1972 MLB Leaders and Award Winners

2 leagues · 155 team games · 46 ranking tables · 24 awards

Awards

Most Valuable Player

Dick AllenAmerican League
Johnny BenchNational League

Cy Young Award

Steve CarltonNational League
Gaylord PerryAmerican League

Rookie of the Year

Carlton FiskAmerican League
Jon MatlackNational League

Gold Glove

Johnny BenchNational League
Ken BerryAmerican League
Paul BlairAmerican League
Larry BowaNational League
Ed BrinkmanAmerican League
Cesar CedenoNational League
Roberto ClementeNational League
Willie DavisNational League
Carlton FiskAmerican League
Bob GibsonNational League
Doug GriffinAmerican League
Jim KaatAmerican League
Felix MillanNational League
Bobby MurcerAmerican League
Wes ParkerNational League
Doug RaderNational League
Brooks RobinsonAmerican League
George ScottAmerican League

Not every award existed in this season. This database has Silver Slugger (from 1980). Their absence here is not a statement about these players: those awards had not been invented yet.

American League

Led the American League — the first row of every table below.

Batting13 categories

RunsR

1	Bobby Murcer	102
2	Joe Rudi	94
3	Tommy Harper	92
4	Dick Allen	90
5	Cesar Tovar	86
6	Bert Campaneris	85
7	Carlos May	83
8	Roy White	76
9	Amos Otis	75
9	Reggie Smith	75

HitsH

1	Joe Rudi	181
2	Lou Piniella	179
3	Bobby Murcer	171
4	Rod Carew	170
5	Carlos May	161
6	Amos Otis	158
6	Danny Thompson	158
8	Dick Allen	156
9	Bob Oliver	154
9	George Scott	154

Doubles2B

1	Lou Piniella	33
2	Joe Rudi	32
3	Bobby Murcer	30
4	Tommy Harper	29
4	Roy White	29
6	Dick Allen	28
6	Carlton Fisk	28
6	Graig Nettles	28
6	Amos Otis	28
10	Chris Chambliss	27

Triples3B

1	Carlton Fisk	9
1	Joe Rudi	9
3	Paul Blair	8
4	Pat Kelly	7
4	Bobby Murcer	7
6	Rod Carew	6
6	Mickey Stanley	6
6	Danny Thompson	6
6	Cesar Tovar	6
10	Dick Allen	5
10	Willie Horton	5
10	Tommy McCraw	5
10	Bob Oliver	5
10	Aurelio Rodriguez	5

Home RunsHR

1	Dick Allen	37
2	Bobby Murcer	33
3	Mike Epstein	26
3	Harmon Killebrew	26
5	Reggie Jackson	25
5	John Mayberry	25
7	Norm Cash	22
7	Bobby Darwin	22
7	Carlton Fisk	22
10	John Briggs	21
10	Boog Powell	21
10	Reggie Smith	21

Runs Batted InRBI

1	Dick Allen	113
2	John Mayberry	100
3	Bobby Murcer	96
4	George Scott	88
5	Boog Powell	81
6	Bobby Darwin	80
7	Sal Bando	77
8	Bob Oliver	76
9	Reggie Jackson	75
9	Rico Petrocelli	75
9	Joe Rudi	75

WalksBB

1	Dick Allen	99
1	Roy White	99
3	Harmon Killebrew	94
4	Carlos May	79
5	Sal Bando	78
5	John Mayberry	78
5	Rico Petrocelli	78
8	Mike Andrews	70
9	Don Buford	69
10	Mike Epstein	68
10	Reggie Smith	68
10	Ron Theobald	68

Stolen BasesSB

1	Bert Campaneris	52
2	Dave Nelson	51
3	Freddie Patek	33
4	Pat Kelly	32
5	Amos Otis	28
6	Tommy Harper	25
7	Rick Auerbach	24
7	Don Baylor	24
9	Carlos May	23
9	Roy White	23

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Bobby Murcer	9.3
2	Dick Allen	8.9
3	Carlton Fisk	8.1
4	John Mayberry	6.1
5	Amos Otis	5.9
6	Reggie Jackson	5.6
7	Roy White	5.1
8	Mike Epstein	5.1
9	Rod Carew	4.7
10	Tommy Harper	4.7

