The virtual 1969-76 Yankees, Red Sox, and Indians (Part 4: 1971-72)
Last time we encountered a season which brought a step backward for all three of our franchises.
Yankees: Actual Red Sox: Actual Indians: Actual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1969 80 81 5 562 587 87 75 3 743 736 62 99 6 573 717
1970 93 69 2 680 612 87 75 3 786 722 76 86 5 649 675
1971 82 80 4 648 641 85 77 3 691 667 60 102 6 543 747
Yankees: Virtual Red Sox: Virtual Indians: Virtual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1969 80 81 5 594 617 85 77 4 775 781 68 93 6 576 658
1970 95 67 2 677 599 89 73 3 781 706 82 80 4 706 680
1971 87 75 3 662 611 84 78 4 690 673 73 89 5 657 748
Will we be able to get back of the beam in ’72?
The 1971-72 offseason: Actual deals we will make
Oct. 13, 1971: The New York Yankees traded outfielder Jim Lyttle to the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Rich Hinton.
We’ll take the grade-B southpaw prospect in exchange for the garden-variety outfield scrubeenie.
Nov. 29, 1971: The Cleveland Indians traded pitcher Sam McDowell to the San Francisco Giants for pitcher Gaylord Perry and infielder Frank Duffy.
McDowell’s 1971 performance is worrisome for more than just the drop in wins and increase in ERA; indeed those fluctuations are within the normal range. The issue is that all of the significant predictors of future performance moved suddenly and sharply in the wrong directions: his walk rate up, his strikeout rate down, his home run rate up, and his durability down. Therefore, as it was for the actual Indians, it’s entirely sensible for us to see what he might bring in the trade market, before any of those trends continue.
And this is quite an offer indeed from the Giants. Granted, Perry is four years’ McDowell’s senior, and he’s had a bit of a down year himself in 1971. But Perry’s down year wasn’t comparable to McDowell’s, and over many years the big, strong, hard-throwing right-hander with the “super sinker” infamously prominent in his repertoire has demonstrated far more consistency and durability than the huge, wild, flamethrowing southpaw.
Moreover, the Giants are willing to throw the 25-year-old Duffy into the package. He doesn’t project as a star by any means, but he looks capable as a middle-infield utility guy, and perhaps more than that. The Giants themselves thought enough of him to surrender George Foster to get him just six months ago.
Why, yes, we will make this deal. How kind of you to suggest it.
Dec. 2, 1971: The New York Yankees traded pitchers Gary Jones and Terry Ley to the Texas Rangers for infielder Bernie Allen.
The pitching prospects are second-tier, and Allen swings a decent left-handed bat, and can handle second base or third.
Dec. 6, 1971: The Cleveland Indians traded outfielder Ted Uhlaender to the Cincinnati Reds for pitcher Milt Wilcox.
The journeyman Uhlaender has performed well enough for Cleveland in 1970-71, but he’s nothing special. Wilcox isn’t a hard thrower, but he isn’t yet 22 years old, and his minor league numbers are good. And heaven knows our Indians could use some pitching help.
Jan. 19, 1972: The New York Yankees traded a player to be named later to the Baltimore Orioles for pitcher Fred Beene. (On April 10, 1972, the Yankees sent pitcher Dale Spier to the Yankees, completing the deal.)
The 29-year-old right-hander Beene is a minor league veteran, a soft-tossing control specialist who’s never been able to work his way onto the excellent Baltimore staffs, but would have been in the majors in lesser organizations. No harm in giving him a shot.
April 12, 1972: The Cleveland Indians purchased outfielder Ron Lolich from the Chicago White Sox.
Mickey’s cousin is a corner outfielder with power, a bench/platoon candidate.
The 1971-72 offseason: Actual deals we will not make
Oct. 5, 1971: The Cleveland Indiand traded outfielders Vada Pinson and Frank Baker and pitcher Alan Foster to the California Angels for outfielder Alex Johnson and catcher Jerry Moses.
We’ve explained this big one as follows:
As long as baseball has been played, perhaps never has a team experienced a season more disappointing, indeed dispiriting, than the 1971 Angels. Roundly expected to strongly contend and quite possibly capture their first championship, instead things didn’t go just wrong for the Angels, they went sadly, dismally, and sickeningly wrong. David Neft and Richard Cohen’s iconic Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball aptly described the miasma as “a whirlpool of dissension and controversy.”
