1972 San Diego Padres season

1972  San Diego Padres
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	San Diego Stadium
City	San Diego, California
Record	58–95 (.379)
Divisional place	6h
Owners	C. Arnholdt Smith
General managers	Buzzie Bavasi
Managers	Preston Gómez, Don Zimmer
Television	KCST
Radio	KOGO (Jerry Coleman, Bob Chandler)
←  1971 Seasons 1973  →

The 1972 San Diego Padres season was the fourth season in franchise history.

Offseason

• January 12, 1972: Rich Troedson was drafted by the Padres in the 1st round (6th pick) of the secondary phase of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft. ^[1]

Regular season

Until 2021, no Padres pitcher had ever thrown a no-hitter. On July 18 against the Philadelphia Phillies, Steve Arlin came within one out of a no-hitter before a Denny Doyle single broke up the bid. ^[2]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	95	59	.617	—	42‍–‍34	53‍–‍25
Houston Astros	84	69	.549	10½	41‍–‍36	43‍–‍33
Los Angeles Dodgers	85	70	.548	10½	41‍–‍34	44‍–‍36
Atlanta Braves	70	84	.455	25	36‍–‍41	34‍–‍43
San Francisco Giants	69	86	.445	26½	34‍–‍43	35‍–‍43
San Diego Padres	58	95	.379	36½	26‍–‍54	32‍–‍41

Record vs. opponents

1972 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7–1	9–9	7–7	7–8	4–8	7–5	6–6	6–6	6–11	7–11	6–6
Chicago	7–5–1	—	8–4	3–9	8–4	10–5	10–8	10–7	3–12	9–3	7–5	10–8
Cincinnati	9–9	4–8	—	11–6	9–5	8–4	8–4	10–2	8–4	8–10	10–5	10–2
Houston	7–7	9–3	6–11	—	7–11	8–4	6–6	9–3	3–9	12–2	13–5	4–8
Los Angeles	8–7	4–8	5–9	11–7	—	6–6	7–5	7–5	7–5	13–5	9–9	8–4
Montreal	8–4	5–10	4–8	4–8	6–6	—	6–12	10–6	6–12	6–6	6–6	9–8
New York	5–7	8–10	4–8	6–6	5–7	12–6	—	13–5	8–6	7–5	8–4	7–9
Philadelphia	6-6	7–10	2–10	3–9	5–7	6–10	5–13	—	5–13	6–6	6–6	8–7
Pittsburgh	6–6	12–3	4–8	9–3	5–7	12–6	6–8	13–5	—	10–2	9–3	10–8
San Diego	11–6	3–9	10–8	2–12	5–13	6–6	5–7	6–6	2–10	—	4–10	4–8
San Francisco	11–7	5–7	5–10	5–13	9–9	6–6	4–8	6–6	3–9	10–4	—	5–7
St. Louis	6–6	8–10	2–10	8–4	4–8	8–9	9–7	7–8	8–10	8–4	7–5	—

Opening Day starters

• Bob Barton
• Dave Campbell
• Nate Colbert
• Enzo Hernández
• Clay Kirby
• Leron Lee
• Jerry Morales
• Larry Stahl
• Derrel Thomas ^[3]

Notable transactions

• May 17, 1972: Ollie Brown was traded by the Padres to the Oakland Athletics for Curt Blefary, Mike Kilkenny and a player to be named later. The Athletics completed the deal by sending Greg Schubert (minors) to the Padres on September 11. ^[4]
• June 6, 1972: 1972 Major League Baseball draft
  • Randy Jones was drafted by the Padres in the 5th round. ^[5]
  • Warren Cromartie was drafted by the Padres in the 1st round (5th pick) of the Secondary Phase, but did not sign. ^[6]

