175.3	132.1	43.7	58.6
6	Willie Stargell	170.4	120.5	38.2	52.4	6	Willie Stargell	170.4	120.5	38.2	52.4
7	Mike Schmidt	150.6	111.8	34.8	47.4	7	Amos Otis	200.1	162.6	31.8	49.5
8	Bobby Grich	151.4	123.5	33.9	47.1	8	Steve Carlton	182.0	161.1	29.9	49.0
9	Amos Otis	200.1	162.6	31.8	49.5	9	Fergie Jenkins	170.0	144.1	30.3	48.8
10	Fergie Jenkins	170.0	144.1	30.3	48.8	10	Gaylord Perry	175.1	151.2	28.6	47.9

Joe Morgan's career record, as measured by Player won-lost records, is presented in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Joe Morgan Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1963	HOU	19	8	1.1	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.9	0.8	0.2	0.2
1964	HOU	20	10	1.1	1.5	-0.3	-0.1	1.1	1.5	-0.2	-0.1
1965	HOU	21	157	20.9	20.5	1.1	3.2	22.1	19.2	3.6	5.6
1966	HOU	22	122	16.3	14.3	2.8	4.2	16.2	14.3	2.6	3.9
1967	HOU	23	133	16.8	16.1	1.1	2.7	17.9	15.0	3.3	4.9
1968	HOU	24	10	1.0	0.7	0.3	0.4	0.9	0.8	0.1	0.2
1969	HOU	25	147	19.0	17.5	1.9	3.8	19.7	16.8	3.1	5.0
1970	HOU	26	144	20.1	17.8	3.6	5.6	19.9	18.0	3.3	5.2
1971	HOU	27	160	22.0	18.7	3.7	5.7	22.2	18.5	4.1	6.1
1972	CIN	28	149	25.7	16.1	10.2	12.3	24.5	17.4	7.7	9.8
1973	CIN	29	157	26.8	17.2	9.7	11.9	25.8	18.2	7.8	9.9
1974	CIN	30	149	23.8	16.9	7.4	9.2	23.8	16.9	7.3	9.2
1975	CIN	31	146	24.3	15.4	9.0	10.8	23.7	16.0	7.8	9.7
1976	CIN	32	141	23.2	14.4	9.2	11.0	22.7	14.9	8.2	10.1
1977	CIN	33	153	22.1	14.9	7.9	9.7	21.7	15.2	7.1	9.0
1978	CIN	34	132	16.7	13.5	3.6	5.0	15.8	14.5	1.8	3.2
1979	CIN	35	126	15.1	14.1	1.3	2.7	15.5	13.8	1.9	3.3
1980	HOU	36	141	17.5	15.4	2.6	4.2	17.2	15.6	2.1	3.7
1981	SFN	37	90	12.0	9.4	2.8	3.9	11.5	9.8	2.0	3.1
1982	SFN	38	134	18.1	13.9	4.5	5.9	17.9	14.1	4.1	5.5
1983	PHI	39	123	16.4	13.0	3.6	4.9	15.8	13.6	2.5	3.8
1984	OAK	40	116	12.0	12.2	0.4	1.5	12.4	11.8	1.1	2.3
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,648	371.9	293.9	87.0	119.3	369.2	296.6	81.2	113.5
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			50	6.7	5.7		1.7	6.6	5.9		1.5
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			2,698	378.7	299.6		121.1	375.8	302.5		115.0

Dick Allen

The 1972 season was Dick Allen's first season in the American League and he took control of his new league like few other players have before. He led the American League in on-base percentage (.420), slugging percentage (.603), OPS (obviously, 1.023), walks (99), home runs (37), and RBI (113). For this, he won a well-deserved MVP award.

In fact, Allen's 1972 season was one of the top ten seasons of the 1970s, as measured by pWins over replacement level (pWORL).

	Player	Season	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
			Top 10 Seasons of the 1970s ranked by pWORL
1	Steve Carlton	1972	25.0	14.9	11.0	13.4
2	Joe L. Morgan	1972	25.7	16.1	10.2	12.3
3	Joe L. Morgan	1973	26.8	17.2	9.7	11.9
4	Dick Allen	1972	23.3	12.1	9.4	11.1
5	Joe L. Morgan	1976	23.2	14.4	9.2	11.0
6	Jim Rice	1978	26.5	16.9	8.9	11.0
7	Joe L. Morgan	1975	24.3	15.4	9.0	10.8
8	Bob Gibson	1970	21.5	13.6	9.0	10.8
9	Fergie Jenkins	1974	22.7	14.4	8.4	10.6
10	Ron Guidry	1978	18.5	9.6	8.8	10.5