Among the many rotten outcomes for the Angels was the fact that [newly-acquired Tony] Conigliaro would play his final game of the season on July 9th, before retiring in abject frustration at his rapidly degenerating capacity to see and hit the ball; he had driven in just 11 of the 156 runners on base ahead of him. And Tony C.’s fellow heavy-hitting outfielder, Alex Johnson, the 1970 American League batting champ who was expected to spend the season getting on base and being driven home by Conigliaro, would play his final inning on June 24th, before being indefinitely suspended by the team for his utter refusal to put forth a vigorous effort on the field.
Under such circumstances, it was no surprise to see the Angels desiring to trade Johnson at the season’s end. What was surprising is that they not only found a willing taker in the Indians, but that Angels’ GM Dick Walsh was able to persuade veteran Cleveland GM Gabe Paul to surrender a fairly substantial package in exchange for the deeply troubled Johnson and the workaday catcher Moses.
Our Indians have neither Pinson nor Foster, so this precise trade is impossible for us. But no matter: we have utterly no interest in Johnson, certainly not in exchange for anything more than a token payment, which this is distinctly not.
Dec. 2, 1971: The New York Yankees traded pitcher Stan Bahnsen to the Chicago White Sox for infielder Rich McKinney.
Bahnsen has never come close to repeating the performance he flashed in his 1968 Rookie of the Year campaign, but over the three ensuing seasons he’s settled in as a durable, consistent innings-eater, an outstanding guy to have in the middle of the rotation. The idea that McKinney, not a bad player but not a good one either, a handyman type, could be expected to deliver anything close to Bahnsen’s value is ludicrous.
Yankees’ GM Lee MacPhail was generally a good trader in his long career. We don’t have the faintest idea what he was thinking here, but whatever it was, we aren’t thinking it.
Jan. 20, 1972: The New York Yankees traded a player to be named later to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Johnny Callison. (On May 17, 1972, the Yankees sent pitcher Jack Aker to the Cubs, completing the deal.)
Our Yankees have no need for the rapidly-fading veteran Callison.
Feb. 2, 1972: The New York Yankees purchased infielder Hal Lanier from the San Francisco Giants.
Nor for Mr. Lanier, who’s always taken the “no hit” part of “good field, no hit” way too seriously.
Feb. 2, 1972: The Boston Red Sox traded first baseman Mike Fiore to the St. Louis Cardinals for first baseman-outfielder Bob Burda.
We don’t have Fiore, so can’t do this swap of first base scrubs.
March 22, 1972: The Boston Red Sox traded pitcher Sparky Lyle to the New York Yankees for first baseman-third baseman Danny Cater and a player to be named later. (On June 30, 1972, the Yankees sent infielder Mario Guerrero to the Red Sox, completing the deal.)
I recall reading an article in Sports Illustrated during the 1972 season, focusing on the American League East race. The article quoted someone in the Yankees’ front office, it may have been MacPhail, saying, “Bahnsen for McKinney! Bahnsen for McKinney! That’s all we hear about. Why doesn’t anyone want to talk about Cater for Lyle?”
It’s certainly true that the Yankees neatly made up for their blundering surrender of Bahnsen with this artful pilfering of Lyle. Which leads one to ask: what were the Red Sox thinking?
I recall as well an online discussion I once had with someone endeavoring to explain Boston GM Dick O’Connell’s reasoning. With the arrival of rookie southpaw John Curtis in 1972 to a Boston staff that already included lefthanders Lyle, Bill Lee, and Gary Peters, the story is that somebody had to go, because it just isn’t sensible for a team playing half its games in Fenway Park to go with a four-lefty pitching staff. And since Lyle’s performances in 1970 and ’71 hadn’t been great, he was the one to get the boot.
I’m not sold on the notion that a Boston staff couldn’t possibly thrive with four southpaws, but let’s assume such logic is compelling, and that one of the four lefties did have to go. Why should that one be Lyle, who even at less than his best in 1970-71 had been among the league’s better relievers, and was still just 27 years old? If one of them had to be traded, how about Peters, who was about to turn 35, and was coming off a poor 1971 season in which his strikeout rate had plummeted by one-third?
And if, for whatever reason, you trade a 27-year-old Sparky Lyle, it’s laughable to consider 32-year-old Danny Cater, even with the immortal Mike Guerrero tossed in alongside, as fair compensation.
This one is simply a bad, bad deal. Our Red Sox won’t make it.
April 3, 1972: The Cleveland Indians traded outfielder Ted Ford to the Texas Rangers for outfielder Roy Foster and first baseman-outfielder Tommy McCraw.
This is a generous offer for Ford. But our Indians don’t have a spot for McCraw, so we’ll decline.
