Welcome back to MLB Monday after we took some time off over the weekend to do absolutely nothing; we didn’t bother with the NBA All-Star Game nonsense, and we’re not fans of the modern Olympics, either, as noted. Today, we are looking at the 1972 Philadelphia Phillies, famously known as a horrifically bad team for all the wrong reasons. They finished with a 59-97 record, and the team’s sabermetric profile is the 22nd-worst one in franchise history. So … why?

That “22nd-worst” designation doesn’t seem so bad for a team that has been around a long time. But from 1901 to 1975, the Phillies made the postseason just twice (1915, 1950), so there have been a lot of bad teams in Philadelphia’s National League baseball history. Interestingly, the 2015-2016 renditions of the Phillies were worse, in truth, even as they won a combined 134 games across those two seasons. Now, the team has made it to the playoffs four seasons in a row. Not bad!

But we digress …

The ’72 Phils are noteworthy for a single reason: starting pitcher Steve Carlton. He posted 12.5 WAR on his way to winning the first of his four Cy Young awards, and he finished fifth in the MVP vote, as well. It’s odd, as the next-best player on the team—third baseman Don Money—compiled just 1.9 WAR. For comparison’s sake, the 12th-best guy on the roster—first baseman Tom Hutton—managed just 0.5 WAR. So, the next 11 guys combined put up 12.5 WAR … uh?

That is not a typo: Carlton was just as valuable to these Phillies as the next 11 guys put together. His 27-10 record for a 59-win team is pretty stunning, overall. He started 41 times and posted 30 complete games—along with eight shutouts, a 1.97 ERA, and 310 strikeouts. All those numbers, except the shutout mark, topped the National League, as Carlton won the pitching Triple Crown (wins, ERA, Ks). No other “regular” starter on the staff won more than five games in 1972.

Here are some fascinating splits for Carlton’s season:

  • Home: 14-5, 1.99 ERA
  • Away: 13-5, 1.95 ERA
  • First Half: 14-6, 2.48 ERA
  • Second Half: 13-4, 1.32 ERA
  • In Wins: 1.12 ERA
  • In Losses: 3.79 ERA

The Phillies scored just 503 runs during the regular season on their way to finishing 37.5 games out of first place. That means they scored just 3.22 times per contest, and with the team ERA being a not-so-bad 3.67 overall, it’s clear how even a decent pitcher couldn’t win too often. That magnifies the job Carlton did, of course, in taking the mound 41 times and completing 30 games overall. Carlton also lost seven decisions where his team could only score two runs or less, overall.

That happened 17 times, and his ERA in those starts was 1.53 across 147 1/3 innings, with a 9-7 record. In 17 different starts, the Phillies scored three-to-five runs, and Carlton posted a 13-3 record with a 1.88 ERA in those matchups. Remember, he completed 30 games, and there were four starts where he did not get a decision; the Philadelphia leader in saves—Mac Scarce—notched just four overall for the whole year. The team did not have a lot of leads to protect, obvi:

  • June 3: Someone named Chris Short blew a save that cost Carlton a win.
  • June 21: Someone named Gary Neibauer blew a save that cost Carlton a win.

Also, there was also this winnable game where the offense let Carlton down:

One final note: on 31 different occasions, Carlton started on just three days’ rest. Let that sink in for a moment. Yeah, we’re stunned, too. There are a lot of ways to dissect his amazing season for a bottom-dwelling team, and these are just some of standout tidbits to our eyes after all these years. Clearly there were no offensive stars on this roster, and the team “leaders” in the multitude of offensive statistical categories do not overwhelm anyone looking at these details today:

  • Home Runs: At age 21, Greg Luzinski topped the roster with 18 HRs. He would become a four-time All Star.
  • RBI: Luzinski again led the team here (68). He would help the team win the 1980 World Series, eventually.
  • Average: With a .281 BA, Luzinski won the team “Triple Crown” in batting. Again, this was his age-21 campaign.
  • Stolen Bases: Larry Bowa stole 17 bases, and no one else stole more than six bags. Bowa had a solid career himself.
  • Walks: Someone named Willie Montañez walked 58 times to top the team. Age 24 here, he was an 1977 All Star.
  • OPS: No one topped .800 here, as Luzinski’s .785 mark was the roster’s best, as was his 120 OPS+ mark.

Clearly, Luzinski (who later helped the 1983 Chicago White Sox “win ugly”), Bowa, and Money are names most baseball fans might recognize, depending on their age. But guess who else was on this roster? Catchers Tim McCarver and Bob Boone are other names of “interest” … and a young infielder named Mike Schmidt, too, who was in his age-22 season and played just 13 games in making his big-league debut. He would go on to have quite a stellar career, of course. Hmmm.

So, this was the 1972 Phillies team, notable for Carlton’s season … and little else, really. But we all should remember it well.