1972 New York Mets season

Death of Gil Hodges/Appointment of Yogi Berra

On April 2, 1972, manager Gil Hodges and coaches Rube Walker, Joe Pignatano and Eddie Yost, were returning to their motel in West Palm Beach, Florida after a round of golf when Hodges suddenly collapsed and died from a heart attack, two days short of his forty-eighth birthday.^[2] The Mets wore a black armband on the left sleeves of their uniform jerseys during the 1972 season in honor of Hodges. On April 6, Yogi Berra was introduced as the Mets' new manager.

Notable offseason transactions:

• December 10, 1971: Nolan Ryan, Frank Estrada, Don Rose, and Leroy Stanton were traded by the Mets to the California Angels for Jim Fregosi.^[3]
• April 5, 1972: Ken Singleton, Tim Foli, and Mike Jorgensen were traded by the Mets to the Montreal Expos for Rusty Staub.^[4]

Also, returning to the club for their first full seasons that year was Jon Matlack, a left-handed starting pitcher (the fourth overall pick in the 1967 Major League Baseball draft), and John Milner, a left-handed, power-hitting, first baseman/outfielder.

Season summary

On May 11, the Mets acquired Willie Mays from the San Francisco Giants for minor league pitcher Charlie Williams and cash.^[5][6] The acquisition of Mays had been a longtime dream of Joan Payson, who had been a New York Giants fan in her youth.^[7] With Mays no longer pulling the weight of his large contract, Giants owner Horace Stoneham made him available, and Payson could not resist.^[8]

The club got off to a sizzling start in 1972, playing better than .700 ball through early June and peaking at 25–7 (.781) on May 21, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates by six games. However, Jim Fregosi suffered a broken thumb in spring training and never got on track, posting a .232 batting average. Second baseman Ken Boswell slumped to .211. John Milner flashed some power with 17 home runs but hit just .238. Tommie Agee, batting .291 on the day of the Mays trade, suddenly found himself sharing center field with Mays, and, along with being increasingly hampered by knee problems, finished at only .227. Rusty Staub led all starters with a .293 batting average, but was limited to just 66 games because of a broken hand. Mays did hit a respectable .267, but his fielding ability significantly declined. In addition, along with Staub, a series of disabling injuries to Bud Harrelson, Jerry Grote, and Cleon Jones brought the team up short and dropped them into their third consecutive third-place finish, 13.5 games behind Pittsburgh.

Among pitchers, Tom Seaver went 21–12, Rookie of the Year Jon Matlack was 15–10 and Jim McAndrew 11–8, but Jerry Koosman went 11–12 as his earned run average jumped to 4.14, and Gary Gentry slumped to 7–10 with a 4.04 ERA. Tug McGraw continued as the bullpen ace, with 8 wins and 27 saves and a 1.70 ERA.

On September 30, Jon Matlack gave up a double to Pirates legend Roberto Clemente. It was Clemente's 3,000th and final big-league hit prior to his death in a plane crash on New Year's Eve.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day starters

• Tommie Agee
• Ken Boswell
• Jim Fregosi
• Jerry Grote
• Bud Harrelson
• Cleon Jones
• Ed Kranepool
• Tom Seaver
• Rusty Staub

Notable transactions

• May 11: Charlie Williams and $50,000 were traded to the San Francisco Giants for Willie Mays.^[5][6][9]

Roster

Batting

Pitching

All-Stars

1972 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Willie Mays, starting center fielder
• Tug McGraw, reserve
• Tom Seaver, reserve