The 1970-71 offseason: Deals we will invoke
Oct. 10, 1971: The Boston Red Sox traded pitchers Jim Lonborg and Ken Brett and outfielder Joe Lahoud to the Milwaukee Brewers for pitcher Marty Pattin.
This trade, significant though it is, is just part of a much larger actual deal consummated on this date. In that one the Red Sox also included George Scott, Billy Conigliaro, and Don Pavletich, and the Brewers also tossed in Tommy Harper, Lew Krausse, and Pat Skrable. Good grief.
Now, who might have been behind a transaction of that scale?
Frank Lane had been continuously employed as a major league General Manager from 1948 to 1961, with four different franchises. In that period he earned a reputation as the most ardent deal-maker in the game, gaining such nicknames as “Trader Lane,” “Frantic Frankie,” and “The Wheeler-Dealer.” But he’d been fired by Athletics’ owner Charlie Finley in mid-1961 in an acrimonious dispute that led to a years-long court battle, and Lane had never been employed as a GM since.
But a young Brewers’ owner by the name of Bud Selig took a chance on the now 75-year-old Lane, and hired him as GM in late January 1971. The wily old bargainer wasted no time in demonstrating that he was still “Frantic Frankie,” swinging four trades in his first two-and-a-half weeks on the job. Then during the ’71 season, Lane executed ten more.
He was just warming up. Ten days after the conclusion of the regular season, The Wheeler-Dealer pulled off a massive ten-player exchange with the Red Sox, one of the largest talent transfers in the history of the sport. It was a bold move, to say the least: In a single stroke, Lane surrendered both his best position player (Harper) and his best pitcher (Pattin). Yet the haul he extracted from Boston’s O’Connell was extraordinary; in both depth and long-term quality of talent, the Brewers were improved.
Our Red Sox already traded Scott a couple of years ago, but in any case we wouldn’t be willing to provide Lane’s Brewers with an offer as bountiful as the actual deal. Lonborg, Brett, and Lahoud for Pattin is quite fair, even generous. It’s a good deal for Milwaukee, and for Boston it leverages some depth into a single stalwart starting pitcher whom we can really use.
Oct. 18, 1971: The Cleveland Indians sold pitcher Mike Jackson to the Kansas City Royals.
Actually on this date the Royals acquired Jackson from St. Louis. He’s a big lefty with intriguing stuff, but in three seasons at the triple-A level has yet to get his ERA as low as 4.00, so our Indians will send him along.
Oct. 22, 1971: The Boston Red Sox traded infielder Tom Matchick to the Baltimore Orioles for pitcher Mike Herson.
In reality the Orioles made this trade with Milwaukee. Our Red Sox have younger options to fill Matchick’s utility infielder role.
Nov., 1971: The New York Yankees sold pitcher Lindy McDaniel to the Chicago White Sox.
The veteran McDaniel has had a long career full of up years and down years, but we think his down year in 1971 at the age of 35 is one from which there will be no rebound. (Wrong again: McDaniel will deliver four more years, appearing in 162 games and 413 innings and compiling an ERA+ of 118. Oops.)
Dec. 2, 1971: The Cleveland Indians traded pitchers Mike Paul and Rich Hand and outfielder Roy Foster to the Texas Rangers for outfielder Del Unser and pitcher Denny Riddleberger.
Actually this deal also included catcher Ken Suarez going from Cleveland to Texas, and pitchers Gary Jones and Terry Ley coming in return. Our Indians no longer have Suarez, so we’ll let the Rangers keep those two pitching prospects.
Hand and Paul are high-potential young pitchers who just haven’t gotten it together, and so we’ll cash them in. In Unser we get a solid, unexciting center fielder, and Riddleberger’s a decent southpaw reliever.
Dec. 3, 1971: The Cleveland Indians traded outfielder Jose Cardenal to the Chicago Cubs for pitchers Jim Colborn and Earl Stephenson and outfielder Brock Davis.
With Unser on board, our Indians are free to make this one, which was actually between the Brewers and the Cubs. The speedy Cardenal has been up and down with the bat, so we’ll take the Chicago offer. Neither Colborn, Stephenson, nor Davis is a grade-A talent, but each offers something that can be of help.
Dec. 13, 1971: The Cleveland Indians traded outfielder Bill Robinson to the Philadelphia Phillies for pitcher Jerry Rodgriuez.
In real life, it was the White Sox sending Robinson along to Philadelphia. He’d been so promising several years ago, and now is stalled out as a triple-A journeyman. (Who knew that Robinson would figure it out at last, and play in the major leagues for the next 12 years?)
Dec., 1971: The Cleveland Indians traded pitcher Phil Hennigan to the New York Yankees for outfielder Danny Walton.