Batting Averagemin 481 PA

1	Rod Carew	.318
2	Lou Piniella	.312
3	Dick Allen	.308
3	Carlos May	.308
5	Joe Rudi	.305
6	Richie Scheinblum	.300
7	John Mayberry	.298
8	Carlton Fisk	.293
8	Amos Otis	.293
10	Chris Chambliss	.292
10	Bobby Murcer	.292

On-Base Percentagemin 481 PA

1	Dick Allen	.420
2	Carlos May	.405
3	John Mayberry	.394
4	Roy White	.384
5	Richie Scheinblum	.383
6	Mike Epstein	.376
7	Carlton Fisk	.370
8	Rod Carew	.369
9	Harmon Killebrew	.367
10	Reggie Smith	.365

Slugging Percentagemin 481 PA

1	Dick Allen	.603
2	Carlton Fisk	.538
3	Bobby Murcer	.537
4	John Mayberry	.507
5	Mike Epstein	.490
6	Joe Rudi	.486
7	Reggie Smith	.475
8	Reggie Jackson	.473
9	John Briggs	.455
10	Harmon Killebrew	.450

On-Base Plus Sluggingmin 481 PA

1	Dick Allen	1.023
2	Carlton Fisk	.909
3	John Mayberry	.900
4	Bobby Murcer	.898
5	Mike Epstein	.866
6	Carlos May	.843
7	Reggie Smith	.840
8	Joe Rudi	.830
9	Reggie Jackson	.823
10	Harmon Killebrew	.817

Pitching10 categories

WinsW

1	Gaylord Perry	24
1	Wilbur Wood	24
3	Mickey Lolich	22
4	Stan Bahnsen	21
4	Catfish Hunter	21
4	Jim Palmer	21
7	Joe Coleman	19
7	Ken Holtzman	19
7	Nolan Ryan	19
10	Mike Cuellar	18
10	Clyde Wright	18

SavesSV

1	Sparky Lyle	35
2	Terry Forster	29
3	Rollie Fingers	21
4	Wayne Granger	19
5	Ken Sanders	17
6	Horacio Pina	15
7	Chuck Seelbach	14
8	Frank Linzy	12
8	Fred Scherman	12
10	Darold Knowles	11

StrikeoutsSO

1	Nolan Ryan	329
2	Mickey Lolich	250
3	Gaylord Perry	234
4	Bert Blyleven	228
5	Joe Coleman	222
6	Tom Bradley	209
7	Wilbur Wood	193
8	Catfish Hunter	191
9	Jim Palmer	184
10	Rudy May	169

Innings PitchedIP

1	Wilbur Wood	376.7
2	Gaylord Perry	342.7
3	Mickey Lolich	327.3
4	Catfish Hunter	295.3
5	Bert Blyleven	287.3
6	Nolan Ryan	284.0
7	Joe Coleman	280.0
8	Jim Palmer	274.3
9	Pat Dobson	268.3
10	Ken Holtzman	265.3

Complete GamesCG

1	Gaylord Perry	29
2	Mickey Lolich	23
3	Nolan Ryan	20
3	Wilbur Wood	20
5	Jim Palmer	18
6	Mike Cuellar	17
7	Ken Holtzman	16
7	Catfish Hunter	16
9	Clyde Wright	15
10	Pat Dobson	13
10	Marty Pattin	13

ShutoutsSHO

1	Nolan Ryan	9
2	Wilbur Wood	8
3	Mel Stottlemyre	7
4	Dave McNally	6
4	Roger Nelson	6
4	Luis Tiant	6
7	Catfish Hunter	5
7	Gaylord Perry	5
9	Vida Blue	4
9	Mike Cuellar	4
9	Ken Holtzman	4
9	Steve Kline	4
9	Mickey Lolich	4
9	Marty Pattin	4

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Gaylord Perry	6.9
2	Nolan Ryan	5.3
3	Bert Blyleven	5.3
4	Mickey Lolich	5.2
5	Wilbur Wood	5.1
6	Tom Bradley	5.1
7	Pat Dobson	4.6
8	Catfish Hunter	4.2
9	Jim Palmer	4.2
10	Marty Pattin	3.6