Dick Allen's career record, as measured by Player won-lost records, is presented in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Dick Allen Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1963	PHI	21	10	0.8	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.6	0.6	-0.0	0.1
1964	PHI	22	162	25.2	17.7	6.8	8.9	24.3	18.6	4.8	6.9
1965	PHI	23	161	21.6	18.6	2.1	4.1	22.2	17.9	3.4	5.4
1966	PHI	24	141	23.1	16.0	6.2	8.0	22.6	16.4	5.5	7.3
1967	PHI	25	122	19.3	14.5	4.3	5.9	19.1	14.7	4.2	5.8
1968	PHI	26	152	25.4	17.8	6.1	8.3	24.0	19.2	3.4	5.6
1969	PHI	27	118	14.2	11.9	0.7	2.1	15.1	10.9	2.7	4.1
1970	SLN	28	122	15.0	12.2	1.6	3.0	15.3	11.9	2.2	3.6
1971	LAN	29	155	21.3	17.7	2.4	4.3	21.7	17.3	3.2	5.1
1972	CHA	30	148	23.3	12.1	9.4	11.1	21.9	13.5	6.8	8.5
1973	CHA	31	72	7.8	6.3	1.1	1.8	8.2	5.9	1.8	2.5
1974	CHA	32	128	14.6	11.5	2.3	3.5	15.0	11.2	3.1	4.3
1975	PHI	33	119	12.1	11.7	-1.0	0.1	11.8	11.9	-1.5	-0.4
1976	PHI	34	85	8.7	8.0	-0.2	0.6	8.9	7.8	0.3	1.2
1977	OAK	35	53	5.3	5.1	-0.0	0.5	5.2	5.3	-0.4	0.1
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			1,748	237.7	181.4	42.2	62.8	236.0	183.0	39.5	60.1
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			3	0.1	0.3		-0.2	0.2	0.3		-0.1
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			1,751	237.8	181.7		62.5	236.2	183.3		60.0

Gaylord Perry

In 1972, Gaylord Perry pitched 342.2 innings with an ERA of 1.92 and 24 wins for a Cleveland Indians team that only won 72 games total. It was an exceptional season. Of course, it was also merely the second-best season by a major-league pitcher in 1972.

It was, however, one of the top ten pitching seasons of the 1970s, as measured by pWins over replacement level.

	Player	Season	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
			Top 10 Pitcher Seasons of the 1970s ranked by pWORL
1	Steve Carlton	1972	25.0	14.9	11.0	13.4
2	Bob Gibson	1970	21.5	13.6	9.0	10.8
3	Fergie Jenkins	1974	22.7	14.4	8.4	10.6
4	Ron Guidry	1978	18.5	9.6	8.8	10.5
5	Jim Palmer	1975	20.2	12.1	8.2	10.2
6	Fergie Jenkins	1971	24.1	17.4	7.7	10.0
7	Tom Seaver	1977	19.0	12.3	7.7	9.6
8	Nolan Ryan	1973	22.8	15.7	7.0	9.4
9	Tom Seaver	1971	19.5	13.0	7.4	9.2
10	Gaylord Perry	1972	24.1	18.5	6.5	9.1

Gaylord Perry's career record, as measured by Player won-lost records, is presented in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Gaylord Perry Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1962	SFN	23	13	2.3	2.5	-0.1	0.2	2.3	2.5	-0.1	0.2
1963	SFN	24	32	3.2	4.9	-1.6	-0.8	3.4	4.6	-1.0	-0.3
1964	SFN	25	46	12.2	10.7	2.0	3.8	11.9	10.9	1.5	3.2
1965	SFN	26	49	11.4	12.8	-0.7	0.8	11.4	12.8	-0.6	1.0
1966	SFN	27	36	17.4	12.6	5.6	7.3	16.5	13.5	4.0	5.8
1967	SFN	28	42	18.0	17.8	1.2	3.4	19.1	16.7	3.8	5.9
1968	SFN	29	39	15.7	14.7	2.0	3.6	16.3	14.1	3.3	4.9
1969	SFN	30	40	20.6	18.9	2.7	5.1	20.8	18.8	3.3	5.7
1970	SFN	31	41	22.1	19.8	3.4	5.7	22.5	19.4	4.6	6.9
1971	SFN	32	38	16.3	16.0	1.2	3.0	15.9	16.4	0.7	2.5
1972	CLE	33	41	24.1	18.5	6.5	9.1	24.1	18.6	7.0	9.6
1973	CLE	34	41	19.9	18.5	1.3	3.7	20.1	18.3	1.8	4.2
1974	CLE	35	37	17.4	15.1	2.4	4.3	18.6	14.0	4.6	6.5
1975	CLE	36	37	17.1	15.9	1.3	3.3	18.5	14.5	4.1	6.1
1976	TEX	37	32	13.7	10.4	3.4	4.8	13.9	10.2	3.8	5.2
1977	TEX	38	34	14.8	12.6	2.3	4.2	15.2	12.1	3.2	5.0
1978	SDN	39	37	16.0	12.0	4.7	6.3	14.6	13.4	2.4	3.9
1979	SDN	40	32	13.7	12.5	2.1	3.6	13.3	13.0	1.6	3.1
1980	NYA	41	34	11.0	11.6	-0.4	0.9	11.5	11.1	0.5	1.8
1981	ATL	42	24	8.5	8.4	0.5	1.6	8.3	8.6	0.2	1.2
1982	SEA	43	32	11.0	11.7	-0.4	1.0	11.6	11.1	0.8	2.1
1983	KCA	44	30	9.3	12.5	-3.1	-1.7	10.6	11.2	-0.4	0.9
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			787	315.6	290.2	36.4	73.0	320.1	285.7	49.0	85.7
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			2	0.9	1.1		0.0	1.0	1.0		0.1
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			789	316.5	291.3		73.1	321.1	286.8		85.8