Speaking of once-promising right-handed-batting corner outfielders with power who’ve gotten stalled out, our Indians are willing to take on the Walton reclamation project in place of the Robinson reclamation project. And our Yankees might well have room in the bullpen for Hennigan.
Dec., 1971: The Cleveland Indians traded pitcher Jim Hardin and cash to the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder-catcher Carl Taylor.
We can’t figure out why teams keep passing Taylor around like a hot potato. He’s not a good fielder, but he’s unusually versatile defensively, his major league OBP in nearly 700 plate appearances is .367, and in triple-A in 1971 he put up a line of, get this, .362/.470/.504. Yet over the past two years he’s gone from the Pirates to the Cardinals to the Brewers to the Royals and back to the Pirates, and the Pirates think so highly of him that they’ll sell him back to the Royals next spring.
Our Indians will be happy to provide a home for this vagabond.
March 25, 1972: The Boston Red Sox sold outfielder Buddy Bradford to the Chicago White Sox.
No room on the Boston roster this time around.
March 29, 1972: The Cleveland Indians traded pitcher Vince Colbert to the Milwaukee Brewers for pitcher Marcelino Lopez and cash.
Colbert provided useful workmanlike service to our beleaguered Cleveland pitching staff in 1971, but this spring he doesn’t look like he’s going to make the staff. So we’ll give the Lopez reclamation project a whirl in triple-A.
March 31, 1972: The New York Yankees traded first baseman Tony Solaita to the Milwaukee Brewers for first baseman-outfielder Frank Tepedino and cash.
The once-ballyhooed Solaita flopped as a rookie in 1971, and is now being soundly beaten out for the first base job by Ron Blomberg. So we’ll cash Solaita in for the more defensively useful Tepedino.
April 3, 1972: The Cleveland Indians sold infielder Fred Stanley to the Texas Rangers.
More roster pruning.
The 1972 season: Actual deals we will make
Aug. 15, 1972: The Boston Red Sox traded outfielder Chris Coletta to the California Angels for outfielder-first baseman Andy Kosco.
His range of talent is limited, but we sure like the idea of Andy Kosco coming to the plate in Fenway.
Sep. 2, 1972: The Boston Red Sox purchased pitcher Bob Veale from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Bullpen insurance for the stretch run.
The 1972 season: Deals we will invoke
June 7, 1972: The New York Yankees purchased pitcher Diego Segui from the Oakland Athletics.
The A’s actually sold Segui to the Cardinals, but he had to pass through American League waivers for that to happen, and our Yankees will claim him. It’s puzzling why the Oakland was dumping Segui, and why no A.L. team grabbed him, because all the 34-year-old right-hander had done for the A’s was pitch with consistent, dependable effectiveness for five-plus years and counting.
June 16, 1972: The New York Yankees traded pitcher John Cumberland to the St. Louis Cardinals for infielder Jeff Mason.
Meanwhile, Cumberland was flopping as hard off a good 1971 as any pitcher ever has.
June 30, 1972: The Boston Red Sox traded pitcher Mike Nagy to the New York Yankees for infielder Mario Guerrero.
Like the actual Yankees, our version is fine with letting go of Guerrero, and our Red Sox are fine with letting the Yankees find out if Nagy will ever figure out how to get his sinker to make acquaintance with the strike zone.
July 10, 1972: The New York Yankees purchased pitcher Tom Hilgendorf from the Kansas City Royals.
In truth it was the Indians picking up this minor league veteran southpaw from the Royals, but in our scenario it’s the Yanks with the opening.
Aug. 18, 1972: The New York Yankees released pitcher Steve Hamilton.
The end of the line for this very good reliever.
1972 season results
Yankees
Our modifications to the 1971 roster are less than sweeping. Solaita is out at first base, and Blomberg is in. Allen’s left-handed bat will see plenty of third base action. The only new name to open the season on the pitching staff is Beene in the bullpen. Unsatisfied as we were with the ’71 results, we think the core formula remains as robust as we can make it.