Earned Run Averagemin 155 IP

1	Luis Tiant	1.91
2	Gaylord Perry	1.92
3	Catfish Hunter	2.04
4	Jim Palmer	2.07
5	Roger Nelson	2.08
6	Mike Paul	2.17
7	Nolan Ryan	2.28
8	Steve Kline	2.40
9	Blue Moon Odom	2.50
10	Mickey Lolich	2.50

Walks and Hits per Inningmin 155 IP

1	Roger Nelson	0.87
2	Catfish Hunter	0.91
3	Gaylord Perry	0.98
4	Jim Palmer	1.05
5	Wilbur Wood	1.06
6	Ken Holtzman	1.07
7	Steve Kline	1.07
8	Pat Dobson	1.08
9	Luis Tiant	1.08
10	Mike Cuellar	1.08

Fielding Independent Pitchingmin 155 IP

1	Andy Messersmith	2.35
2	Mike Paul	2.39
3	Nolan Ryan	2.49
4	Gaylord Perry	2.50
5	Tom Bradley	2.52
6	Roger Nelson	2.54
7	Luis Tiant	2.62
8	Bert Blyleven	2.63
9	Pat Dobson	2.65
10	Paul Splittorff	2.75

National League

Led the National League — the first row of every table below.

Batting13 categories

RunsR

1	Joe Morgan	122
2	Bobby Bonds	118
3	Jim Wynn	117
4	Pete Rose	107
5	Cesar Cedeno	103
6	Jose Cardenal	96
7	Billy Williams	95
8	Al Oliver	88
8	Bobby Tolan	88
10	Johnny Bench	87
10	Nate Colbert	87
10	Ralph Garr	87
10	Lee May	87

HitsH

1	Pete Rose	198
2	Lou Brock	193
3	Billy Williams	191
4	Ralph Garr	180
4	Ted Simmons	180
6	Cesar Cedeno	179
7	Willie Davis	178
8	Al Oliver	176
9	Bobby Tolan	171
9	Bob Watson	171

Doubles2B

1	Cesar Cedeno	39
1	Willie Montanez	39
3	Ted Simmons	36
4	Billy Williams	34
5	Tito Fuentes	33
5	Greg Luzinski	33
5	Tony Perez	33
8	Lee May	31
8	Pete Rose	31
10	Bobby Bonds	29
10	Jim Wynn	29

Triples3B

1	Larry Bowa	13
2	Pete Rose	11
3	Lou Brock	8
3	Cesar Cedeno	8
3	Manny Sanguillen	8
6	Roberto Clemente	7
6	Willie Davis	7
6	Cesar Geronimo	7
6	Leron Lee	7
6	Garry Maddox	7
6	Jerry Morales	7
6	Tony Perez	7
6	Doug Rader	7

Home RunsHR

1	Johnny Bench	40
2	Nate Colbert	38
3	Billy Williams	37
4	Hank Aaron	34
5	Willie Stargell	33
6	Dave Kingman	29
6	Lee May	29
8	Earl Williams	28
9	Bobby Bonds	26
10	Jim Wynn	24

Runs Batted InRBI

1	Johnny Bench	125
2	Billy Williams	122
3	Willie Stargell	112
4	Nate Colbert	111
5	Lee May	98
6	Ted Simmons	96
7	Tony Perez	90
7	Doug Rader	90
7	Jim Wynn	90
10	Al Oliver	89

WalksBB

1	Joe Morgan	115
2	Jim Wynn	103
3	Johnny Bench	100
4	Hank Aaron	92
5	Darrell Evans	90
6	Chris Speier	82
7	Rick Monday	78
8	Pete Rose	73
9	Nate Colbert	70
9	Wayne Garrett	70
9	Ken Singleton	70

Stolen BasesSB

1	Lou Brock	63
2	Joe Morgan	58
3	Cesar Cedeno	55
4	Bobby Bonds	44
5	Bobby Tolan	42
6	Jose Cardenal	25
6	Ralph Garr	25
8	Enzo Hernandez	24
9	Roger Metzger	23
10	Willie Davis	20