Roster

1972 San Diego Padres
Roster
Pitchers 37 Ed Acosta 22 Steve Arlin 23 Mike Caldwell 30 Mike Corkins 13 Ralph Garcia 27 Bill Greif 25 Mike Kilkenny 43 Clay Kirby 35 Fred Norman 36 Tom Phoebus 33 Gary Ross 44 Mark Schaeffer 42 Al Severinsen 36 Steve Simpson 42 Ron Taylor		Catchers  1 Bob Barton  3 Curt Blefary 28 Pat Corrales  7 Joe Goddard 16 Fred Kendall Infielders 10 Dave Campbell 17 Nate Colbert 11 Enzo Hernández 18 Dave Hilton 12 Garry Jestadt  6 Don Mason 20 Dave Roberts 31 Rafael Robles  7 Ed Spiezio  6 Fred Stanley 30 Derrel Thomas		Outfielders 26 Ollie Brown 10 Randy Elliott 21 Cito Gaston  1 Johnny Grubb  8 Johnny Jeter 24 Leron Lee 32 Jerry Morales 20 Ivan Murrell 14 Larry Stahl Other batters  1 Mike Fiore		Manager 18 Preston Gómez  9 Don Zimmer Coaches 38 Roger Craig  2 Dave Garcia  4 Bob Skinner 19 Whitey Wietelmann  9 Don Zimmer

Player stats

= Indicates team 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	Fred Kendall	91	273	59	.216	6	18
1B	Nate Colbert	151	563	141	.250	38	111
2B	Derrel Thomas	130	500	115	.230	5	36
SS	Enzo Hernández	114	329	64	.195	1	15
3B	Dave Roberts	100	418	102	.244	5	33
LF	Leron Lee	101	370	111	.300	12	47
CF	Johnny Jeter	110	326	72	.221	7	21
RF	Cito Gaston	111	379	102	.269	7	44

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
Jerry Morales	115	347	83	.239	4	18
Larry Stahl	107	297	67	.226	7	20
Garry Jestadt	92	256	63	.246	6	22
Pat Corrales	44	117	23	.193	0	6
Curt Blefary	74	102	20	.196	3	9
Dave Campbell	33	100	24	.240	0	3
Bob Barton	29	88	17	.193	0	9
Fred Stanley	39	85	17	.200	0	2
Ollie Brown	23	70	12	.171	0	3
Randy Elliott	14	49	10	.204	0	6
Dave Hilton	13	47	10	.213	0	5
Joe Goddard	12	35	7	.200	0	2
Ed Spezio	20	29	4	.138	0	4
Rafael Robles	18	24	4	.167	0	0
Johnny Grubb	7	21	7	.333	0	1
Don Mason	9	11	2	.182	0	0
Ivan Murrell	5	7	1	.143	0	1
Mike Fiore	7	6	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
Steve Arlin	38	250.0	10	21	3.60	159
Clay Kirby	34	238.2	12	14	3.13	175
Fred Norman	42	211.2	9	11	3.44	167
Tom Phoebus	1	5.2	0	1	7.94	8

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
Mike Caldwell	42	163.2	7	11	4.01	102
Mike Corkins	47	140.0	6	9	3.54	108
Bill Greif	34	125.1	5	16	5.60	91

Mike Corkins was the team leader in saves with 6.

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
Gary Ross	60	4	3	3	2.45	46
Ed Acosta	46	3	6	0	4.45	53
Mark Schaeffer	41	2	0	1	4.61	25
Al Severinsen	17	0	1	1	2.53	9
Steve Simpson	9	0	2	2	4.76	9
Mike Kilkenny	5	0	0	0	8.31	5
Ron Taylor	4	0	0	0	12.60	0
Ralph Garcia	3	0	0	0	1.80	3

Awards and honors

1972 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Nate Colbert, reserve ^[7]

Colbert scored the winning run, but he brought the wrong uniform with him to Atlanta. The San Diego Padres' slugger donned his road jersey with SAN DIEGO on it instead of his home one with PADRES on it.

One week later, Colbert returned to Atlanta Stadium and tied Stan Musial's Major League record with five home runs in a doubleheader vs. the Braves. Colbert also drove in 13 runs during the twinbill, which San Diego swept 9–0 and 11–7.

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Hawaii Islanders	Pacific Coast League	Rocky Bridges
AA	Alexandria Aces	Texas League	Duke Snider
A-Short Season	Tri-City Padres	Northwest League	Cliff Ditto

^[8]

References

1. Rich Troedson at Baseball-Reference
2. Arlin misses no-hitter by a strike as ball bounces over Roberts' head
3. "1972 San Diego Padres Roster by Baseball Almanac".
4. Curt Blefary at Baseball Reference
5. Randy Jones at Baseball Reference
6. Warren Cromartie at Baseball Reference
7. "1972 All-Star Game Box Score, July 25".
8. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

External links

• 1972 San Diego Padres at Baseball Reference
• 1972 San Diego Padres at Baseball Almanac