1972 New York Yankees Won 82 Lost 73 Finished 3rd
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B R. Blomberg* 23 107 299 36 80 22 1 14 51 38 26 .268 .355 .488 .843 153
2B H. Clarke# 32 147 547 65 132 20 2 3 37 56 44 .241 .313 .302 .615 86
SS R. Metzger# 24 128 427 40 93 8 2 1 25 38 45 .218 .278 .253 .531 61
3B-2B B. Allen* 33 92 287 32 67 12 0 10 30 32 49 .233 .306 .380 .685 106
RF-1B J. Briggs* 28 135 418 58 109 12 1 24 69 55 68 .261 .342 .467 .809 143
CF B. Murcer* 26 153 585 102 171 30 7 33 99 63 67 .292 .361 .537 .898 169
LF R. White# 28 155 556 76 150 29 0 10 56 99 59 .270 .381 .376 .757 129
C T. Munson 25 140 511 54 143 16 3 7 48 47 58 .280 .340 .364 .704 113
1B-3B D. Cater 32 83 254 23 59 13 2 3 31 13 28 .232 .269 .335 .604 82
3B-SS J. Kennedy 31 71 191 18 45 9 2 1 20 17 38 .236 .299 .319 .618 87
OF R. Torres# 23 72 159 14 33 6 0 2 10 14 36 .208 .274 .283 .557 69
C-1B J. Ellis 23 52 136 13 40 5 1 5 26 8 22 .294 .333 .456 .789 137
SS J. Kenney* 27 50 119 16 25 2 0 0 7 16 13 .210 .301 .227 .528 61
RF R. Swoboda 28 63 113 9 28 8 0 1 13 17 29 .248 .338 .345 .683 107
1B-RF F. Tepedino* 24 58 97 9 21 3 0 2 9 5 20 .216 .252 .309 .562 69
Others 41 3 9 1 0 0 3 2 7 .220 .256 .244 .500 51
Pitchers 395 22 61 5 1 0 23 13 128 .154 .172 .172 .344 4
Total 5135 590 1266 201 22 116 557 533 737 .247 .315 .362 .677 104
* Bats left
# Bats both
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
M. Stottlemyre 30 36 36 9 14 18 0 260 250 99 93 13 85 110 3.22 92
F. Peterson* 30 35 35 12 17 15 0 250 270 98 90 17 44 100 3.24 91
S. Kline 24 32 32 11 16 9 0 236 210 79 63 11 44 58 2.40 123
S. Bahnsen 27 37 35 5 19 12 1 227 223 91 84 21 66 144 3.33 89
J. Cumberland* 25 11 5 0 0 4 0 25 30 26 20 6 7 8 7.20 41
P. Hennigan 26 38 1 0 5 2 11 67 51 19 18 6 17 45 2.42 122
D. Segui 34 33 0 0 3 1 14 50 38 19 15 2 28 47 2.70 110
M. Kekich* 27 29 3 0 2 2 2 58 52 24 22 3 27 30 3.41 87
F. Beene 29 29 1 0 1 3 5 58 55 21 15 3 24 37 2.33 127
T. Hilgendorf* 30 25 2 1 2 1 2 42 43 15 12 2 18 24 2.57 115
S. Hamilton* 36 22 0 0 1 0 1 17 19 8 7 1 8 12 3.71 80
R. Klimkowski 28 18 1 0 0 3 2 28 29 14 13 3 14 10 4.18 71
A. Closter* 29 12 1 0 1 2 1 21 22 10 10 3 12 15 4.29 69
R. Hinton* 25 9 2 0 1 0 0 15 18 10 8 2 7 12 4.80 62
S. Hargan 29 6 1 0 0 1 0 10 11 7 6 1 7 5 5.40 55
Others 0 0 0 0 0 10 9 5 5 0 3 10 4.50 66
Total 155 38 82 73 39 1374 1330 545 481 94 411 667 3.15 94
* Throws left
When considering the stats of any American League ball club in 1972, one must staunchly bear in mind the extreme low-scoring nature of that league in that season: it was nearly equivalent to the era’s most notoriously low-scoring season of 1968. And that’s especially true when considering the stats of the 1972 Yankees, given that Yankee Stadium, generally a pitcher’s park, played especially hitter-unfriendly in the early 1970s. The ’72 Yankees thus present a nearly perfect storm of stats that, at first glance, make hitters look worse than they were, and pitchers better than they were.
Understood in that context, we see that our ’72 Yanks are a robust hitting team, leading the league in OPS+. Bobby Murcer is tremendous again, and Blomberg, Johnny Briggs, and Roy White all swing booming bats as well.
But our power-laden offense is paired with a disappointing pitching staff. The starting rotation of Mel Stottlemyre, Fritz Peterson, Steve Kline, and Stan Bahnsen is extremely durable, but Kline is the only one putting up a good ERA. The bullpen is so problematic that we rebuild it over the course of the season, and while we emerge with effective performers in Hennigan, Segui, Beene, and Hilgendorf, we take a lot of lumps before getting there.
It nets out to yet another pretty good, but not-good-enough ball club.
