1972 American Association season

BR minors page

The 1972 American Association season was the 65th in the league's history, and ended with the Evansville Triplets winning their first league championship. The Triplets would go on to finish fourth in the World Baseball Championship. Due to the short time frame between the end of the regular season and the start of the Championship, the playoff final was shortened to a best-of-five series.

The only affiliation change this year was in Wichita, where the Aeros became the Chicago Cubs' new Triple-A affiliate.

Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.

East Division	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Evansville Triplets	83	57	.593	-	Del Crandall/Mike Roarke/Al Widmar	Milwaukee Brewers
Omaha Royals	71	69	.507	12	Jack McKeon	Kansas City Royals
Iowa Oaks	62	78	.443	21	Sherm Lollar	Oakland Athletics
Indianapolis Indians	61	79	.436	22	Vern Rapp	Cincinnati Reds

West Division	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Wichita Aeros	87	53	.621	-	Jim Marshall	Chicago Cubs
Tulsa Oilers	78	62	.557	9	Jack Krol	St. Louis Cardinals
Denver Bears	61	79	.436	26	Del Wilber	Texas Rangers
Oklahoma City 89ers	57	83	.407	30	Tony Pacheco	Houston Astros

Championship Finals

Wichita vs. Evansville Date Away Home September 5 Wichita 3 Evansville 6 September 6 Wichita 0 Evansville 1 September 8 Evansville 11 Wichita 5 Evansville wins series 3-0 and advances to World Baseball Championship

League Leaders

Batting

• Batting Average Gene Locklear, Indianapolis, .325
• Runs Scored Bob Coluccio, Evansville, 79
• Hits Wilbur Howard, Evansville, 155
• Doubles Rafael Batista, Oklahoma City, 35
• Triples Ed Armbrister, Indianapolis, 11
• Home Runs Bob Hansen, Evansville, 25
• Runs Batted In Roe Skidmore, Indianapolis, 89
• Stolen Bases Cleo James, Wichita, 39

Pitching

• Wins Lloyd Gladden, Evansville, 15
• Earned Run Average Joe Decker, Wichita, 2.26
• Complete Games Steve Busby, Omaha, 17
• Shutouts Monty Montgomery, Omaha, 7
• Strikeouts Busby, 221
• Saves Ron Tompkins, Wichita, 20

All-Star Team

• First Base Bob Hansen, Evansville
• Second Base Jim Wohlford, Omaha
• Shortstop Dave Rosello, Wichita
• Third Base Ken Reitz, Tulsa
• Outfield Gene Locklear, Indianapolis; Bob Coluccio, Evansville; Cleo James, Wichita; Ed Armbrister, Indianapolis
• Catcher Gene Dusan, Iowa; Skip Jutze, Tulsa
• Pitcher Lloyd Gladden, Evansville; Mike Jackson, Omaha
• Manager Jim Marshall, Wichita

References

• The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Lloyd Johnson and Miles Wolff, editors. Baseball America, 1993.
• 1973 Baseball Guide