1972 Pacific Coast League season

The 1972 Pacific Coast League season was the 70th season in the league's history. It ended with the Albuquerque Dukes winning the league championship in their first year. The Dukes then lost the World Baseball Championship final.

With Albuquerque replacing the Spokane Indians, there was a realignment and renaming of the two divisions. Tacoma changed their name to the Twins to reflect the team becoming the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. Portland became the Cleveland Indians' affiliate as a result.

Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.

	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Albuquerque Dukes	92	56	.622	-	Tom Lasorda	Los Angeles Dodgers
Phoenix Giants	81	67	.547	11	Jim Davenport	San Francisco Giants
Salt Lake City Angels	80	68	.541	12	Les Moss	California Angels
Tucson Toros	60	88	.405	32	Larry Sherry	Chicago White Sox

	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Eugene Emeralds	79	69	.534	-	Andy Seminick	Philadelphia Phillies
Hawaii Islanders	74	74	.500	5	Rocky Bridges	San Diego Padres
Tacoma Twins	65	83	.439	14	Harry Warner	Minnesota Twins
Portland Beavers	61	87	.412	18	Clay Bryant/Danny Carnevale/Ray Hathaway	Cleveland Indians

Championship Finals

Albuquerque vs. Eugene Date Away Home September 5 Albuquerque 6 Eugene 4 September 6 Albuquerque 9 Eugene 10 September 7 Eugene 6 Albuquerque 8 September 8 Eugene 4 Albuquerque 6 Albuquerque wins series 3-1 and advances to World Baseball Championship

League Leaders

Batting

• Batting Average Von Joshua, Albuquerque, .337
• Runs Scored Tom Paciorek, Albuquerque, 125
• Hits Paciorek, 186
• Doubles Paciorek, 33
• Triples Jimmy O. Williams, Phoenix, 20
• Home Runs Paciorek, 27
• Runs Batted In Doug Howard, Salt Lake City, 109
• Stolen Bases Davey Lopes, Albuquerque, 48

Pitching

• Wins Mike Wallace, Eugene, 16
• Earned Run Average Dick Lange, Salt Lake City, 2.97
• Complete Games Mike McCormick, Salt Lake City, 14
• Shutouts Steve Luebber, Tacoma, 5
• Strikeouts Luebber, 199
• Saves Aurelio Monteagudo, Hawaii, 21

All-Star Team

• First Base Tom Paciorek, Albuquerque
• Second Base Mike Schmidt, Eugene
• Shortstop Craig Robinson, Eugene
• Third Base Ron Cey, Albuquerque
• Outfield Larry Hisle, Albuquerque; Jim Hicks, Hawaii; Gary Matthews Sr., Phoenix
• Catcher Bob Boone, Eugene
• Pitcher Dick Lange, Salt Lake City; Doug Rau, Albuquerque; Aurelio Monteagudo, Hawaii
• Manager Andy Seminick, Eugene

References

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

Related Sites

• BR minors page