Red Sox
The Pattin acquisition is the only major trade we’ve executed in the offseason. But the roster is significantly overhauled with the introduction of a bumper crop of rookies fresh off the farm.
We’re providing prominent opportunities for catcher Carlton Fisk, first baseman Cecil Cooper, shortstop Juan Beniquez, outfielders Rick Miller and Ben Oglivie, and starting pitcher John Curtis.
1972 Boston Red Sox Won 89 Lost 66 Finished 1st
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B C. Cooper* 22 133 429 48 114 19 6 6 39 32 89 .266 .315 .380 .695 102
2B-1B M. Andrews 28 123 337 39 76 13 0 7 30 46 51 .226 .307 .326 .633 84
SS-2B J. Beniquez 22 121 376 37 94 12 6 4 29 26 61 .250 .295 .346 .641 86
3B R. Petrocelli 29 147 521 62 125 15 2 15 75 78 91 .240 .338 .363 .700 104
RF-CF R. Smith# 27 131 467 75 126 25 4 21 74 68 63 .270 .365 .475 .840 143
CF R. Miller* 24 119 319 41 78 12 5 6 29 36 57 .245 .320 .370 .689 100
LF-1B C. Yastrzemski* 32 125 455 70 120 18 2 12 68 67 44 .264 .357 .391 .748 118
C C. Fisk 24 131 457 74 134 28 9 22 61 52 83 .293 .370 .538 .908 162
RF-CF D. Evans 20 90 305 33 79 12 4 8 34 45 75 .259 .355 .403 .758 120
LF-RF B. Oglivie* 23 94 253 27 61 10 2 8 30 18 61 .241 .293 .391 .684 98
SS L. Aparicio 38 73 218 23 56 13 2 2 20 13 14 .257 .294 .362 .657 90
OF B. Conigliaro 24 52 191 22 45 6 1 9 20 8 52 .236 .264 .419 .683 96
IF B. Hunter 24 55 86 7 17 2 0 1 7 10 15 .198 .287 .256 .543 59
IF M. Guerrero 22 52 90 7 22 2 1 0 5 5 5 .244 .276 .289 .564 64
UT P. Gagliano 30 52 82 9 21 4 1 0 10 10 13 .256 .330 .329 .659 92
RF-C F. Fernandez 29 36 63 5 10 2 0 2 6 13 25 .159 .295 .286 .581 70
C H. King* 28 33 61 6 11 3 0 2 6 12 19 .180 .333 .328 .661 93
LF A. Kosco 30 17 47 5 10 2 1 3 6 2 9 .213 .260 .489 .749 115
Others 9 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 4 .222 .222 .222 .444 30
Pitchers 424 36 70 13 1 4 32 17 150 .165 .189 .229 .418 21
Total 5190 627 1271 211 47 132 582 558 981 .245 .316 .380 .696 102
* Bats left
# Bats both
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
M. Pattin 29 38 35 13 17 13 0 253 232 102 91 19 65 168 3.24 101
J. Curtis* 24 34 29 8 12 11 0 199 201 83 74 11 73 145 3.35 97
S. Siebert 35 32 30 7 12 12 0 196 204 105 83 17 59 123 3.81 86
L. Tiant 31 35 19 12 14 6 1 169 119 42 36 6 62 114 1.92 170
L. McGlothen 22 22 21 4 7 6 0 131 121 59 49 8 53 101 3.37 97
R. Culp 30 16 16 3 5 7 0 94 93 53 46 7 48 48 4.40 74
S. Lyle* 27 56 0 0 9 3 18 97 76 25 22 4 26 67 2.04 160
B. Lee* 25 45 0 0 7 3 4 76 67 27 26 4 29 40 3.08 106
G. Peters* 35 30 2 0 2 2 1 68 72 38 32 7 31 55 4.24 77
D. Newhauser 24 21 0 0 2 1 1 25 20 7 7 1 17 18 2.52 129
B. Bolin 33 19 0 0 0 1 2 28 22 10 9 3 10 24 2.89 113
A. Reynolds 26 14 3 0 0 1 0 30 36 22 18 3 11 20 5.40 60
Others 0 0 2 0 1 17 12 6 5 0 10 17 2.65 123
Total 155 47 89 66 28 1383 1275 579 498 90 494 940 3.24 101
* Throws left
We’d anticipated Billy Conigliaro developing into a star, but instead his performance continues to backslide. Emotionally troubled, he quits in June. To replace him, we call up yet another rookie, the 20-year-old Dwight Evans. Still another mid-season call-up is right-hander Lynn McGlothen, finding a spot in the starting rotation.
