1972 National League

The Reds returned to the top of the West Division with 95 victories, while the Pirates repeated in the East with 96 triumphs. Both teams won easily, with the Reds 10.5 games ahead of the newly sound Astros and the Dodgers, with Atlanta 4th, defending West champs San Francisco falling to 5th, and San Diego bringing up the rear. The Pirates won by 11 games over Chicago, with New York 3rd. St. Louis was 4th, Montreal crept up to 5th, and Philadelphia finished last despite an incredible performance by Steve Carlton, who was credited with 27 of the team's 59 victories.
The Reds won the NLCS, then lost the World Series. San Francisco traded Willie Mays back to New York, to the Mets. And after the season was over, on New Year's Eve, Pittsburgh star outfielder Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash, delivering relief supplies to the needy. Baseball suffered a great loss with his passing.

Johnny Bench led the league in HR and RBI, and won his second MVP. Billy Williams led in batting average, slugging, and OPS. Joe Morgan led in on-base and runs, while Lou Brock led in steals. Williams batted .333, Ralph Garr .325, Dusty Baker .321, and Cesar Cedeno .320. Bench hit 40 home runs, Nate Colbert 38, and Williams 37. Bench drove in 125 runs, Williams 122. Pete Rose had 198 hits, Cedeno and Willie Montanez 39 doubles, Larry Bowa 13 triples, Joe Morgan 122 runs, Lou Brock 63 steals.

Carlton led in wins, of course, and also strikeouts and ERA, to take the pitching Triple Crown. Carlton's 27 wins were trailed by Tom Seaver with 21 and Fergie Jenkins and Claude Osteen with 20. Carlton struck out 310, Seaver 249. Carlton had a 1.97 ERA, Gary Nolan 1.99, Don Sutton 2.08. Clay Carroll led in saves with 37.

Win Shares leaders, players; Joe Morgan (Cincinnati) 39, Johnny Bench (Cincinnati) 37, Cesar Cedeno (Houston) 33, Billy Williams (Chicago) and Pete Rose (Cincinnati) 32, Jim Wynn (Houston) and Nate Colbert (San Diego) 28, Bob Watson (Houston) and Willie Stargell (Pittsburgh) 26, Tony Perez (Cincinnati), Willie Davis (Los Angeles), and Chris Speier (San Francisco) 25, Dusty Baker (Atlanta), Al Oliver (Pittsburgh), Bobby Bonds (San Francisco) and Ted Simmons (St. Louis) 23, Bobby Tolan (Cincinnati) and Richie Hebner (Pittsburgh) 22, Hank Aaron (Atlanta), Ron Santo (Chicago) and Lou Brock (St. Louis) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Steve Carlton (Philadelphia) 40, Bob Gibson (St. Louis) 29, Don Sutton (Los Angeles) 24, Phil Niekro (Atlanta), Fergie Jenkins (Chicago), Claude Osteen (Los Angeles), Mike Marshall (Montreal), and Jon Matlack, Tug McGraw and Tom Seaver (New York) 22, Rick Wise (St. Louis) 20.

WARP3 leaders, players: Bench 13.7, Morgan 12.9, Cedeno 10.4, Wynn 8.3, Rose 7.8, Hebner 7.7, Speier 7.3, Oliver 7.0, Stargell 6.7, Colbert 6.6, Tolan 6.4, Davis 6.3, Dave Cash (Pittsburgh) 6.1, Santo 6.0, Williams and Lee May (Houston) 5.8, Baker 5.5, Bonds 5.3, Simmons 5.2.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Carlton 15.3, Gibson 8.4, Marshall 8.0, Niekro 7.7, Sutton 7.2, Jenkins 7.1, Seaver, Osteen and Mike Torrez (Montreal) 6.4, Matlack 6.2, Bill Stoneman (Montreal) 6.1, Milt Pappas (Chicago) 5.5, McGraw and Wise 5.4.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Bench 10.2, Morgan 9.8, Cedeno 8.8, Williams 7.5, Rose 7.3, Speier 7.0, Davis 6.5, Hebner 6.4, Wynn 6.2, Santo 6.1, Bonds and Colbert 5.9, Simmons 5.8, Stargell 5.7, Baker 5.5, Perez and Tolan 5.4, Aaron and Evans 5.1. Pitchers (bWAR): Carlton 12.2, Gibson 7.6, Matlack 6.7, Sutton 6.4, Jenkins 6.3, Niekro 6.2, Seaver 5.8, Hooton, Osteen, and Wise 5.5, Kirby 5.3, Wilson 5.2.

