Fan Forum
From 1972 White Sox Photo:
Front Row (left to right) Batboys: Jim Riley, Rory Clark, and Joe White.
Second Row (seated): Carlos May, Luis Alarado, Bart Johnson, Coach Al Monchak, Coach Joe Lonnett, Manager Chuck Tanner, Coach John Sain, Coach Jim Mahoney, Jorge Orta, Walt Williams, and Jim Qualls.
Third Row (standing): Trainer Charlie Saad, Equipment Manager Larry Licklider, Batting Practice Pitcher Glen Rosenbaum, Wilbur Wood, Chuck Brinkman, Jim Geddes, Dave Lemonds, Rick Reichardt, Pat Kelly, Mike Andrews, Dick Allen, Traveling Secretary and Statician Don Unferth, and Visiting Clubhouse Custodian Mike Morris.
Back Row (standing on bench: ED Herrmann, Bill Melton, Rick Gossage, Terry Forster, Tom Egan, Rich Morales, Jay Johnstone, Tom Bradley, Vicente Romo, Steve Kealey, and Stan Bahnsen.
The 1972 baseball season on the South Side of Chicago didn't culminate in a long-awaited World Series title. It didn't even produce an American League West Division crown, as the White Sox finished in second place behind the eventual world champion Oakland A's.
But the excitement that built over the course of that summer holds a very special place in the club's history, and very well might have saved the team from leaving its long-time home in the Windy City.
I can't remember what I did yesterday, but I can still recite Dick Allen's stat line from 1972: .308/37/113.
It isn't just Allen. Why is it I know Carlos May hit .308 without having to look it up? Or that Stan Bahnsen went 21-16 and Pat Kelly had 32 stolen bases?
What was the White Sox record in 1972? C'mon, that's easy: 87-67.
Forty years later, all of those numbers and more are easily retrieved from a vault that occupies some deep cranny in my brain. I can't do the same thing with the 2005 White Sox, a team of much more recent success, that had the ultimate ending in winning the World Series.
January 4: The first scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) is introduced (price $395).
January 16: Super Bowl VI: The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Miami Dolphins 24-3.
February 3-13: The 1972 Winter Olympics are held in Sapporo, Japan.
February 4: Mariner 9 sends pictures from Mars.
February 5: Bob Douglas becomes the first African-American elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
What still stands out as your favorite memory of the 1972 White Sox? Share your thoughts on the 72 club and why that season, four decades ago, still holds such a special place in White Sox fans' hearts.
1972 MVP Dick Allen looks back on that memorable season and fondly remembers his teammates »
1972 White Sox »