Bobby Bonds

Bobby Bonds had an excellent 1972 season. In particular, he had an excellent baserunning season: 44 stolen bases against only 6 caught stealing and 118 runs scored in 153 games. In fact, Bonds's 1972 season was one of the top 5 baserunning seasons for which I have calculated Player won-lost records.

Top 10 Single-Season Baserunning Totals (Wins over non-Pitcher Average)
	Player	Season	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
1	Maury Wills	1962	4.6	1.6	2.9
2	Ron LeFlore	1980	4.2	1.7	2.4
3	Rickey Henderson	1988	4.3	1.9	2.4
4	Bobby Bonds	1972	3.2	0.9	2.3
5	Rickey Henderson	1985	3.7	1.4	2.3
6	Tim Raines Sr.	1985	3.7	1.6	2.0
7	Vince Coleman	1985	4.5	2.5	2.0
8	Willie Wilson	1980	3.2	1.3	1.9
9	Rickey Henderson	1983	3.6	1.7	1.9
10	Vince Coleman	1986	3.8	1.9	1.9

Bobby Bonds wasn't quite as good as his son over the course of his career. But he nevertheless had an excellent major-league career.

The next table shows Bobby Bonds's career record as measured by Player won-lost records.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Bobby Bonds Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1968	SFN	22	81	12.9	9.6	2.6	3.7	12.5	10.0	1.8	2.9
1969	SFN	23	158	24.3	18.5	4.1	6.3	23.9	19.0	3.2	5.5
1970	SFN	24	157	21.7	19.5	1.0	3.1	22.5	18.8	2.5	4.6
1971	SFN	25	155	23.6	19.3	3.0	5.1	23.8	19.1	3.6	5.7
1972	SFN	26	153	24.0	21.1	1.6	3.8	24.7	20.4	3.3	5.5
1973	SFN	27	160	27.1	19.4	6.5	8.8	26.7	19.8	5.7	8.0
1974	SFN	28	150	20.1	18.5	0.4	2.2	21.2	17.4	2.6	4.4
1975	NYA	29	145	22.5	18.6	3.1	5.0	22.4	18.7	3.1	5.0
1976	CAL	30	99	14.5	12.0	2.0	3.3	14.1	12.3	1.3	2.6
1977	CAL	31	158	23.5	20.2	1.9	4.2	22.7	21.0	1.0	3.3
1978	CHA	32	156	22.1	19.9	1.0	3.1	22.8	19.2	2.7	4.7
1979	CLE	33	146	18.8	18.3	-0.5	1.4	19.4	17.7	0.6	2.5
1980	SLN	34	86	7.3	8.1	-1.4	-0.7	7.6	7.7	-0.7	0.0
1981	CHN	35	45	6.2	6.2	-0.3	0.4	6.5	5.9	0.3	1.0
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			1,849	268.6	229.1	25.0	49.7	270.7	227.0	31.1	55.7
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			3	0.2	0.3		-0.1	0.3	0.2		0.0
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			1,852	268.8	229.4		49.6	271.0	227.2		55.8

