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Roberto Clemente, Pittsburgh Pirates
On December 31, HOF Pirate outfielder Roberto Clement lost his life in a mercy mission plane crash that was delivering needed food and supplies to earthquake victims of Nicaragua. The shocking death sent all baseball fans into a tailspin. To honor Clemente, he was inducted post-humorously into the Hall of Fame the following year, waiving the required 5-year waiting period after a player plays his last game. Starting in 1973, the Roberto Clemente Award has been given to the player who best combines outstanding skills with devoted work in the community. Each team nominates a deserving player from their team and the most deserving recipient receives the highly valued award during the World Series. Clemente, who spent his childhood working in sugar cane fields in Puerto Rica, appeared in 15 All Star Games, won four batting titles, an MVP Award, 12 Gold Gloves, and led the Pirates to two World Series titles
Around the Leagues
The 1972 season was put on hold for the first 6 days of the season due to a player strike for a better pension plan.
The National League
In the East division, Pittsburgh rose to the top with little challenge for the third consecutive year. An improved Cubs team took second but never threatened. At the other end of the division, the last place Phillies had the Cy Young Award winner – Steve Carlton. Carlton’s season was historical in that he won 27 games for a team that could only win 59.
In the West the Reds reclaimed 1st place. The familiar names of the Big Red Machine were swinging away. The surprise of the division were the previous perennial losers, the Houston Astros who came in second.
The NLCS was exciting. In the fifth game finality, the Reds scored the deciding run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on a wild pitch by Pirates pitcher Bob Moose to get back to the World Series. Pete Rose led the Reds batting .450.
American League
The American League East went down to the final weekend when the Tigers clinched the division title by taking two of three games in September from the Red Sox to move onto the A LCS.
Although not a tight race in the West, the story coming out of Oakland was the signal to the rest of baseball that the Oakland A’s had put together a team that would be as dominant as any team since the Yankees of the 1950s. A colorful squad of mustached players held off the much improved Chicago White Sox.
The ALCS went five games with Oakland, behind the arm of Blue Moon Odom, nipping the Tigers 2-1 in the final game to move onto the World Series.
1972 World Series Oakland (AL) 4 Games Cincinnati Reds (NL) 3 Games
As expected, a fiercely fought World Series in which 6 of the 7 games were decided by one run.` The A’s jumped out to 3 – 1 advantage but the Reds came back to knot it at 3 games apiece. In the seventh game, the A’s triumphed 3-2 behind the pitching of Blue Moon Odom, Ken Holtzman, and closer Rollie Fingers Little known backup catcher Gene Tenace was the MVP of the series hitting 4 HRs and driving in 9 runs. The A’s were just getting started.