It’s an extraordinarily talented bunch of kids. The best of them is Fisk, who stars both offensively and defensively, and is unanimously acclaimed Rookie of the Year.
The broad infusion of fresh blood allows us to overcome setbacks. Carl Yastrzemski endures his second straight sub-par year with the bat. Rico Petrocelli’s production slips. Reggie Smith is dogged by leg injuries, and Mike Andrews by a bad back. Veteran pitchers Ray Culp, Sonny Siebert, and Gary Peters all decline.
But reclamation project Luis Tiant rebounds stunningly, working his way out of the bullpen and into the rotation with a brilliant performance. And Lyle heads up the bullpen with his best year yet.
The result of the topsy-turvy turbulence is a strong ball club in every aspect. And as the Baltimore dynamo finally does come back to the pack, in a closely-fought race (and helped by a five-win overperformance against Pythag), we emerge as the division champion.
Indians
In the wake of our disappointing 1971, we’ve undertaken a thorough overhaul. Unser is installed in center field, with sophomore Chris Chambliss having the inside track in left, and rookie Buddy Bell also expecting outfield playing time. Duffy will compete for the shortstop job.
The biggest realignment is on the mound. Perry takes over as the ace. Competing for starts behind him are sophomores Steve Dunning and Dick Tidrow, and newcomers Wilcox and Colborn.
1972 Cleveland Indians Won 82 Lost 74 Finished 4th
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B G. Scott 28 148 549 71 150 23 4 21 87 40 122 .273 .325 .444 .769 124
2B D. Nelson 28 127 374 55 88 13 2 2 23 51 61 .235 .328 .297 .625 84
SS F. Duffy 25 130 385 26 92 16 4 3 29 31 54 .239 .290 .325 .614 80
3B G. Nettles* 27 150 557 69 141 28 0 17 73 57 50 .253 .324 .395 .719 110
RF R. Scheinblum# 29 134 450 60 136 22 3 11 66 56 40 .302 .380 .438 .818 140
CF D. Unser* 27 132 383 32 91 12 0 1 19 28 46 .238 .284 .277 .561 65
LF-1B C. Chambliss* 23 115 419 50 122 24 2 5 43 23 57 .291 .324 .394 .717 110
C R. Fosse 25 134 457 46 110 20 1 10 44 45 46 .241 .311 .354 .666 95
OF-3B B. Bell 20 88 233 28 59 10 1 4 19 16 16 .253 .302 .356 .658 93
SS-2B E. Leon 25 89 225 17 45 2 1 4 17 20 47 .200 .263 .271 .534 57
C-LF D. Sims* 31 80 199 17 46 8 0 6 24 26 34 .231 .323 .362 .685 101
OF T. Ford 25 77 172 21 40 7 1 6 10 14 34 .233 .290 .390 .680 98
2B-OF J. Lowenstein* 25 68 151 19 32 8 1 6 22 20 43 .212 .302 .397 .700 104
OF B. Davis* 28 81 139 18 44 2 0 1 12 10 20 .317 .358 .353 .710 109
OF-C C. Taylor 28 42 75 11 19 1 1 1 7 10 12 .253 .341 .333 .674 99
Others 56 2 12 1 0 0 3 3 8 .214 .254 .232 .486 44
Pitchers 370 16 45 4 1 2 22 16 153 .122 .144 .154 .298 -13
Total 5194 558 1272 201 22 100 520 466 843 .245 .304 .350 .654 92
* Bats left
# Bats both
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
G. Perry 33 41 40 29 26 13 1 343 253 79 73 17 82 234 1.92 170
D. Tidrow 25 39 34 10 15 13 0 237 200 83 73 21 70 123 2.77 118
M. Wilcox 22 32 27 4 8 12 0 156 145 67 59 18 72 90 3.40 96
R. Gardner* 27 31 21 3 10 8 1 130 132 63 51 17 38 76 3.53 92
S. Dunning 23 12 7 0 2 2 0 46 48 30 27 8 25 29 5.28 62
S. Mingori* 28 41 0 0 0 5 11 57 67 28 25 4 36 47 3.95 83
J. Colborn 26 39 12 4 8 6 3 148 136 59 56 17 44 99 3.41 96
D. Riddleberger 26 38 0 0 1 3 2 54 45 23 15 5 22 34 2.50 130
R. Lamb 27 34 9 0 6 6 1 108 101 42 37 5 29 64 3.08 106
V. Romo 29 28 0 0 3 0 6 52 45 21 20 7 19 48 3.46 94
E. Stephenson* 24 20 3 0 2 3 0 40 39 17 15 3 17 18 3.38 97
E. Farmer 22 15 0 0 1 2 2 20 17 11 10 3 9 11 4.50 72
Others 3 0 0 1 0 21 19 11 10 2 19 11 4.29 76
Total 156 50 82 74 27 1412 1247 534 471 127 482 884 3.00 109
* Throws left
We expected Perry to serve as a steadying anchor for our young staff. We didn’t expect him to do it in glittering Cy Young Award-winning form. But he does.