Actual award voting:
MVP: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+----+
1 Johnny Bench CIN 11 263 336 0.78 | 538 145 40 .270 .920 6
2 Billy Williams CHC 5 211 336 0.63 | 574 191 37 .333 1.005 3
3 Willie Stargell PIT 2 201 336 0.60 | 495 145 33 .293 .930 1
4 Joe Morgan CIN 5 197 336 0.59 | 552 161 16 .292 .851 58
5 Steve Carlton PHI 1 124 336 0.37 | 117 23 1 .197 .501 0| 27-10 346 1.98 0.993 310
6 Cesar Cedeno HOU 0 112 336 0.33 | 559 179 22 .320 .921 55
7 Al Oliver PIT 0 52 336 0.15 | 565 176 12 .312 .789 2
8 Nate Colbert SDP 0 45 336 0.13 | 563 141 38 .250 .841 15
9 Lee May HOU 0 30 336 0.09 | 592 168 29 .284 .833 3
10 Mike Marshall MON 0 22 336 0.07 | 22 3 0 .136 .390 0| 14-8 116 1.78 1.112 95 18
10 Ted Simmons STL 0 22 336 0.07 | 594 180 16 .303 .801 1
12 Pete Rose CIN 0 19 336 0.06 | 645 198 6 .307 .799 10
13 Clay Carroll CIN 0 16 336 0.05 | 11 2 0 .182 .364 0| 6-4 96 2.25 1.260 51 37
13 Roberto Clemente PIT 0 16 336 0.05 | 378 118 10 .312 .835 0
15 Lou Brock STL 0 13 336 0.04 | 621 193 3 .311 .752 63
16 Hank Aaron ATL 0 12 336 0.04 | 449 119 34 .265 .904 4
16 Manny Sanguillen PIT 0 12 336 0.04 | 520 155 7 .298 .726 1
18 Steve Blass PIT 0 9 336 0.03 | 82 15 0 .183 .410 0| 19-8 250 2.49 1.245 117
19 Ralph Garr ATL 0 7 336 0.02 | 554 180 12 .325 .788 25
20 Gene Clines PIT 0 6 336 0.02 | 311 104 0 .334 .790 12
20 Bobby Tolan CIN 0 6 336 0.02 | 604 171 8 .283 .720 42
22 Dusty Baker ATL 0 5 336 0.01 | 446 143 17 .321 .888 4
23 Manny Mota LAD 0 4 336 0.01 | 371 120 5 .323 .809 4
24 Dave Kingman SFG 0 3 336 0.01 | 472 106 29 .225 .765 16
25 Tug McGraw NYM 0 2 336 0.01 | 20 2 0 .100 .282 0| 8-6 106 1.70 1.047 92 27
25 Tom Seaver NYM 0 2 336 0.01 | 89 13 3 .146 .495 0| 21-12 262 2.92 1.115 249
25 Rusty Staub NYM 0 2 336 0.01 | 239 70 9 .293 .824 0
28 Jose Cardenal CHC 0 1 336 0.00 | 533 155 17 .291 .810 25
28 Fergie Jenkins CHC 0 1 336 0.00 | 109 20 1 .183 .458 0| 20-12 289 3.20 1.089 184
28 Chris Speier SFG 0 1 336 0.00 | 562 151 15 .269 .761 9|
Bench won his second by a clear margin with divided voting.

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+--
1 Steve Carlton PHI 24 120 120 1.00 | 27-10 346 1.98 0.993 310
2 Steve Blass PIT 0 35 120 0.29 | 19-8 250 2.49 1.245 117
3 Fergie Jenkins CHC 0 23 120 0.19 | 20-12 289 3.20 1.089 184
4 Mike Marshall MON 0 8 120 0.07 | 14-8 116 1.78 1.112 95 18
5 Clay Carroll CIN 0 6 120 0.05 | 6-4 96 2.25 1.260 51 37
5 Gary Nolan CIN 0 6 120 0.05 | 15-5 176 1.99 1.006 90
5 Tom Seaver NYM 0 6 120 0.05 | 21-12 262 2.92 1.115 249
5 Don Sutton LAD 0 6 120 0.05 | 19-9 273 2.08 0.913 207
9 Bob Gibson STL 0 3 120 0.02 | 19-11 278 2.46 1.129 208
9 Milt Pappas CHC 0 3 120 0.02 | 17-7 195 2.77 1.108 80
Well, that was easy. At least the #1 part.

Rookie: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+---+-----+
1 Jon Matlack NYM 19 19 24 0.79 | 78 10 0 .128 .368 0| 15-10 244 2.32 1.172 169
2 Dave Rader SFG 4 4 24 0.17 | 459 119 6 .259 .640 1
3 John Milner NYM 1 1 24 0.04 | 362 86 17 .238 .762 2

Top player: Johnny Bench. Joe Morgan was also great, but I'll side with WARP and the writers over Win Shares this time. Morgan will have some awards coming his way anyway.
#1 Johnny Bench, #2 Joe Morgan, #3 Cesar Cedeno, #4 Billy Williams, #5 Pete Rose, #6 Chris Speier.

Top pitcher: Steve Carlton. Duh.
#1 Steve Carlton, #2 Bob Gibson, #3 Jon Matlack, #4 Don Sutton, #5 Claude Osteen.

Top rookie: Jon Matlack, pretty clearly. Dusty Baker had a good first full year but had played too much to be eligible.

Top manager: Sparky Anderson gets the Reds back to the top spot with a new offensive philosophy, not always an easy thing to do.