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Joe Morgan	10.1
2	Cesar Cedeno	9.9
3	Johnny Bench	9.1
4	Billy Williams	8.3
5	Dusty Baker	7.7
6	Ron Santo	7.1
7	Ted Simmons	6.9
8	Pete Rose	6.8
9	Jim Wynn	6.8
10	Chris Speier	6.7

Batting Averagemin 481 PA

1	Billy Williams	.333
2	Ralph Garr	.325
3	Dusty Baker	.321
4	Cesar Cedeno	.320
5	Al Oliver	.312
5	Bob Watson	.312
7	Lou Brock	.311
8	Matty Alou	.307
8	Pete Rose	.307
10	Ted Simmons	.303

On-Base Percentagemin 481 PA

1	Joe Morgan	.417
2	Billy Williams	.398
3	Ron Santo	.391
4	Hank Aaron	.390
5	Jim Wynn	.389
6	Cesar Cedeno	.385
7	Darrell Evans	.384
8	Dusty Baker	.383
9	Pete Rose	.382
10	Johnny Bench	.379

Slugging Percentagemin 481 PA

1	Billy Williams	.606
2	Willie Stargell	.558
3	Johnny Bench	.541
4	Cesar Cedeno	.537
5	Hank Aaron	.514
6	Nate Colbert	.508
6	Richie Hebner	.508
8	Dusty Baker	.504
9	Tony Perez	.497
10	Lee May	.490

On-Base Plus Sluggingmin 481 PA

1	Billy Williams	1.005
2	Willie Stargell	.930
3	Cesar Cedeno	.921
4	Johnny Bench	.920
5	Hank Aaron	.904
6	Dusty Baker	.888
7	Richie Hebner	.886
8	Ron Santo	.878
9	Jim Wynn	.860
10	Joe Morgan	.851

Pitching10 categories

WinsW

1	Steve Carlton	27
2	Tom Seaver	21
3	Fergie Jenkins	20
3	Claude Osteen	20
5	Steve Blass	19
5	Bob Gibson	19
5	Don Sutton	19
8	Milt Pappas	17
9	Phil Niekro	16
9	Mike Torrez	16
9	Rick Wise	16

SavesSV

1	Clay Carroll	37
2	Tug McGraw	27
3	Dave Giusti	22
4	Mike Marshall	18
5	Jack Aker	17
5	Jim Brewer	17
7	Fred Gladding	14
7	Ramon Hernandez	14
9	Cecil Upshaw	13
10	Pedro Borbon	11

StrikeoutsSO

1	Steve Carlton	310
2	Tom Seaver	249
3	Bob Gibson	208
4	Don Sutton	207
5	Fergie Jenkins	184
6	Clay Kirby	175
7	Jerry Reuss	174
8	Don Wilson	172
9	Bill Stoneman	171
10	Jon Matlack	169

Innings PitchedIP

1	Steve Carlton	346.3
2	Fergie Jenkins	289.3
3	Phil Niekro	282.3
4	Bob Gibson	278.0
5	Don Sutton	272.7
6	Rick Wise	269.0
7	Tom Seaver	262.0
8	Claude Osteen	252.0
9	Bill Stoneman	250.7
10	Steve Arlin	250.0

Complete GamesCG

1	Steve Carlton	30
2	Bob Gibson	23
2	Fergie Jenkins	23
4	Rick Wise	20
5	Don Sutton	18
6	Phil Niekro	17
7	Claude Osteen	14
8	Tom Seaver	13
8	Bill Stoneman	13
8	Mike Torrez	13
8	Don Wilson	13

ShutoutsSHO

1	Don Sutton	9
2	Steve Carlton	8
3	Fred Norman	6
4	Larry Dierker	5
4	Fergie Jenkins	5
6	Jack Billingham	4
6	Ron Bryant	4
6	Al Downing	4
6	Bob Gibson	4
6	Jon Matlack	4
6	Claude Osteen	4
6	Rick Reuschel	4
6	Bill Stoneman	4

