1972 International League season

BR minors page

The 1972 International League season was the 87th in the league's history, and ended with the Tidewater Tides winning their first Governors' Cup in franchise history. The Tides would go on to finish third 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 first round of the playoffs was shortened to a best-of-three series.

The league expanded its regular season to 144 games, and the Winnipeg Whips moved to Hampton, VA to become the Peninsula Whips. This would be the last year for the Louisville Colonels despite winning the IL pennant.

Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.

	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Louisville Colonels	81	63	.563	-	Darrell Johnson	Boston Red Sox
Charleston Charlies	80	64	.556	1	Red Davis	Pittsburgh Pirates
Tidewater Tides	78	65	.545	2½	Hank Bauer	New York Mets
Rochester Red Wings	76	68	.528	5	Joe Altobelli	Baltimore Orioles
Toledo Mud Hens	75	69	.521	6	Johnny Lipon	Detroit Tigers
Richmond Braves	65	78	.455	15½	Clyde King	Atlanta Braves
Syracuse Chiefs	64	80	.444	17	Frank Verdi	New York Yankees
Peninsula Whips	56	88	.389	25	Bill Adair	Montreal Expos

Playoffs

	First Round					Governors' Cup Finals
	1	Louisville Colonels	2
	4	Rochester Red Wings	1
						1	Louisville Colonels	2
						3	Tidewater Tides	3
	2	Charleston Charlies	1
	3	Tidewater Tides	2

First Round

Louisville vs. Rochester Date Away Home September 5 Rochester 2 Louisville 3 September 6 Louisville 3 Rochester 4 10 innings September 7 Louisville 9 Rochester 7 11 innings Louisville wins series 2-1

Charleston vs. Tidewater Date Away Home September 6 Tidewater 1 Charleston 4 September 7 Charleston 0 Tidewater 1 Game 2 Charleston 2 Tidewater 5 'Tidewater wins series 2-1

Governor's Cup Finals

Louisville vs. Tidewater Date Away Home September 8 Louisville 1 Tidewater 5 September 9 Louisville 1 Tidewater 2 September 10 Tidewater 3 Louisville 4 10 innings September 11 Tidewater 4 Louisville 6 September 12 Tidewater 6 Louisville 3 Tidewater wins series 3-2 and advances to World Baseball Championship

League Leaders

Batting

• Batting Average Al Bumbry, Rochester, .345
• Runs Scored Pepe Mangual, Peninsula, 91
• Hits Cecil Cooper, Louisville, 162
• Doubles Cooper, 31
• Triples Bumbry, 15
• Home Runs Richie Zisk, Charleston, 26
• Runs Batted In Dwight Evans, Louisville, 95
• Stolen Bases Mangual, 39

Pitching

• Wins Craig Skok, Louisville, 15
• Earned Run Average Gene Garber, Charleston, 2.26
• Complete Games Garber and Harry Parker, Tidewater, 13
• Shutouts Parker, 5
• Strikeouts Jim McKee, Charleston, 159
• Saves Dick Colpaert, Charleston, 21

All-Star Team

• First Base Cecil Cooper, Louisville
• Second Base Chuck Goggin, Charleston
• Shortstop Mario Guerrero, Louisville and Syracuse
• Third Base Tom Matchick, Rochester
• Outfield Al Bumbry, Rochester; Dwight Evans, Louisville; Richie Zisk, Charleston
• Catcher Vic Correll, Louisville
• Pitcher Gene Garber, Charleston; Craig Skok, Louisville
• Manager Hank Bauer, Tidewater

References

Jim Mandelaro and Scott Pitoniak. Silver Seasons. Syracuse University Press, 1995.

Brian Bennett, On A Silver Diamond: The Story Of Rochester Community Baseball from 1956-1996. Triphammer Publishing, 1997.

1973 Baseball Guide

External Links

1972 Rochester Red Wings review – On A Silver Diamond