Notable Debuts

The 1972 season saw the major-league debut of two players who have subsequently been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame: Goose Gossage and Mike Schmidt.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Rich Gossage					Mike Schmidt
1972	36	4.4	4.2	0.4	1.2	13	1.3	1.2	0.1	0.2
1973	21	1.8	3.9	-2.1	-1.6	131	14.3	12.0	1.6	2.9
1974	39	3.7	5.2	-1.5	-0.8	162	23.8	16.7	6.5	8.4
1975	62	12.0	6.9	5.1	7.1	158	21.4	17.2	4.0	5.8
1976	31	12.8	13.9	-1.0	0.6	160	23.7	16.2	6.9	8.9
1977	72	11.1	7.3	3.6	5.3	154	21.6	15.1	5.9	7.7
1978	63	10.2	8.4	1.9	3.6	145	20.2	16.3	3.3	5.0
1979	36	4.2	2.9	1.2	1.9	160	24.3	17.2	6.5	8.4
1980	64	9.0	4.5	4.3	5.6	150	23.7	17.0	6.2	8.1
1981	32	4.7	2.4	2.3	2.9	102	17.1	10.7	5.9	7.4
1982	56	8.7	4.8	3.4	4.7	148	22.6	16.3	5.6	7.3
1983	57	8.8	6.2	2.3	3.7	154	22.5	17.0	4.6	6.4
1984	62	9.4	5.9	3.4	4.8	151	22.6	17.6	4.8	6.6
1985	50	7.2	3.2	3.9	5.0	158	19.0	16.2	1.5	3.2
1986	45	6.7	6.6	0.1	1.3	160	21.0	15.4	4.7	6.4
1987	40	4.0	3.3	0.5	1.2	147	22.3	16.8	4.7	6.5
1988	46	3.0	3.7	-0.7	-0.1	108	12.5	13.2	-0.9	0.3
1989	42	1.5	2.0	-0.6	-0.3	42	4.6	5.8	-1.3	-0.8
1990
1991	44	2.0	2.6	-0.7	-0.3
1992	30	1.5	1.6	-0.1	0.2
1993	39	2.2	2.1	0.0	0.4
1994	36	1.4	0.8	0.7	0.9
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	1,003	130.4	102.2	26.3	47.4	2,403	338.5	257.6	70.6	98.8

Last Hurrahs

Finally, 1972 was the final season for a pair of Hall-of-Fame teammates on two World Championship teams.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Roberto Clemente					Bill Mazeroski
1955	124	13.7	16.3	-3.8	-2.2
1956	147	19.1	19.0	-1.1	0.9	81	7.4	9.7	-1.9	-1.0
1957	111	12.3	15.3	-3.9	-2.5	148	15.1	16.9	-1.4	0.2
1958	140	19.5	15.6	2.6	4.2	152	19.1	17.8	2.1	3.8
1959	105	13.8	14.0	-1.5	-0.2	135	16.1	16.9	-0.2	1.4
1960	144	22.4	16.1	5.1	7.1	151	18.4	14.8	4.5	6.2
1961	146	21.9	18.4	1.4	3.7	152	16.1	18.4	-1.1	0.9
1962	144	21.7	17.2	2.7	4.7	159	20.1	19.3	1.8	3.8
1963	152	21.4	19.4	-0.1	1.8	142	17.6	17.8	0.5	2.2
1964	155	21.9	18.8	1.3	3.3	162	20.1	19.5	1.8	3.8
1965	152	22.3	18.3	2.5	4.6	130	17.1	15.0	2.6	4.2
1966	154	26.6	19.2	5.6	7.7	162	19.7	18.7	2.2	3.9
1967	147	25.9	17.9	6.5	8.7	163	18.8	19.6	-0.4	1.5
1968	132	19.7	17.3	1.1	3.0	143	15.0	17.5	-1.8	-0.2
1969	138	21.1	16.1	3.4	5.3	67	6.3	7.2	-0.6	0.1
1970	108	16.4	12.2	3.4	4.9	112	10.7	11.9	-0.3	0.9
1971	132	22.1	14.3	6.8	8.6	70	5.6	5.6	0.1	0.7
1972	102	15.2	9.9	4.8	6.0	34	1.1	2.3	-1.1	-0.9
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,433	357.0	295.1	36.9	69.7	2,163	244.1	248.9	6.8	31.4

Article last updated: May 26, 2020

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1972 season. Positional averages for starting pitching and relief pitching are calculated using single-year data for all starting pitchers and all relief pitchers.

All articles are written so that they pull data directly from the most recent version of the Player won-lost database. Hence, any numbers cited within these articles should automatically incorporate the most recent update to Player won-lost records. In some cases, however, the accompanying text may have been written based on previous versions of Player won-lost records. I apologize if this results in non-sensical text in any cases.

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