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Steve Carlton	9.1
2	Don Sutton	6.1
3	Bob Gibson	5.2
4	Tom Seaver	4.7
5	Phil Niekro	4.5
6	Bob Moose	4.4
7	Jon Matlack	4.0
8	Don Wilson	3.7
9	Rick Wise	3.7
10	Dock Ellis	3.4

Earned Run Averagemin 155 IP

1	Steve Carlton	1.98
2	Gary Nolan	1.99
3	Don Sutton	2.08
4	Jon Matlack	2.32
5	Bob Gibson	2.46
6	Steve Blass	2.49
7	Claude Osteen	2.64
8	Don Wilson	2.68
9	Dock Ellis	2.70
10	Milt Pappas	2.77

Walks and Hits per Inningmin 155 IP

1	Don Sutton	0.91
2	Steve Carlton	0.99
3	Gary Nolan	1.01
4	Jim McAndrew	1.06
5	Phil Niekro	1.09
6	Fergie Jenkins	1.09
7	Milt Pappas	1.11
8	Tom Seaver	1.11
9	Bob Gibson	1.13
10	Tommy John	1.14

Fielding Independent Pitchingmin 155 IP

1	Steve Carlton	2.01
2	Don Sutton	2.24
3	Dock Ellis	2.36
4	Bob Moose	2.44
5	Bob Gibson	2.54
6	Tom Seaver	2.58
7	Jon Matlack	2.66
8	Don Wilson	2.70
9	Nelson Briles	2.78
10	Jerry Koosman	2.78

How this page is built

The qualifying line for 1972 is 481 plate appearances and 155 innings pitched. It comes from the length of the schedule — 155 games per team, measured from the season files themselves — at the official rate of 3.1 plate appearances and one inning per team game. Batting average, on-base, slugging, OPS, earned run average and WHIP all use it; a player who came to the plate twice and got two hits does not appear at the top of the batting average table, which is exactly what that line is for. Counting statistics such as home runs and strikeouts have no minimum, because none is needed.

How the rankings were made

Wins above replacement in these tables is ours rather than the source database's, so it will not match a published figure exactly. Also: why every ranking stops at one league, and why some categories are missing on purpose.

Every ranking on this page is worked out inside one league. 1972 is counted as 2 separate leagues — American League and National League, and a player is ranked only against the men in his own. Leading the American League and leading baseball are different claims, and the one we can make from these files is the first. There is no combined table anywhere on this page, because adding two leagues together would produce a number that no record book recognises.

There are 46 ranking tables here, 14 places deep. Players tied on a value share a place, so a table can run past ten rows when the tenth spot is shared, and a league with fewer than ten qualified players in a category is left out rather than shown as a top ten that is not one. A player who did none of the thing is not ranked in it either — a shutout table lists the pitchers who threw one, not the hundreds who threw none tied on zero. Some categories are missing on purpose: nobody leads a league in strikeouts at the plate, in losses, or in home runs allowed. A ranking is meant to mark an achievement, so only achievements are ranked.

Wins above replacement on this page is ours, not the source database's. The hitting and pitching files carry a WAR column that we compute here from the same season lines you see, using park factors and a run environment worked out per season. Published versions elsewhere use different methods and will not match ours exactly. Every other column is the record as the database supplies it.

Names on this page lead to that player's own record. Most of them open a full career page with every season he appeared in. Some open a summary screen instead — we pre-build pages for the players people look for, and everyone else is assembled on demand from the same files, so the numbers are identical either way even though the address looks different.

Data for 1871 to 2025: Lahman Baseball Database 2025, compiled by SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) and licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported. Negro Leagues data licensed from Seamheads.com and included under SABR major-league recommendations (2021-02-11, 2024-06-03). This page ranks the 1972 season lines published on this site, league by league, with WAR worked out here. — the WAR columns are computed here — and they are published under the same CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported licence, as ShareAlike requires. That database is published once a season is complete, so the 2026 figures on this site come from a different place: the MLB Stats API, whose notice reads “Copyright 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Use of any content on this page acknowledges agreement to the terms posted here http://gdx.mlb.com/components/copyright.txt”. Those numbers are MLB Advanced Media, L.P.’s, not SABR (Society for American Baseball Research)’s, and they carry that notice rather than the CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported licence above. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Major League Baseball or any of its clubs.