Following Perry’s shining lead, our pitching rapidly coalesces into a competent unit, with Tidrow stepping up especially well. Overnight, we vault from one of the league’s worst in run prevention to one if its best.
Our offense remains neither a weakness nor a strength. Strong years from some (Richie Scheinblum and George Scott, in particular) are negated by slumps from others (Del Unser and Eddie Leon, we’re looking at you).
But on balance we’re dramatically improved, suddenly a good team. We finish in fourth in the tightly-contested division (ahead of the three-time defending champ Orioles!), but just seven and a half games behind the first-place Red Sox. It’s an extremely encouraging season.
Yankees: Actual Red Sox: Actual Indians: Actual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1969 80 81 5 562 587 87 75 3 743 736 62 99 6 573 717
1970 93 69 2 680 612 87 75 3 786 722 76 86 5 649 675
1971 82 80 4 648 641 85 77 3 691 667 60 102 6 543 747
1972 79 76 4 557 527 85 70 2 640 620 72 84 5 472 519
Yankees: Virtual Red Sox: Virtual Indians: Virtual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1969 80 81 5 594 617 85 77 4 775 781 68 93 6 576 658
1970 95 67 2 677 599 89 73 3 781 706 82 80 4 706 680
1971 87 75 3 662 611 84 78 4 690 673 73 89 5 657 748
1972 82 73 3 590 545 89 66 1 627 579 82 74 4 558 534
Next time
Can our Bosox repeat? Can our Yanks or our Tribe take their place at the top?
Some more perspective on the Lyle/Cater deal: is it possible the Red Sox tried to send Curtis but the Yankees resisted? Then the Sox upped the ante, feeling they had plenty of left-handers.
Also, the previous October the Sox traded the up-and-coming George Scott to the Brewers and didn’t receive a first baseman in return. Maybe by March they were getting a little desperate for a replacement.
Scott flourished in Milwaukee, and when they had a chance to re-acquire him in December of ‘76, they did so. Unfortunately for the Sox, at the cost of another young first baseman, Cecil Cooper (which I suspect will fall under the “Trades we will not make” when you get to that point). Scott had one decent season for the Sox, while we know what Cooper did. (In fairness, the Sox also received Bernie Carbo in that trade.) Milwaukee’s lineage of first basemen owes a lot to Boston’s generosity. And if my first point has any merit, affected the Lyle/Carter trade.
“is it possible the Red Sox tried to send Curtis but the Yankees resisted? Then the Sox upped the ante, feeling they had plenty of left-handers.”
I don’t know, but certainly, it’s entirely possible. Different players are obviously mentioned and pitched in trade negotiations.
But (a) I’m not sure I’d have traded Curtis for Cater anyway, and (b) once one finds oneself upping the ante for a 32-year-old Danny Cater, one has moved beyond the realm of shrewd negotiating.
“Also, the previous October the Sox traded the up-and-coming George Scott to the Brewers and didn’t receive a first baseman in return. Maybe by March they were getting a little desperate for a replacement.”
It clearly appears that way. And painting oneself into a desperate corner via one questionable transaction would be the first mistake.
I always though the Cater/Lyle swap was a long, long, long delayed reaction to the Babe Ruth trade. Somebody opened an old dusty closet, a bit of the Frazee crazy dust got into the ventilation, and *bam* Sparky is sitting on birthday cakes in New York. Makes sense to me.
An alternate title to this series is “How the ‘76 would look without the guys they stole from the Red Sox and Indians”. So far, no Sparky Lyle. Next week we see who plays 3rd for the Yankees instead of Graig Nettles. Bernie Allen and Danny Cater probably aren’t going to cut it.
That should read “How the ‘76 Yankees would look…
” even with the immortal Mike Guerrero “
Was he nicknamed Mike, or do you also get him mixed up with Mike Gallego in your mind? I think he got to Oakland in the Blue deal with the Giants and seemed like the best player on the field for the lousy late-Finley A’s. I think I recall him getting bad-hopped by a grounder and slickly barehanding it and throwing out the runner.
“Was he nicknamed Mike, or do you also get him mixed up with Mike Gallego in your mind?”
He was nicknamed Mike, commonly referred to that way in the 1970s.